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Friday, 16 September 2011

Geography of Los Angeles

Los Angeles is irregularly shaped and, according to the United States Census Bureau, covers a total area of 502.7 square miles (1,302 km2), comprising 468.7 square miles (1,214 km2) of land and 34.0 square miles (88 km2) of water. The city extends for 44 miles (71 km) longitudinally and for 29 miles (47 km) latitudinally. The perimeter of the city is 342 miles (550 km). It is the only major city in the United States bisected by a mountain range.
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 hilly parts of Los Angeles include the entire Santa Monica Mountains which stretch from Downtown to the Pacific Ocean, the Mt. 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 River, a major river which is largely seasonal, is the primary drainage channel. It was straightened and lined in concrete by the Army Corps of Engineers for almost its entire length to act as a flood control channel. The river begins in the Canoga Park district of the city and flows east from the San Fernando Valley along the north edge of the Santa Monica Mountains as they diminish, then south through the city center, then through nearby Vernon on its way to its mouth in the Port of Long Beach at the Pacific Ocean.
Geology
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. One of the major faults is the San Andreas Fault. Located at the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, it is predicted to be the source of Southern California's next big earthquake. Major earthquakes to have hit the Los Angeles area include the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake, the 1971 San Fernando earthquake near Sylmar, and the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Nevertheless, all but a few quakes are of low intensity and are not felt. The most recent earthquake felt was the 4.4 2010 Pico Rivera earthquake on March 16, 2010. Parts of the city are also vulnerable to Pacific Ocean tsunamis; harbor areas were damaged by waves from the Valdivia earthquake in 1960. The Los Angeles basin and metropolitan area are also at risk from blind thrust earthquakes.


Economic areas


The Bureau of Economic Analysis defines an even larger region known as an "economic area", which delineates the relevant regional market surrounding a metropolitan area. Economic areas consist of one or more economic nodes, which are MSAs or CSAs. Economic areas are defined as a collection of nodes and other outlying counties on the basis of commuting data and newspaper circulation data. The Los Angeles economic area consists of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside CSA, then San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA, Bakersfield MSA and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta MSA to the north and extending in the southwest to the El Centro MSA and the Yuma MSA.
In addition to the above, the economic area includes La Paz County in Arizona, and Inyo and Mono counties in California.




Principal cities
Further information: List of Districts and Neighborhoods in Los Angeles
The following is a list of principal cities in the Greater Los Angeles Area with 2009 California Department of Finance estimates of their population:




Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana MSA


View of the Los Angeles MSA CBD
Los Angeles (4,065,585)
Long Beach (492,682)
Santa Ana (355,662)
Anaheim (348,467)
Irvine (212,793)
Glendale (207,303)
Huntington Beach (202,480)
Santa Clarita (177,150)
Garden Grove (174,715)
Pomona (162,255)
Palmdale (151,346)
Pasadena (150,185)
Torrance (149,111)
Lancaster (145,074)
Orange (141,634)
Fullerton (137,624)
El Monte (126,308)
Inglewood (118,868)
Costa Mesa (116,479)
Downey (113,469)
West Covina (112,648)
Norwalk (109,567)
Burbank (108,082)
South Gate (102,770)
Mission Viejo (100,242)
Compton (99,431)
Carson (98,159)
Westminster (93,284)
Santa Monica (92,494)
Hawthorne (89,979)
Alhambra (89,171)
Whittier (86,788)
Newport Beach (86,252)
Baldwin Park (84,812)
Lakewood (83,508)
Buena Park (83,385)
Lake Forest (78,344)
Tustin (74,825)
Yorba Linda (68,399)
Redondo Beach (67,646)
Montebello (65,667)
Gardena (61,810)
Diamond Bar (60,360)
Paramount (57,874)
Arcadia (56,565)
Cerritos (54,855)




Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario MSA




View of the San Bernardino Valley
Riverside (300,430)
San Bernardino (204,483)
Fontana (188,498)
Moreno Valley (186,301)
Rancho Cucamonga (177,736)
Ontario (173,188)
Corona (148,597)
Victorville (109,441)
Temecula (102,604)
Murrieta (100,714)
Rialto (100,022)
Hesperia (88,184)
Chino (84,173)
Indio (82,230)
Chino Hills (78,725)
Upland (75,035)
Hemet (74,361)
Redlands (71,646)
Apple Valley (69,861)



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