Baku, May 19, AZERTACSequoia National Park is a forested area of 629 square miles in the Sierra Nevada, east-central California, U.S. Adjoining it to the north and northwest is Kings Canyon National park, and on the eastern boundary is Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the conterminous 48 states. Sequoia National Park was established in 1890 to protect groves of big trees, or giant sequoias, which are among the world’s largest and oldest living things. It is administered jointly with Kings Canyon National Park. Giant Sequoia National Monument, created in 2000, encompasses 512 square miles of Sequoia National Park, which is adjacent to the national parks. The monument’s two parts, separated by Sequoia National Park, preserve most of the remaining groves of big trees not already federally protected.The largest big tree in the park is known as the general Sherman Tree and is thought to be 2,300 to 2,700 years old. Although the General Sherman Tree, 274.9 feet high, is not as tall as some of the California coast redwoods and its circumference is not as great as that of a cypress growing near Oaxaca, Mexico, it is, in terms of volume, the world’s largest living thing. Animal life includes black bears, mule deer, gray foxes, and squirrels and other small mammals.The scenic Mineral King area in the southern part of the park was added in 1978. Its focus is the glacier-carved Mineral King Valley, which is bordered by high mountain peaks; a number of hiking trails radiate from the valley. The Pacific Crest National Park traverses the eastern portion of the park from north to south; much of it also is the route of the John Muir Trail, which runs southward until splitting off eastward to terminate on Mount Whitney.