Los Angeles

Click a letter for the index

Or search the encyclopaedia:

 

 

Go

 

City and port in southwestern California, USA; population (2000 est) 3,694,800; Los Angeles–Riverside–Orange County consolidated metropolitan area (also known as Greater Los Angeles) (1994 est) 15,302,000. In size of population it is the second-largest city and the second-largest metropolitan area in the USA. The city occupies 1,204 sq km/465 sq mi. Industries include aerospace, electronics, motor vehicles, chemicals, clothing, building materials, printing, food processing, and films. Los Angeles was established as a Spanish settlement in 1781.

Physical
The city occupies the plain which lies south of the Santa Monica Mountains. The conurbation of Greater Los Angeles now stretches for some 80 km/50 mi from San Fernando in the northwest to Santa Ana in the southeast; and for 80 km/50 mi from Santa Monica on the coast to Ontario on the eastern edge.

Features
Hollywood, centre of the film industry since 1911; the Hollywood Bowl concert arena; the Los Angeles Music Centre; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; observatories at Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar; Disneyland; the Huntingdon Art Gallery and Library; and the J Paul Getty Museum of Art (a re-creation of a Roman villa) housing the classical collection, the rest of its exhibits being housed in the enlarged John Paul Getty Centre across the town in Brentwood. The Universal Studios theme park is a major tourist attraction. Educational institutions include the the University of Southern California (1880), the University of California at Los Angeles (1919), several campuses of the California State University, including California State University at Los Angeles (1964 based on a 1947 foundation), and Loyola Marymount University (1911).

Communications
The whole conurbation area is linked by a sprawling freeway network, which has a total length of 1,050 km/650 mi. An underground railway opened in 1993, linking with suburban light railways and totalling 645 km/400 mi. The new extension to Hollywood, part of the Metro Rail Red Line, opened in June 1999. By 1992 Los Angeles International Airport had become the world's third-busiest airport in terms of commercial airline traffic. In 1995 there were 5.8 million passenger cars registered in Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties (most of the metropolitan area).

Population
In 2000 Los Angeles classified its population according to ancestry as: Hispanic 46.5%; White 29.7%; Black (African American) 12%; Asian 11%.

The flag was selected following a design competition. The waves represent the Pacific Ocean. Effective date: 12 July 1979. >>