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City of Los Angeles
FlagSeal
Nickname: City of Angels
Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California
State	California
County	Los Angeles County
Incorporated	April 4 1850
Government
• Type	Mayor-Council
• Mayor	Antonio Villaraigosa
• City Attorney	Rocky Delgadillo
• Governing body	City Council
Elevation	0– 5,079 ft (Formatting error: invalid input when rounding m)
Population
• City	3,844,829
• Urban	11,789,487
• Metro	12,923,548
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
Website	www.ci.la.ca.us/

Los Angeles, California (often abbreviated as L.A.) is the largest city in the state of California by population, and the second most populous city in the United States. It is an alpha world city having an estimated population of over 3.8 million people and spanning 469.1 square miles (1214.9 square kilometers). The Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana metropolitan area is home to an estimated 13 million people. The Greater Los Angeles Area encompasses a much larger area, consisting of five counties and an estimated 18 million people.

Los Angeles was founded in 1781 by the Spanish Felipe de Neve. It was a part of Spain then Mexico, when Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, until 1848, when Mexico ceded California to the United States by treaty at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War. It was not incorporated as a municipality until April 4 1850—five months before California achieved statehood. It is the county seat of Los Angeles County. The name Los Angeles is shortened from "La Ciudad de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula" (The City of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula).

Los Angeles is one of the world's centers of culture, science, technology, international trade, and higher education, and is home to world-renowned institutions in a broad range of professional and cultural fields. The city and its immediate surrounding vicinity lead the world in producing popular entertainment—such as motion picture, television, and recorded music—which forms the base of Los Angeles's international fame and global status.

The city's name is pronounced ] by its English-speaking residents, and as ] by its Spanish-speaking residents. The city's inhabitants are sometimes referred to as Angelenos.

History

The Los Angeles coastal area was inhabited by the Tongva (or Gabrieleños), Chumash, and earlier Native American nations for thousands of years. The first Europeans to arrive came in 1542, led by João Cabrilho, a Portuguese explorer who claimed the area as the City of God for the Spanish Empire but did not stay. The next contact came 227 years later when Gaspar de Portolà, together with Franciscan padre Juan Crespi, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2 1769.

In 1771, Father Junípero Serra had the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel built near Whittier Narrows in what is now called San Gabriel Valley. On September 4, 1781, a group of 52 settlers from New Spain, which were predominantly of African descent, set out from the San Gabriel mission to establish a settlement along the banks of the Porciúncula River (now Los Angeles River). These settlers were of Filipino,Indian and Spanish ancestry, of whom two-thirds were mestizo or mulatto .

In 1777, the new governor of California, Felipe de Neve, recommended to the viceroy of New Spain that the site be developed into a pueblo (town). In 1781 the town was founded and was named "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula," ("The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula"). The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles was the heart of the settlement.

It remained a small ranch town for decades, but by 1820 the population had increased to about 650 residents, making it the largest civilian (non-mission) community in Spanish California. Today the outline of the Pueblo is preserved in a historic monument familiarly called Olvera Street, formerly Wine Street, which was named after Agustin Olvera.

New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, and the pueblo continued as a part of Mexico. Mexican rule ended during the Mexican-American War, when Americans took control from the Californios after a series of defensive battles that included the Siege of Los Angeles, the Battle of San Pascual, the Battle of Dominguez Rancho, and ultimately, the Battle of Rio San Gabriel and the Battle of La Mesa in 1847. The Treaty of Cahuenga, signed on January 13, 1847, ended the war in California. Later, with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the Mexican government formally ceded Alta California and other territories to the United States. Europeans and Americans solidified control over the city after they immigrated into California during the California Gold Rush and secured the subsequent admission of California into the United States in 1850.

Railroads arrived when the Southern Pacific completed its line to Los Angeles in 1876. Oil was discovered in 1892, and by 1923 Los Angeles was supplying one-quarter of the world's petroleum. Even more important to the city's growth was water. In 1913, led by William Mulholland, the aqueduct's completion assured the city's growth. In 1915, the City of Los Angeles began annexation of dozens of neighboring communities without water supplies of their own. The 1974 motion picture Chinatown presents a fictionalized account of the Owens Valley Water War.

In the 1920s the motion picture and aviation industries both flocked to Los Angeles and helped with its further development. The city was the proud host of the 1932 Summer Olympics which saw the development of Baldwin Hills as the original Olympic Village. This period also saw the arrival of the exiles from the increasing pre-war tension in Europe, including such notables as Thomas Mann, Fritz Lang, Bertolt Brecht, Arnold Schoenberg, and Lion Feuchtwanger. World War II brought new growth and prosperity to the city, although many of its Japanese-American residents were transported to internment camps for the duration of the war. The post-war years saw an even greater boom as urban sprawl expanded the city into the San Fernando Valley.

The Watts riots in 1965 and Chicano High School "blowouts" along with the 1970 Chicano Moratorium showed the nation the deep racial divisions that existed in the city. In 1969, Los Angeles was one of two birthplaces of the Internet, as the first ARPANET transmission was sent from UCLA to SRI in Menlo Park. Los Angeles was one of the first cities to pass a gay rights bill in the 1970s and the first since the early 1980s where AIDS was discovered.

The XXIII Olympiad was hosted in Los Angeles. In the mid-late 1980s Los Angeles was the "capital" of the heavy metal music scene. The city was once again tested by the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and in 2002, the attempted secession by the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood sections of the city, both of which were defeated at the polls. Urban redevelopment and gentrification have been taking place in various parts of the city, most notably Downtown.

Geography

Topography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 498.3 square miles (1,290.6 km²)—469.1 square miles (1,214.9 km²) of it is land and 29.2 square miles (75.7 km²) of it is water.

The city extends for 44 miles (71 km) north-to-south at the longest point and similarly in the east-west direction for 29 miles (47 km). The perimeter of the city boundary is 342 miles (550 km). The land area is the 9th largest among cities in the Continental United States.

The highest point in Los Angeles is Sister Elsie Peak at 5,080 ft (1,548 m). It is at the far reaches of the northeastern San Fernando Valley, part of Mt. Lukens. The Los Angeles River is a largely seasonal river flowing through the city, with headwaters in the San Fernando Valley. Its length is almost entirely lined in concrete.

The Los Angeles area is remarkably rich in native plant species. With its beaches, dunes, wetlands, hills, mountains, and rivers, the area contains a number of important biological communities. The most prevalent of these is coastal sage scrub, which covers the hillsides in combustible chaparral. Native plants include: California poppy, matilija poppy, toyon, coast live oak, giant wild rye grass, and hundreds of others. Unfortunately, many of these native species, such as the Los Angeles sunflower, have become so rare as to be considered endangered.

There are many exotic flowers and flowering trees that bloom year-round, with subtle colors, including the jacaranda, hibiscus, phlox, bougainvillea, coral tree blossoms and birds of paradise. If there were no city here, flower-growing could still flourish as an industry, as it does in Lompoc. Wisteria has been known to grow to house-lot size, and in Descanso Gardens there are forests of camellia trees. Orchids require special attention in this Mediterranean climate.

Geology

Los Angeles is subject to earthquakes due to its location in the Pacific "Ring of Fire". The geographic instability produces numerous fault lines above ground such as the San Andreas Fault and many underground ones. The most recent major earthquake, the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which was centered in the northern San Fernando Valley was triggered by an underground fault line. Coming less than two years after the 1992 riots, the Northridge earthquake was an emotional shock to Southern Californians, and caused physical damage totalling billions of dollars. Other major earthquakes in the Los Angeles area include the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake, the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, and the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Nevertheless, most earthquakes are of relatively low intensity. Many areas in Los Angeles witness one or two minor earthquakes per year, usually inflicting little or no damage. Imperceptible quakes are detected by seismometers on a daily basis. Parts of the city are also vulnerable to Pacific Ocean tsunamis; harbor areas were damaged by waves from the Great Chilean Earthquake in 1960.

Climate

The city is situated in a Mediterranean climate zone (Koppen climate classification Csb on the coast, Csa inland), experiencing mild, somewhat wet winters and warm to hot summers. Breezes from the Pacific Ocean tend to keep the beach communities of the Los Angeles area cooler in summer and warmer in winter than those further inland, and winter temperatures can sometimes be as much as 65 °F (14 °C) warmer in the inland communities compared to that of the coastal communities. The coastal communities of Los Angeles are commonly affected by a phenomenon known as a "marine layer," a dense cloud cover caused by the proximity of the ocean, that helps keep the temperatures cooler throughout the year. June Gloom occurs during May and June, when this phenomenon becomes more common and pervades farther inland, reducing the average percentage of sunshine which is otherwise consistent throughout the year.

Temperatures in the summer can get well over 90 °F (32 °C), but average summer daytime highs are 73 °F (23 °C), with overnight lows of 61 °F (12 °C). Winter daytime high temperatures will get up to around 65 °F (18 °C), on average, with overnight lows of 45 °F (7 °C) and during this season rain is common. The warmest month is August, followed by September, July, and then October. This somewhat large case of seasonal lag is caused by Los Angeles' proximity to the ocean, and its latitude of 34° north.

The median temperature in January is 58.3 °F (14.6 °C) and 74.3 °F (23.5 °C) in July. The highest temperature recorded within city borders was 119.0 °F (48.33 °C) in Woodland Hills on July 22, 2006; the lowest temperature recorded was 18.0 °F (−7.8 °C) in 1989, in Canoga Park. The highest temperature ever recorded for Downtown Los Angeles was 112.0 °F (44.4 °C) on June 26 1990, and the lowest temperature ever recorded was 24.0 °F (−5.0 °C) on January 9 1937.

Rain occurs mainly in the winter and spring months (February being the wettest month) with great annual variations in storm severity. Los Angeles averages 15 inches (381 mm) of precipitation per year. Snow is extraordinarily rare in the city basin, but the mountainous slopes within city limits typically receive snow every year. The greatest snowfall recorded in downtown Los Angeles was 2.0 inches (5 cm) on January 15, 1932. With weather permitting, it is possible to snow ski and surf on the same day in the Los Angeles area.

Environmental issues

Due to the city's geography, which makes it susceptible to atmospheric inversion, heavy reliance on automobiles as a major form of transportation, and the L.A./Long Beach port complex, the city suffers from air pollution in the form of smog. The Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley hold in the fumes from automobiles, diesel trucks, shipping, and locomotive engines, as well as manufacturing and other sources. In addition, the groundwater is increasingly threatened by MTBE from gas stations and perchlorate from rocket fuel. Unlike other large cities that rely on rain to clear smog, Los Angeles only gets 15 inches (381 mm) of rain each year, so the smog is able to accumulate over multiple consecutive days. This has brought much attention from the state of California to explore low emissions vehicles. As a result, pollution levels have dropped in recent decades. The number of Stage 1 smog alerts has declined from over 100 per year in the 1970s to almost zero in the new millennium. Despite this success, the 2006 annual report of the American Lung Association ranks the city as the most polluted in the country with short-term particle pollution and year-round particle pollution. Smog from the basin is pushed towards the mountains, where the pollutants harm trees. However, the city is taking even more aggressive steps to improve air quality.

Cityscape

The city is divided into many neighborhoods, many of which were towns that were annexed by the growing city. There are also several independent cities in and around Los Angeles, but they are popularly grouped with the city of Los Angeles, either due to being completely engulfed as enclaves by Los Angeles, or lying within its immediate vicinity. Generally, the city is divided into the following areas: Downtown L.A., East L.A., South Central, the Harbor Area, Hollywood, Wilshire, the Westside, and the San Fernando and Crescenta valleys.

Some well-known communities of Los Angeles include Venice Beach, the Downtown Financial District, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Hollywood, Hancock Park, Koreatown, and the extremely affluent areas of Bel-Air, Hollywood Hills, Pacific Palisades, and Brentwood.

Landmarks

Important landmarks in Los Angeles include Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Disney Concert Hall, Kodak Theater, Griffith Observatory, Getty Center, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mann's Chinese Theater, Hollywood sign, Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles City Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Watts Towers, Staples Center and La Placita Olvera, the birthplace of Los Angeles.

Culture

The people of Los Angeles are known as Angelenos. Nighttime hot spots include places such as Downtown Los Angeles, Silver Lake, Hollywood, and West Hollywood, which is the home of the world-famous Sunset Strip.

Some well-known shopping areas are the Hollywood and Highland complex, the Beverly Center, Melrose Avenue, Robertson Boulevard, The Grove, Westside Pavillion, The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center and Venice Boardwalk.

Sports

Los Angeles is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, the Los Angeles Galaxy and Club Deportivo Chivas USA of Major League Soccer, the Los Angeles Riptide of Major League Lacrosse, and the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League. Los Angeles is also home to USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins in the NCAA, both of which are Division I teams part of the Pacific 10 Conference. UCLA has more NCAA national championships, all sports combined, than any other university in America. USC has the third most NCAA national championships, all sports combined, in the United States. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Anaheim Ducks are both based in nearby Anaheim.

There is currently no NFL franchise in the Los Angeles Market, which is the second-largest television market in North America. However, for the past several years, several billionaire entrepreneurs have shown interest in returning football to L.A., with meetings both with the city and the NFL. Prior to 1995, the Rams called Memorial Coliseum (1946-1979) and Anaheim Stadium (1980-1994) home; and the Raiders played their home games at Memorial Coliseum from 1982 to 1994.

Los Angeles has twice played host to the summer Olympic Games, in 1932 and in 1984. When the tenth Olympic Games were hosted in 1932, the former 10th Street was renamed Olympic Blvd. The 1984 Summer Olympics inspired the creation of the Los Angeles Marathon, which has been held every year in March since 1986. Super Bowls I and VII were also held in the city as well as soccer's international World Cup in 1994. Los Angeles applied to represent the USOC in international bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but lost to Chicago.

Beach volleyball and windsurfing were both invented in the area (though predecessors of both were invented in some form by Duke Kahanamoku in Hawaii). Venice, also known as Dogtown, is credited with being the birthplace of skateboarding and the place where Rollerblading first became popular. Area beaches are popular with surfers, who have created their own subculture.

The Los Angeles area contains varied topography, notably the hills and mountains rising around the metropolis, making Los Angeles the only major city in the United States bisected by a mountain range; four mountain ranges extend into city boundaries. Thousands of miles of trails crisscross the city and neighboring areas, providing opportunities for exercise and wilderness access on foot, bike, or horse. Across the county a great variety of outdoor activities are available, such as skiing, rock climbing, gold panning, hang gliding, and windsurfing. Numerous outdoor clubs serve these sports, including the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club, which leads over 4,000 outings annually in the area.

Los Angeles also boasts a number of sports venues, including the Staples Center, a sports and entertainment complex that also hosts concerts and awards shows such as the Grammys. The Staples Center also serves as the home arena for the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL and the Avengers of the AFL.

There were several years that made Los Angeles area sports dominate:

• 1972: The Lakers, having won 33 straight games at one point in the regular season, finally won their first NBA championship in Los Angeles, with a victory over the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. The UCLA Bruins won their eighth national championship in Division I basketball overall, and a sixth consecutive during their amazing tenure with John Wooden as coach. The USC Trojans got their seventh national championship in Division I-A football, with a victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl Game.
• 1988: Having guaranteed a repeat during the 1987 chamipionship parade, head coach Pat Riley and the Lakers became the first repeat champions in the NBA in 19 years, with a victory in the 1988 NBA Finals over the Detroit Pistons. In the summer, the Los Angeles Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers, in the biggest sports trade before the Los Angeles Galaxy's acquisition of David Beckham in 2007. And in October, the Dodgers pulled an improbable run to the World Series championship, with victories over the New York Mets in the NLCS, and the Oakland Athletics in the World Series.
• 2002: The Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA), Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS), and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (MLB) each won championships, giving the Los Angeles area 4 major professional titles in a single year. The Lakers won a third consecutive championship, with a victory over the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals. The Sparks won their second consecutive title. Meanwhile, the titles for the Angels and Galaxy were a first for each of them. The Galaxy beat the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup, while the Angels beat the San Francisco Giants in the 2002 World Series.

In 2007, the Los Angeles area finally acquired the only title that had eluded the region, when the Anaheim Ducks captured the Stanley Cup chamipionship over the Ottawa Senators, in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

As a whole, the Los Angeles area has more national championships, all sports combined (college and professional), than any other city in the United States, with over four times as many championships as the entire state of Texas, and just over twice that of New York City.

Media

Religion

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Los Angeles is one of the most religiously diverse communities in the world.

Los Angeles is home to adherents of many religions, and has over 100 Christian denominations, with Roman Catholicism being the largest due to the high numbers of Hispanic, Filipino, and Irish Americans.

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles leads the largest archdiocese in the country. Roger Cardinal Mahony oversaw construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, completed in 2002 at the north end of downtown.

The Los Angeles California Temple, the second largest temple operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is on Santa Monica Boulevard in the Westwood district of Los Angeles. Dedicated in 1956, it was the first Mormon temple built in California. The grounds includes a visitors' center open to the public, the Los Angeles Regional Family History Center, also open to the public, and the headquarters for the Los Angeles mission.

Los Angeles is home to the second largest population of Jews in the United States. Many synagogues of the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist movements can be found throughout the city. Most are located in the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles. The area in West LA around Fairfax and Pico Boulevards contains a large amount of Orthodox Jews. The oldest synagogue in Los Angeles is the Breed Street Shul in East Los Angeles, which is being renovated.

The Azusa Street Revival (1906–1909) in Los Angeles was a key milestone in the history of the Pentecostal movement, not long after Christian Fundamentalism received its name and crucial promotion in Los Angeles. In 1909, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (B.I.O.L.A., now Biola University) published and widely distributed a set of books called The Fundamentals, which presented a defense of the traditional conservative interpretation of the Bible. The term fundamentalism is derived from these books.

In the 1920s, Aimee Semple McPherson established a thriving evangelical ministry, with her Angelus Temple in Echo Park open to both black and white church members of the Foursquare Church. Billy Graham became a celebrity during a successful revival campaign in Los Angeles in 1949. Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God used to have its headquarters in nearby Pasadena, now in Glendale. Until his death in 2005, Dr. Gene Scott was based near downtown. The Metropolitan Community Church, a fellowship of Christian congregations with a focus on outreach to gays and lesbians, was started in Los Angeles in 1968 by Troy Perry. Jack Chick, of "Chick Tracts," was born in Boyle Heights and lived in the area most of his life.

Because of Los Angeles' large multi-ethnic population, there are numerous organizations in the area representing a wide variety of faiths, including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Bahá'í, various Eastern Orthodox Churches, Sufism and others. Immigrants from Asia for example, have formed a number of significant Buddhist congregations making the city home to the biggest variety of Buddhists in the world. Los Angeles currently has the largest Buddhist population in the United States. There are over 300 temples in Los Angeles. Los Angeles has been a destination for Swamis and Gurus since as early as 1900, including Paramahansa Yogananda (1920). The Self-Realization Fellowship is headquartered in Hollywood and has a private park in Pacific Palisades. Los Angeles is the home to a number of Neopagans, as well as adherents of various other mystical religions. One wing of the Theosophist movement is centered in Los Angeles, and another is in neighboring Pasadena. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi founded the Transcendental Meditation movement in Los Angeles in the late 1950s. The Kabbalah Centre is in the city. The Church of Scientology has had a presence in Los Angeles since it opened February 18, 1954, and it has several churches, museums, and recruiting sites in the area, most notably the Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, in fact the world's largest community of Scientologists can be found in LA.

Economy

The economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, entertainment (television, motion pictures, recorded music), aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion, apparel, and tourism. Los Angeles is also the largest manufacturing center in the United States. The contiguous ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the most significant port in North America and one of the most important ports in the world, and they are vital to trade within the Pacific Rim. Other significant industries include media production, finance, telecommunications, law, health and medicine, and transportation.

For many years, up until the mid-1990s, Los Angeles was home to many major financial institutions in the western United States, including First Interstate Bank, which merged with Wells-Fargo in 1996, Great Western Bank, merged with Washington Mutual in 1998, and Security Pacific National Bank, which merged with Bank of America in 1992. Los Angeles was also home to the Pacific Stock Exchange until it closed in 2001.

The city is home to five major Fortune 500 companies, including aerospace contractor Northrop Grumman, energy company Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and homebuilding company KB Home. The University of Southern California (USC) is the city's largest private sector employer.

Other companies headquartered in Los Angeles include Twentieth Century Fox, Latham & Watkins, Univision, Metro Interactive, LLC, Premier America, CB Richard Ellis, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Guess?, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, Tokyopop, The Jim Henson Company, Paramount Pictures, Robinsons-May, Sunkist, Fox Sports Net, Health Net, Inc., 21st century Insurance, L.E.K. Consulting, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

The metropolitan area contains the headquarters of even more companies, many of whom wish to escape the city's high taxes. For example, Los Angeles charges a gross receipts tax based on a percentage of business revenue, while many neighboring cities charge only small flat fees. The companies below benefit from their proximity to Los Angeles, while at the same time avoiding the city's taxes (and other problems). Some of the major companies headquartered in the cities of Los Angeles county are Shakey's Pizza (Alhambra), Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Beverly Hills), City National Bank (Beverly Hills), Hilton Hotels (Beverly Hills), DiC Entertainment (Burbank), The Walt Disney Company (Fortune 500 – Burbank), Warner Bros. (Burbank), Countrywide Financial Corporation (Fortune 500 – Calabasas), THQ (Calabasas), Belkin (Compton), Sony Pictures Entertainment (parent of Columbia Pictures, located in Culver City), Computer Sciences Corporation (Fortune 500 – El Segundo), DirecTV (El Segundo), Mattel (Fortune 500 – El Segundo), Unocal (Fortune 500 – El Segundo), DreamWorks SKG (Glendale), Sea Launch (Long Beach), ICANN (Marina Del Rey), Cunard Line (Santa Clarita), Princess Cruises (Santa Clarita), Activision (Santa Monica), and RAND (Santa Monica). The L.A. area is also home to the U.S. headquarters of all but two of the major Asian automobile manufacturers (Nissan North America is in the process of relocating its headquarters from Gardena to the Nashville area, and Subaru's U.S. operations are based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey). Further, virtually all the world's automakers have design and/or tech centers in the L.A. region.

Downtown Los Angeles is also the home of the Los Angeles Convention Center which hosts many popular events including the annual LA Auto Show in December.

Demographics

2000 census

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 3,694,820 people, 1,275,412 households, and 798,407 families residing in the city. The population density was 7,876.8 people per square mile (3,041.3/km²). There were 1,337,706 housing units at an average density of 2,851.8 per square mile (1,101.1/km²).

The racial makeup of the city was 46.9% White, 12.0% African American, 10.0% Asian, 1.0% Native American, 25.9% from other races, and 5.2% from two or more races. 46.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race and 29.7% were White, not of Latino/Hispanic origins. 42.2% spoke English, 41.7% Spanish, 2.4% Korean, 2.3% Tagalog, 1.7% Armenian, 1.3% Persian and 1.1% Chinese or Mandarin as their first language.

There were 1,275,412 households of which 33.5% had children under 18, 41.9% were married couples, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 28.5% of households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size 3.56.

The age distribution was: 26.6% under 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 or older. The median age was 32. For every 100 females there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males.

The median income for a household was $36,687, and for a family was $39,942. Males had a median income of $31,880, females $30,197. The per capita income was $20,671. 22.1% of the population and 18.3% of families were below the poverty line. 30.3% of those under the age of 18 and 12.6% of those aged 65 or older were below the poverty line.

It is also of interest to note that the post-1950 population increase did not occur exclusively in suburban or peripheral locations. While many other American cities have experienced central area population declines, the opposite has been true here. The increase in the central area population is due, in part, to Los Angeles' large immigrant population.

In the period from 1920 to 1960, African Americans from the Southeast U.S. arrived in Los Angeles and its population grew 15 times. Since 1990, the African American population dropped in half as its middle class relocated to the suburbs, notably the Antelope Valley and Inland Empire and Latinos have moved into the once predominantly African American district of South Los Angeles. African Americans still remain predominant in some portions of the city, including Hyde Park, Crenshaw District, Leimert Park, and Baldwin Hills (as well as neighboring View Park-Windsor Hills and Ladera Heights) which is considered to be one of the wealthiest majority-black neighborhoods in the United States. Los Angeles still has the largest African-American community of any city in the western United States.

Los Angeles is currently a minority-majority city.

National origins

Of 2,182,114 U.S.-born people, 1,485,576 were born in California, 663,746 were born in a different state of the United States, and 61,792 were born in a United States territory.

Of 1,512,720 foreign born people, 100,252 were born in Europe, 376,767 were born in Asia, 64,730 were born in Africa, 94,104 were born in Caribbean/Oceania, 996,996 were born in Latin America, and 13,859 were born in Canada. Of such foreign-born people, 569,771 entered between 1990 to March 2000. 509,841 are naturalized citizens and 1,002,879 are not citizens.

By the next national census, Los Angeles is expected to have a Latino majority for the first time since 1850. The city has the second largest foreign-born population of any major U.S. city, after Miami. The Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the number one entry for immigrants in the country. The Latino, Asian American, and Caribbean populations are growing particularly quickly — the Asian-American population is the largest of any U.S. city, which contains the largest concentration of Los Angeles County's 1.4 million Asians. Los Angeles hosts large populations of Cambodians, Iranians, Armenians, Belizeans, Bulgarians, Ethiopians, Filipinos, Guatemalans, Hungarians, Koreans, Israelis, Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, Thais, Indians and Pacific Islanders such as Samoans in both the U.S. and world outside of their respective countries. Los Angeles is also home to the largest populations of Japanese living in the United States, and has one of the largest Native American populations in the country. It is also home to the second largest concentration of Russians and people of Jewish descent in the Americas, after New York City. Los Angeles experienced minor waves of European immigration in the late 1800s and early 1900s and the city has sizeable populations of German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Romanian/Gypsies, Polish, Portuguese, Serb, Spanish, Croatian and Ukrainian descent.

Los Angeles is home to people from more than 140 countries speaking at least 224 different languages. Ethnic enclaves like Chinatown, Historic Filipinotown, Koreatown, Little Armenia, Little Ethiopia, Little Persia, Little India, Little Tokyo, and Thai Town provide examples of the polyglot character of Los Angeles.

Government

The city is governed by a mayor-council system. The current mayor is Antonio Villaraigosa. There are 15 city council districts. Other elected city officials include the City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and the City Controller Laura Chick. The city attorney prosecutes misdemeanors within the city limits. The district attorney, elected by county voters, prosecutes misdemeanors in unincorporated areas and in 78 of the 88 cities in the county, as well as felonies throughout the county.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) polices the city of Los Angeles, but the city also maintains three specialized police agencies; The Office of Public Safety, within the General Services Department (which is responsible for security and law enforcement services at city facilities throughout the city, including City Hall, city parks and libraries, the Los Angeles Zoo, and the Convention Center), the Port Police, within the Harbor Department (which is responsible for land, air and sea law enforcement services at the Port of Los Angeles), and the Airport Police, within the Los Angeles World Airports Department (which is responsible for law enforcement services at all four city-owned airports, including Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Ontario International Airport (ONT), Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD), and Van Nuys Airport (VNY), the busiest general aviation airport in the country).

LAPL, Los Angeles Public Library System and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) are among the largest such institutions in the country. LAUSD is the second largest school district in the United States; only the New York City Department of Education is larger. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power provides service to city residents and businesses.

The city government has been perceived as inefficient and ineffective by residents of some areas, which led to an unsuccessful secession effort by the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood in 2002. The campaign to defeat secession was led by then Mayor James Hahn. The most common complaint is that the city administration in Downtown gives priority to high-density neighborhoods like Mid-City and Downtown at the expense of its far-flung suburban neighborhoods.

As the city does not have officially named districts, most areas and neighborhoods are known either by the names given by tract developers when first developed, or by the names of principal neighborhood streets, or by the names of the formerly independent communities that were annexed by the city.

Neighborhood councils

To promote public participation in government and make government more responsive to local needs, voters created neighborhood councils in the Charter Reform of 1999. The councils were first proposed by City Council member Joel Wachs in 1996 and continue to be hotly contested ten years later.

The councils cover districts which are not necessarily identical to the traditional neighborhoods of Los Angeles, the borders of which often reflect those of cities that were annexed to Los Angeles.

86 neighborhood councils (NCs) are certified and all "stakeholders" – meaning anyone who lives, works or owns property in a neighborhood – may vote for council members. Participation in NC elections has, for the most part, been proportionally as narrow as in city, state and federal elections.

Though the councils are strictly advisory and have little actual power, they are still official government bodies and so must abide by California's Brown Act, which strictly governs the meetings of deliberative assemblies. These and other regulatory requirements have proven frustrating for some activists unaccustomed to bureaucratic procedures. For those with organizing experience, or the administrative ability to overcome regulatory hurdles, the councils have been effective advocates for community interests.

The first notable achievement of the neighborhood councils collectively was their organized opposition, in March 2004, to an 18% increase in water rates by the Department of Water and Power (a municipal monopoly). This led the City Council to approve only a limited increase pending independent review. More recently, the councils petitioned the City Council in Summer, 2006 to allow them to independently introduce ideas for legislative action, but the City Council voted to to study the idea further, despite 18 months of committee hearings.

As Mayor, James Hahn provided each council with $50,000 for any project of its choice and an additional $100,000 for street improvements in its neighborhood. These financial commitments have been maintained by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Crime

The COMPSTAT unit of the LAPD tabulates Part I offenses (violent and property crimes) committed in the city. Los Angeles has been experiencing significant decline in Part I offenses since the mid-1990s, and hit a record low in 2006, with 29,737 acts of violence, of which 481 were homicides. Criminality peaked in 1992 with 72,667 recorded acts of violence — of which 1,096 were homicides — and 245,129 recorded property crimes. The distribution of homicides in the city is uneven with nearly half of them occurring in the four stations of the South Bureau of the LAPD encompassing South Los Angeles and the Harbor area. A further quarter occur in the areas covered by the Central Bureau which covers Downtown and its environs. Property crimes were over three times more common than violent crimes; 102,297 were recorded in 2006. The LAPD makes live crime statistics available on the LAPD crimestats and epolice web site.

Los Angeles has a total crime index lower than that of Chicago, and Atlanta as of 2006.

Current mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

Many movies and songs about Los Angeles depict the notion that the city is home to a large number of gangsters and professional criminals. According to a May 2001 Drug Threat Assessment by the National Drug Intelligence Center, Los Angeles County is home to 152,000 gang members organized into 1,350 gangs. Among the most infamous are the Crips, Bloods, 18th Street, Florencia 13, and MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha). This has led to the city being referred to as the "Gang Capital of America." Car chases happen more often than in most other major cities, with the city's complex freeway system allowing for lengthier pursuits. Other automobile-oriented crimes include car-to-car shootings, drive-by shootings, hit-and-run accidents, and carjackings.

Education

Colleges and universities

There are three public universities in the city: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA).

Private schools in the city include the University of Southern California (USC), Antioch University's Los Angeles campus, Loyola Marymount University (LMU is also the parent university of Loyola Law School located in Los Angeles), Mount St. Mary's College, Occidental College ("Oxy"), Otis College of Art and Design (Otis), American InterContinental University, Alliant International University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech),Southwestern University School of Law, American Film Institute Conservatory, Charles R. Drew University, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising's Los Angeles campus (FIDM),Woodbury University, and Los Angeles Film School.

The community college system consists of nine campuses governed by the trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District: Los Angeles City College (LACC), Los Angeles Harbor College, Los Angeles Pierce College, Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC), Los Angeles Mission College, East Los Angeles College (ELAC), West Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Southwest College, and Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

Schools and libraries

Los Angeles Unified School District serves almost all of the city of Los Angeles, as well as several surrounding communities.

It is the second-largest school district in the United States, with over 700,000 students. After Proposition 13 was approved in 1978, urban school districts had considerable trouble with funding. LAUSD has become known for its underfunded, overcrowded and poorly maintained campuses, although its Magnet schools have won countless awards and score with compared to the top private schools in the state. Wealthy and upper-middle-class parents placed their children in elite private schools, while many middle-class families left for suburban school districts beyond LAUSD boundaries. Since then, LAUSD has embarked on an aggressive school construction program to relieve overcrowding.

Several small sections of Los Angeles are in the Las Virgenes Unified School District.

Los Angeles County Office of Education operates the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

The Los Angeles Public Library system operates 72 public libraries in the city.

Transportation

Los Angeles has one of the largest freeway systems in the world, with 27 intertwining freeways handling millions of commuters as they journey a daily collective migration of about 100 million miles (160 million km). Los Angeles is the most car-populated metropolis in the world with 1 registered automobile for every 1.8 people.

Rail transport

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other agencies operate an extensive system of bus lines, as well as subway and light rail lines. True to reputation, Los Angeles' mass transit system does not have high ridership, with 10.5% of commuters using public transit, compared with 53% and 30% in New York and Chicago respectively. The rail system averages 276,900 trips a day, 0.4% of the 65 million commutes daily. This compares with ridership of 699,599 trips for Washington DC's Metrorail's subway, 664,700 trips for Boston's subway T, the city of Chicago's L with 644,200, and New York City's 6.0 million average daily weekday trips taken. Adding in trips taken by bus raises this number to about 1.7 million. The rail system includes the Red and Purple subway lines, as well as the Gold, Blue, and Green light rail lines. The Orange Line, although a bus rapid transit line rather than a rail line, is usually considered part of the system. The special red Metro Rapid buses have also been highly touted as a prime example of a successful bus transit program since these buses operate like a rail line and run through the best-known parts of the city. However, during rush hour, they are apt to get mired in gridlock along with other vehicles, and the traffic signal holding or changing capability is of little help.

An extension of the Gold line running from Downtown to East Los Angeles is currently under construction, and is expected to open in late 2009. A second extension from Pasadena into the foothills is being considered. Also in the works is the new Expo Line, which will run from Downtown into Culver City. Construction of this line is expected to finish in the summer of 2010. Plans of a second phase extending the line into Santa Monica are currently being assessed. Momentum is slowly building to extend the Purple line under Wilshire Boulevard all the way to the ocean in Santa Monica, extending the city's public transportation system further. Rail passenger service is provided by Amtrak and Metrolink from historic Union Station. Rail shipping is handled by Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway.

Air transport

The Los Angeles metropolitan area is served by more airports than any major city in the world, behind London with 6 commercial airports, and many more general-aviation airports. The main Los Angeles airport is Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX). The fifth busiest commercial airport in the world, LAX handled over 61 million passengers and 2 million tons of cargo in 2006.

Other major nearby commercial airports include:

• L.A./Ontario International Airport (IATA: ONT, ICAO: KONT), owned by the city of Los Angeles.
• Bob Hope Airport (IATA: BUR, ICAO: KBUR), formerly known as Burbank Airport
• Long Beach Municipal Airport (IATA: LGB, ICAO: KLGB)
• John Wayne Airport (IATA: SNA, ICAO: KSNA) of Orange County.
• Palmdale Regional Airport (IATA: PMD, ICAO: KPMD) is owned by the city of Los Angeles and serves the northern outlying communities of the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley's.

Los Angeles also has the world's busiest general-aviation airport, Van Nuys Airport (IATA: VNY, ICAO: KVNY).

Harbors

The sea ports of the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach together make up the Los Angeles – Long Beach Harbor, the busiest and overall third-largest container shipping port in the world. There are also smaller, non-industrial harbors along L.A.'s coastline. Most of these like Redondo Beach and Marina del Rey are used primarily by sailboats and yachts.

Sister cities

Los Angeles has 25 sister cities:

See also

• Large Cities Climate Leadership Group
• Pacific Electric Railway
• Los Angeles Now
• Los Angeles Railway

References

Notes

1. "Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places Over 100,000, Ranked by July 1, 2005 Population: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2005" (CSV). 2005 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2007-01-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. US Census
3. U.S. Census Bureau Estimates for Metropolitan Statistical Areas
4. After a 1776 flood, the mission was moved to its present site in San Gabriel
5. The word Porciuncula is taken from the place in Italy where St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order of priests, carried out his religious life. The word means smallest portion
6. Then known as "Luzon Indios" or Manila Men.
7. "Colonial records indicate that twenty-six of the forty-six original settlers of Los Angeles were of African or part-African ancestry."de Graaf, L., Seeking El Dorado:African Americans in California.
8. Di Massa, Cara Mia. "Downtown has gained people but lost jobs, report says." Los Angeles Times 21 February 2007: B1.
9. http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/web_tsus/19600522/damage.htm
10. Pool, Bob. "In Woodland Hills, It's Just Too Darn Hot." Los Angeles Times July 26, 2006, B1.
11. Burt, Christopher. Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book. New York: Norton, 2004: 100.
12. "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Los Angeles, California, United States of America". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
13. People at Risk In 25 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution. American Lung Association. Retrieved on January 5, 2007.
14. People at Risk In 25 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution. American Lung Association. Retrieved on January 5, 2007.
15. Lopez, Theresa Adams. "Air Quality Programs at the Port of Los Angeles saw Refinement in 2005 with Focus on Ramping up in 2006." Port of Los Angeles (News Release). February 17, 2006.
16. Staff Writer. "Air Quality Protections Take Off." Environmental Defense. December 6, 2004.
18. Hong, Peter. "Few Tears Here." Los Angeles Times 29 June 1995: B1.
19. Pomfret, John. Cardinal Puts Church in Fight for Immigration Rights. Washington Post. April 2, 2006, accessed May 28, 2007.
20. ^ City-data.com
21. Evan George, Trojan Dollars: Study Finds USC Worth $4 Billion Annually to L.A. County, Los Angeles Downtown News, December 11, 2006.
22. UT Strategies, et. al. Competitiveness of City Taxes and Fees. 1997. http://www.muniservices.com/consulting/LA_Final%20Evaluation%20Report%20January%2015.pdf
23. Cometitiveness 22.
25. "Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members".
26. "California Central District Drug Threat Assessment : Overview." National Drug Intelligence Center. May, 2001.
27. Reuters news article
28. .
29. http://www.census.gov/prod/1/gen/pio/cay961a2.pdf
30. The Search for the Holy Rail Rachel Dicarlo.
31. Metrorail Eclipses 200 Million Passengers For The First Time, WMATA.
32. APTA TRANSIT RIDERSHIP REPORT APTA.
33. APTA TRANSIT RIDERSHIP REPORT APTA.
34. LAX Volume of air traffic
35. "Sister Cities of Los Angeles." Retrieved on February 22, 2007.

Further reading

• Reyner Banham, Los Angeles: The Architecture of the Four Ecologies, University of California Press, 1971.
• Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles, Vintage Books, 1992
• Torin Monahan, Los Angeles Studies: The Emergence of a Specialty Field, City & Society XIV (2): 155-184, 2002
• Lynell George, No Crystal Stair: African Americans in the City of Angels, Verso, 1992
• Paul Glover, "Los Angeles: A History of the Future", Eco-Home Press, 1989
• Norman M. Klein, The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory, Verso, 1997
• Leonard Pitt & Dale Pitt, Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County, University of California Press, 2000
• Peter Theroux, Translating LA: A Tour of the Rainbow City, Norton, 1994
• David L. Ulin (ed), Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology, Library of America, 2002
• Richard White, It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own: A New History of the American West, University of Oklahoma Press, 1991
• Marc Reisner, Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water, Penguin, 1986.
• Robert M. Fogelson, The Fragmented Metropolis: Los Angeles 1850-1930, University of California Press, 1967
• California History, Bancroft - http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Hhb/HHBindex.htm

External links

• City of Los Angeles Official Web Site
• ExperienceLA: LA's Official Cultural Calendar and Trip Planner
• LA INC.: Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Los Angeles Convention Center
• Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
• Los Angeles Police Department
• Los Angeles College & University Map
• Los Angeles: Historic Sites Online, from the University of Southern California
• Los Angeles: Past, Present and Future, from the University of Southern California
• Los Angeles: A History of the Future
• Los Angeles Sightseeing Map
• Los Angeles Almanac
• Template:Wikitravel
• Historic Topographic Maps for\ Los Angeles County 1920s-1940s (Google Earth Required)

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