About Los Angeles

Location and Geography

Los Angeles is a sprawling Southern California city within the County of Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles is the county seat and is the second most populous city and metropolitan area (after New York City) in the United States. Spanning 486 square miles the city sprawls across a broad coastal plain situated between mountains and the Pacific ocean.

The diverse, multi-ethnic population of Los Angeles distinguishes the city as the cultural hub of the Pacific Rim. People from more than 180 countries, speaking 140 different languages reside in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County has a population of more than ten million and is the most populous county in the United States, larger than 42 individual U.S. states.  Stretching over 4,000 miles, Los Angeles county encompasses the city of Los Angeles and contains some 90 other incorporated cities, including, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and Long Beach and more than 30 unincorporated communities.  There are four rivers within the county and two islands. Santa Catalina and San Clemente islands, these two Channel Islands are part of Los Angeles County.

What brings visitors to Los Angeles?

Year-round enviable weather to enjoy ocean vistas, palm tree-lined streets, 75 miles of coastline including world famous beaches, year-round recreation from water sports to skiing, a vast network of hiking trails, biking and walking paths. Sports teams, world class universities, world famous museums, historic parks and nature reserves. 

Known as the entertainment capital of the world, there is something for everyone in LA - street art, street performances, out door movies and concerts, theatre, music and dance representing cultures around the globe. And there are celebrity sightings.

LA's diversity provides dining experiences with foods representing all world regions - from gourmet restaurants to gourmet food trucks and everything in between.  Like the many recreational and  entertainment choices there is something to please every palate and price range.

And LA offers many browsing and shopping opportunities - from high-end Beverly Hills Rodeo drive to the fun Grove Shopping Center with entertainment, music, dancing fountains and the adjacent Original Farmer's Market as well as the Santa Monica Third Street Promenade to outlet shopping as well as every imaginable brand name store.  

The History of Los Angeles

September 4, 1781, is the official date of establishment of El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles or The Town of the Queen of the Angels.

El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument is near the site of the early Los Angeles pueblo or town where forty-four settlers of Native American, African and European heritage journeyed more than one-thousand miles across the desert from present-day northern Mexico and established a farming community in September 1781.

Since that time, Los Angeles has been under the flags of Spain, Mexico and the United States and has grown into one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas. 

Today El Pueblo is a living museum reflecting the Native American, African American, Spanish, Anglo, Mexican, Chinese, Italian and French cultures that contributed to its early history. 

Of the monument’s twenty-seven historic buildings, eleven are open to the public as businesses or have been restored as museums.