Play

Los Angeles

City in California, United StatesLos Angeles covers a wide basin on the Pacific coast of Southern California. The Santa Monica Mountains run through the city and separate the Los Angeles Basin from the San Fernando Valley.

What it's known for

Los Angeles is the historic home of the American film and television industry, centred on its Hollywood neighbourhood; by 1921 more than 80 percent of the world's film industry was based there. It is also a major trading city with a large container port.

Fun facts

  1. When it was founded in 1781 under Spanish rule, the town was called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels'.
  2. The Hollywood Sign first read HOLLYWOODLAND when it went up in 1923 to advertise a new housing development.
  3. Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, and it was chosen to host them a third time in 2028.

Finding it on the globe

Trace California's coast south almost to Mexico: Los Angeles is on the Pacific about 200 km northwest of the Mexican border, on Santa Monica Bay.

Easy to mix up

Los Angeles is California's biggest city, but the state capital is Sacramento, far to the north in the Sacramento Valley.

Sources: Wikipedia: Los Angeles, Wikipedia: Hollywood, Los Angeles, Wikipedia: Sacramento, California