MALIBU

city and beach community in Los Angeles county, southern California, U.S. It lies along the Pacific Coast Highway, just west-northwest of Santa Monica. Named for the rancheria Umalibo and located where the Santa Monica Mountains meet the ocean, it is well known as a beach colony of movie and television celebrities, whose homes line an escarpment above a sandspit that extends into picturesque Santa Monica Bay. The J. Paul Getty Museum (a reproduction of an ancient Roman villa) and a branch of Pepperdine University are in Malibu. Inc. 1991. Pop. (1990) 17,369.