California has the eighth largest economy in the world (2012), compared to states in the Union of Everett, it by passes states such as Florida and New York. Economic factors created in the centuries, sparked by the search for gold in California led to the California gold rush which started in 1848 and ended in 1855, in the long run had a lasting effect on Californians. Several other government projects assisted the nation into its economic stance, such as the Hoover Dam in Nevada providing Californians water irrigation as well with the the even larger California State Water Project which was formed in the 1950s to help construct the California Aqueduct and its ancillary dams.