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London
Canary Wharf is the centre of London's modern office towers Canary Wharf is the centre of London's modern office towers
London shown within England London shown within England
Coordinates:
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	Greater London
Districts	City & 32 London boroughs
Settled by Romans	as Londinium ca. AD 50
Government
- Regional authority	Greater London Authority
- Regional assembly	London Assembly
- Mayor	Ken Livingstone
- HQ	City Hall
- UK Parliament  - London Assembly  - European Parliament	74 constituencies 14 constituencies London constituency
Area
- City	1.00 sq mi (0 km)
- Greater London	609 sq mi (0 km)
Elevation [1]	79 ft (24 m)
Population (2006)[2][3][4][5]
- City	circa 9,200 (2005 est.)
- Urban	8,278,251
- Metro	12 to 14 million
- Greater London	7,172,091
- Greater London Density	12,331/sq mi (4761/km)
- Demonym	Londoner
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
- Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Website: [1]

London (pronounced IPA: /ˈlʌndən/) is the capital city of both the United Kingdom and England. The ancient City of London, to which the name originally belonged, still retains its mediaeval boundaries, but the name "London" has long applied more generally to the whole metropolis which has grown up around it.

An important settlement for around two millennia, London is today one of the world's leading business, financial and cultural centres,^[6] and its influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the major global cities.^[7] London is the most populous city within city limits in the European Union, with an official population of 7.5 million (as of mid-2006)^[7] and has a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million.^[7][7] Its diverse population draws from a wide range of peoples, cultures and religions, speaking over 300 different languages.^[8]

It is an international transport hub, with five international airports and a large port. It serves as the largest aviation hub in the world,^[9] and its main airport, the multi-terminal Heathrow, carries more international passengers than any other airport in the world.^[10]

London is a major tourist destination with four world heritage sites, a number of royal parks, and numerous iconic landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. Other attractions include famous institutions such as the British Museum and the National Gallery, along with a multitude of shopping, nightlife and entertainment venues in the West End. London's main geographical feature is the River Thames which runs through the city from the south-west to the east.

Definitions

London can be defined in a number of different ways. The London region of England, also commonly known as Greater London, is the area administered by the Greater London Authority. The urban sprawl of the conurbation—or Greater London Urban Area—covers a roughly similar area, with a slightly larger population. Beyond this is the vast London commuter belt.^[11] At London's core is the small, ancient City of London which is commonly known as "The City" or "Square Mile". Within London, both the City of London and the City of Westminster have City status and both the City of London and the remainder of Greater London are ceremonial counties.^[12] The current area of Greater London was historically part of the counties of Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire.^[13] Forty percent of Greater London is covered by the London postal area.^[14] The London telephone area code covers a larger area, similar in size to Greater London, although some outer districts are omitted and some places just outside are included. The area within the orbital M25 motorway is sometimes used to define the "London area"^[15] and the Greater London boundary has been aligned to it in places.^[16] Greater London is split for some purposes into Inner London and Outer London. Informally, the city is split into North, South, East, West and often also Central London.

London's metropolitan area grew considerably during the Victorian era and again during the Interwar period. Expansion halted in the 1940s because of World War II and Green Belt legislation, and the area has been largely static since.^[17] The Metropolitan Police District, city-wide local government area and London transport area have varied over time, but currently broadly coincide with the Greater London boundary.^[18]

Unlike most capital cities, London's status as the capital of the UK has never been granted or confirmed officially—by statute or in written form.^[19] Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the UK's unwritten constitution. The capital of England was moved to London from Winchester as the Palace of Westminster developed in the 12th and 13th centuries to become the permanent location of the royal court, and thus the political capital of the nation.^[20]

The Romans may have marked the centre of Londinium with the London Stone, still visible on Cannon Street.^[21] The coordinates of the nominal centre of London (traditionally considered to be the original Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross, near the junction of Trafalgar Square and Whitehall) are approximately . Trafalgar Square has also become a central point for celebrations and protests.^[22]

City of London City of Westminster Kensington and Chelsea Hammersmith and Fulham Wandsworth Lambeth Southwark Tower Hamlets Hackney Islington Camden Brent Ealing Hounslow Richmond Kingston Merton

Sutton Croydon Bromley Lewisham Greenwich Bexley Havering Barking and Dagenham Redbridge Newham Waltham Forest Haringey Enfield Barnet Harrow Hillingdon

Geography and climate

Main articles: Geography of London, List of places in London, and Climate of London

Topography and climate

for
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
52   8 2	34   8 2	42   11 4	45   13 5	47   17 8	53   20 11	38   23 14	47   23 13	57   19 11	62   15 8	52   11 5	54   9 3
temperatures in C / precipitation in mm source: Met Office[23]

Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 km²), making it the 37th largest urban area in the world.^[24] Its primary geographical feature is the Thames, a navigable river which crosses the city from the south-west to the east. The Thames Valley is a floodplain surrounded by gently rolling hills such as Parliament Hill, Addington Hills, and Primrose Hill. These hills presented no significant obstacle to the growth of London from its origins as a port on the north side of the river, and therefore London is roughly circular.

The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river with extensive marshlands; at high tide, its shores reached five times their current width.^[25] Since the Victorian era It has been extensively embanked, and many of its London tributaries now flow underground. The Thames is a tidal river, and London is vulnerable to flooding.^[26] The threat has increased over time due to a slow but continuous rise in high water level by the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound.^[27] In 1974, a decade of work began on the construction of the Thames Barrier across the Thames at Woolwich to deal with this threat. While the barrier is expected to function as designed until roughly 2030, concepts for its future enlargement or redesign are already being discussed.^[28]

London has a temperate marine climate, like much of the British Isles, with regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year—unlike the rest of the UK and even the nearby coast. London is in fact among the driest of Europe's capitals, with water resources per head of population equivalent to Israel.^[29] The warmest month is July, with an average temperature range at Greenwich of 13.6 °C to 22.8 °C (56.5 to 73.0 °F). Record high temperatures of up to 38.1  (0 ) were recorded in different parts of London on 10 August 2003.^[30] The coolest month is January, averaging 2.4 °C to 7.9 °C (35.6 to 46.2 °F). Average annual precipitation is 583.6 mm (22.98 in), with February on average the driest month.^[31] Snow is relatively uncommon, particularly because heat from the urban area can make London up to 5 °C (9 °F) hotter than the surrounding areas in winter. However light snowfall is seen on some days most winters. London is in USDA Hardiness zone 9, and AHS Heat Zone 2.^[32]

Weather averages for London
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high C (F)
Average low C (F)
Precipitation mm (inch)
Source: Met Office[33] 14 August 2007

Districts

London's vast urban area is often described using a set of district names (e.g. Bloomsbury, Knightsbridge, Mayfair, Whitechapel, Fitzrovia). These are either informal designations, or reflect the names of superseded parishes and city wards. Such names have remained in use through tradition, each referring to a neighbourhood with its own distinctive character, but often with no modern official boundaries.

One area of London which does have a strict definition is the City of London (usually just called The City). London is one of the world's three largest financial centres (alongside New York and Tokyo) with a dominant role in several international financial markets, including cross border bank lending, international bond issuance and trading, foreign-exchange trading, over-the-counter derivatives, fund management and foreign equities trading.^[34] It also has the world's largest insurance market, the leading exchange for dealing in non-precious metals, the largest spot gold and gold lending markets, the largest ship broking market, and more foreign banks and investment houses than any other centre.^[34] The City has its own governance and boundaries, giving it a status as the only completely autonomous local authority in London.^[36] London's new financial and commercial hub is the Docklands area to the east of the City, dominated by the Canary Wharf complex. Other businesses locate in the City of Westminster, the home of the UK's national government and the famous Westminster Abbey.

The West End is London's main entertainment and shopping district, with locations such as Oxford Street, Leicester Square, Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus acting as tourist magnets.^[37] The West London area is known for fashionable and expensive residential areas such as Notting Hill, Knightsbridge and Chelsea—where properties can sell for tens of millions of pounds.^[38] The average price for all properties in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is £894,000 with similar average outlay in most of Central London.<ref name="London's Properties">Price of Properties. Retrieved on 2007-08-17.

The eastern side of London contains the East End and East London. The East End is the area closest to the original Port of London, known for its high immigrant population, as well as for being one of the poorest areas in London.^[39] The surrounding East London area saw much of London's early industrial development; now, brownfield sites throughout the area are being redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway including the London Riverside and Lower Lea Valley, which is being developed into the Olympic Park for the 2012 Olympics.^[39]

Architecture

The density of London varies, with high employment density in the central area, high residential densities in inner London and lower densities in the suburbs. In the dense areas, most of the concentration is achieved with medium-rise and high-rise buildings. London's skyscrapers such as the famous "Gherkin", Tower 42 and One Canada Square are usually found in the two financial districts, the City of London and Canary Wharf.

In recent years, the development of tall buildings has been encouraged in the London Plan, which will lead to the erection of new skyscrapers over the next few years as London goes through a high-rise boom, particularly in the City of London and Canary Wharf.^[41] The 72-storey, 310 m "Shard London Bridge" by London Bridge station, the 288 m Bishopsgate Tower and around 30 other skyscrapers over 150 m are either proposed or approved and could transform the city's skyline.

Other notable modern buildings include City Hall in Southwark with its distinctive oval shape, the British Library in Somers Town/Kings Cross, and the Great Court of the British Museum. What was formerly the Millennium Dome is now used as the cover of an entertainment district known as The O₂, next to the Thames, to the east of Canary Wharf. The disused (but soon to be rejuvenated) 1939 Battersea Power Station by the river in the south-west is a local landmark, while some railway termini are excellent examples of Victorian architecture, most notably St Pancras and Paddington (at least internally).^[42] Another major local landmark is The London Ark by Ralph Erskine, in Hammersmith. London is too large to be overwhelmingly characterised by any particular architectural style, having accumulated its buildings over a long period of time and drawing on an inexhaustible range of influences, although it is mainly brick built, most commonly a warm orange red, often with carvings and white plaster mouldings.^[43] Many areas of the city are characterised by white stucco or whitewashed buildings. Few structures pre-date the Great Fire of 1666, except for a few trace Roman remains, the Tower of London and a few scattered Tudor survivors in the City. A majority of buildings in London date from the Edwardian or Victorian periods.^[43]

A great many monuments pay homage to people and events in the city. The Monument in the City of London provides views of the surrounding area while commemorating the Great Fire of London which originated nearby. Marble Arch and Wellington Arch, at the north and south ends of Park Lane respectively, have royal connections, as do the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall in Kensington. Nelson's Column is a nationally-recognised monument in Trafalgar Square, providing a focal point for the whole central area.

Environment

Main articles: Parks and open spaces in London and Royal Parks of London

Often called "The Green City," London has a number of open spaces.^[45] The largest of these in the central area are the Royal Parks of Hyde Park and its neighbours Kensington Gardens and Holland Park Gardens at the western edge of central London, and Regent's Park on the northern edge. This park is located near the tourist attractions of Baker Street, where the fictional Sherlock Holmes lived, and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Closer to central London are the smaller Royal Parks of Green Park and St. James's Park. Hyde Park in particular is popular for sports and sometimes hosts open-air concerts.

A number of large parks lie outside the city centre, including the remaining Royal Parks of Greenwich Park to the south-east, and Bushy Park and Richmond Park to the south-west. Primrose Hill to the north of Regent's Park is a popular spot to view the city skyline. Some more informal, semi-natural open spaces also exist, including the 791 acre (0 km) Hampstead Heath of North London. This incorporates Kenwood House, the former stately home and a popular location in the summer months where classical music concerts are held by the lake, attracting thousands of people every weekend to enjoy the music, scenery and fireworks. In the extreme South East of Greater London, the London Boroughs of Bexley and Bromley are noted for their open spaces and extensive wooded areas.

History

Main articles: History of London and Londinium

Early London

Westminster Abbey is one of London's oldest and most important buildings

Although there is some evidence of scattered Brython settlement in the area, the first major settlement was founded by the Romans in AD 43, following the Roman invasion of Britain. This settlement was called Londinium, commonly believed to be the origin of the present-day name, although a Celtic origin is also possible.

The first London lasted for just seventeen years. Around AD 61, the Iceni tribe of Celts led by Queen Boudica stormed London, burning it to the ground. The next, heavily-planned incarnation of the city prospered and superseded Colchester as the capital of the Roman province of Britannia in AD 100. At its height in the 2nd century AD, Roman London had a population of around 60,000. However, by the 3rd century AD, the city started a slow decline due to trouble in the Roman Empire, and by the 5th century AD, it was largely abandoned.^[46]

By 600 AD, the Anglo-Saxons had created a new settlement (Lundenwic) about 1 km upstream from the old Roman city, around what is now Covent Garden.^[47] There was probably a harbour at the mouth of the River Fleet for fishing and trading, and this trading grew until disaster struck in 851 AD, when the city's defences were overcome by a massive Viking raid and it was razed to the ground.^[47] A Viking occupation twenty years later was short-lived, and Alfred the Great, the new King of England, established peace and moved the settlement within the defensive walls of the old Roman city (then called Lundenburgh). The original city became Ealdwic ("old city"), a name surviving to the present day as Aldwych.

Subsequently, under the control of various English kings, London once again prospered as an international trading centre and political arena. However, Viking raids began again in the late 10th century, and reached a head in 1013 when they besieged the city under Danish King Canute and forced English King Ethelred the Unready to flee.^[47] In a retaliatory attack, Ethelred's army achieved victory by pulling down London Bridge with the Danish garrison on top, and English control was re-established.

Canute took control of the English throne in 1017, controlling the city and country until 1042, when his death resulted in a reversion to Anglo-Saxon control under his pious step-son Edward the Confessor, who re-founded Westminster Abbey and the adjacent Palace of Westminster.^[47] By this time, London had become the largest and most prosperous city in England, although the official seat of government was still at Winchester.^[47]

Norman and medieval London

See also:

The Great Fire of London destroyed many parts of the city in 1666

Following a victory at the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror, the then Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England in the newly-finished Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. William granted the citizens of London special privileges, while building a castle in the south-east corner of the city to keep them under control. This castle was expanded by later kings and is now known as the Tower of London, serving first as a royal residence and later as a prison.

In 1097, William II began the building of Westminster Hall, close by the abbey of the same name. The hall proved the basis of a new Palace of Westminster, the prime royal residence throughout the Middle Ages. Westminster became the seat of the royal court and government (persisting until the present day), while its distinct neighbour, the City of London, was a centre of trade and commerce and flourished under its own unique administration, the Corporation of London. Eventually, the adjacent cities grew together and formed the basis of modern central London, superseding Winchester as capital of England in the 12th century.

London grew in wealth and population during the Middle Ages. In 1100 its population was around 18,000, by 1300 it had grown to nearly 100,000.^[46] However disaster struck during the Black Death in the mid-14th century, when London lost nearly a third of its population.^[46] Apart from the invasion of London during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, London remained relatively untouched by the various civil wars during the Middle Ages, such as the first and second Barons' Wars and the Wars of the Roses.

After the successful defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, political stability in England allowed London to grow further. In 1603, James VI of Scotland came to the throne of England, essentially uniting the two countries. His enactment of harsh anti-Catholic laws made him unpopular, and an assassination attempt was made on 5 November 1605—the famous Gunpowder Plot.^[47]

Plague caused extensive problems for London in the early 17th century, culminating in the Great Plague in 1665–1666. This was the last major outbreak in Europe, possibly thanks to the disastrous fire of 1666. The Great Fire of London broke out in the original City and quickly swept through London's wooden buildings, destroying large swathes of the city. Rebuilding took over ten years.^[47]

Rise of modern London

Following London's growth in the 18th century, it became the world's largest city from about 1831 to 1925.^[56] This growth was aided from 1836 by London's first railways, which put countryside towns within easy reach of the city. The rail network expanded very rapidly, and caused these places to grow while London itself expanded into surrounding fields, merging with neighbouring settlements such as Kensington. Rising traffic congestion on city centre roads led to the creation of the world's first metro system—the London Underground—in 1863, driving further expansion and urbanisation.^[57] Because of this rapid growth, London became one of the first cities in human history to reach a population of one million, and was the first ever to surpass five million.

London's local government system struggled to cope with the rapid growth, especially in providing the city with adequate infrastructure. Between 1855 and 1889, the Metropolitan Board of Works oversaw infrastructure expansion. It was then replaced by the County of London, overseen by the London County Council, London's first elected city-wide administration.

The Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe during World War II killed over 30,000 Londoners^[58] and flattened large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. The rebuilding during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was characterised by a wide range of architectural styles and has resulted in a lack of architectural unity that has become part of London's character. In 1965 London's political boundaries were expanded to take into account the growth of the urban area outside the County of London's borders. The expanded area was called Greater London and was administered by the Greater London Council.

In the decades following World War II, large-scale immigration from Commonwealth countries and beyond transformed London into one of the most racially and culturally diverse cities in Europe. Integration of the new immigrants was not always smooth, with major race riots in Notting Hill and Brixton, but was certainly smoother than in other English regions and largely lacking in widespread support for far right organisations, unlike its European or American contemporaries.

An economic revival from the 1980s onwards re-established London's position as a pre-eminent international centre. However, as the seat of government and the most important city in the UK, it has been subjected to bouts of terrorism. Provisional Irish Republican Army bombers sought to pressure the government into negotiations over Northern Ireland, frequently disrupting city activities with bomb threats—some of which were carried out—until their 1997 cease-fire. More recently, a series of coordinated bomb attacks were carried out by Islamic extremist suicide bombers on the public transport network on 7 July 2005—just 24 hours after London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Government

Local government

The administration of London takes place in two tiers—a city-wide, strategic tier and a local tier. City-wide administration is coordinated by the Greater London Authority (GLA), while local administration is carried out by 33 smaller authorities.^[47]

The GLA is responsible for strategic planning, policing, the fire service, most aspects of transport and economic development. It consists of two elected parts—the Mayor of London, who has executive powers, and the London Assembly, who scrutinize the Mayor's decisions and can accept or reject his budget proposals each year. The GLA is a recent organisation, having been set up in 2000 to replace the similar Greater London Council (GLC) which had been abolished in 1986.^[47] The headquarters of the GLA and the Mayor of London is at City Hall.

The Mayor of London is Ken Livingstone, who is in his second term of office. He was elected in 2000 as an independent candidate and again in 2004 as a Labour candidate. Ken Livingstone was also the leader of the GLC when it was abolished in 1986.

The 33 local authorities are the 32 London boroughs and the City of London.^[47] They are responsible for local services not overseen by the GLA, such as local planning, schools, social services, local roads and refuse collection. The London boroughs each have a council which is elected every four years by local residents. The City of London does not have a conventional local authority, but is governed by the historic City of London Corporation which is elected by both residents and businesses, and which has existed more or less unchanged since the Middle Ages. The head of the Corporation is the Lord Mayor of London, which is a different position from that of Mayor of London.

The City of London also has its own police force: The City of London Police, which is independent of the Metropolitan Police Service which covers the rest of Greater London.

Health services in London are managed by the national government through the National Health Service, which is controlled and administered in London by a single NHS Strategic Health Authority.^[62]

National government

London is the home of the Government of the United Kingdom which is located around the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. Many government departments are located close to Parliament, particularly along Whitehall, including the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street.

The British Parliament is often referred to as the "Mother of Parliaments" (although this sobriquet was first applied to England itself by John Bright^[63]) because it has been the model for most other parliamentary systems, and its Acts have created many other parliaments. Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated the British "three-tier" model. Most countries in Europe and the Commonwealth have similarly organised parliaments with a largely ceremonial head of state who formally opens and closes parliament, a large elected lower house and a smaller, upper house.

London is represented in the national Parliament by 74 Members of Parliament (MPs) who correspond to local parliamentary constituencies.^[64] For a list of London constituencies, see List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London. Of these 74 MPs, 44 are from the Labour Party, 21 are Conservatives, 8 are Liberal Democrats and one is from the RESPECT party.

Economy

Further information: Economy of the United Kingdom, Economy of London, Media in London and Tourism in London

London is a major centre for international business and commerce and is one of three "command centres" for the global economy (along with New York City and Tokyo).^[65] London is the world's second largest financial centre after New York and has the 6th largest city economy in the world, larger than Osaka but smaller than Paris.^[66] As Europe's second largest city economy, year-by-year London generates approximately 20% of the UK's GDP^[67] (or $446 billion in 2005); while the economy of the London metropolitan area (the largest in Europe)^[68] generates approximately 30% of UK's GDP (or an estimated $669 billion in 2005.)^[69]

London shifted to a mostly service-based economy earlier than other European cities, particularly following the Second World War. London's success is as a service industry and business centre.^[70]

This can be attributed to factors such as English being the lingua franca, its former position as the capital of the British Empire, close relationship with the U.S. and various countries in Asia.^[70] Other factors include English law being the most important and most used contract law in international business and the multi-cultural infrastructure.^[70] Government policies such as low taxes, particularly for foreigners (non-UK domiciled residents do not get taxed on their foreign earnings), a business friendly environment, good transport infrastructure, particularly its aviation industry; and a deregulated economy with little intervention by the government have all contributed to London's economy becoming more service based.^[70] Over 85 percent (3.2 million) of the employed population of greater London works in service industries. Another half a million employees resident in Greater London work in manufacturing and construction, almost equally divided between both.^[74] There has been a significant fall in the number of people working in manufacturing industries in London over the last three decades, largely as a result of competition from lower cost regions but also as a consequence of technology and process improvements.^[75] Even still, there are more than 15,000 manufacturing businesses in London such as clothing, printing, fabricated metal, furniture and wood/products and food and drink.^[75] There is also strong growth in the recycling/environmental sector.^[75] A strong manufacturing base still thrives in London because of its geographic location and access to huge markets, its large science and knowledge base, its physical assets, its diversity and its role as a centre of design and creative industries.^[75]

London's largest industry remains finance, and its financial exports make it a large contributor to the UK's balance of payments.^[79] Over 300,000 people are employed in financial services in London. London has over 480 overseas banks, more than any other city in the world. More funds are invested in the City of London than in the next top ten European cities combined, and more international telephone calls are made to and from London than any other point on the planet.^[80] The City is the largest financial and business centre in Europe and, has recently begun to once more overtake New York City, partly due to strict accounting following the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and a tightening of market regulations in the United States.^[81] The Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg has said that New York risks losing its title of world financial capital to London because of Britain's more easy going regulatory, legal and immigration systems.

London is home to banks, brokers, insurers and legal and accounting firms. A second, smaller financial district is developing at Canary Wharf to the east of the City which includes the global headquarters of HSBC, Reuters, Barclays and many of the largest law firms in the world. London handled 31% of global currency transactions in 2005—an average daily turnover of US$753 billion—with more US dollars traded in London than New York, and more Euros traded than in every other city in Europe combined.^[82][83]

More than half of the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and over 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies are head quartered in central London. Over 70% of the FTSE 100 are located within London's metropolitan area, and 75% of Fortune 500 companies have offices in London.

Along with professional services, media companies are concentrated in London (see Media in London) and the media distribution industry is London's second most competitive sector.^[84] The BBC is a key employer, while other broadcasters also have headquarters around the city. Many national newspapers are edited in London, having traditionally been associated with Fleet Street in the City, they are now primarily based around Canary Wharf. Soho is the centre of London's post-production industry.

Tourism is one of London's prime industries and employed the equivalent of 350,000 full-time workers in London in 2003,^[85] while annual expenditure by tourists is around £15 billion.^[86] London is a popular destination for tourists, attracting 27 million overnight-stay visitors every year, second only to Paris.^[87]

From being the largest port in the world, the Port of London is now only the third-largest in the United Kingdom, handling 50 million tonnes of cargo each year.^[88] Most of this actually passes through Tilbury, outside the boundary of Greater London.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of London and Religion in London

With increasing industrialisation, London's population grew rapidly throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, and was the most populated city in the world until overtaken by New York in 1925. Its population peaked at 8,615,245 in 1939. There were an estimated 7,512,400 official residents in Greater London as of mid-2006.^[7] However, London's continuous urban area extends beyond the borders of Greater London and was home to an estimated 9,332,000 people in 2005, while its wider metropolitan area has a population of between 12 and 14 million depending on the definition of that area.^[89] According to Eurostat, London is the most populous city and metropolitan area of the European Union.^[90]

Country of Birth	Population (2001)
United Kingdom	5,230,155
India	172,162
Republic of Ireland	157,285
Bangladesh	84,565
Jamaica	80,319
Nigeria	68,907
Pakistan	66,658
Kenya	66,311
Sri Lanka	49,932
Ghana	46,513
Cyprus	45,888
South Africa	45,506
United States	44,622
Australia	41,488
Germany	39,818
Turkey	39,128
Italy	38,694
France	38,130
Somalia	33,831
Uganda	32,082
New Zealand	27,494

The region covers an area of 1,579 square kilometres. The population density is 4,761 people per square kilometre, more than ten times that of any other . In terms of population, London is the 25th largest city and the 17th largest metropolitan region in the world. It is also ranked 4th in the world in number of billionaires (United States Dollars) residing in the city.^[91] London ranks as one of the most expensive cities in the world, alongside Tokyo and Moscow.^[92]

Ethnic groups

In the 2001 census, 71.15% of these seven and a half million people classed their ethnic group as white, including White British (59.79%), White Irish (3.07%) or "Other White" (8.29%, mostly Polish, Greek Cypriot, Italian and French). 12.09% classed themselves as British Asian, including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and "Other Asian" (mostly Sri Lankan, Arab and other Southern Asian ethnicities). 10.91% classed themselves as Black British (around 7% as Black African, 4.79% as Black Caribbean, 0.84% as "Other Black"). 3.15% were of mixed race; 1.12% as Chinese; and 1.58% as other (mostly Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and other "British Orientals"). 21.8% of inhabitants were born outside the European Union. The Irish, from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, number approximately 200,000, as do the Scots and Welsh combined.

In January 2005, a survey of London's ethnic and religious diversity claimed that there were more than 300 languages spoken and more than 50 non-indigenous communities which have a population of more than 10,000 in London.^[93] Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that, as of 2006, London's foreign-born population is 2,288,000 (31%), up from 1,630,000 in 1997.^[94] The 2001 census showed that 27.1% of Greater London's population were born outside the UK, and a slightly higher proportion were classed as non-white.^[95]

The table to the right shows the 'Country of Birth' of London residents in 2001, the date of the last UK Census. (Top 21).^[96] Note that a portion of the German-born population are likely to be British nationals born to parents serving in the British armed forces in Germany.^[97]

London has been a focus for immigration for centuries, whether as a place of safety or for economic reasons. Huguenots, eastern European Jews and Cypriots are examples of the former; Irish, Bangla Deshis and West Indians came for new lives. The East End district around Spitalfields has been first home for several ethnic groups, which have subsequently moved elsewhere in London as they gained prosperity.

Religion

See also:

The largest religious groupings in London are Christian (58.2%), No Religion (15.8%), Muslim (8.2%), Hindu (4.1%), Jewish (2.1%), and Sikh (1.5%). London has traditionally been dominated by Christianity, and has a large number of churches, particularly in the City. The famous St Paul's Cathedral in the City and Southwark Cathedral south of the river are Anglican administrative centres, while the head of the Church of England and worldwide Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury has his main residence at Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth. Important national and royal ceremonies are shared between St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. The Abbey is not to be confused with nearby Westminster Cathedral, a relatively recent edifice which is the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in England and Wales. Religious practice is lower than any other part of the UK or Western Europe and is around seven times lower than American averages.^[98] Despite the prevalence of Anglican churches, observance is very low within the Anglican denomination, although in recent years church attendance, particularly at evangelical Anglican churches in London, has started to increase.^[99]

London is also home to sizeable Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish communities. Many Muslims live in Tower Hamlets and Newham; the most important Muslim edifice is London Central Mosque on the edge of Regent's Park. London's large Hindu community is found in the north-western boroughs of Harrow and Brent, the latter of which contains one of Europe's largest Hindu temples, Neasden Temple.^[100] Sikh communities are located in East and West London, which is also home to the largest Sikh Temples in the world, outside India. The majority of British Jews live in London, with significant Jewish communities in Stamford Hill (the most Orthodox Jewish area outside New York City and Israel) and St. John's Wood, Golders Green, Edgware in North London.^[101]

Transport

Main articles: Transport in London and Walking in London

Transport is one of the four areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London. However the mayor's financial control is limited and he does not control the heavy rail network (although in November 2007 he will assume responsibility for the North London Railway). The public transport network, administered by Transport for London (TfL), is the most extensive in the world,^[102] but faces congestion and reliability issues, which a large investment programme is attempting to address, including £7 billion (€10 billion) of improvements planned for the Olympics.^[103] London was recently commended as the city with the best public transport.^[104] Cycling is an increasingly popular way to get around London. The London Cycling Campaign lobbies for better provision. The centrepiece of the public transport network is the London Underground, commonly referred to as The Tube, with twelve interconnecting lines, and plans for expansion—especially deeper into South London, and at least one new line. It is the oldest, largest, and most expensive metro system in the world, dating from 1863.^[57] The system was home to the world's first underground electric line, the City & South London Railway, which began service in 1890.^[105] Over three million journeys a day are made on the Underground network, around nearly 1 billion journeys are made each year.^[106] The Underground serves the central area and most suburbs to the north of the Thames, while those to the south are served by an extensive suburban rail overland network. The Docklands Light Railway is a second metro system using smaller and lighter trains, which opened in 1987, serves East London and Greenwich on both sides of the Thames. Commuter and intercity railways generally do not cross the city, instead running into fourteen terminal stations scattered around its historic centre; the exception is the Thameslink route operated by First Capital Connect, with terminus stations at Bedford Brighton and Moorgate. Since the early 1990s, increasing pressures on the commuter rail and Underground networks have led to increasing demands, particularly from businesses and the City of London Corporation, for Crossrail - a £10 billion east-west heavy rail connection under central London, which was given the green light in early October 2007.^[103] Eurostar trains link London Waterloo station with Lille and Paris in France, and Brussels in Belgium, in two to three hours, making London closer to continental Europe than the rest of Britain and tying it into the Euro-core. In November 2007 London's Eurostar terminus will be moved to St. Pancras International and will begin using newly constructed dedicated train lines allowing faster travel through Kent. The redevelopment of St. Pancras was key to London's Olympic bid, as the station also serves two international airports through Thameslink, and will also provide direct rail links to the Olympic site at Stratford using British Rail Class 395 trains, based on Japanese Shinkansen high-speed trains.

The London bus network is a twenty-four hour service and caters for most local journeys, carrying even more passengers than the Underground. Every weekday, the London bus network carries six million passengers on over 700 different routes. In 2003, the network's ridership was estmate at over 1.5 billion passenger trips per annum.^[108] The buses are internationally recognised, and are a trademark of London transport along with black cabs and the Tube.

London is a major international air transport hub. No fewer than eight airports use the words London Airport in their name, but most traffic passes through one of five major airports. London Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in the world for international traffic. On completion of the fifth terminal, due for 2008, Heathrow will once again be the world's busiest airport. Before Terminal 5 is even open, plans are afoot for a sixth, to the disapproval of residents nearby, and under its take-off and landing corridors^[109] and will handle a mixture of full-service domestic, European and inter-continental scheduled passenger flights. Similar traffic, with the addition of some low-cost short-haul flights, is also handled at London Gatwick Airport. London Stansted Airport and London Luton Airport cater mostly for low-cost short-haul flights. London City Airport, the smallest and most central airport, is focused on business travellers, with a mixture of full service short-haul scheduled flights and considerable business jet traffic.^[110]

Although the majority of journeys involving central London are made by public transport, travel in outer London is car-dominated. The inner ring road (around the city centre), the North and South Circular roads (in the suburbs), and the outer orbital motorway (the M25, outside the built-up area) encircle the city and are intersected by a number of busy radial routes—but very few motorways penetrate into inner London. A plan for a comprehensive network of motorways throughout the city (the Ringways Plan) was prepared in the 1960s but was mostly canceled in the early 1970s.^[111] In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced to reduce traffic volumes in the city centre. With a few exceptions, motorists are required to pay £8 per day to drive within a defined zone encompassing much of congested central London.^[111] Motorists who are residents of the defined zone can buy a vastly reduced season pass which is renewed monthly and is cheaper than a corresponding bus fare.^[111]

London also has 2 central park and ride sites for the convenience of shoppers on Oxford Street and Bond Street, Westminster City Council car parks run a courtesy bus service from its Park Lane and Marble Arch car parks.

Education

Main article: Education in London

Home to a range of universities, colleges and schools, London has a student population of about 378,000^[114] and is a centre of research and development. Most primary and secondary schools in London follow the same system as the rest of England.

With 125,000 students, the University of London is the largest contact teaching university in the United Kingdom and in Europe.^[115] It comprises 20 colleges as well as several smaller institutes, each with a high degree of autonomy. Constituent colleges have their own admissions procedures, and are effectively universities in their own right, although most degrees are awarded by the University of London rather than the individual colleges. Its constituents include multi-disciplinary colleges such as UCL, King's and Royal Holloway and more specialised institutions such as the London School of Economics, SOAS, the Royal Academy of Music and the Institute of Education.

The London School of Economics, Imperial College London, King's and UCL have been ranked among some of the best universities in the whole world by The Times Higher Education Supplement: in 2006 Imperial was ranked 9th, the London School of Economics was ranked 17th, UCL 25th, and King's 46th in the world.^[116]

London's other universities, such as Brunel University, City University, London Metropolitan University, Imperial College London, Middlesex University, University of East London, the University of Westminster and London South Bank University, are not part of the University of London. Some were polytechnics until these were granted university status in 1992, and others which were founded much earlier. London is also known globally for its business education, with the London Business School (ranked 1st in Europe - Business Week) and Cass Business School (Europe's largest finance school) both being top world-rated business schools.

London is home to many museums, galleries, and other institutions which are major tourist attractions as well as playing a research role. The Natural History Museum (biology and geology), Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum (fashion and design) are clustered in South Kensington's "museum quarter", while the British Museum houses historic artefacts from around the world. The British Library at St Pancras is the UK's national library, housing 150 million items.^[117] The city also houses extensive art collections, primarily in the National Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern. See the list of museums in London.

Society and culture

Main article: Culture of London

Leisure and entertainment

Within the City of Westminster, the entertainment district of the West End has its focus around Leicester Square, where London and world film premieres are held, and Piccadilly Circus, with its giant electronic advertisements.^[47] London's theatre district is here, as are many cinemas, bars, clubs and restaurants, including the city's Chinatown district, and just to the east is Covent Garden, an area housing speciality shops. Shoreditch and Hoxton in the East End form a second, less mainstream, focus of bars, nightclubs, restaurants and galleries.^[47] Islington's one mile (2 km) long Upper Street, extending northwards from The Angel, has more bars and restaurants than any other street in the UK. It was also the first street in the UK to have wireless enabled for its cafes.

Europe's busiest shopping area is Oxford Street, a shopping street nearly one mile (2 km) long—which makes it the longest shopping street in the world—and home to many shops and department stores including Selfridges.^[47] The adjoining Bond Street in Mayfair is an extremely upmarket location, complemented by the Knightsbridge area—home to the Harrods department store—to the southwest, home to fashion, jewelery, and accessories design houses.^[47] The fashionable shopping areas of Sloane Street, Bond Street, and Kings Road represent London's prestigious role in the world of fashion. London is home to Vivienne Westwood, Galliano, Stella McCartney, Manolo Blahnik, and Jimmy Choo among others; its renowned art and fashion schools make it an international centre of fashion alongside Paris, Milan and New York.^[47] Top global supermodels Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss come from South London; and actress Sienna Miller was raised in Chelsea. London also has a high number of street markets, including Camden Market for fashions and alternative products, Portobello Road for antiques, and vintage and one-off clothes, and Borough Market for organic and specialist foods.^[47] London offers a great variety of cuisine as a result of its ethnically diverse population. Gastronomic centres include the Bangladeshi restaurants of Brick Lane and the Chinese food restaurants of Chinatown. Soho's variety of restaurants includes novelties such as Garlic and Shots - an entirely garlic restaurant, while more upmarket restaurants are scattered around central London, with concentrations in Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Notting Hill. Across the city, areas home to particular ethnic groups are often recognizable by restaurants, food shops and market stalls offering their local fare, and the large supermarket chains stock such items in areas with sizable ethnic groups.

There are a variety of regular annual events. The Caribbean-descended community in Notting Hill in West London organizes the colourful Notting Hill Carnival, Europe's biggest street carnival, every summer. The beginning of the year is celebrated with the relatively new New Year's Day Parade, while traditional parades include November's Lord Mayor's Show, a centuries-old event celebrating the annual appointment of a new Lord Mayor of the City of London with a procession along the streets of the City, and June's Trooping the Colour, a very formal military pageant to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday.^[47]

Literature and film

See also: , , and

London has been the setting for many works of literature. Two writers closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, famous for his eyewitness account of the Great Fire, and Charles Dickens, whose representation of a foggy, snowy, grimy London of street sweepers and pickpockets has been a major influence on people's vision of early Victorian London.^[125] James Boswell'