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Following the election of Donald Trump, Californians are threatening to secede from the rest of the US in what is being dubbed "#calexit" on social media.

The hashtag, along with "#calefrexit", began trending on Twitter shortly after it was announced that Trump had beaten Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton on November 9.

That result has sparked protests across the state, including a march involving hundreds of protesters in Oakland.

Mrs Clinton won California's 55 electoral votes, receiving almost 2.2 million more votes than Mr Trump in the state.

And the people of California, who also voted to legalise recreational cannabis today, are embracing the idea.

One woman wrote: "I will no longer refer to myself as American. I am Californian."

And another Twitter user claimed the state would have the world's sixth biggest economy if it were to go it alone.

Even celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has got in on the action.

One group, the Yes California Independence Campaign, is holding an event in Sacramento on Wednesday in the hopes of gaining support for the idea.

Their manifesto, actually written before Trump's success, reads: "In our view, the United States of America represents so many things that conflict with Californian values.

"Our continued statehood means California will continue subsidising the other states to our own detriment, and to the detriment of our children."

History is against California, however, as no state has seceded from the US since the Civil War.

The campaign harks back to a call for London to become an independent state after the Brexit vote.