Los Angeles County, California

Los Angeles County (incorporated as the County of Los Angeles) is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states. The county seat is the city of Los Angeles, the largest city in California and the second-largest city in the United States (after New York City).

The county is home to 88 incorporated cities and many unincorporated areas. At 4083 sqmi, it is larger than the combined areas of the states of Rhode Island and Delaware.

Los Angeles County also includes two offshore islands, San Clemente Island and Santa Catalina Island.

The county is home to over a quarter of all California residents. One of the most diverse counties in the country, it holds most of the principal cities composing the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and is the core of the five counties that make up the Greater Los Angeles Area.

History
Los Angeles County was one of the original counties of California, created at the time of statehood in 1850. The county's large area included parts of what is now Kern County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Orange County. These parts of the county's territory were given to San Bernardino County in 1853, to Kern County in 1866 and to Orange County in 1889. In 1893, part of San Bernardino County became Riverside County.

Geography
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 4752.32 sqmi, of which 4060.87 sqmi (or 85.45%) is land and 691.45 sqmi (or 14.55%) is water. Los Angeles County borders 70 mi of coast on the Pacific Ocean and encompasses towering mountain ranges, deep valleys, forests, islands, lakes, rivers, and desert. The Los Angeles River, Rio Hondo, the San Gabriel River and the Santa Clara River flow in Los Angeles County, while the primary mountain ranges are the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains. The western extent of the Mojave Desert begins in the Antelope Valley, in the northeastern part of the county. Most of the population of Los Angeles County is located in the south and southwest, with major population centers in the Los Angeles Basin, San Fernando Valley and San Gabriel Valley. Other population centers are found in the Santa Clarita Valley, Crescenta Valley and Antelope Valley.

The county is divided west-to-east by the rugged San Gabriel Mountains, filled with coniferous forests and subject to plentiful snowfall in the winter. The San Gabriel Mountains are part of the Transverse Ranges of southern California, and are contained mostly within the Angeles National Forest. Most of the highest peaks in the county are located in the San Gabriel Mountains, including Mount San Antonio (10,068 ft) at the Los Angeles-San Bernardino county lines, Mount Baden-Powell (9,399 ft), Mount Burnham (8,997 ft), and the well-known Mount Wilson (5,710 ft) where the Mount Wilson Observatory is located. Several smaller, lower mountains are located in the northern, western, and southwestern parts of the county, including the San Emigdio Mountains, the southernmost part of Tehachapi Mountains, and the Sierra Pelona Mountains.

Major divisions of the county



 * East: Eastside, San Gabriel Valley, Pomona Valley
 * West: Westside, Beach Cities
 * South: South Bay, Palos Verdes Peninsula, South Los Angeles, Gateway Cities
 * North: San Fernando Valley, portions of the Conejo Valley,portions of the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita Valley
 * Central: Downtown Los Angeles, Mid-Wilshire

Cities
There are 88 incorporated cities in Los Angeles County. The most populous are as follows:

Unincorporated areas in Los Angeles County
Despite the large number of incorporated cities, most of the area of the county is unincorporated, and falls directly under the county government's jurisdiction. With no city government, residents of these areas must petition the appropriate member of the Board of Supervisors when they have a grievance about the quality of local services.

Communities not census-designated

 * See: Los Angeles Almanac MAP: Unincorporated Areas and Communities of Los Angeles County

National protected areas

 * Angeles National Forest (part)
 * Los Padres National Forest (part)
 * Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (part)

Roads
The county has an extensive freeway network of legendary size and complexity, which is maintained by Caltrans and patrolled by the California Highway Patrol. It also has a vast urban and suburban street network, most of which is maintained by city governments. The county and most cities generally do a decent job of maintaining and cleaning streets. For more information about the primary exception, see the Transportation in Los Angeles article.

Both the freeways and streets are notorious for severe traffic congestion, and the area's freeway-to-freeway interchanges regularly rank among the top 10 most congested points in the country.

In addition to Metro Bus service, numerous cities within the county also operate their own bus companies and shuttle lines.

Air
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), located in the Westchester district, is the primary commercial airport for commercial airlines in the county and the Greater Los Angeles Area. LAX is operated by Los Angeles World Airports, an agency of the City of Los Angeles. Other important commercial airports in Los Angeles County include: The following general aviation airports also are located in Los Angeles County:
 * Long Beach Municipal Airport operated by the City of Long Beach
 * Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, operated by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority
 * LA/Palmdale Regional Airport in Palmdale, also operated by Los Angeles World Airports. Palmdale Airport is planned for expanded commercial service to serve the Antelope Valley. The airport is a separate facility on the grounds of Air Force Plant 42.
 * County operated airports (Department of Public Works, Aviation Division)
 * Compton/Woodley Airport in Compton
 * El Monte Airport in El Monte
 * Brackett Field in La Verne
 * Whiteman Airport in Pacoima
 * General William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster


 * City operated airports
 * Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys, also operated by LAWA. Van Nuys Airport sees significant executive jet air traffic.
 * Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, which also has major executive jet traffic.
 * Hawthorne Municipal Airport, also known as Jack Northrop Field, in Hawthorne
 * Zamperini Field in Torrance

The U.S. Air Force also has two airports in Los Angeles County:
 * Portions of Edwards Air Force Base, located at the northern edge of the county, and
 * Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, sharing runways with LA/Palmdale Regional.

Train
Los Angeles is a major freight railroad transportation center, largely due to the large volumes of freight moving in and out of the county's port facilities. The ports are connected to the downtown rail yards and to the main lines of Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe headed east via a grade-separated, freight rail corridor known as the Alameda Corridor.

Passenger rail service is provided in the county by Amtrak, Los Angeles Metro Rail and Metrolink.

Amtrak has the following intercity Amtrak service at Union Station in the city of Los Angeles.
 * The Pacific Surfliner to Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and San Diego.
 * The Coast Starlight to Seattle
 * The Southwest Chief to Chicago
 * The Sunset Limited to New Orleans and Orlando

Union Station is also the primary hub for Metrolink commuter rail, which serves much of the Greater Los Angeles Area.

Light rail, subway (heavy rail), and long-distance bus service are all provided by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).

Sea
The county's two main seaports are the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. Together they handle over a quarter of all container traffic entering the United States, making the complex the largest and most important port in the country, and the third-largest port in the world by shipping volume.

The Port of Los Angeles is the largest cruise ship center on the West Coast, handling more than 1 million passengers annually.

The Port of Long Beach is home to the Sea Launch program, which uses a floating launch platform to insert payloads into orbits that would be difficult to attain from existing land-based launch sites.

Ferries link the Catalina Island city of Avalon to the mainland.

Economy
Los Angeles County is commonly associated with the entertainment industry; all six major film studios—Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Sony, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios—are located within the county. Beyond motion picture and television program production, other major industries of Los Angeles County are international trade supported by the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, music recording and production, aerospace, and professional services such as law and medicine.

For major companies headquartered in the City of Los Angeles, and adjacent cities, see the Economy section of the Los Angeles, California article.

The following major companies have headquarters in Los Angeles County cities not adjacent to the city of Los Angeles:

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Los Angeles County had a population of 9,818,605 - the most populous county in the United States. The racial makeup of Los Angeles County was 4,936,599 White, 856,874 African American, 72,828 Native American, 1,346,865 Asian, 26,094 Pacific Islander, 2,140,632 from other races, and 438,713 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4,687,889 persons.