How Many States where there before california was discovered?

Before California was discovered by Europeans, there were no states as we know them today in the United States. The area that is now California was inhabited by various Indigenous tribes, each with their own territories and cultures. The concept of "states" emerged later, with California becoming the 31st state of the U.S. in 1850, long after its European discovery in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo.