Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, California, on the Pacific coast. It borders Orange County on its southeast edge. It is about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles.

Downtown Long Beach has been showcasing Long Beach as a First Class City within California. The R.M.S. Queen Mary has been located in Long Beach since her retirement in 1967 and now serves as a hotel, convention center, and tourist attraction. The Aquarium of the Pacific, a world-class research facility, is a popular tourist destination. Long Beach also has the largest municipally owned marina in the country with 3,400 slips. Downtown Long Beach also offers cruises to Catalina Island, restaurant and club nightlife, promenade development, and festival entertainment.

As of the 2000 census, the city population was 461,522. By 2006 its population is estimated to have increased to 490,166. Based upon the USA Today's Diversity Index, Long Beach was the most ethnically diverse large city in the United States in 2000 . For example, Long Beach has the second-largest population of Cambodians outside of Asia (after Paris, France), and the area along Anaheim St. is sometimes called "Little Phnom Penh". There are also sizable populations of African Americans, Mexicans, Salvadorans and other Central Americans, Filipino Americans, Vietnamese Americans and other Asians. There is also a diverse gay and lesbian population in the city.

Website: www.longbeach.gov/