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 most populous city in California; 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. With an estimated population of nearly four million
people,[11] Los Angeles is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern
California. The city is known for its Mediterranean-like climate, ethnic diversity,
Hollywood, the entertainment industry, and its sprawling metropolis.
Los Angeles lies in a a basin, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean; mountains as high as
10,000 feet (3,000 m); and deserts. The city, which covers about 469 square miles
(1,210 km2),[17] is the county seat of Los Angeles County, the most populous county
in the United States. The Los Angeles metropolitan area (MSA) is the second largest
metropolitan area in the nation with a population of 13.1 million people.[18] The
Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area (CSA) is the second most populous CSA
metropolitan area with a 2015 estimate of 18.7 million people.[19]
Los Angeles has a diverse economy in a broad range of professional and cultural
fields. It is also famous for its movie, television, and recording industry. A global city,
it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index and 9th in the Global Economic
Power Index. The Los Angeles metropolitan area also has a gross metropolitan
product of $1.044 trillion[20] (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.
Historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan
Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta
California. The city was officially founded on September 4, 1781, by Spanish
governor Felipe de Neve. 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, becoming 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.[21] The completion of
the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, later
assured the city's continued rapid growth.
Prior to the 1950s, Los Angeles's name had multiple pronunciations, but the soft "G"
pronunciation is universal today. Some early movies or video shows it is pronounced
with a hard "G"-'Los An-Ga-lis'.[22] Sam Yorty was one of the last public figures who
still used the hard G pronunciation.
