Los Santos

Updated 28 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Los Santos is the Grand Theft Auto series' fictional version of Los Angeles, in the state of San Andreas. It first appeared in GTA: San Andreas (2004) as Carl Johnson's home city in 1992. It was rebuilt on a much larger scale for GTA V and GTA Online in 2013.

What is Los Santos based on?

Los Santos is Los Angeles. The name is Spanish for "the saints", a play on Los Angeles, "the angels". Both versions feature a film district called Vinewood with a hillside sign, beaches, freeways, rich hillside estates and poor neighbourhoods controlled by street gangs. There was no Los Santos in the 2D era. The 1997 game's West Coast city was San Andreas, based on San Francisco.

Los Santos in the 3D era (GTA San Andreas)

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came out on 26 October 2004 and is set in 1992. Los Santos is the largest of its three cities and the only one open at the start. Carl Johnson comes home from five years in Liberty City after his mother's death. He returns to Grove Street, his old neighbourhood, and rejoins the Grove Street Families in their war with the Ballas.

The city covers the southeast corner of the state, next to Red County and Flint County. GTA Wiki splits it into central, east, west and south areas, with districts such as Ganton, Idlewood, Glen Park, Little Mexico, Downtown, Vinewood and Santa Maria Beach. Wikipedia says Compton inspired the city's urban areas. The consultants DJ Pooh, Estevan Oriol and Mister Cartoon helped the team capture Los Angeles street culture.

After the story's betrayal, corrupt police unit C.R.A.S.H. drives Carl out of town. He spends the middle of the game in San Fierro and Las Venturas.

Los Santos in the HD era (GTA V and GTA Online)

Grand Theft Auto V (17 September 2013) rebuilt Los Santos from scratch. It is now the county seat of Los Santos County and fills the south of an island-shaped San Andreas, with Blaine County to the north. Wikipedia says it matches Los Angeles more closely than the 2004 city did. Team members photographed and filmed the region on research trips, and hundreds of buildings have been matched to real landmarks.

The game follows three protagonists: Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton and Trevor Philips, who lives out in Blaine County. Known areas include Downtown, Vinewood, Vespucci Beach, Del Perro Pier, Mirror Park, Strawberry and Davis, plus the port and the international airport. Like Liberty City in GTA IV, the HD Los Santos is set in the year of release.

GTA Online launched on 1 October 2013 on the same map. Because it runs in real time, GTA Wiki notes that the city keeps changing as updates add new businesses and buildings.

Is Los Santos in GTA 6?

GTA VI is set in Leonida, not San Andreas. See GTA 6 map and regions for what Rockstar has shown.