The Pearl of the West Coast of the United States—Los Angeles, the City of Angels

Los Angeles

Area: 1,214.2 square kilometers (second in the United States, after New York)< /p>

Location: Southern California on the Pacific coast of the western United States

Population: approximately 3.44 million

Large urban area: including Los Angeles County and Orange and Ventura Part of the county and more than 80 large and small towns such as Beverly Hills, 10.515 square kilometers

Average altitude: 84m

A port city on the Pacific coast of southern California, the United States, the industrial and commercial center in the west A big city. The population is 3.097 million (1984), and the large urban area is 7.478 million (1980), ranking third in the country after New York and Chicago. Mexicans and blacks account for a large proportion, and there are also many Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos. The 1990 census showed that 38% of Los Angeles residents were born abroad. The Los Angeles school district is the second largest school district in the United States after New York, with 633,000 students enrolled in the 1990s. The famous University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, and California Institute of Technology CALTECH is all in Los Angeles.

Precision machinery, advanced metal products, electronic instruments, petroleum processing, chemistry, steelmaking, printing, etc. all play an important role here. The port's cargo throughput ranks first among the ports in the Pacific. It mainly exports oil, machinery, fruits, and grains, and imports steel, rubber, materials, etc. Important fishing port and military port. The northern suburbs of Hollywood are the main center of the country's film and television industry. There are many institutions of higher learning such as the University of Los Angeles (founded in 1865), the University of California, Los Angeles (founded in 1919), and the California Institute of Technology (founded in 1891), as well as cultural facilities such as the Natural History Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Music Center. Important tourist destination.

Geography

Los Angeles is bordered by the San Pedro Bay and Santa Monica Bay on the east side of the vast Pacific Ocean, backed by the vast San Gabriel Mountains, covering an area of ??more than 1,200 square meters. kilometer. The large urban area includes Los Angeles County and parts of Orange and Ventura counties, as well as more than 80 large and small towns such as Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and Long Beach, with a total area of ??10,567 square kilometers. The city is located in an open basin surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one side. Except for some hills, the ground is flat with an average altitude of 84 meters. The highest point, Elsey Peak, is 1,549 meters high. It is sunny all year round, dry with little rain, and has a mild and pleasant climate. The average temperature is about 12 degrees. The average maximum temperature in January is 19C (66F) and the minimum temperature is 9C (48F). In July, the average maximum temperature is 24C (75C) and the minimum is 7C (63F). ). The annual precipitation is only 357 mm, mainly winter rain.

History

On August 2, 1769 (the second day of the Catholic Marian Day), the Spanish expedition came here to find a place to open a church. In 1781, a town was built and settled. It was called the "Town of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Angels", later referred to as the "City of Angels" (the Spanish transliteration is Los Angeles). Los Angeles was originally an Indian pastoral village and became a Spanish colony in 1781. Americans first arrived here in 1818. It belonged to Mexico in 1821. After the Mexican-American War in 1846, it was ceded to the United States and became a U.S. territory. The "Gold Rush" in the West in 1848 attracted a large number of immigrants. On April 4, 1850, Los Angeles was officially upgraded to the capital of The Greater Los Angeles. The census at that time showed that there were only 1,610 local residents. In the same year, California became the 31st state of the United States. At that time, the population of Los Angeles was only 1,600.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, with the discovery of oil, Los Angeles began to rise and rapidly developed into the largest city in the western United States. After the Second World War, with the rise of modern industry, the prosperity of business, finance and tourism, the surge in immigration, and the continuous expansion of urban areas, Los Angeles became a megacity in the United States. Today, Los Angeles has become the largest base for the petrochemical, marine, aerospace and electronic industries in the United States. It is one of the major centers of science and technology in the United States. It has the largest number of scientists and engineering technicians in the United States and enjoys the title of "Technology City". In recent years, Los Angeles' financial industry and business have also developed rapidly. Hundreds of banks have offices in Los Angeles, including many well-known international consortiums, such as Lockheed, Northrop, Rockwell, etc. Los Angeles has Becoming the financial center second only to New York.