Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the second-largest city in the United States after New York City, the most populous city in California, and the county seat of Los Angeles County. Situated in Southern California, Los Angeles is known for its mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, sprawling metropolis, and as a major center of the American entertainment industry.
Nicknamed the "City of Angels", Los Angeles is a global city with a diverse economy in entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine and research. It has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index and 9th in the Global Economic Power Index. The city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States.
Los Angeles includes Hollywood and leads the world in the creation of television productions and recorded music; it is also one of the leaders in motion picture production.
California is the most populous state in the United States. It is also the third most extensive by area. Los Angeles, in southern California, is the state's most populous city and the country's second largest after New York City. California also includes the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and the largest county by area, San Bernardino County. Geographically located in the western part of the United States, California is bordered by the other United States states of Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, and Arizona to the southeast. California shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the south and the Pacific Ocean is on the state's western coastline. The state capital is Sacramento, which is located in the northern part of the state. A majority of California's cities are located in either the San Francisco Bay Area or the Sacramento metropolitan area in northern California; or the Los Angeles area, the Riverside-San Bernardino-Inland Empire, or the San Diego metropolitan area in Southern California.
California is regarded as a global trendsetter in both popular culture and politics, and is the birthplace of the film industry, the hippie counterculture, the Internet, and the personal computer. The state's economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services; together comprising 58% of the state's economy. Three of the world's largest 20 firms by revenue, Chevron, Apple, and McKesson, are headquartered in the state. Although only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any United States state. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world and the 35th most populous.
Six Flags Magic Mountain is a 262-acre (106 ha) theme park located in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California, north of Los Angeles. It opened on May 30, 1971, as Magic Mountain, a development of the Newhall Land and Farming Company. In 1979, Six Flags purchased the park and added the name "Six Flags" to the park's title.
With 19 roller coasters, Six Flags Magic Mountain holds the world record for most roller coasters in an amusement park. In 2015, the park had an estimated 3.1 million visitors ranking it eighteenth in attendance in North America.
Kraków, also Cracow or Krakow, is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River (Polish: Wisła) in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland's most important economic hubs. It was the capital of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from 1038 to 1569; the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 to 1795; the Free City of Kraków from 1815 to 1846; the Grand Duchy of Cracow from 1846 to 1918; and Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1998. It has been the capital of Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999.
In 2000, Kraków was named European Capital of Culture. The city hosted the World Youth Day in July 2016.
The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra (Tatry either in Slovak and Polish), are a mountain range that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains. The Tatras should be distinguished from the Low Tatras which are located south of the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia.
The Tatra Mountains occupy an area of 785 square kilometres (303 sq mi), of which about 610 square kilometres (236 sq mi) (77.7%) lie within Slovakia and about 175 square kilometres (68 sq mi) (22.3%) on the territory of Poland. The highest peak, called Gerlach, at 2,655 m (8710 ft) is located north of Poprad. The highest point in Poland, Rysy, at 2,499 m (8200 ft) is located south of Zakopane.
The Tatras are protected by law by the establishment of the Tatra National Park, Slovakia and the Tatra National Park, Poland, which are jointly entered in UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves. In 1992 the Polish and Slovak parks were jointly designated a transboundary biosphere reserve by UNESCO in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves under its Man and the Biosphere Programme.
