Los Angeles, the USA’s second largest city after New York, sprawls along the Pacific coast of southern California. Its coastline actually stretches 122km (76 miles) from Malibu to Long Beach, while inland the city spreads out to fill a vast, flat and once arid basin ringed by the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains.

Arriving by plane gives a good first impression of the city. From out of this vast flat grid of streets and buildings, there rises a cluster of imposing skyscrapers to mark Downtown - 26km (16 miles) inland from the coast. To the northeast is Pasadena; to the west and northwest are Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Century City, as well as the wide San Fernando Valley; to the south is Long Beach and along the west coast are Santa Monica, Venice Beach and Marina del Rey.

Founded in 1781 by Mexican settlers, the city was given the cumbersome name of El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula (the Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula). Since then, it has been called everything from La La Land to Tinseltown but is most commonly known simply as LA. However, Los Angeles itself is actually just the largest of 88 different incorporated cities that make up the greater metropolitan area that we think of as Los Angeles.

Over the decades, the city grew from a cowtown to a Gold Rush boomtown to an oil town - and oil pumps can still be seen, bobbing up and down like mechanical donkeys. By the end of the 19th century, settlers were heading west in larger numbers, lured by the same thing that still attracts newcomers today: the mild climate, the sea and the almost continuous sunshine. On average, LA enjoys 292 sunny days each year, cooled by gentle ocean breezes and little rain. And the sunsets can be truly fabulous.

But the turning point in the city’s fame came in the 1920s, when the fledgling film industry realised that it was sunshine that was missing from their film-making in New York City - and decamped to the west. And so Hollywood, then a simple district, became famous. Today, with major studios located here, such as Paramount, Universal, Fox and Warner Brothers, it is labelled the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’.

However, there is more to LA than Hollywood. Disneyland, America’s famous fun park is the area’s most popular site and well worth a visit. The city is also home to many world-renowned cultural institutions, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the LA Philharmonic (now based in the striking Walt Disney Concert Hall), the Getty Museum and the Getty Villa.

Visitors come to see the huge Hollywood sign in Griffith Park and the mansions of the stars in Beverly Hills, but also to experience the nightlife on Sunset Strip, the beach life, the car culture and just to people watch.

LA is exuberant - there are few places in the world where the phrase ‘Express Yourself’ is taken so literally. Find hippy health fanatics to muscled fitness freaks and art deco lovers to devotees of off-beat religions - they all exist alongside the glamorous and the wealthy.

From classic cars to silicone, LA represents people’s dreams - and thousands come seeking fame and fortune or just a new life. Los Angeles is the country’s gateway for immigrants from Asia, the Pacific Rim, Eastern Europe, Mexico and Latin America. People from 160 countries, speaking 96 different languages, make up Los Angeles.

Much of Los Angeles lives in a bubble - one where it is always sunny and nothing (be it smog, the occasional earthquake or a limited water supply for a growing population) will stop the Angelenos’ determination to work hard and live a rich life.

But the city is really a mosaic of diversity with areas known for specific cultures. Historically, the predominantly African-American South Los Angeles is becoming increasingly Latino. Popularised by movies and hip hop as ’the hood,’ it also houses the wealthiest black community in America in the Baldwin Hills neighbourhood.

The Crenshaw District is home to two famous black churches, First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) and West Angeles Church of God in Christ, while the Leimert Park area is famous for its jazz scene, arts and culture. Be aware, as in most big cities, visitors should take caution when wandering through unfamiliar areas.

© 2006 Columbus Travel Publishing Ltd. Disclaimer

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