Los Angeleswith a population at the
2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in the
state of
California, and the second most populous in the
United States, after
New York City.It has an area of 468.67 square miles (1,213.8 km
2), and is located in
Southern California. Often known by its initials
L.A., the city is the focal point of the larger
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan statistical area, which contains 12,828,837 people as of 2010, and is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the worldand the second largest in the United States.Los Angeles is also the seat of
Los Angeles County, the most populated and one of the most ethnically diverse countie 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".
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
Mexican–American 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.