Los Angeles (/ls ndls/ ( listen);[15] Spanish for "The

Angels"; Spanish pronunciation: [los axeles]), 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 U.S. Census-
estimated 2016 population of 3,976,322,[16] it is the second most
populous city in the United States (after New York City) and the most
populous city in the state of 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).[17] The city is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the
most populated county in the country. Los Angeles is the center of
the Los Angeles metropolitan area, with 13,131,431 residents,[18] and is
part of the larger designated Los Angeles-Long Beach combined
statistical area(CSA), the second most populous in the nation with a
2015 estimated population of 18.7 million