Los Angeles, USA

Los Angeles, sometimes called "the City of Angles, or simply, "L.A.," is the largest city in California and the second largest city in the United states behind New York City. It is the center of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area with a population of 18 million people that includes cities such as Anaheim, Glendale, Burbank, and others.

Los Angeles was founded in 1781 as Mission Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles by 46 Mexican settlers. After the area was ceded to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the railroads came to town in 1876, and oil was found in 1892. The population quickly exploded and by 1923 Los Angeles was producing 25 percent of the world's petroleum. By 1900, the city's population eclipsed 100,000 people. When the municipality of Hollywood merged into Los Angeles in 1910, the region's movie production industry was born. Before long, the city became the center of the world's film industry which helped insulate it from the disastrous effects of the Great Depression. In 1923, Walt Disney founded Disney Studios in Los Angeles. Today, it is one of the world's largest corporations. By 1930, the population of Los Angeles topped one million people and it hosted the 1932 Summer Olympic Games. In 1984, Los Angeles again hosted the Summer Olympics.

Los Angeles is home to many major motion picture studios, television networks, and scores of famous personalities and actors. Three of the world's top movie production studios are headquartered in Los Angeles including Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, and 20th Century Fox. In addition, Los Angeles is the nation's largest manufacturing center and is home to America's most important port. Los Angeles has the world's third largest Gross Domestic Product for a city, behind only New York and Tokyo. The city's has 841 museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Getty Center (another art musuem). Los Angeles has four professional sports teams, MLB's Dodgers, the NL's Kings, and the NBA's Lakers and Clippers. It is expected that Los Angeles will soon be awarded the St. Louis Rams NFL Franchise. Los Angeles was formerly home to both the Rams and the current Oakland Raiders.

Despite its reputation as a mecca for entertainment, Los Angeles is one of the nation's most polluted and congested cities.