Los Angeles
(/lɔːs ˈændʒələs/ ( listen);[a] Spanish: Los Ángeles; Spanish for 'The Angels'),
[16]
officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the largest
city in California. With an estimated population of nearly four million people,[17] it is the second
most populous city in the United States (after New York City) and the third most populous
city in North America (after Mexico City and New York City). Los Angeles is known for
its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, Hollywood entertainment industry, and its sprawling
metropolis.
Los Angeles lies in a basin in Southern California, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean,
with mountains as high as 10,000 feet (3,000 m), and deserts. The city, which covers about 469
square miles (1,210 km2),[18] is the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the
United States. The Los Angeles metropolitan area (MSA) is home to 13.1 million people, making
it the second-largest metropolitan area in the nation after New York.[19] Greater Los
Angeles includes metro Los Angeles as well as the Inland Empire and Ventura County.[20] It is the
second most populous U.S. combined statistical area, also after New York, with a 2015 estimate
of 18.7 million people.[21]
Home to the Chumash and Tongva, the area that became Los Angeles was claimed by Juan
Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542. The city was founded on September 4, 1781, under
Spanish governor Felipe de Neve, on the village of Yaanga.[22] It became a part of Mexico in 1821
following the Mexican War of Independence. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War,
Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo, and thus became part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a
municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood. The discovery of
oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city.[23] The city was further expanded with the
completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, which delivers water from Eastern California.
Los Angeles has a diverse economy and hosts businesses in a broad range of professional and
cultural fields. It also has the busiest container port in the Americas.[24] The Los Angeles
metropolitan area also has a gross metropolitan product of $1.0 trillion[25] (as of 2017), making it
the third-largest city by GDP in the world, after the Tokyo and New York City metropolitan areas.
Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics and will host the 2028 Summer
Olympics.
Contents
1History
o 1.1Pre-colonial history
o 1.2Spanish rule
o 1.3Mexican rule
o 1.41847 to present
2Geography
o 2.1Topography
o 2.2Vegetation
o 2.3Geology
o 2.4Cityscape
o 2.5Climate
o 2.6Environmental issues
3Demographics
o 3.1Race and ethnicity
o 3.2Religion
4Economy
5Culture
o 5.1Movies and the performing arts
o 5.2Museums and galleries
6Sports
7Government
o 7.1Federal and state representation
8Crime
9Education
o 9.1Colleges and universities
o 9.2Schools and libraries
10Media
11Transportation
o 11.1Freeways
o 11.2Transit systems
o 11.3Airports
o 11.4Seaports
12Homelessness
13Notable people
14Twin towns and sister cities
15See also
16Notes
17References
18Further reading
o 18.1General
o 18.2Architecture and urban theory
o 18.3Race relations
o 18.4LGBT
o 18.5Environment
o 18.6Art and literature
19External links
History
Main article: History of Los Angeles
See also: Timeline of Los Angeles and Los Angeles in the 1920s
Pre-colonial history
The Los Angeles coastal area was settled by the Tongva (Gabrieleños) and Chumash tribes. Los
Angeles would eventually be founded on the village of iyáangẚ or Yaanga (written "Yang-na" by
the Spanish), meaning "poison oak place."[26][27][22]
Maritime explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area of southern California for
the Spanish Empire in 1542 while on an official military exploring expedition moving north along
the Pacific coast from earlier colonizing bases of New Spain in Central and South America.
[28]
Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los
Angeles on August 2, 1769.[29]
Spanish rule
In 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel
Arcángel, the first mission in the area.[30] On September 4, 1781, a group of forty-four settlers
known as "Los Pobladores" founded the pueblo they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la
Reina de los Ángeles, 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels'.[31][b] The present-day city
has the largest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States. Two-thirds of the Mexican or
(New Spain) settlers were mestizo or mulatto, a mixture of African, indigenous and European
ancestry.[32] The settlement remained a small ranch town for decades, but by 1820, the population
had increased to about 650 residents.[33] Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the historic
district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street, the oldest part of Los Angeles.[34]
Mexican rule
New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, and the pueblo
continued as a part of Mexico. During Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta
California's regional capital.[35]
1847 to present
Advertisement from the Los Angeles Evening Herald of March 22, 1913, stressing the clarity of the view
from the Angeles Mesa tract. Downtown Los Angeles is in the distance in the center, Mt. Baldy can be seen
on the horizon, and there appears to be a brush fire at the left.
Mexican rule ended during the Mexican–American War: Americans took control from
the Californios after a series of battles, culminating with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on
January 13, 1847.[36]
Railroads arrived with the completion of the transcontinental Southern Pacific line from New
Orleans to Los Angeles in 1876 and the Santa Fe Railroad in 1885.[37] Petroleum was discovered
in the city and surrounding area in 1892, and by 1923, the discoveries had helped California
become the country's largest oil producer, accounting for about one-quarter of the world's
petroleum output.[38]
By 1900, the population had grown to more than 102,000,[39] putting pressure on the city's water
supply.[40] The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, under the supervision of William
Mulholland, ensured the continued growth of the city.[41] Because of clauses in the city's charter
that prevented the City of Los Angeles from selling or providing water from the aqueduct to any
area outside its borders, many adjacent cities and communities felt compelled to annex
themselves into Los Angeles.[42][43][44]
Los Angeles created the first municipal zoning ordinance in the Unite
