Certificate of competence in English

Subject:
City of Los Angeles

Student:Stanciu Marian
Coordonator: prof. Gheoorghe Monica
Class:XII E

-May 2015-
Los Angeles

2
Table of Contents
Foreword...........................................................................
............................................................................ 4
Chapter
I:Introduction ....................................................................
.............................................................. 5
Chapter
II:History ........................................................................
.................................................................. 7
Chapter
III:Geography .....................................................................
............................................................ 10
Chapter
IV:Demographics ...................................................................
........................................................ 12
Chapter
V:Economy .........................................................................
........................................................... 14
Chapter
VI:Culture ........................................................................
.............................................................. 16
Chapter
VII:Sports ........................................................................
............................................................... 19
Chapter
VIII:Government ...................................................................
......................................................... 20
Conclusion ........................................................................
........................................................................... 21
Bibliography ......................................................................
.......................................................................... 22

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Foreword
A city of superlatives and mind-blowing contrasts, The Big Orange, The City of
Angels or La-La Land are just some of the numerous ways Los Angeles can be
called.
The most exciting city in the whole territory of the United States , the city that
is often
referred to as the world capital of entertainment will represent the subject of my
certification paper.
The main reason why I chose the city of Los Angeles as my subject is because I love
this
city ,I consider it one of the greatest cities in the world ,a city of
opportunities ,where any
dream can become true .It is the city with the most celebrities per square mile,
where
everything seems possible.
Located on Southern California's Pacific coast, Los Angeles has long been known as
a
city of dreams, a place where anyone cand start a new life.
You cant have a boring day in Los Angeles.Discover sea caves and tide pools on the
beach ,hike along hidden coves just near Malibu,walk or cycle around the lake
Hollywood Reservoir and see the iconic Hollywood sign in the mountains across the
lake
or find serenity in the Japanese Garden in the San Francisco Valley.
The City of Los Angeles holds many distinctions. LA is the entertainment capital of
the
world, a cultural mecca boasting more than 300 museums, and a paradise of good
weather. It is the only city in North America to have hosted the Summer Olympics
twice.
Downtown LA is the largest government center outside of Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles is a major hub of shipping, manufacturing, industry, and finance, and
is
world-renowned in the entertainment and communications fields. It is a favorite
vacation
destination and attracts millions of tourists to the area each year from all over
the world
The opportunities that are offered to you,the glamour of Hollywood,the famous
beaches,the celebrities and all the others amazing things that can be said about
Los
Angeles make it one of the most grandiose city in the world.

4
Chapter I:Introduction
Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States in terms of population
and one of the
largest in terms of area. It is the center of a five-county metropolitan area and
is considered the
prototype of the future metropolisa city on the cutting edge of all of the
advantages and the
problems of large urban areas.
The glamour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, the Sunset Strip, and the famous beaches
have added
to Los Angeles's reputation as a California paradise and have contributed to the
area's
phenomenal growth. Los Angeles is a city of fascinating diversity, incorporating
one of the
largest Hispanic populations in the United States, a major Asian community, and
sizable
populations of nearly every ethnic background in the world.
Los Angeles is also a center of international trade and banking, manufacturing, and
tourism. The
city offers something for everyone in its large conglomeration of separate and very
different
districts: a sleek, ultra-modern downtown, miles of beautiful beaches, mansions and
stunning
canyon homes built with opulent luxury, and some of the world's most glamorous
shopping and
dining.
Beneath the glitter, though, is a troubled, racially divided city, with extremely
high
unemployment rates for young African Americans and Latinos.

5
Nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles, often known by its initials L.A., is the
most
populous city in the U.S. state of California and the second-most populous in the
United States,
after New York City, with a population at the 2010 United States Census of
3,792,621. It has a
land area of 469 square miles, and is located in Southern California.
Los Angeles is the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the
most
ethnically diverse counties in the United States, while the entire Los Angeles area
itself has been
recognized as the most diverse of the nation's largest cities. The city's
inhabitants are referred to
as Angelenos.
The city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional
and cultural
fields and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United
States. Los Angeles
includes Hollywood and leads the world in the creation of television productions,
video games,
and recorded music; it is also one of the leaders in motion picture production. Los
Angeles
hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984.
Los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve.It
became
a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence.In 1848, at the
end of the
MexicanAmerican War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part
of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los
Angeles was
incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California
achieved
statehood.
One of the best ways to experience Los Angeles is by visiting its incredible
cultural attractions.
L.A. has more museums and theaters than any U.S. city, and a thriving music and
gallery scene.
An LA Philharmonic performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall is a must-see, as well
as an
outdoor concert at the Hollywood Bowl and shows at other famous music venues.
L.A.s world
class museums include the stunning Getty Center in Brentwood and Los Angeles County
Museum of Art (LACMA) on Museum Row. Monthly artwalks take place throughout the
city,
including popular events in Downtown L.A. and Venice Beach. And of course, when it
comes to
film and television, Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world.

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Chapter II:History
The history of Los Angeles city and county begins with a small Mexican town that
changed little
in the three decades after 1848, when California became part of the United States.
Much greater
changes were to come from the completion of the Sante Fe railroad line from Chicago
to Los
Angeles in 1885. Immigrants flooded in, especially white Protestants from the
Midwest. LA had
a strong economic base in farming, oil, tourism, real estate and movies. It grew
rapidly with only
a small downtown and many suburban areas inside and outside the city limits.
Hollywood made
the city world famous, and World War II brought new industry, especially high-tech
aircraft
construction. Politically the city was moderately conservative, with a weak labor
union sector.
Since the 1960s growth has slowedand massive traffic delays have become famous,
despite the
hundreds of miles of supposedly high speed freeways. New ethnic groups, especially
from
Mexico and Asia, have transformed the demographic base since the 1960s. Old
industries have
declined, including farming, oil and aircraft, but tourism, entertainment and high
tech remain
strong.
The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva and Chumash Native
American
tribes thousands of years ago.
Juan Rodrguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese-born explorer, claimed the area of southern
California for
the Spanish Empire in 1542. Gaspar de Portol and Franciscan missionary Juan
Cresp, reached
the present site of Los Angeles on August 2, 1769. On September 4, 1781, a group of
forty-four
settlers known as "Los Pobladores" founded the pueblo( village) called "The Town of
Our Lady
the Queen of Angels of the Porcincula River.
New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, and the pueblo
continued as a part of Mexico. During Mexican rule, Governor Po Pico made Los
Angeles Alta
California's regional capital. Mexican rule ended during the MexicanAmerican War:
Americans
took control from the Californios after a series of battles, culminating with the
signing of the
Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847.
Railroads arrived with the completion of the Southern Pacific line to Los Angeles
in 1876. Oil
was discovered in 1892, and by 1923, the discoveries had helped California become
the country's
largest oil producer, accounting for about one-quarter of the world's petroleum
output.
By 1900, the population had grown to more than 102,000, putting pressure on the
city's water
supply. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, under the supervision
of William
Mulholland, assured the continued growth of the city.
In 1910, not only had the city of Los Angeles annexed Hollywood, but there were
already at least
10 movie companies operating in the city. By 1921, more than 80 percent of the
world's film
industry was concentrated in L.A. The money generated by the industry kept the city
insulated
7
from much of the economic pain suffered by the rest of the country during the Great
Depression.
By 1930, the population surpassed one million. In 1932, the city hosted the Summer
Olympics.

Aerial view of the Hollywood Sign

During World War II, Los Angeles was a major center of wartime manufacturing, such
as
shipbuilding and aircraft. Calship built hundreds of Liberty Ships and Victory
Ships on Terminal
Island, and the Los Angeles area was the headquarters of six of the country's major
aircraft
manufacturers.
Following the end of World War II, Los Angeles grew more rapidly than ever,
sprawling into the
San Fernando Valley. In 1969, Los Angeles became one of the birthplaces of the
Internet, as the
first ARPANET transmission was sent from the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA)
to SRI(Standford Research Institute) in Menlo Park.
In 1984, the city hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the second time. Despite
being
boycotted by 14 Communist countries, the 1984 Olympics became more financially
successful
than any previous, and the second Olympics to turn a profit until then the other,
according to an
analysis of contemporary newspaper reports, being the 1932 Summer Olympics, also
held in Los
Angeles.

The Los Angeles Coliseum hosted the Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984
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Racial tensions erupted on April 29, 1992, with the acquittal by a Simi Valley jury
of the police
officers captured on videotape beating Rodney King, culminating in large-scale
riots.
In 1994, the 6.7 Northridge earthquake shook the city, causing $12.5 billion in
damage and 72
deaths. The century ended with the Rampart scandal, one of the most extensive
documented
cases of police misconduct in American history.
In 2002, voters defeated efforts by the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood to secede
from the
city.

Panoramic view from 1921

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Chapter III:Geography
The city is divided into over 80 districts and neighborhoods, many of which were
incorporated
places or communities that were annexed by the city. Greater Los Angeles includes a
number of
enclaves and nearby communities. Generally, the city is divided into the following
areas:
Downtown Los Angeles, East Los Angeles and Northeast Los Angeles, South Los
Angeles, the
Harbor Area, Greater Hollywood, Wilshire, the Westside, and the San Fernando and
Crescenta
Valleys.
Important landmarks in Los Angeles include Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Cathedral
of Our
Lady of the Angels, Angels Flight, the Kodak Theatre, the Griffith Observatory, the
Getty
Center, the Getty Villa, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Los Angeles County
Museum
of Art, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Sign, the Bradbury Building,
Hollywood
Boulevard, the Capitol Records Building, Los Angeles City Hall, the Hollywood Bowl,
the
Theme Building, Battleship USS Iowa, the Watts Towers, the Staples Center, Dodger
Stadium,
La Placita Olvera/Olvera Street and the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Sunset
Bridge.

The Griffith Observatory

Los Angeles is irregularly shaped and covers a total area of 502.7 square miles.
(1,302 km2) The
perimeter of the city is 342 miles (550 km).
Los Angeles is both flat and hilly. The highest point in the city is 5,074 ft
(1,547 m) Mount
Lukens,located at the northeastern end of the San Fernando Valley. The eastern end
of the Santa
Monica Mountains stretches from Downtown to the Pacific Ocean and separates the Los
Angeles
Basin from the San Fernando Valley. Other hilly parts of Los Angeles include the
Mt.

10
Washington area north of Downtown, eastern parts such as Boyle Heights, the
Crenshaw district
around the Baldwin Hills, and the San Pedro district.
The Los Angeles area is rich in native plant species due in part to a diversity in
habitats,
including beaches, wetlands, and mountains.
The Los Angeles River (also known as the L.A. River) starts in the Simi Hills and
Santa Susana
Mountains and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the
western
end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly 48 miles (77 km) southeast to its mouth in
Long Beach.
Los Angeles is subject to earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific Ring of
Fire. The
geologic instability has produced numerous faults, which cause approximately 10,000
earthquakes annually in Southern California, though most of them are too small to
be felt.
Los Angeles has a Subtropical-Mediterranean climate. Los Angeles has plenty of
sunshine
throughout the year, with an average of only 35 days with measurable precipitation
annually.
Owing to geography, heavy reliance on automobiles, and the Los Angeles/Long Beach
port
complex, Los Angeles suffers from air pollution in the form of smog. The smog
season lasts
from May to October. Unlike other large cities that rely on rain to clear smog, Los
Angeles gets
only 15 inches (380 mm) of rain each year: pollution accumulates over many
consecutive days.
The 2006 and 2007 annual reports of the American Lung Association ranked the city
as the most
polluted in the country.

11
Chapter IV:Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Los Angeles had a population of
3,792,621.The
population density was 7,544.6 people per square mile (2,913.0/km).
Los Angeles is home to people from more than 140 countries speaking 224 different
identified
languages. Ethnic enclaves like Chinatown, Historic Filipinotown, Koreatown, Little
Armenia,
Little Ethiopia, Tehrangeles, Little Tokyo, and Thai Town provide examples of the
polyglot
character of Los Angeles.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles leads the largest archdiocese in the
country.Cardinal Roger Mahony oversaw construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of
the
Angels, which opened in September 2002 in downtown Los Angeles.Construction of the
cathedral marked a coming of age of the city's Catholic, heavily Latino community.
There are
numerous Catholic churches and parishes throughout Los Angeles.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

With 621,000 Jews in the metropolitan area (490,000 in city proper), the region has
the second
largest population of Jews in the United States.

12
The Los Angeles California Temple, the second largest temple operated by The Church
of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, is on Santa Monica Boulevard in the Westwood district
of Los
Angeles. Dedicated in 1956, it was the first Mormon temple built in California and
it was the
largest in the world when completed.

Los Angeles California Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Hollywood region of Los Angeles also has several significant headquarters,
churches, and
the Celebrity Center of Scientology.
Because of Los Angeles' large multi-ethnic population, a wide variety of faiths are
practiced,
including Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Bah', various
Eastern
Orthodox Churches, Sufism and others. Immigrants from Asia for example, have formed
a
number of significant Buddhist congregations making the city home to the greatest
variety of
Buddhists in the world.

13
Chapter V:Economy
The economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, entertainment
(television, motion
pictures, video games, recorded music), aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion,
apparel, and
tourism. Los Angeles is also the largest manufacturing center in the western United
States. The
contiguous ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the fifth-busiest
port in the
world and the most significant port in the Western Hemisphere and is vital to trade
within the
Pacific Rim.Other significant industries include media production, finance,
telecommunications,
law, healthcare, and transportation.

Downtown Plaza
The Los AngelesLong BeachSanta Ana metropolitan statistical area (MSA) has a
gross
metropolitan product (GMP) of $735.7 billion (as of 2010), making it the third
largest economic
center in the world, after the Greater Tokyo Area and the New York-Newark-
Bridgeport CSA.If
counted as a country, the surrounding CSA has the 15th largest economy in the world
in terms of
nominal GDP.Los Angeles has been classified an "Alpha world city" according to a
2012 study
by a research group at Loughborough University in England.

14
The city is home to six Fortune 500 companies. They are energy company Occidental
Petroleum,
healthcare provider Health Net, metals distributor Reliance Steel & Aluminum,
engineering firm
AECOM, real estate group CBRE Group and builder Tutor Perini.
The University of Southern California (USC) is the city's largest private sector
employer and
contributes $4 billion annually to the local economy.

15
Chapter VI:Culture
Los Angeles is often billed as the "Creative Capital of the World," due to the fact
that one in
every six of its residents works in a creative industry and that there are more
artists, writers,
filmmakers, actors, dancers and musicians living and working in Los Angeles than
any other city
at any time in the history.

The Dolby Theatre; venue for the Academy Awards

Motion Pictures
The greater Los Angeles area is the most important site in the United States for
movie and
television production. This has drawn not only actors, but also writers, composers,
artists, and
other creative individuals to the area.
The area is home to many institutes that study and appreciate film production, such
as the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and American Film Institute. Various
awards are
given annually for movie and television production, some of which garner huge
worldwide
audiences.
Although film production in Los Angeles remains the most important center for the
medium,
Hollywood has become more international, thus it faces increasing competition,
however, from
16
other parts of the United States and from the Canadian cities of Vancouver and
Toronto as well
as numerous other countries around the world such as Romania and Australasia that
provide
Hollywood with lower production costs.
The motion picture and TV industries have helped create the image that defines Los
Angeles
across the world. Many tourists flock to see Hollywood-related landmarks such as
the Walk of
Fame and the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Literature
Los Angeles's literary history includes legendary authors like Raymond Chandler,
whose hardboiled detective stories were set in pre-war and immediate post-war L.A.
Ross Macdonald
carried on the Chandler tradition into the 1950s, and in the 1960s and 1970s
blended it with
themes of classical tragedy. Walter Mosley, James Elroy and Joseph Hansen are among
the local
successors to Chandler. Nathaniel West's book, The Day of the Locust, depicted a
raw side to the
Hollywood dream. Ray Bradbury wrote science fiction after moving to the city in
1934. Actress
Carrie Fisher has found success as a novelist. The best known local poet was
Charles Bukowski,
who mostly lived in Hollywood but in the later part of his life lived in San Pedro.
Tens of
thousands of screenplays have been written by L.A. city residents, and the movie
business has
attracted many authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Aldous Huxley, Tennessee
Williams,
Evelyn Waugh, and William Faulkner.
Los Angeles has provided fertile territory for writers of fiction with crime
fiction being a
common genre for stories about the city. During the twentieth century, fiction
portraying the city
has highlighted the complexity of the city and the discontinuities between its
public image and
the reality of living there. The size and scale of the city have also provided
crime writers with a
suitably complex city against which to set their stories.

Music
As well as being one of the most important cities in the world in the film
industry, Los Angeles,
California, is also one of the most important places in the world for the recorded
music industry.
Many landmarks in Los Angeles - such as Capitol Records, which resembles a stack of
albums are representative of this. A&M Records long occupied a studio off Sunset
Boulevard built by
Charlie Chaplin (who wrote the music for his own films). The Warner Brothers built
a major
recording business in addition to their film business. At the other end of the
business, local
Rhino Records began a reissue boom by digging through archives of old recordings
and
repackaging them for modern audiences.

17
Art
Los Angeles is known for its mural art, and its thousands of examples of wall art
are believed to
outnumber those in every other city in the world. Mexican muralists such as Diego
Rivera, David
Alfaro Siqueiros and Jos Clemente Orozco all created murals in the area.
Some of the most respected art museums in the world can be found in Los Angeles.
They include
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Norton Simon
Museum,
the Huntington Library art collection and botanical gardens, and the Hammer Museum
at the
University of California, Los Angeles.

Architecture
Los Angeles has many different types of architectural styles scattered throughout
the city and
nearby satellite cities. Los Angeles has a rich, diverse history of architectural
works, having been
known throughout professional architectural circles as a testbed for architecture.
The case study
houses in particular revolutionized residential architecture. Architects such as
Richard Neutra,
Pierre Koenig, John Lautner and Frank Lloyd Wright all have important works in the
city. Some
of the different types of architectural styles throughout the city and metropolitan
area are mission
revival, Spanish colonial revival, craftsman, Norman French provincial, French
chateau, English
Tudor, beaux arts, art deco, and streamline moderne.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

18
Chapter VII:Sports
The city of Los Angeles is the home of several major league professional sports
teams. These
teams include the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles
Clippers and
Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, and the Los Angeles
Kings of the
National Hockey League.
Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice. They hosted the games for the
first time
in 1932. Los Angeles hosted the games once again in 1984. Los Angeles has made a
total of nine
Summer Olympic bids in its history, more than any other city. Los Angeles along
with Athens,
Paris and London are the four cities that have hosted the Summer Olympic Games
twice.
In 1994 the United States hosted the FIFA World Cup. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena was
one of
the venues used during the World Cup. The venue hosted eight of the games including
the final
where Brazil defeated Italy 3-2 on penalties.
The Rose Bowl was used again during the 1999 Women's World Cup. The venue hosted
four
matches including the final where the United States defeated China 5-4 on
penalties. The United
States hosted the Women's World Cup again in 2003. The Home Depot Center, now known
as
StubHub Center, in Carson was one of the venues that was used in the event. The
venue hosted
six games, including the final where Germany defeated Sweden 2-1.

Dodger Stadium is the home of theLos Angeles Dodgers

19
Chapter VIII:Government
Los Angeles is a charter city as opposed to a general law city. The current charter
was adopted
on June 8, 1999 and has been amended many times since then.The elected government
consists
of the Los Angeles City Council and the Mayor of Los Angeles which operate under a
mayorcouncil government, as well as the city attorney (not to be confused with the
district attorney, a
county office) and controller. The current mayor is Eric Garcetti. There are 15
city council
districts.
The city has many departments and appointed officers, including the Los Angeles
Police
Department (LAPD), the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, the Los Angeles
Fire
Department (LAFD), the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA), the
Los
Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), and the Los Angeles Public Library
(LAPL).
Like most American cities, Like most American cities, Los Angeles has been
experiencing
significant decline in crime since the mid-1990s, and reached a 50-year low in 2009
with 314
homicides. Police speculate that the drop resulted from a number of factors,
including young
people spending more time online.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the city is home to 45,000 gang
members,
organized into 450 gangs.

The LAPD on May Day 2006 in front of the new Caltrans District 7 Headquarters
20
Conclusion
To sum up , Los Angeles is a vital place in the history of music , film industry
and any
kind of entertainment .The city of Los Angeles has become a real symbol ,almost a
trademark of the United States, being very popular among people from all over the
world.
Los Angeles is the one place on the planet where people come exclusively to dream
and
create. Los Angeles is the city with the most substance in the United States
,cultural
substance.
Los Angeles if a great urban center, a symbol of capitalism , a testimony to
American
ingenuity .It is a paradise for actors and artists,a place where fantasies become
reality
.This great city of angels is a place where things get done .This is why I chose to
talk
about this city,for it is representative for our modern world and for values and
ideals of
Western civilization.
A city of dreams, a little piece of paradise, the perfect place to spend a
holiday , a city
where I wish to spend my life, a city that has its flaws but are by far outweighed
by its
perks, that is Los Angeles.

21
Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Los_Angeles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_County,_California#Economy
http://www.discoverlosangeles.com/
http://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/things-to-do/los-angeles-attractions

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