General information:

Full title: Los Angeles (Los Angeles, LA)
State:
Year of foundation: 1781
Population: 2.8 million people
Population (with surroundings): 17.7 million people
Square: 1300 sq. km.

Frank Lloyd Wright once joked: "It seems as if the world has been tilted on its side, and all the losers and lunatics have rolled into Los Angeles." Since then, this phrase has been repeated by everyone: both those who loved the city and those who hated it. "City of Angels" - a city of sharp contrasts, home to millions of people who come from different parts the globe. This is important Cultural Center, as well as the center of business, media, international trade, television, film and music industries, attracting millions of tourists every year. Here you can find everything for a comfortable stay: from beaches for swimming, sunbathing and surfing, to hiking in the mountains and skiing. In each quarter there are interesting museums, modern concert halls and restaurants, always ready to open their doors to the guests.

A bit of history

The history of Los Angeles begins about 10-20 thousand years ago, long before the first Europeans appeared on the mainland: all this time there were several villages of Indians who were engaged in hunting and gathering. The permanent settlement was founded on September 4, 1781 and was named El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles di Porsiuncula. For several decades it was just a small town, but in 1820 its population exceeded 600 people, and thirty years later received the official status of the city. Since then, the city has been developing rapidly and today it is a huge metropolis with a multi-million population and developed infrastructure.

Neighborhoods and attractions

Los Angeles defies the notion of a traditional city - it does not have a conventional urban center. Most likely, it should be thought of as a series of small towns that have become part of the metropolis. There are also a number of satellite cities whose population is also considered to be Los Angeles. La Plaza is considered the historical center, but administrative functions are divided between areas that are quite far from each other.
Hollywood
If the name Hollywood is associated with glitz and glamour, then the Hollywood neighborhood may come as a bit of a shock: the glitz disappeared a few decades ago and is now slowly regaining its image. When visiting this area, tourists should look into: You can stay at the venerable Roosevelt Hotel, where the first Academy Awards took place in 1929, or at the Loews Hollywood Hotel, where modern stars like to stay.
Santa Monica and Venice Beach
The area is the quintessential beach and scene: surfers, volleyball players, rollerbladers, skateboarders, cyclists, psychics and street performers can all be found along this stretch of coastline. Do not miss:
Downtown Los Angeles
Just 15 years ago, downtown Los Angeles was a ghost town after work. Currently, some of the best cultural institutions in the western United States are open here:

What to bring?

When planning a trip to Los Angeles, do not forget:
  • A jacket or windbreaker as although it is mostly hot during the day, it can get chilly at night.
  • Sunglasses and sunscreen.
  • Patience over great distances.
  • A sense of humor for the many obscure characters you'll encounter.

Locomotion and transport

Most tourists arrive in the city through. From there, you can get to the city in 30-60 minutes by taxi ($30-50) or minibus ($16 to $27), but the second option takes longer, because. usually include stops along the way. There are also direct buses ($8) linking the airport to downtown and Santa Monica. The cheapest and not very convenient option is the metro.

Most people in the city travel by car, but there are often terrible traffic jams (especially during rush hour, from 7 to 10 am and from 3 to 7 pm), and parking is very expensive. ($1.5) connects downtown and Hollywood, and the train to Santa Monica ($1.75) is scheduled to enter service in late 2015.

Safety

Despite the image created by Hollywood films, crime is quite rare in Los Angeles, although, of course, one must accept the usual for big city precautionary measures:
  • Don't show that you have money.
  • Do not leave your wallet, luggage or valuables in the vehicle.
  • If the street seems deserted, it is better to bypass it.

Etiquette

  1. Cloth. In dresses, shorts and flip-flops for the beach, it is not customary to walk in the city center and Hollywood.
  2. Tips. As in the rest of the US, tipping is required. Bartenders are required to tip at least $1 per drink, a parking attendant will be fine with $2, and restaurant staff expect at least 18-20% tips on orders (although they are usually included in the bill).
  3. Celebrities. If you notice any famous person, then act like the locals: do not pay attention to them. If you really appreciate his work, then you can calmly approach and discreetly note that you like their work.
Los Angeles is truly an amazing city and it's impossible not to notice its charm. Plunging into its atmosphere, walking along the well-known Avenue of Stars, watching the performances of street actors, even just relaxing in the park on a bench, you feel like a participant in some kind of action or a hero of a romantic film. And most importantly, history seems to be felt in the air, and not only of this Californian city, but of any country.

Be sure to watch a short colorful video with the beauties and sights of Los Angeles:

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In the section on the question Which city is bigger? Los Angeles or New York given by the author Nikita Varaksin the best answer is Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Los Angeles) (eng. Los Angeles, Spanish. Los Ángeles, also known as L.A. and City of Angels - City of Angels) is a city in the United States, in southern California, on shore Pacific Ocean. The largest city in the state by population and the second in the country (2006 population - 3,849,378). The city is the center of the so-called. Greater Los Angeles is an agglomeration with a population of over 17 million people. Residents of Los Angeles are called "Angelenos".
Los Angeles is one of the world's largest cultural, scientific, economic and educational centers. Also, the city is one of the world's largest centers of the entertainment industry (cinema, music, television, computer games) .
New York (eng. New York City, until 1664 - New Amsterdam) is a city in the United States, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. Population 8,500,500 (2006). Located on the coast Atlantic Ocean in southeastern New York. The city administratively consists of 5 districts: Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island.
New York was founded at the beginning of the 17th century by Dutch colonists, the original name was New Amsterdam.
The main attractions are located in Manhattan. Among them: historical skyscrapers (Empire State Building, Chrysler Building), the building of the Grand Central railway station, Rockefeller Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Opera, the Solomon Guggenheim Museum of Contemporary Art (painting), the American Museum of Natural History ( dinosaur skeletons and planetarium), UN Headquarters, Harlem.

Answer from Yörgey[expert]
NY


Answer from secret[guru]
Los Angeles is the largest city in the world by area. Here is one of the largest airports in the world, Los Angeles - one of the largest industrial centers of the United States, one of the main resorts of this country, one of the most significant universities - the University of Southern California is located here. Hollywood - the most important in the United States, and throughout the world, the center of the film industry - is also located in Los Angeles.
The area of ​​Los Angeles is: approx. 10,000 km. sq.
If we agree that it is necessary to compare cities by population and trust official statistics, then the most big city in the world can be called Seoul - the capital of South Korea. Its population is 10,321,449 people. But statistics can be extremely inaccurate. First of all, in different countries The population of the city is calculated in different ways. In the United States, city residents include only those who live directly on the territory of the city. In some other countries, residents of the suburbs are also considered city dwellers.
the question of which city on earth is the largest remains open.



Answer from Zarema Aliyeva[guru]
As of January 01, 2010
By population Shanghai -29 643 520 people
The largest city in the world by area is Maung Isa, the center of the mining industry in Australia.
There, the area of ​​the city includes all adjacent mines, deposits, factories, potential deposits, and so on. total area over 40000 sq. kilometers.


Answer from Violetta Tokareva[newbie]
1) Los Angeles - 1206 square kilometers
2) London - 1580 square kilometers

General information and history

Los Angeles (in English - Los Angeles, in Spanish - Los Ángeles) is located in the southwest of the United States of America, 3680 kilometers from their capital, in the south of California, on the Pacific coast. It is the first city in California by population and the second in the United States, as well as the center of the county of the same name and the agglomeration of Greater Los Angeles. It has the status of one of the most significant cinematic, cultural, scientific, educational and economic centers on a global scale. Previously, the city was called Los Angeles, Los Angeles and Los Angeles. Unofficial names - City of Angels and L.A. The territory of the city is 1301.97 km².

Before Europeans arrived in Los Angeles, the Tongva and Chumash Indians lived here. On September 28, 1542, the Spaniards landed here under the leadership of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and his deputy Bartolomeo Ferrelo. The next time the Europeans got here only in 1769. This expedition was led by the Spaniard Gaspar de Portola y Rovira. During it, the suitability of these lands for settlement was noted. Two years later, a mission was founded here, named after the Archangel Gabriel. A decade later, Spanish colonists built here the village of El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles sobre El Río Porciúncula (Village of the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Angels, on the Porjuncula River). After 40 years, this settlement became the largest secular locality in California with a population of 650 people.

When Mexico became independent, Los Angeles was part of it until 1848, then passed to the United States. In 1850, he officially received city status. In 1876 to Los Angeles was held Railway. The basis of the city's economy was the cultivation of citrus fruits, mainly oranges. By 1900, the population of Los Angeles increased by 97.6 thousand people. In the last decade of the 19th century, oil was found here, which by 1923 led to the fact that a quarter of this hydrocarbon was produced in the Los Angeles area worldwide. In 1913, water supply was installed in the city, and a decade later, cinema and the aviation industry began to develop. In 1932, the 10th Summer Olympics were held here.

With the outbreak of World War II, a number of German artists and scientists who did not accept Nazism fled here, such as Bertolt Brecht, Lion Feuchtwanger and Thomas Mann. In 1942, representatives of the Japanese diaspora were evicted to closed camps outside the city limits, in accordance with the order of Franklin Roosevelt. Since 1945, the city began to grow rapidly, skyscrapers and many transport interchanges began to appear in it. In 1984, the Summer Olympic Games were again held here, the 23rd in a row.

In January 1994, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck here, causing damage to many houses and infrastructure and killing 72 people. This event led to the popularity of the idea of ​​separation from the city of the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, but according to a 2002 referendum, it did not happen. At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, the old buildings of most of the city, including downtown, Hollywood, and Koreatown, were reconstructed.

Districts of Los Angeles

Los Angeles is divided into over 80 districts, the main ones being Westside, East Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Airport Area, South Bay and Harbor, Northeast, South Los Angeles and Center.

The Westside is divided into Beverly Crest, Bel Air, Brentwood, Westwood, West Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, Palms and Sotell.
. The San Fernando Valley is divided into Arleta, Valley Village, Valley Glen, Van Nuys, West Hills, Winnetka, Woodland Hills, Granada Hills, Calabasas, Canoga Park, Lake Balboa, Lakeview Terrace, Mission Hills, North Hollywood, and Valhalla Memorial Park Sameteri, North Hills, Northridge, Panorama City, Pacoima, Porter Ranch, Reseda, Sun Valley, Sunland, Sylmar, Studio City, Tarzana, Tahunga, Toluca Lake, Chatsworth, Shadow Hills, Sherman Oaks and Encino.
. The airport area is divided into Venice, Westchester, Maar Vista, Playa Vista and Playa del Rey.
. South Bay and Harbor are divided into San Pedro, Island Terminal, Wilmington, Harbor Gateway and Harbor Seat.
. The Northeast is divided into Glassell Park, Eagle Rock, Mount Washington, Montecito Heights, Lincoln Heights, Cypress Park, Highland Park, El Sereno and Atwota Village.
. South Los Angeles is divided into West Adams, Hyde Park, Jefferson Park, Crenshaw, Leimert Park, and Watts.
. The center is divided into Angelino Heights, Boyle Heights, Wilshire Center, Westlake, Hollywood, Downtown East, Downtown Los Angeles, East Hollywood, Corytown, Los Feliz, Mid Wilshire, Mid City, Mid City West, Pico Union, Silver Lake, Holmby Hills, Chinatown, Elysian Park and Echo Park.

Los Angeles population for 2018 and 2019. Number of Los Angeles residents

The data on the number of city residents are taken from the federal service state statistics. The official website of the Rosstat service www.gks.ru. Also, the data were taken from the unified interdepartmental information and statistical system, the official website of the EMISS www.fedstat.ru. The site published data on the number of residents of Los Angeles. The table shows the distribution of the number of residents of Los Angeles by year, the graph below shows the demographic trend in different years.

Los Angeles Population Graph:

The population of Los Angeles in 2014 was 3,928,864 people, and the agglomeration - 18,351,929. The population density in the city is 3198 people / km².

In 2006-08, there were 778,991 families and 1,275,534 households in Los Angeles. About a fifth of the city's population have higher education, but at the same time, the number of homeless people in Los Angeles is quite large - 48 thousand live in the city, and 82 thousand in the city district (2006 data).

In 2010, the racial makeup of Los Angeles was 49.8% White (28.7% non-Hispanic), 48.5% Hispanic/Hispanic, 11.3% Asian, and 9.6% African American. , Indians - 0.6% and immigrants from Oceania - 0.2%. Local Asian and Hispanic communities are among the largest among those in other US cities. Large Armenian and Circassian diasporas also formed in the city.

In terms of age, the majority of citizens are persons under the age of 20 - 27.8%. Citizens aged 20 to 34 represent 23.7%, 35 to 44 years old 15.9%, 45 to 54 years old 13.2%, over 65 years old 10.2% and 55 to 64 years old - 9%. The average age is 33.9 years. The number of women among citizens under 65 years of age was 50.5%, and older - 58.3%.

The city is home to people from 140 countries who speak at least 224 languages, the most popular of which are English (native to 40.2% of residents) and Spanish (43.6%). Other Indo-European languages ​​were chosen as native languages ​​by 7% of citizens, and other languages ​​by 9.2%. Many Los Angeles residents were born outside the United States. As of 2006-08, 170.5 thousand residents identified their origin as German, 146.7 thousand as Irish, 129.7 thousand as British, 100.1 thousand as Italian, and 98.7 thousand as Russian.

The city has a number of ethnic neighborhoods that create a vibrant flavor, such as, for example, Armenian, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Filipino and Ethiopian.

It must be said that the number of residents of downtown Los Angeles, in contrast to the central parts of other US cities, whose population is decreasing, has been steadily growing since the 50s. Basically, this trend is maintained due to the influx of immigrants. From the 1920s to the 1960s, the number of Los Angeles residents grew rapidly, mainly due to African Americans moving from the southeast of the country. Beginning in the 1990s, members of the African American middle class began to move to the suburbs, mainly Antelope Valley and the Inland Empire. In urban areas, they were replaced by Hispanics.

Los Angeles is one of the leaders among American cities in terms of the number of Russian speakers. Immigrants from the post-Soviet space live in different corners cities, but most of all their share is in West Hollywood.

Many religions are represented in the city, there are at least a hundred Christian denominations alone. The most widespread among the latter, both in the city and in the whole country, is the Roman Catholic Church. The Los Angeles Jewish community is the third largest in the United States. In addition, adherents of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Islam, Sufism and other religions, as well as such sects and non-traditional beliefs as Kabbalah, neo-paganism, Scientology and others live here. Over three hundred places of worship were built within the city.

If we look at the numbers, we can say that as of 2000, there were 3,804,400 Catholics, 564,700 Jews, 111,600 Evangelicals, 97,400 Mormons, 92,900 Muslims and approximately 37,000 adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Los Angeles County. .

Burial name: Losan(d) Zheles, Losan(d) Zheles, Losan(d) Zheleska, Angelinos.

Los Angeles city photo. Los Angeles photography

Information about the city of Los Angeles on Wikipedia:

Link to Los Angeles website. A bunch of additional information you can take it by reading them on the official website of Los Angeles, official portal Los Angeles and government.
Los Angeles Official Website

Los Angeles city map. Los Angeles yandex maps

Created using the Yandex service People's Map (Yandex map), when zoomed out, you can understand the location of Los Angeles on a map of Russia. Los Angeles Yandex maps. Interactive Yandex map of the city of Los Angeles with the name of the streets, as well as house numbers. The map has all the designations of Los Angeles, it is convenient and easy to use.

On the page you can find some description of Los Angeles. Also see the location of the city of Los Angeles on the Yandex map. Detailed with descriptions and labels of all objects of the city.

Los Angeles is a giant star factory
The main center of Southern California is the world capital for the production of illusions - from cinema to lifestyle. This most "one-story" of large American cities (its population with suburbs is more than 15 million people) has become a symbol of cinematography and entertainment for all tastes. Hollywood, Disneyland, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica resorts - this is what Americans aspire to and focus on.

Los Angeles is a giant city at the junction of the two main cultures of America - the English-speaking North American and Latin American, as well as at the junction of white and Indian America, because 200 thousand representatives of the indigenous population live in the administrative unit "County of Los Angeles" - more than in any another US county. In addition, Los Angeles has become one of the centers of concentration of black Americans and at the same time found itself in the zone of interaction between Western and Eastern civilizations - there are more people from Asian countries than in any other American city. It combines fashionable neighborhoods and areas where the social classes live, the city of the cult of Hollywood and the authorities of the criminal clans, Disneyland and prose. American life. This is the birthplace of many important economic and cultural undertakings, and at the same time, a place, somewhere and everywhere, economic “bubbles” are born and financial scandals occur.

The natural conditions in which Los Angeles grew up are also unusual. The huge metropolis is located in the arid climate zone, with total absence precipitation V summer period. Some 50 km to the northeast (behind the San Gabriel Mountains) stretches a real desert - the Mojave. A about 250 km in the same direction is Death Valley, which for a long time was considered the hottest place on Earth (there was a temperature of +57 ° C). Periodically, hot winds blow in the Los Angeles area, coming from the east from the desert areas. As recently as 2003, thousands of houses burned to the ground as a result of fires that arose for this reason. And yet it was this city that became the second largest city in the United States and IVis one of the largest in the world.

It is difficult to say what attracted people here and pushed them to economic activity. At each stage of development there were reasons for this, Los Angeles developed as if by impulses, layered one on top of the other.

The first European to leave a mention of this stretch of coast was Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. Sailing northward, he drew attention to the numerous smokes from fires in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe current Santa Monica Bay and named it Smoke Bay. But European land development begins only in the second half of the 18th century.

The name Los Angeles is applied to two different levels of territorial coverage. The first is the Los Angeles metropolitan area with 17.5 million inhabitants, which is often referred to as Greater Los Angeles. It is a cluster of urbanized areas that lie within the administrative unit of the same name "Los Angeles County" and four other "counties": Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura. There is also Los Angeles City - a city in the narrow sense of 3.8 million inhabitants, its area is very large - over 1200 square meters. km. This exceeds the official territory of Moscow with a significantly smaller population within these boundaries, which is associated with the much less dense development of Los Angeles.

In 1769, the Spaniards sent an expedition to Upper California with the aim of limiting English and French expansion in the New World and converting the local population to the Catholic faith - up to 30 thousand Indians lived here then. The first settlement near what is now Los Angeles was the Mission of the Archangel Gabriel - San Gabriel, founded in 1771. Six years later, another mission was established to the northwest.

Los Angeles With toit on one vein area Tycho ocean coast of the United States, where The Cordillera recede from the shore and the image the comfort of a wide plain. But lane The city was originally founded on some distance from the coastline, because the sea was not determining factor in its foundation. The first Spanish settlements Ntsy created a frontier here of its expansion to the north uh, but then m the city turned out to be and the extreme southwestern border of the United States.

As a result of the activities of these missions, the Indian population was converted to Catholicism. Hard semi-forced labor and diseases brought by the Europeans led to a reduction in their numbers by half. But in economic terms, the monks made an important contribution to the development of the region - they laid the foundations for irrigated agriculture, which in the future became one of its main business cards.
Soon, merchants of mestizo origin began to predominate in the city - descendants of mixed marriages between Spaniards and Indians.


In 1781, a permanent military-civilian settlement grew up on the site where today the center of Los Angeles is located. It was named the city of Her Majesty the Queen of the Angels of the River Porchunchulla and was originally quite small. Its inhabitants were actively engaged in agriculture: in 1800 in Los Angeles there were 315 people and .. 13,500 heads of large cattle. The settlers set up plantations of perennial tree plantations - orange and olive trees, vineyards, and grew wheat. The flood of 1815 forced construction on higher ground. By this time, the construction of the church La Plachita and the Avila Adobe building, which still stand on Olvera Street, dates back to this time.
can still be seen today in the names of many streets in the historic core of Los Angeles. Although international trade was banned, smugglers and whalers plowed the ocean. The opportunities offered by Los Angeles caught the interest of Boston pirate Joseph Chapman, nicknamed El Ingles, and he was the first American to settle here in 1818.

Already in 1900, the county of Los Angeles ranked first in the production of villages. With economic production, which it retained over the next 50 years. The growth of the city was also facilitated by the allotment of vast lands formerly used as ranches. In addition, the healing properties of the warm, dry climate have attracted many well-to-do Americans here.

After Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, Upper California became a Mexican state. The new government disenfranchised the Spanish clergy, and the mission lands ended up in the hands of prominent mestizo families. This marked the beginning of the formation of a prosperous class of landowners - ranchers. On huge areas, an average of 6 thousand hectares. fat herds of cattle grazed. This activity attracted labor from Southern Mexico.
In 1835, Los Angeles received the status of the capital of Mexican California, although the number of its inhabitants barely exceeded a thousand people. Among them were immigrants from the United States, who arrived here after Chapman, pioneers who hunted furs and sought to get rich. They traded in skins, supplied consumer goods. By marrying mestizos, they integrated into the local society. In 1830 there were only 29 Americans in the city.

The Los Angeles area attracted the attention of US President Andrew Jackson, who offered the Mexican government a cash ransom.
for these lands, but was refused. Meanwhile, the United States facilitated the separation of Texas from Mexico and annexed it in 1845, after which their interest in California clearly increased. In 1846, a war broke out between the two * countries, as a result of which the United States received Upper California and other Mexican lands west of the Rio Grande.

Big Hollywood is locatedTo northwest of downtown. Part of it is its own nno hollywood k as the center of the film industry. However, the private part of ki but industry ii moved to westsay a long time ago d, and in Golly voodoo remained predominantly rich and related activities.

Under pressure from land speculators, the California Land Claims Act of 1851 was passed to challenge the rights of ranchers. As a result, many of them lost their possessions and went bankrupt. The local Anglo-American elite profited from land sales. The position of the new ranchmen was greatly strengthened by the unprecedented rise in the price of beef caused by the gold rush of 1849-1854. in northern California.

The problem of providing the city with water was solved by William Mulholland, who headed the Department of Water Supply in the city council in 1904. An aqueduct was built, through which water was transferred to the city from the Owens River lying to the north - a distance of almost 400 km. Later, however, it turned out that in order to demonstrate the extreme lack of water, pain w not its quantity intentionally ordered h poured into the reservoirs, and h but limited to the city. Tem time some wealthy investors were secretly buying up land both in the Owens River area and in the San Fes-a-s-do valley, where the aqueduct ended uk .

As a result, to bring waterTo breed, the San Fernando Valley had to be included in the city limits, which skyrocketed the prices of these lands. Many problems also arose with the farmers through whose possessions the aqueduct was laid. This era of "water wars" is reflected in literary works and ki but the films.

When the deposits dried up, gold prospectors poured into Los Angeles, where lawlessness already reigned. Numerous gangs robbed mail carriages, and murders became commonplace. Ethnic and racial relations escalated. Despite the chaos, the city continued to grow, especially since the late 70s, when rail links were established with the eastern states. The possibility of deliveries to the east was a powerful stimulus for the development of the plantation economy and attracted additional workers.

However, the development of the city was hampered by the lack of a harbor and a reliable water supply. The first problem was solved thanks to the activities of Finnis Banning, an energetic realtor and developer, who founded another settlement 30 km south of Los Angeles. Town
connected to the coast by a canal and equipped with a harbor. In 1910 new town officially became the Port of Los Angeles. Today he is one of
largest ports in the world.

By the 20s. Los Angeles' economy began to be dominated by oil production. The landscape here was now created primarily by numerous oil rigs. Large oil storage facilities and oil refineries were built in the port; The development of the oil industry was facilitated by the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. After oil business the automotive and aviation industries appear in Southern California. The development of the latter was spurred on by the First World War.

The central part of Downtown is the historical core of the mountainsOh yeah. Until the secondworld war here was the center of Los Angeles, but forTeat aboutwell-knownfirms moved to the western quarters - New Dauntaun, and the area becamedysfunctional. In the north, on a hill, is the districtn civilcenter. It houses administration buildings, Musescall center,Museum contemporary art. In 2003, the station was completed: the Walt Disney Concert Hall, in whicht concerts as a classclassical, jazz and popular music. Zdania representsan example of modernist architecture andvery attractive.

To the already established industries in the 20s. a new one was added - the film industry. Hollywood, founded back in 1888 as a religious colony, has become
recognized as the capital of the US film industry. Los Angeles has become a kind of promised land for wealthy Americans, the city of the American dream.


With industrialization, the influx of migrants also increased, and by the end of the 1920s. The population of the city has exceeded one million. Suburbs have grown up, stretching along the highways leading to the city, making a certain contribution to the spontaneity of development. The sunny coast attracted a lot of vacationers who rushed to the so-called Venetian coast and to the pier extending into the ocean in the Santa Monica area.
Los Angeles had to experience all the hardships of the Great Depression, but the Second World War was one of the most important factors in its new economic upsurge. In 1955, the world's first theme park, Disneyland, opened in Anaheim.

The city served as the main industrial base in the war with Japan, at that time up to 5 thousand new enterprises arose. The ensuing era of the Cold War contributed to the further development of the military industry here, but after its end, defense and aerospace the medical industry in Los Angeles maintained a strong position.

During World War II and post-war years racial issues escalated in Los Angeles. About 120 thousand Americans Japanese descent, who lived on the west coast, were interned by order of President Franklin Roosevelt and moved to special camps. The largest among these was Manzanar in the Owens River valley. In 1943 hundreds American sailors, who were on vacation, carried out a pogrom of the Latin American quarters of the city. In the post-war decades, the influx of black Americans into Los Angeles increased sharply, concentrating in the old poor neighborhoods around Central Avenue.
After the war, the white population began to leave the city center for the lands of Orange County (to the south) and the San Fernando Valley - rich suburbs arose here for that time.

Serious incentives for the development of Los Angeles were created by holding summer Olympic Games 1984 (Before that, Los Angeles had already hosted the Olympics)' 1932) Since the second half of the 90s. the city is flourishing again. Los Angeles City is subdivided into Downtown, East Los Angeles, South Los Angeles. Harbor. Big Hollywood, Mid Wilhelm and the San Fernando Valley.

Down Town is the seat of the Los Angeles City and Los Angeles County governments. most of the main facilities of the klpra and sports facilities. many shops and entertainment venues. Some office buildings have been preserved since the beginning of the 20th century. Until the 60s. due to seismic hazard, buildings with a maximum of 14-15 floors were built, therefore for a long time the tallest building was City Hall (138 m). After the lifting of restrictions, the palm passed to skyscrapers built in Mid-Wilshire (Century City). Today, the tallest building in the United States west of the Mississippi River is located in Downtown Los Angeles - U. S. Bank Tower, 310 m.

Los Angeles is a city of serious problems, but at the same time of high dynamics. Throughout its history, it has proved that it is possible to develop both in unfavorable natural conditions and at the intersection of races and cultures.

With their usual scope, Los Angeles people relate to science and education. There are three universities in the city, in that body the largest in the United States are the University of California and the University of California. And the recently opened California Science Center with didactic interactive programs Designed for those who today are from 3 to 13 years old. The city is proud not only of a powerful film industry, but also of its scientists. There is an observatory museum on Mount Wilson, created by astrophysicist Larry Webster in memory of prominent astronomers who worked here such as Hubble and visited this place (like the great Einstein, for example).

You can also find rest from the city noise on the picturesque island of Satalina, surrounded by the waves of the Pacific Ocean. But in the tourist area "Fishing Harbor", snow-white yachts are still standing at the berths, you will not find peace: roller-skating, rock concerts right under the palm trees, thousands of "pilgrims" at the bodybuilding corral, where Arnold Schwarzenegger himself once started - bodybuilder, actor and now Governor of California. It is these people who become the legends of Los Angeles, and every resident is sure that he owes his success only to their city.

Los Angeles knows how to advertise for itself and has long specialized in this field. He created himself. As the writer Mark Girouard noted: “Americans came here to plant oranges and grapes, for vacations, to get rich and die in the warmth.” Many, having come to rest, stayed forever, confident that best place for life, prosperity and health promotion than the resorts of Santa Monica and Pasadena, there is nowhere else in the world. And windsurfing fanatics believe that the most “ a big wave on the coast of Los Angeles. In a word: all the best here.

But visiting Los Angeles and not visiting the very first theme amusement park is unthinkable. Disneyland was conceived, built and opened in 1955 in Alaheim - in one of the suburban areas - by the genius of the cartoon world, Walt Disney. More than ten million people visit the park every year. They come with the whole family for vacations and weekends, they settle in special park hotels, because it is impossible even to ask to see this miracle in one day. The scenery of almost all Disney films is reproduced here, and the visitors are entertained by cartoon characters familiar from childhood. Corners imitating nature and life are created here. various countries, and built numerous rides based on the adventures in the animation land. There are dinosaurs and crocodiles, caves filled with treasures, a haunted graveyard and the houses of the three little pigs. Everything is neat and sparkling clean. On an old locomotive with a tall chimney, in twenty minutes you can “explore” all the zones of America, make a trip around Me sissy pi on a raft on which Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn traveled. And together with Alice from Wonderland you can climb into the rabbit hole, but it's best to see all your favorite characters together on traditional cartoon parades Manson's House of Horror Pavilion, Indiana Jones Adventure Pavilion, the bright worlds of Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh - a fairy tale world, intended for family vacation, continuation of the cartoon in real life. All this is something akin to Los Angeles itself - the capital but the production of illusions. Sometimes it even seems that the vast citrus groves surrounding the suburbs, the ocean waves violently rolling towards the shore, the endless beaches and palm trees are just gigantic scenery, everything is so massive that it looks artificial and even surreal. But, in fact, Los Angeles is the embodied part of the Great American Dream, the city that millions dream about.

The life of the "City of Angels" rushes at a frantic pace, but many of its residents honestly admit that in the riot of colors and lights, ostentatious luxury and loud glory, a feeling of fear of losing this "paradise" cuts through with a bitter foot. Although crime here is not higher than in any other US city, there is an overabundance of police patrols and cars, and the roofs of all buildings are prudently marked with letters and numbers - for the convenience of patrol helicopters. Perhaps, but due to the fact that here, as nowhere else, they understand how often pava, success and wealth turn out to be short-lived. However, oblivion can only threaten people, and Los Angeles will forever remain the capital of dreams, as long as at least one star shines ...

It is called the city of angels, dreams and a place where dreams come true - it's all about Los Angeles. It ranks second after New York in terms of population in the United States and 13th worldwide. A huge urban agglomeration spread over more than 1,000 square kilometers along the Pacific coast. On this moment Los Angeles has a population of over 4 million. Just over half a century ago, four out of five city dwellers were white, not Hispanic. Now the situation has changed radically - the indigenous population is already less than 50%. The metropolis is multinational, diverse and therefore even more interesting.

From the history of the city

The territory of modern Los Angeles in the 16th century was inhabited by the Chumash and Tongva Indians. Europeans first set foot on this coast in 1542, sailing on two ships under the command of the famous navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. The next missionary expedition arrived in these places after more than 200 years. By 1820, the city of Los Angeles had a population of 650. It was the largest settlement in California. Several factors contributed to the rapid development at once: a favorable climate for agriculture, favorable geographical position and access to the ocean, the discovery of oil fields.

At the moment, the main industries of the city are the computer, television and film industries with billions of dollars in profit, metalworking, automotive, and tourism. Los Angeles accounts for about 90% of all film production in the United States.

Geography and climate

The area of ​​the city is 1290.6 sq. km. It is located in the coastal lowland in an area with seismic instability due to the proximity of the San Andreas Fault. The city has already experienced several major earthquakes, and small seismic vibrations are recorded almost daily by instruments. The region is characterized by a subtropical climate with a hot and dry summer season, followed by a cooler one with heavy rainfall.

Districts of the city

From the point of view of geography, the modern City of Angels is considered as a prototype of the metropolis. The development of transport links contributed to the unification of many small settlements into one large district, all of which have now become separate parts of a large metropolis. Los Angeles, with a population of about 4 million inhabitants, is divided into 80 districts. The main and largest of them are: Hollywood, East, South, Center, Mid-Wilshire, Westside, San Fernando Valley, South Bay and Harbor.

General characteristics of the population

According to the latest data, 4.1 million people live in the city on a permanent or temporary basis. at the same time, it is about 2904.9 citizens per 1 sq. km. km. The racial composition is very diverse. The number of whites is within 49.5%, Asians - 10.4%, African Americans - 9.9%, indigenous people (Indians) - 0.6%, 26.5 - representatives of other nationalities. At the same time, almost half of the city's population defines its origin as Hispanic. In the number of diasporas, the largest of them are Asian, Armenian. Such a diverse population of Los Angeles also influenced the prevalence of languages. In the last census, 43.6% and 40.2% reported Spanish and English as their native language, respectively.

The age structure of the city is young, which is not surprising, because talented young people flock to it for fame and success, and adventure seekers also come here. Thus, 27.8% of the population is under 20 years old, 23.7% - from 20 to 34 years old. The average age of a Los Angeles resident is 33.9 years. According to the gender criterion, the population was divided almost equally. Women aged 18 to 65 are 50.5%.

Speaking of Los Angeles, whose population includes 88 thousand people who do not have a roof over their heads, one cannot fail to mention its sad glory as the capital of the homeless in the United States. The reasons for this are varied: warm climate, unfulfilled hopes and plans, unemployment, a large number of teenagers from orphanages and foster families, who, after 18 years, one might say, find themselves on the street.

Los Angeles: population - immigrants

The city has become home to people from more than 140 countries who speak more than 224 languages. This fact makes it second only to Miami in terms of population born outside the United States. Statistics for 2006-2008 indicate that people of the following nationalities live in the metropolis: Germans (170.5 thousand inhabitants), Irish - 146.7 thousand, British - 129.7 thousand, Russians - 98, 7 thousand. In connection with this, the most important element of the multinational culture of Los Angeles are the ethnic quarters of the city, which add a unique colorful flavor to the huge metropolis.

Little Armenia

The largest and richest Armenian community in the world is located in Los Angeles. It is concentrated in 10 districts of the city at once, but the largest one is in Hollywood. More than 150 thousand Armenians in it are Los Angeles, whose population is so multinational. There is broadcasting in the native language on television and radio, magazines and newspapers are published, dozens of churches function, moreover, there are deputies in the government who officially represent this people. Armenians are involved in almost all areas of the city: culture, politics, medicine, restaurant business, etc.

Korea Town

According to 2010 data, 452 thousand Koreans (immigrants or their descendants) live in Los Angeles, which is about 1.2% of the total population of the city. This is the largest diaspora of people in the United States. The district is located in the very center and is the most densely populated. Speaking of which population of Los Angeles prevails in it, it is necessary to make an amendment. Despite its name, the area is a mixture of cultures, where, with a large number of Koreans, Hispanics are still in the lead in the presence - 53%, 22% of which are Mexicans.

Russian-speaking community in Los Angeles

By the number of people is one of the largest in the United States. It is located in West Hollywood. The national composition of the Russian-speaking population is mainly Jews who moved to these places in the 70-80s of the last century. It was quite difficult to equip life and life alone, so the former compatriots tried to stick together. Here you can find almost everything that immigration can miss: from pickles and herring to marshmallows and sunflower seeds. A large number of shops and shops offer goods of various profiles, restaurants with traditional Russian cuisine - all this is available, in addition, magazines and newspapers are published, artists come on tour.

Chinatown

One of the old districts of the city, which was formed at the end of the nineteenth century, is now located in downtown Los Angeles. The decline observed in its development from the 1910s was replaced by an upsurge a decade later. Since that time, mainly with the aim of attracting tourists, a new stage of modernization of the place began. At the moment, not only the Chinese population is concentrated in it, but also many other Asian peoples - Vietnamese, Thais, Indonesians, Filipinos, etc. It should be noted how much of the population in Los Angeles is of Asian origin - 13.1%, including and Japanese, Koreans. This is a stunning, colorful and amazing place with an indescribable atmosphere of the traditional East.

By the way, not far from Little Armenia there is another Asian region - the Thai quarter, which is very small, but very interesting from a historical and cultural point of view, chosen by numerous tourists.

In conclusion, it is worth saying that Los Angeles, the population of which is very numerous and multinational, is a unique bright kaleidoscope, where the most diverse world cultures and religions exist side by side. The large-scale film industry contributes to the even greater popularization of the city. It is dynamically developing and prospering, attracting many tourists, guests and just adventurers every year.