Los Angeles
The first thing that strikes you about Los Angeles is the huge size of the city. The City of Angels, or LA, commonly referred to as Los Angeles, extends over 1,200 square miles, is home to more than 4 million residents, and at least 220 different languages are spoken.
And it may seem like all these people are actually actors, musicians, screenwriters, dancers or directors just waiting for their big breakthrough. The dream of Hollywood lives to the highest degree.
Through popular culture, many of us feel that we know Los Angeles well, not least through countless movies and TV series with action added to the city.
You will quickly notice that the city is multi-ethnic, nearly half of its citizens are born outside the United States, and 40% of LA’s residents speak Spanish as their first language.
The many attractions in Los Angeles can keep you and your fellow travelers busy for weeks, even though the traditional high culture is not exactly the mainstay.
LA is a year-round destination you can visit at any time, because the sun shines most days, and even the winter days here are rarely colder than an average Norwegian summer day.
Get to know Los Angeles
Los Angeles was founded by Spaniards in 1781 under the name El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula. Fortunately, the name was shortened eventually.
California became Mexican in 1821, but after the American-Mexican War, California was incorporated into the United States in 1848. An economic boom occurred in connection with oil discoveries in 1892, and Los Angeles was one of the world’s largest petroleum producers at the turn of the last century.
In the 1920s, Los Angeles became the headquarters of America’s rapidly expanding film industry. The aviation industry was also based here. Los Angeles was Olympic hosts in 1932, and the population passed a million.
Today, the population has grown to 3.8 million, or as much as 13 million if you count on the entire Long Beach and Santa Ana district. Los Angeles only has New York City ahead of the United States when ranking by population.
Climatically, Los Angeles is in a subtropical zone, with hot and almost rain-free summers and mild, but humid winters. The city is prone to earthquakes and is affected by thousands of small earthquakes annually. The last major earthquake was in 1994, when 72 people lost their lives.
In order to get a real impression of Los Angeles, it is actually absolutely necessary to have access to a car. Public transport is well developed but cumbersome, and there are not many attractions that you can take public transport to directly. You probably need to change bus or metro several times. And Los Angeles is so expansive that it’s almost impossible to get around on foot, unless you just focus on the area around your hotel.
The different groups of people that make up Los Angeles, as in many other cities, have gathered in their own enclaves. As a result, you will find neighborhoods like Chinatown, Little India, Thai Town, Little Ethiopia, Koreatown and Teherangeles, or Little Persia as it is also called, the largest Iranian community outside Iran. And Los Angeles has enough Mexicans to be called Mexico’s third largest city.
City Profile
- Abbreviation: LA
- Country: United States
Downtown
Central Los Angeles, or Downtown, is the area west of the Los Angeles River. And although most of the administrative buildings and skyscrapers are located in Downtown, this is not where you’ll find the top attractions in Los Angeles. Exceptions are the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Little Tokyo, the Music Center and the western US tallest building, the US Bank Tower.
Hollywood
In Mount Lee, stands the world-famous sign with the 15-meter-high letters forming the word Hollywood. In the Hollywood district, you can walk on the world’s most famous sidewalk, the Walk Of Fame. It is known for its over 2,300 engraved stars. Here is also the rock’s answer to Walk Of Fame, Rock Walk with the artist’s handprints.
Film enthusiasts can enjoy the Hollywood Heritage Museum, Paramount Studios, Charlie Chaplin Studios, Universal Studios or Kodak Theater, which awards the Academy Awards.
But apart from the attractions, it’s not particularly glamorous in Hollywood, and you might want to experience the area as somewhat run-down.
Sunset Boulevard
Although movie stars working in Hollywood, lives, most of them in Bel-Air and Beverly Hills, and the street that brings them from the urban center Hollywood to these green exclusive residential areas is the legendary Sunset Boulevard. Along this street are numerous attractions. Here is the Hyatt West Hollywood Hotel where Led Zeppelin rides motorcycles down the stairs, Club Whiskey a Go Go where the Doors, Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin have played, the famous Rainbow Bar & Grill where you will probably meet Motörheads Lemmy at the bar, Johnny Depps club The Viper Room where actor River Phoenix died outside, and hotel Chateau Marmont, where Blues Brothers star John Belushi died.
Note that this is not a street stub you can go from end to end, it starts in downtown and stretches over three miles to the Pacific Coast. You can focus on the section called The Sunset Strip, that is, between Hollywood and Beverly Hills. This one is around two kilometers.
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills has been heard by most, and this is actually not part of Los Angeles. Beverly Hills is a separate Los Angeles city with about 35,000 residents, including Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Sylvester Stallone and Ozzy Osbourne. Here you’ll find some of the largest and most luxurious homes in the entire United States, and an average home goes for $ 2.25 million.
For those of you who love shopping, know that in Beverly Hills is the exclusive shopping district of Rodeo Drive, with all its designer stores.
Venice
Venice, or Venice Beach, on the other hand, is an extremely charming area. And there are natural reasons why the place is named after Venice in Italy, because here there was an extensive network of canals and bridges. Many of the canals were refilled in 1929 and turned into streets, but Venice is still one of LA’s highlights.
Here the ends splash around in channels between eccentric bohemian homes side by side with exclusive millionaire villas. The main street of Abbot Kinney Boulevard is teeming with art galleries and eateries, and the beach is one of California’s best and most popular.
El Pueblo
We also mention El Pueblo, which is the oldest and historic part of Los Angeles. El Pueblo is located in and around Olvera Street, above the city’s Union Station Downtown Downtown. Los Angeles got its name from the mission station located here in the 18th century. Here is the city’s oldest building, and many of Los Angeles’s large Mexican population resides here.
South Central
South Central, or South Los Angeles, is perhaps best known for the riots in 1992. This is definitely not a tourist area, here LA’s notorious gangs rule. Most of the city’s killings occur in South Central, although the situation has improved significantly in recent years. Many of America’s greatest rap artists come from here, and South Central has a significantly larger proportion of colored residents than the rest of Los Angeles.
Facts about Los Angeles
Los Angeles is the largest city in California and the second largest city in the United States. Los Angeles has a very large population of Hispanic origin.
Population | Around 3.8 million |
Official languages | English (download free dictionary here) |
Control Form | Republic |
Religion | No official religion, but 78% of Americans are Christians. In Los Angeles, around 620 different faiths are registered, the largest being Roman Catholicism thanks to many Latin Americans. |
Time Difference | California is nine hours behind the Norwegian winter time, in summer time ten hours. |
Currency | Dollar. Credit cards like Visa, American Express, Mastercard and Diners are very common, and ATMs can be found almost everywhere. |
Tips | Most people who work in service in the United States have salaries based on tips. It is common to give 15-20% at the restaurant, in taxis, hairdressers, etc. Some eateries may have service stated on the bill. |
Embassy | The Norwegian Embassy in the United States is located in Washington DC, but in Los Angeles you have a Consulate General at 468 North Camden Drive, Suite 200, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Phone +1 310 2771293. |
Tourist | Janes House Square, 6541 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood or 239 South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills. |
Telephone | +1 |
Emergency | 911 |
Electricity | 110 / 120V. Both two- and three-point connectors are common, so bring an adapter with you if you want to bring along electrical items. |
Holidays and Holidays | Most US holidays such as Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day and even Martin Luther King Day are moving. The exception is Indepencence Day, July 4th. |
Visa | Electronic visa is required. Remember that control is strict and the rules are constantly changing, so check the latest regulations. Please visit the Travel Plan page for passports and visas. |
Vaccinations | No vaccines are required. |
Water | Can be easily drunk from the tap. |
Nearest major cities | California has over 450 cities, many of which are suburban to LA. Only within Los Angeles County, there are 15 cities with over 100,000 residents, the most famous of which are perhaps Long Beach and Pasadena, the coastal town of Santa Monica must also be mentioned. |
Safety | Of course, a city with almost as many residents as Norway has many criminals, and Los Angeles has its problems with drug addicts, racial contradictions and gang crime.Some neighborhoods are more crowded than others, and especially in areas such as South Central, Hollywood and Venice, you shouldn’t stroll around in the evenings. Be very careful around the Greyhound station. Police are clearly visible in the street scene, and frequent and thorough security checks on tourist attractions and airports will, for many Norwegians, manifest themselves on the verge of paranoia. But for good reason. |
List of Los Angeles Acronyms
The most commonly used abbreviations about Los Angeles is LA which stands for Los Angeles. In the following table, you can see all acronyms related to Los Angeles, including abbreviations for airport, city, school, port, government, and etc.