Top20LosAngeles.com - Your Top20Guide to Los Angeles, CA.

Los Angeles (IPA: /lɑˈsændʒələs/, IPA: /los ˈaŋxeles/ in Spanish) is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States.^[1] Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, it is rated an alpha world city, having an estimated population of 3.8 million^[2] and spanning over 498.3 square miles (1,290.6 km²) in Southern California. Additionally, the Los Angeles metropolitan area is home to nearly 12.9 million^[3] people who hail from all over the globe and speak 224 different languages. Los Angeles is the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populous and one of the most diverse counties^[4] in the United States. Its inhabitants are known as "Angelenos" (IPA: /ændʒəˈlinoʊz/).

Los Angeles was founded in 1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola). It became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its independence from Spain. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican-American War, Los Angeles and California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thus becoming part of the United States; Mexico retained the territory of Baja California. It was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850 — five months before California achieved statehood.

Los Angeles is one of the world's centers of culture, technology, media, business, and international trade. It is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and it is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. Los Angeles also leads the world in producing popular entertainment — such as motion picture, television, internet content, video games and recorded music — which forms the base of its international fame and global status.

History

Main article: History of Los Angeles, California

The old city plaza, 1869

The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva (or Gabrieleños) and Chumash Native American tribes hundreds of years ago. The first Europeans arrived in 1542 under João Cabrilho, a Portuguese explorer who claimed the area as the City of God for the Spanish Empire; he continued with his voyage and did not establish a settlement.^[5] The next contact would not come until 227 years later, when Gaspar de Portola, along with Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2, 1769. Crespi noted that the site had the potential to be developed into a large settlement.^[6]

In 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra built the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel near Whittier Narrows, in what is now called San Gabriel Valley.^[7] In 1777, the new governor of California, Felipe de Neve, recommended to the viceroy of New Spain that the site noted by Juan Crespi be developed into a pueblo. The town was founded on September 4, 1781, by a group of 44 settlers and was named "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los ángeles Del Río de Porciúncula" ("The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula").^[8] These settlers were of Filipino, Native American, African, and Spanish ancestry, with two-thirds being mestizo or mulatto. A majority of the settlers had some African ancestry.^[9] The settlement remained a small ranch town for decades, but by 1820 the population had increased to about 650 residents.^[10] Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the historic district Olvera Street, the oldest part of Los Angeles.^[11]

New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, and the pueblo continued as a part of Mexico. Mexican rule ended during the Mexican-American War: Americans took control from the Californios after a series of battles, culminating on January 13, 1847, with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga. Later, with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the Mexican government formally ceded Alta California and other territories to the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Los Angeles City Hall, shown here in 1931, was built in 1928 and was the tallest structure in the city until 1964, when height restrictions were removed

Railroads arrived when the Southern Pacific completed its line to Los Angeles in 1876.^[12] Oil was discovered in 1892, and by 1923 Los Angeles was producing one-quarter of the world's petroleum.^[13]

By 1900, the population had grown to more than 102,000 people,^[14]^{[broken citation]} putting pressure on the city's water supply.^[15] 1913's completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, under the supervision of William Mulholland, assured the continued growth of the city. In 1915, Los Angeles began the annexation of dozens of neighboring communities without water supplies of their own.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1920s, the motion picture and aviation industries flocked to Los Angeles. In 1932, with population surpassing one million,^[16]^{[broken citation]} the city hosted the Summer Olympics. This period also saw the arrival of exiles from the increasing pre-war tensions of Europe, including Thomas Mann, Fritz Lang, Bertolt Brecht, Arnold Schoenberg, and Lion Feuchtwanger.^{[citation needed]}

World War II and the expansion of defense industries brought new growth and prosperity to the city.^{[citation needed]} Thousands of African Americans migrated from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi to work in these expanding fields.^{[citation needed]} The state also succumbed to war fears, transporting most Japanese American residents from Los Angeles and other cities to distant internment camps for the duration of the war.^{[citation needed]}

The post-war years saw an even greater boom, as urban sprawl expanded the city into the San Fernando Valley.^[17] In 1969, Los Angeles became one of the birthplaces of the Internet, as the first ARPANET transmission was sent from UCLA to SRI in Menlo Park.^[18]

Also in the 1980s, Los Angeles became the center of the heavy metal music scene, especially glam metal bands. In 1984, the city hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the second time. It became the most financially successful Olympics in history, and only the second Olympics to turn a profit — the other being the 1932 Summer Olympics, also held in Los Angeles.

Downtown Los Angeles saw heavy development from the 1980s to 1990's, including the construction of some of the city's tallest skyscrapers.

During the remainder of the 1980s, Los Angeles was plagued by increasing gang violence and police corruption. Racial tensions erupted again in 1992 with the Rodney King controversy and the large-scale riots that followed the acquittal of his police attackers. In 1994, the 6.7 Northridge earthquake shook the city, causing $12.5 billion in damage and 72 deaths.^[19]

Voters defeated efforts by the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood to secede from the city in 2002.^[20]

Gentrification and urban redevelopment have occurred in many parts of the city, most notably Hollywood, Koreatown, Silver Lake, Echo Park and Downtown.^[21] Gentrification has recently spilled into the