Los Angeles, Spanish for "The Angels"; officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California.
With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States (after New York City) and the most populous city in California. Located in a large coastal basin surrounded on three sides by mountains reaching up to and over 10,000 feet (3,000 m), Los Angeles covers an area of about 469 square miles (1,210 km2).