Here in Los Angeles, we love our pets! Pets are not just a part of people’s lives in Los Angeles, they’ve also long been involved in the city’s major industry: entertainment. Three dogs—Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, and Strongheart—have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
With just under 4 million residents, Los Angeles is the nation’s second most-populous city. It’s on the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, about 140 miles from the Mexican border. The metropolitan area has more than 13 million people and includes large cities such as Long Beach (467,354), Anaheim (352,005), Santa Ana (332,725) and Riverside (330,063).
The climate is similar to the Mediterranean, with little rain and warm temperatures all year. More than three-quarters of its days are sunny, and high temperatures range from 67 in the winter to 85 in August. December, January, and February are considered the least pleasant months, but the “comfort index” still registers at 8.5 out of 10.
It all makes Los Angeles an outdoor paradise. Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Pier are tourist destinations, while places such as El Matador State Beach in Malibu are more secluded. In between, Hermosa Beach, Malibu Surfrider Beach and Zuma Beach are popular with surfers and others interested in more athletic pursuits.
Since D.W. Griffith filmed the first motion picture in Los Angeles in 1910, the entertainment industry has made its home in the city. The Big Six producers—Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Universal, Columbia and the Walt Disney Co.—all are headquartered in the area. Television and the video game industry also are concentrated in the region.
Although fossils found in the LaBrea Tar Pits date back to 38,000 B.C., the Chumash people who came along in 8000 B.C., were the first human settlers. In 1781 a Mexican settlement was named El Pueblo Sobre el Rio de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula.
Americans took control of Los Angeles during the Mexican-American War, and the city was formally ceded to the United States in 1848. With 1,610 residents, Los Angeles was incorporated in 1850, the same year California gained statehood.
Today’s population is diverse: 52 percent white, 23 percent Latino, 12 percent Asian and 9 percent black. The diversity is seen through neighborhoods such as Koreatown, Chinatown, Thai Town, Little Ethiopia, Little Tokyo, and Historic Filipinotown. Iconic spots such as Hollywood, West Hollywood, and Beverly Hills are neighborhoods within the city.