The Port of Los Angeles

The Port of Los Angeles is on San Pedro Bay, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the downtown area. It includes the communities of San Pedro and Wilmington. The port area is almost surrounded by independent cities and is connected to South-Central Los Angeles by a narrow strip of land annexed by the city in the early 1900's. The Port of Los Angeles has one of the world's largest artificial harbors. It covers about 7,000 acres (2,800 hectares). A breakwater, built between 1899 and 1914, protects both the Los Angeles Harbor and the Long Beach Harbor to the east. The breakwater is 9 miles (14 kilometers) long.

The City

Los Angeles can be divided into eight main sections:
- Downtown Los Angeles
- South-Central Los Angeles
- Central Los Angeles
- The San Fernando Valley
- West Los Angeles
- South Bay
- The Port of Los Angeles
- East Los Angeles

Metropolitan Area

By 2000, it had about 9 1/2 million people and ranked as the nation's largest single metropolitan area.

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The ocean and the mountains help give Los Angeles a mild climate the year around.

The People

More than half the people of Los Angeles County moved there from other parts of the United States or from other countries.

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Geography and climate

Los Angeles lies on the Pacific coast in southern California. It is about 350 miles (563 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and about 130 miles (209 kilometers) northwest of San Diego and the Mexican border.