The City of Los Angeles holds many distinctions. LA is the entertainment capital of the world, a cultural mecca boasting more than 300 museums, and a paradise of good weather. From tourist attractions like the Walk of Fame’s collection of stars (numbering 2,342, and growing by one or two a month) to career opportunities like those presented in the expanding biotech industry, Los Angeles is the place to be. It is the only city in North America to have hosted the Summer Olympics twice. Downtown LA is the largest government center outside of Washington, D.C. Los Angeles has the only remaining wooden lighthouse in the state (located in San Pedro’s Fermin Park) and the largest historical theater district on the National Register of Historic Places (located Downtown on Broadway).
Los Angeles is on the leading edge of several growth industries. The LA five-county area, with more than 134,000 jobs in the fashion industry, has surpassed New York’s fashion district workforce. The metro area also has more than 230,000 people at work in health sciences/biomedical activities and 361,000 people in aerospace/technology. Here are some more facts and figures about Los Angeles: the city, the county and the region.
SIZE:
City of Los Angeles: 467 square miles
County of Los Angeles: 4,081 square miles
Los Angeles Five-County Area: 34,149 square miles
(Los Angeles, Riverside, Ventura, Orange and San Bernardino counties)
There are 88 incorporated cities in Los Angeles County ranging from Vernon (population 95) to Los Angeles city (population 3.8 million).
GEOGRAPHY:
Los Angeles spans a widely diverse geographic area. Primarily a desert basin, the area is surrounded by the San Gabriel Mountain range and divided by the Santa Monica Mountains. Los Angeles County has 75 miles of coastline and altitudes ranging from 9 feet below sea level at Wilmington to 10,080 feet above sea level atop Mt. San Antonio. Area rivers include the Los Angeles, Rio Hondo and San Gabriel rivers.
CLIMATE:
Southern California’s climate has often been described as “perfect” and with good reason. Most days are sunny and warm, with gentle ocean breezes in the summer. The humidity is low with little rain. In fact, there are no unpleasant seasons in Los Angeles.
Annual precipitation: 14.89 inches Average high temperature: 74° F
Avg. sunny/partly sunny days: 329 days Average low temperature: 56° F
HISTORY:
Sept. 4, 1781, is the city’s official birthdate, when 44 vecinos pobladores—village settlers from the Mexican provinces of Sonora and Sinaloa — made their home in what is now Downtown Los Angeles. Two of the 44 settlers were Spaniards, while the others were Indians, Blacks and Mestizos (of mixed ancestry). Here to greet the pobladores was a tribe of American Indians called Tongva. The Spanish named the new settlement El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles, or The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels. After the territory changed hands from Spain to Mexico, the town was officially declared a city in 1835. In August 1846, American soldiers entered Los Angeles, and the stars and stripes have flown over the city since January 1847.
POPULATION (2008 estimates):
City of Los Angeles: 4.0 Million
County of Los Angeles: 10.3 Million*
Los Angeles Six-County Area: 21.7 Million
(Los Angeles, Riverside, Ventura, Orange and San Bernardino and San Diego counties)
Source: *CA State Govt Population Bureau (As of April 2009)
If the Los Angeles six-county area were a state, it would surpass all states in total population size with the exception of California and Texas. The County of Los Angeles alone would be the eighth most populated state, behind Ohio, with 11.5 million, and ahead of Michigan, with 10.1 million people. Los Angeles ranks as the second largest city in the nation.
PEOPLE:
The diverse, multiethnic population of Los Angeles today distinguishes the city as the cultural hub of the Pacific Rim. In fact, Los Angeles is one of only two U.S. cities without a majority population. People from 140 countries, speaking approximately 86 different languages, currently call Los Angeles home.
Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 47.3 percent
White: 29.2 percent
Asian/Pacific Islander: 13.1 percent
African-American: 8.9 percent
American Indian/Others: 0.3 percent
TOURISM ESTIMATES (2007):
Visitors to Los Angeles County 25.9 million
Domestic overnight visitors 21.04 million
International visitors 4.84 million
Visitor-related spending $14.2 billion
NUMBER OF PASSENGERS FOR EACH AIRPORT IN 2008:
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) 59,815,646
Ontario International Airport 6,232,761
Bob Hope Airport (Burbank) 5,331,404
Long Beach Airport 2,913,926
Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is a unique system of four airports owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles. Each of the airports – Los Angeles International (LAX), LA/Ontario International (ONT), Van Nuys (VNY) and LA/Palmdale Regional (PMD) – plays an integral role in helping to meet the regional demand for passenger, cargo and general aviation service in the 21st century.
As the gateway to the West Coast and the #1 international gateway to Asia/Pacific, LAX offers direct flights from 75 domestic cities and 61 international cities. LAX is the fifth busiest passenger airport in the world. Opened in 1984, the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX (TBIT) is undergoing a major renovation program designed to make traveling through this international gateway safer, faster and more comfortable. The three-year project, with an estimated cost of $723.5 million, is expected to be completed by March 2010.
LA/Ontario International is a medium-hub, full-service airport with commercial jet service to major U.S. cities and many international destinations. ONT is located in the Inland Empire, approximately 35 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles in the center of Southern California. The airport is the centerpiece of one of the fastest-growing transportation regions in the United States.
CRUISE TRAFFIC FOR THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES IN 2008: 1,200,000
AMTRAK TOTAL RIDERSHIP TO/FROM LOS ANGELES 2007: 1,464,289 Riders
BEACHES:
The Los Angeles County coastline, stretching from Malibu to Long Beach, is 75 miles long.
BUSINESS:
The leading industries, based on employment in LA County are:
