The city of Los Angeles is located in a basin of Southern California, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean that extends through the Santa Monica Mountains and into the San Fernando Valley. With a population of 3,847,400 people, Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States after New York, surpassing Chicago in the 1970s. It has an area of 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) and is the largest city in California. Los Angeles is surrounded by East Los Angeles, Huntington Park, Maywood, Walnut Park, Commerce, Bell, Glendale, South Pasadena, Monterey Park, South Gate, Cudahy, West Hollywood, Alhambra, Bell Gardena and Westmont.
It has a unique blend of Spanish and Mexican influences due to its former colony status under both countries. The city is also home to many ethnic groups including Mexicans, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Salvadorans, Iranians and Armenians. Los Angeles is known for being the entertainment capital of the world. It's home to many celebrities and hosts a variety of movies, TV shows and fashion shows.
It's also one of the most expensive cities to live in. The Santa Monica Mountains cross the city and separate it into the San Fernando Valley to the north and the Los Angeles Basin to the south. The Los Angeles River also flows through the city at about 51 miles (82 km). Los Angeles moves about a quarter of an inch (6.3 millimeters) eastward each year due to its tectonic plates and uneven terrain.
This brings Los Angeles and San Francisco closer by 2.5 inches (64 mm) each year. The climate in Los Angeles is a Mediterranean climate with warm and dry summers and milder winters with more rain. Snow is very rare except on mountain tops where some light snow can occasionally fall. Los Angeles has many long beaches such as Venice Beach as well as many attractions such as Hollywood Walk of Fame, Mann's (Grauman) Chinese Theater and L.
A County Museum of Art. The city also has a zoo with an active population of wild cougars. There are numerous additional colleges and universities outside the city limits in the greater Los Angeles area including the Claremont Colleges consortium which includes some of the most selective liberal arts universities in the U. S.
Many varieties of Judaism are represented in the greater Los Angeles area including reformist, conservative, orthodox and reconstructionist. The charter of the City of Los Angeles created a system of neighborhood advisory councils that would represent the diversity of stakeholders defined as those who live, work or own property in the neighborhood. Despite congestion in the city, the average daily commute time for travelers in Los Angeles is shorter than other major cities including New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago. On September 14th 1908, the Los Angeles City Council enacted residential and industrial land use zones. Los Angeles is rich in native plant species partly due to its diversity of habitats including beaches, wetlands and mountains.
Many native species such as the Los Angeles sunflower have become so rare that they are considered endangered. The Foursquare Gospel International Church was founded in Los Angeles by Aimee Semple McPherson in 1923 and continues to be based there to this day. The Japanese represent 0.9% of the population of Los Angeles with a Little Tokyo established in the center of the city and another major community located in Sawtelle district of west Los Angeles. Outside of a few centers such as Downtown, Warner Center, Century City, Koreatown, Miracle Mile, Hollywood and Westwood skyscrapers and high-rise buildings are not common in Los Angeles. Los Angeles hosts many annual awards such as Academy Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards and Grammy Awards among others.
