Short answers, pulled from the story.
Los Angeles has an estimated 3.87 million residents within the city limits, making it the second-most populous city in the United States behind New York City. The 2020 census counted a population of 3,898,747, and the surrounding metropolitan area holds 12.9 million people as of 2024.
Los Angeles was founded on the 4th of September 1781, by a group of 44 settlers known as Los Pobladores, under Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. They named the town El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles. It was incorporated as a municipality on the 4th of April 1850.
Los Angeles grew rapidly after petroleum was discovered in the area in 1892, which by 1923 helped make California the country's largest oil producer. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, supervised by William Mulholland, secured the water supply needed for continued growth.
Well over 200 languages are spoken in Los Angeles. A 2021 survey reported that some 56.8 percent of city residents aged five and older spoke a language other than English at home.
Los Angeles has hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, in 1932 and 1984, and will host for a third time in 2028. That will make it the third city to host the Olympics three times, after London and Paris.
Los Angeles sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and its location produces approximately 10,000 earthquakes annually in Southern California, though most are too small to be felt. The San Andreas Fault, marking the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, passes through the metropolitan area.