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Introduction Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States in terms of population and one of the largest in terms of area. It is the center of a five-county metropolitan area and is considered the prototype of the future metropolis—a city on the cutting edge of all of the advantages and the problems of large urban areas. The glamour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, the Sunset Strip, and the famous beaches have added to Los Angeles's reputation as a California paradise and have contributed to the area's phenomenal growth. Los Angeles is a city of fascinating diversity, incorporating one of the largest Hispanic populations in the United States, a major Asian community, and sizable populations of nearly every ethnic background in the world. Los Angeles is also a center of international trade and banking, manufacturing, and tourism. The city offers something for everyone in its large conglomeration of separate and very different districts: a sleek, ultra-modern downtown, miles of beautiful beaches, mansions and stunning canyon homes built with opulent luxury, and some of the world's most glamorous shopping and dining. Beneath the glitter, though, is a troubled, racially divided city, with extremely high unemployment rates for young African Americans and Latinos.
Los Angeles is a city in Los Angeles County. It is the county seat. It is originally a Spanish settlement known as "Reina de los Angeles" or "Queen of the Angels". The community is in the Pacific Standard time zone.
ClimateLos Angeles weather is generally warm and pleasant all year round. Protected from extremes of temperature and humidity by the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains, and influenced by the warm, moist air from the Pacific, it's summers are dry and sunny and winters cool and wet. Offshore breezes cool the beach communities during the hot summer months, but inland temperatures can rise to well over 90°F (32°C), especially in the numerous canyons and valleys of the area. Smog often gathers in low-lying areas and sometimes the hot, dusty Santa Ana winds blow in strongly from the surrounding mountains.
The latitude of Los Angeles is 34.052N.
The longitude is -118.242W.
Area: 469.1 square miles (2000)
Elevation: 340 feet above sea level
Average Annual Temperature: 63.9° F
Average Annual Precipitation: 17 inches
Population: 3,844,829 (as on July 2005)
Los Angeles attractions: Los Angeles Zoo, Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden, CBS Television City, Griffith Observatory and Planetarium.
ArtThe plein air movement of impressionistic landscape painting found early adherents in the Los Angeles area, and became a signature style of California art. In the 1960s, Corita Kent, then known as Sister Mary Corita of Immaculate Heart College, created bright, bold serigraphs carrying the messages of love and peace.
Los Angeles is known for its mural art, and its thousands of examples of wall art are believe to outnumber those in every other city in the world. Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jose Clemente Orozco all created murals in the area. The city also has a famous "public art" program which requires developers to contribute one percent of the cost of construction of new buildings to a public art fund. Much of this money has been spent in downtown Los Angeles.
Some of the most respected art museums in the world can be found in Los Angeles. They include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Getty Center, the Norton Simon Museum, the Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens, and the Hammer Museum at the University of California Los Angeles. Other smaller art museums in the city include the Craft and Folk Art Museum, the California African American Museum of Art, and many sculpture gardens throughout the city, including those at the University of Judaism and the University of California Los Angeles.