Los Angeles County-Government-About LA County

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About LA County

Los Angeles County, one of California's original 27 counties, was established Feb. 18, 1850. It is one of the nation's largest counties with 4,084 square miles, and has the largest population of any county in the nation. Approximately 27 percent of California's residents live here. The Board of Supervisors is the governing body. The 88 cities also have their own city councils. If it were a nation, the County would have the 19th largest economy in the world.

Highlights

County Annual Report
The County's Annual Report provides information on what County departments accomplished the past year and what their goals are for the coming year, with lots of photo pages to highlight activities.

Cities - Incorporation Facts
The first of the County's 88 cities was incorporated in 1850, the last in 1991. Cerritos used to be Dairy Valley; Venice, now part of Los Angeles, used to be its own city, and was first known as Ocean Park.

About LA County Links

	Event Calendar Find out about County activities by looking at the event calendar, which lists events by date, type of event and department.
	Flag The County's official flag was approved Oct. 17, 1967.
	History The area comprising present-day Los Angeles County was first explored by Europeans in 1769.
	Holidays The County gives its employees 11 paid holidays.
	Media Los Angeles County has one of the largest media markets in the world, including not only mainstream newspapers, radio and television stations, but a large number of ethnic publications and stations as well.
	Organization An organizational chart provides overview of the County's government structure.
	Overview General information is provided about Los Angeles County, its constituents, its land, and its economy.
	Photo/Facts Information is provided about the County on colorful photo pages.
	Seal The County Seal adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 1957 was modified in 2004.
	Services This brochure provides quick facts about the services provided by the County.
	Song "Seventy-Six Cities" was adopted as the official county song on Sept. 14, 1965.
	Statistics Geography, population, property valuation, demographics, rainfall figures, and economic information are among the statistics provided.
	Zip Codes A zip code map and lists show the County's zip codes and corresponding supervisorial districts.

Related Departments, Commissions, and Agencies

500 W. Temple St., Room 358, Los Angeles, CA 90012
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Did You Know?

There are more than 140 cultures and 135 languages, some say as high as 224, not including differing dialects.

There are 1,823 k-12 schools with 1.7 million students in the county.

The last major detachment of land from L.A. County was in 1889 with the creation of Orange County.

The largest population of persons of Filipino, Guatemalan, Korean, Mexican, Salvadoran and Thai descent outside their native countries live in L.A. County.

The county is the nation's top international trade center and the largest manufacturing center.

The county is the most religiously diverse in the world.

The county is home to more than 90 countries' consulate offices.

The county has the largest number of foreign-born residents in the nation (more than 3.4 million).

The County has more minority-and women-owned businesses than any other in the nation.

Students in Los Angeles Unified School District speak 92 languages.

Public higher education institutions include UCLA, five state university campuses and 21 community colleges.

Only Cook County has more black residents than L.A. County.

Los Angeles County was established Feb. 18, 1850.

Los Angeles County produces more college graduates and has more individuals with Ph.D.s than any other county in nation.

Los Angeles County is one of California's original 27 counties.

Los Angeles County is one of 58 counties in California.

L.A. County is the nation's aerospace research/development capital, birthplace of the Space Shuttle and Stealth fighter.

L.A. County is home to more than 244,000 businesses.

L.A. County is bordered by Orange, San Bernardino, Kern and Ventura counties.

If a nation, the county's economy would be the 17th largest in the world.

At one time, L.A. County was eight times its present size – 34,520 square miles, going all the way to the Colorado River.

Approximately 7% of minority U.S. residents live in L.A.County.

Almost half of the residents speak only English. (2000 Census)

"Seventy-Six Cities" is the County's official song, adopted in 1965

Los Angeles County Online