page_title: Malibu, California
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Malibu, California / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: The Pacific Coast Highway—California State Route 1 (PCH) — in Malibu, Los Angeles County, Southern California. Malibu lacks a true Main Street and so most businesses are located along PCH instead.
context_page_description: Malibu is a beach city in western Los Angeles County, California, situated about 30 miles west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its 21-mile strip of the Malibu coast, incorporated in 1991 into the City of Malibu. The exclusive Malibu Colony is home to Hollywood celebrities. The rest of the city is filled with people in the entertainment industry and other affluent residents, yet most of the population who live year round are upper middle class. Most Malibu residents live from a half mile to within a few hundred yards of Pacific Coast Highway, which traverses the city, with some residents living up to a mile away from the beach up narrow canyons. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,645.
  Nicknamed "the 'Bu" by surfers and locals, beaches along the Malibu coast include: Topanga Beach, Big Rock Beach, Las Flores Beach, La Costa Beach, Surfrider Beach, Dan Blocker Beach, Malibu Beach, Zuma Beach, Broad Beach, Point Dume Beach, and County Line. State parks and beaches on the Malibu coast include Malibu Creek State Park, Leo Carrillo State Beach and Park, Point Mugu State Park, and Robert H.
context_section_description: Malibu is located at 34°1′50″N 118°46′43″W (34.030450, −118.778612). Its City Hall building is located at 23825 Stuart Ranch Road (34°02′21″N 118°41′35″W). The eastern end of the city borders the Topanga CDP, which separates it from the city of Los Angeles.
  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.8 square miles (51 km²), over 99% of it land.
  Malibu's dry brush and steep clay slopes make it prone to fires, floods, and mudslides.
  Carbon Beach, Surfrider Beach, Westward Beach, Escondido Beach, Paradise Cove, Point Dume, Pirates Cove, Zuma Beach, Trancas and Encinal Bluffs are places along the coast in Malibu. Point Dume forms the northern end of the Santa Monica Bay, and Point Dume Headlands Park affords a vista stretching to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Santa Catalina Island. Directly below the park, on the western side of the point, is Pirates Cove. Because of its relative seclusion, Pirate's Cove was previously used as a nude beach, but since nudity is now illegal on all beaches in Los Angeles County, nude sunbathers are subject to fines and/or arrest.
  Like all California beaches, Malibu beaches are technically public land below the mean high tide line. Many large public beaches (Zuma Beach, Surfrider Beach) are easily accessible, but such access is sometimes limited for some of the smaller and more remote beaches. Some Malibu beaches are private, such as Paradise Cove, which charges an entrance fee to keep the crowds at bay.
caption: The Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in central Malibu
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