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Los Angeles—often known simply as L.A. or informally as the City of Angels—is the largest city in the state of California and the second-largest in the United States. As of the 2004 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a population of 3.85 million. The city is the core cultural and economic center of the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana metropolitan area with a population of 12.9 million.

Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4 1850—five months before California achieved statehood—and is the county seat of Los Angeles County. The city has a global presence as a center of culture, science, and higher education. Los Angeles is arguably the world's leading producer of popular entertainment—such as motion pictures, television, and recorded music—lending the city an extraordinary measure of international fame.

Los Angeles is also one of the most cosmopolitan places in the world—it is home to people from virtually every nation on Earth. The city has hosted two Olympic Games—in 1932 and 1984—and is home to world-renowned scientific and cultural institutions. People have long been attracted to the world-class city for its balmy weather, unique and vibrant lifestyle, laid-back energy, Pacific Rim Gateway status, and the hope of realizing the "American Dream."

Corona is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 124,966; a 2004 special census put the fast-growing city's population at 144,274. The city of Norco lies to the northeast, Chino Hills and Yorba Linda to the west, and the Cleveland National Forest to the southwest; unincorporated areas of Riverside County line all of its other borders. It is served by the Corona, Chino Valley, and Riverside freeways, as well as the 91 Line of the Metrolink commuter rail system.

Corona was founded at the height of the Southern California citrus boom in 1896, advantageously situated at the upper end of the Santa Ana River Canyon, the only significant pass through the Santa Ana Mountains. It derived its name (and its nickname, The Circle City) from the curious layout of its streets, with a standard grid enclosed by the circular Grand Boulevard. Prior to the 1980s, Corona was a largely agricultural community, dominated by citrus orchards, ranches, and dairy farms. Sky-high real estate prices in Los Angeles and Orange counties made the area's cheap land desirable to developers and industrialists, and by the late 1990s it was considered a major suburb of Los Angeles. In recent years, Corona has changed from a working-class bedroom community for Orange County and the larger cities of the Inland Empire to a full-fledged edge city in its own right, with industrial parks opening near Norco and luxury housing developments rising in the foothills of the Santa Anas. The development of commerce and industry in the city has been accelerated by congestion on the Riverside Freeway, with many firms leaving northern Orange County to be closer to their employees' homes in Corona and Riverside. The construction of the Chino Valley Freeway nearby has also linked Corona to the Pomona and San Gabriel valleys, with the result that the once largely white and Latino city has experienced an influx of Asian-American residents who commute to Asian-oriented businesses in cities such as Alhambra and Diamond Bar. As with the rest of the Inland Empire, Corona has also experienced an influx of African Americans fleeing the continued decline of traditionally black areas of South Los Angeles. The city of Corona has four main high schools: Santiago, Corona, Centennial, and Buena Vista. One of Corona's major employers is the Fender Musical Instrument Corporation's main factory, which produces the U.S.-made models in the company's storied line, and also contains Fender's guitar and amplification custom shops. Corona is also the home of the Golden Cheese Company of California, and the Fender Center for Music Education, more commonly known as the Fender Museum.

Corona was also home to the Corona road race, a Grand Prix race in the early 20th Century.

Irvine is an incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated in 1971, the 46-square mile city has a population of 180,803 (as of 2005). It currently has plans to annex an undeveloped area to the north, and has already annexed the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, most of which is to be made into a park called the Orange County Great Park.

The city is notable for its well-regarded public elementary and high schools and exceptionally low crime rate (as of 2005, the FBI considers Irvine the safest city in the US ).

Irvine is home to the University of California, Irvine (UCI), the Orange County Center of University of Southern California, Irvine Campus of Alliant International University, Concordia University, and Irvine Valley College.

Irvine is also home to a number of corporations, particularly in the technology sector. The city's two biggest employers are UCI and Verizon Wireless.

Ontario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 158,007. It is the home of Ontario International Airport and the huge Ontario Mills shopping mall (the largest in the Inland Empire and one of the largest in North America). It is also the former home of the Ontario Motor Speedway. It takes its name from the Ontario Model Colony development established in 1882 by Canadian engineers George Chaffey and William Chaffey, who named the settlement after their home province of Ontario, Canada.

Santa Clarita is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2005 California Department of Finance estimate, the city population was 167,954. It is located about 35 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and occupies most of the Santa Clarita Valley. It is a notable example of a U.S. edge city or boomburb. The FBI rates it as the sixth safest city in the United States with at least 100,000 inhabitants. (Nearby Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, in Ventura County, traditionally alternate between the first and second spots on the list.)

Santa Clarita was incorporated in 1987 as the union of several previously existing communities, including Saugus, Valencia, Canyon Country, Newhall, and portions of Castaic. Its principal boundaries are the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways; their merger in Newhall Pass at the city's southernmost point gives Santa Clarita its distinctive triangular appearance on the map. Unlike many other hybrid cities' districts, communities in Santa Clarita retain a considerable degree of autonomy, to the extent that some of them--Valencia, most notably--are often mistaken for completely separate cities.

Santa Clarita's most notable attractions are the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park on the western edge of the city, and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), located in Valencia.

As the city is hemmed in by mountains on all sides (the Tehachapis on the north, the San Gabriels on the east, and the Santa Susanas on the south and west) and is primarily reliant on the automobile for transportation, it suffers from chronic smog. It is also prone to wildfires, as demonstrated by the destruction of large undeveloped areas around the city during blazes in 2003 and 2004.

Torrance is a city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California.

The city is named after its founder, oilman Jared Sidney Torrance. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 137,946; a 2003 estimate puts the total population at 142,621 . Torrance is the 7th largest city in Los Angeles County.

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 133,936. Pasadena is the main population and cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. It is the 8th largest city in Los Angeles County and famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade.

Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California, located 28 miles southeast of Los Angeles. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 328,014, making it the tenth-largest city in California and 55th-largest in the United States. Anaheim is the second largest city in Orange County and is known for its theme parks, sports teams, and convention center.

Founded by fifty German families in 1857 and incorporated on February 10, 1870, Anaheim developed into an industrial center, producing electronics, aircraft parts, and canned fruit. It is the site of the Disneyland Resort, a world-famous grouping of theme parks and hotels which opened in 1955, Angel Stadium, the Arrowhead Pond, and Anaheim Convention Center, the largest convention center on the American West Coast. Its name is a blend of "Ana", after the nearby Santa Ana River, and "heim", a common Upper German place name compound originally meaning "home". Previously, the settlement was known as Campo Alemán (Spanish for German Camp).

Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 126,003.

It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Historically it was a center of agriculture, notably groves of Valencia oranges and other citrus crops; petroleum extraction; transportation; and manufacturing. It is home to several educational institutions, notably the California State University, Fullerton (CSUF).

Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is an important suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The city is bordered to the southwest by the Atwater Village district of Los Angeles; to the west by Burbank; to the northwest by the Tujunga district of Los Angeles; to the northeast by the city of La Cañada Flintridge and the unincorporated La Crescenta area; and to the east by Pasadena. The Golden State, Ventura, Glendale, and Foothill freeways run through the city.

As of the 2000 census, the city population was 194,973. Since then, there have been estimates of 201,326 by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2004 and 207,007 by the California State government in 2005, making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the seventeenth largest city in the state of California.

Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, located in Glendale, contains the remains of many celebrities and local residents. It is famous as the pioneer of a new style of cemetery.

The U.S. headquarters of the Swiss foods multinational Nestlé are located here. Glendale is also home to the "southern campus" of DreamWorks SKG, the diversified entertainment company founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.

Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, California, on the Pacific coast. It borders Orange County on its southeast edge. It is about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles.

As of the 2000 census, the city population was 461,522. By 2006 its population is estimated to have increased to 490,166 . It is the 34th-largest city in the nation, 5th in California and 2nd in Los Angeles County (after Los Angeles). Long Beach is also the largest U.S. city that is not a county seat.

According to the 2000 US Census, Long Beach is the most ethnically diverse large city in the United States . For example, Long Beach has the second-largest population of Cambodians outside of Asia (after Paris), and the area along Anaheim St. is sometimes called "Little Phnom Penh". There are also sizable populations of African-Americans, Mexicans, Salvadorians and other Central Americans, Filipino Americans, Vietnamese Americans and other Asians. There is a small population of Pacific Islander Americans in Long Beach and the surrounding communities, especially Samoan Americans. There is also a significant population of gays and lesbians, with many gay-owned businesses along Broadway, 2nd Street and 4th Street between Downtown Long Beach and Belmont Shore.

Having an excellent harbor, it is one of the world's largest shipping ports and a year-round resort noted for its long, wide beaches and beautiful active marina. It has the largest municipally owned marina in the country with 3,400 slips. The city also has a large oil industry; oil (discovered in 1921) is found both underground and offshore. Manufactures include aircraft, automobile parts, electronic and audiovisual equipment, and home furnishings. It is also home to numerous regional, national, and world headquarters for major corporations such as Epson America, Molina Healthcare, Scan Health Care, and Polar Air Cargo. Long Beach grew with the development of high-technology and aerospace industries in the area.

The city draws 5.5 million visitors annually. The R.M.S. Queen Mary has been located in Long Beach since her retirement in 1967 and now serves as a hotel, convention center, and tourist attraction. The Aquarium of the Pacific, a world-class research facility, is a popular tourist destination.

Tourists are also drawn to Long Beach by the numerous annual events held in the city, which include music festivals, sports competitions, and cultural celebrations.

The Long Beach Grand Prix, an annual Champ Car race, takes place on city streets near the Convention Center and is one of the largest Grand Prix events in the world. It is the largest street race in the United States with an estimated 300,000 people watching the event in person every year over three days.

Long Beach is the location of the largest California State University, CSULB, and the headquarters of the California State University system. The city also has a Veterans Affairs hospital and is a major healthcare hub for the region.

Signal Hill is an incorporated city surrounded entirely by Long Beach.

The City of Orange is located in Orange County, California. It is approximately 3 miles (6 kilometers) north of the County seat in Santa Ana, California, and approximately 32 miles (52 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Orange and the Orange County Area is "Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA."

San Diego (pop. 1,305,736 as of 2005 ) is a coastal Southern California city located in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. It is the second largest city in California and the seventh largest in the United States . It lies just north of the Mexican border (shares border with Tijuana, Mexico), and is a home for United States Navy and Marine Corps bases, many miles of beaches, and a mild marine climate. The annual mean temperature is 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit (18°C). San Diego's economy centers on tourism, trade, agriculture, ship-building, the military, biotechnology, computer science and electronics.

The University of California, San Diego and nearby research institutes on Torrey Mesa provide a base for technological innovation and there are numerous high-tech and biotech companies in the area, such as Qualcomm, Neurocrine, and Illumina. Major tourists attactions include the cities beaches and bays, Balboa Park with its many museums, the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, San Diego Wild Animal Park (in Escondido, north of the city) and Old Town, the site of of the original Spanish settlement.

Downtown San Diego is located on San Diego Bay. Coronado Island and Point Loma separate the bay from the ocean. Ocean Beach is on the west side of Point Loma. Mission Beach and Pacific Beach lie between the ocean and Mission Bay, a man-made aquatic park. La Jolla, an affluent community, lies north of Pacific Beach. Mount Soledad in La Jolla offers views from northern San Diego County to Mexico.

Mountains rise to the east of the city, and beyond the mountains are desert areas. Cleveland National Forest is a half-hour drive from downtown San Diego. Numerous farms are found in the valleys northeast of the city. The city of San Diego itself has deep canyons separating its mesas, creating small pockets of natural parkland scattered throughout the city.

Military bases in or near San Diego include U.S. Navy ports, Marine Corps bases, and Coast Guard stations. San Diego is the home port of the largest naval fleet in the world, including two Navy supercarriers (the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan) five amphibious assault ships, several Los Angeles-class submarines, and many smaller ships.

One of the Marine Corps' two Recruit Depots is located here. San Diego is also known as the "birthplace of naval aviation," although Pensacola, Florida makes a rival claim.

Four Navy vessels have been named USS San Diego in honor of the city.