Los Angeles > OVERVIEW

Los Angeles (also referred to as LA) is the largest city in the state of California and the second in the United States, including within its boundaries an area of 469.1 square miles square miles and a resident population of 3.8 million people. The Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area has a population of nearly 12.9 million people that speak 224 different languages from around the globe.

Los Angeles County includes Los Angeles City, Hollywood (a district of Los Angeles City), Culver City, Burbank, and Glendale – where all of the major studios of the entertainment industry are headquartered.

Los Angeles is one of the world's most prominent centers of culture, technology, and international trade. It is home to world-renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, including, UCLA, Caltech, the Getty Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 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.

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. They are one of the most important ports in the world, and vital to trade within the Pacific Rim. Other significant industries include media production, finance, telecommunications, law, health and medicine, and transportation.