Global Study Group

Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the largest city in the state of California by population and the second most populous city in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A., it is an alpha world city having an estimated 2006 population of 3,849,378 and spanning 469.1 square miles (1,214.9 square kilometers). The Los Angeles?Long Beach?Santa Ana metropolitan area is the estimated home to nearly 13 million people. The Greater Los Angeles Area, encompassing a larger area of five counties, has an estimated population of over 17.7 million people. Los Angeles is the county seat of Los Angeles County and its inhabitants are referred to as "Angelenos."
Los Angeles was founded in 1781 by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula). It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following independence from Spain and then a part of the United States in 1848 at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War. It was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850?five months before California achieved statehood.
Los Angeles is one of the world's centers of culture, technology, and international trade, and is home to world-renowned institutions in a broad range of professional and cultural fields. The city and its immediate vicinity lead the world in producing popular entertainment?such as motion picture, television, and recorded music?which forms the base of Los Angeles' international fame and global status.

Climate
The city is situated in a Mediterranean climate zone, experiencing mild, somewhat wet winters and warm to hot summers. Breezes from the Pacific Ocean tend to keep the beach communities of the Los Angeles area cooler in summer and warmer in winter than those further inland; summer temperatures can sometimes be as much as 18 ?F (10 ?C) warmer in the inland communities compared to that of the coastal communities. Coastal areas also see a phenomenon known as the "marine layer," a dense cloud cover caused by the proximity of the ocean that helps keep the temperatures cooler throughout the year. When the marine layer becomes more common and pervades farther inland during the months of May and June, it is called June Gloom.

Religion
Los Angeles is home to adherents of many religions, with Roman Catholicism being the largest due to the high numbers of Hispanic, Filipino, and Irish Americans.

Economy
The Southern Portion of Downtown Los Angeles, consisting of many older buildings and towering skyscrapers. Companies such as Ernst & Young, Aon, Manulife, Paul Hastings, City National Bank, Union Bank of California and more have offices here.The economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, entertainment (television, motion pictures, recorded music), aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion, apparel, and tourism. Los Angeles is also the largest manufacturing center in the United States. The contiguous ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the most significant port in North America and one of the most important ports in the world, and they are vital to trade within the Pacific Rim. Other significant industries include media production, finance, telecommunications, law, health and medicine, and transportation.
For many years, up until the mid-1990s, Los Angeles was home to many major financial institutions in the western United States, including First Interstate Bank, which merged with Wells-Fargo in 1996, Great Western Bank, merged with Washington Mutual in 1998, and Security Pacific National Bank, which merged with Bank of America in 1992. Los Angeles was also home to the Pacific Stock Exchange until it closed in 2001.
The city is home to five major Fortune 500 companies, including aerospace contractor Northrop Grumman, energy company Occidental Petroleum, healthcare provider Health Net, homebuilding company KB Home, and metals distributor Reliance Steel & Aluminum. The University of Southern California (USC) is the city's largest private sector employer.

Education
There are three public universities that reside in the city limits: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA)
Private schools in the city include the University of Southern California (USC), Antioch University's Los Angeles campus, Loyola Marymount University (LMU is also the parent university of Loyola Law School located in Los Angeles), Mount St. Mary's College, Occidental College ("Oxy"), Art Center College of Design (Art Center), Otis College of Art and Design (Otis), American InterContinental University, Alliant International University,Southwestern University School of Law, American Film Institute Conservatory, Charles R. Drew University, Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising's Los Angeles campus (FIDM), and Los Angeles Film School.
The community college system consists of nine campuses governed by the trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District: Los Angeles City College (LACC), Los Angeles Harbor College, Los Angeles Pierce College, Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC), Los Angeles Mission College, East Los Angeles College (ELAC), West Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Southwest College and Los Angeles Trade Technical College. Santa Monica College is operated by the Santa Monica Community College District.

www.wikipedia.org