Los Angeles’ Multicultural Environment

History

Los Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second-largest in the entire United States. L.A. belongs to the alpha world city due to its overwhelming 3.8 million people and with an area of more than 469.1 square miles (1,214.9 square kilometers) in Southern California. Los Angeles is the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populous and most diverse county in the United States. Los Angeles was founded in the year 1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It came to be known as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciúncula). It was a part of Mexico in 1821, after gaining independence from Spain. In 1848, after the Mexican-American War, Los Angeles and California were purchased as stipulated in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, to become part of the United States.

Ethnic Group

As of 2000 census, there were 3,694,820 people, 1,275,412 households, and 798,407 families living in the city. Population density was pegged at 7,876.8 people per square mile (3,041.3/km²). There were 1,337,706 housing units at an average density of 2,851.8 per square mile (1,101.1/km²).

Los Angeles is a racially diverse city, composed of huge numbers of Latino and Asian immigrants. The city was made up of 46.9% White (29.7% White/non-Hispanic[57]), 11.24% African American, 10.0% Asian, 0.8% Native American, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 25.9% from other races, and 5.2% from other races. 46.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

The first language of people in the city are the following: 42.2% English, 41.7% Spanish, 2.4% Korean, 2.3% Tagalog, 1.7% Armenian, 1.5% Chinese and 1.3% Persian.