London
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This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. For other uses, see London (disambiguation).
e United Kingdom, the largestmetropolitan area in the United Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures.[note 1] London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who called itLondinium.[6] London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 17th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core.[7] The bulk of thisconurbation forms the London region[8] and the Greater London administrative area,[9][note 2] governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.[10]
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence.[11] It is the world's largest financial centre alongside New York,[12][13][14] has the largest city GDP in Europe[15] and is home to the headquarters of more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies.[16] It has the most international visitors of any city in the world.[17] London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers.[18] London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education institutions in Europe.[19] In 2012 London will become the first city to host the Summer Olympic Games three times.[20]
London has a diverse range of peoples, cultures and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken within its boundaries.[21] In July 2007 it had an official population of 7,556,900 within the boundaries of Greater London,[22] making it themost populous municipality in the European Union.[23] The Greater London Urban Area is the second largest in the EU with a population of 8,278,251,[2] while London's metropolitan area is the largest in the EU with an estimated total population of between 12 million[3] and 14 million.[4]
London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement of Greenwich (in which the Royal Observatorymarks the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and GMT).[24] Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, 30 St Mary Axe ("The Gherkin"), St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square. London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events and other cultural institutions including the British Museum, National Gallery, British Library,Wimbledon and 40 theatres.[25] London's Chinatown is the largest in Europe.[26] TheLondon Underground network is the oldest underground railway network in the world[27] and the most extensive after the Shanghai Metro.[28]
History
Toponymy
The etymology of London is uncertain.[29] It is an ancient name and can be found in sources from the 2nd century. It is recorded c. 121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-Britishorigin.[29] The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae.[29] This had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud.[30]
From 1899 it was commonly accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos; this explanation has since been rejected.[29] Richard Coates put forward an explanation in 1998 that it is derived from the pre-Celtic Old European *(p)lowonida, meaning 'river too wide to ford', and suggested that this was a name given to the part of the River Thames which flows through London; from this, the settlement gained the Celtic form of its name, *Lowonidonjon.[31]
Until 1889 the name "London" officially only applied to the City of London but since then it has also referred to the County of London and now Greater London.[7]
Prehistory and antiquity
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Although there is evidence of scattered Brythonic settlements in the area, the first major settlement was founded by the Romans in 43 AD.[32] This lasted for just seventeen years and around 61, the Iceni tribe led by Queen Boudicastormed it, burning it to the ground.[33] The next, heavily planned incarnation of the city prospered and superseded Colchester as the capital of the Roman province of Britannia in 100. At its height during the 2nd century, Roman London had a population of around 60,000. By the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxons had created a new settlement called Lundenwic over a mile (2 km) upstream from the old Roman city, around what is now Covent Garden.[34]
It is likely that there was a harbour at the mouth of the River Fleet for fishing and trading, and this trading grew, until the city was overcome by the Vikingsand forced to move east, back to the location of the Roman Londinium, in order to use its walls for protection.[35] Viking attacks continued to increase, until 886 when Alfred the Great recaptured London and made peace with the Danish leader, Guthrum.[36] The original Saxon city of Lundenwic became Ealdwic ("old city"), a name surviving to the present day as Aldwych, which is in the modern City of Westminster.[37]
Two recent discoveries indicate that London could be much older than previously thought. In 1999, the remains of a Bronze Age bridge were found on the foreshore north of Vauxhall Bridge.[38] This bridge either crossed the Thames, or went to a (lost) island in the river. Dendrology dated the timbers to 1500BC.
In 2010, the foundations of a large timber structure, dated to 4500BC, were found on the Thames foreshore, South of Vauxhall Bridge.[39]The function of the mesolithic structure is not known, but it covers at least 50m x 10m, and numerous 30 cm posts are visible at low tides. Both structures are on South Bank, at a natural crossing point where the River Effra flows into the River Thames, and 4 km upstream from the Roman City of London. The effort required to construct these structures implies trade, stability, and a community size of several hundred people at least.
Middle Ages
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With the collapse of Roman rule in the early 5th century, London was effectively abandoned. However, from the 6th century an Anglo-Saxon settlement known as Lundenwic developed slightly to the west of the old Roman city, around what is now Covent Garden and the Strand, rising to a likely population of 10–12,000.[34] In the 9th century London was repeatedly attacked by Vikings, leading to a relocation of the city back to the location of Roman Londinium, in order to use its walls for protection.[35]Following the unification of England in the 10th century London, already the country's largest city and most important trading centre, became increasingly important as a political centre, although it still faced competition from Winchester, the traditional centre of the kingdom of Wessex.
Westminster Abbey is a World Heritage Site and one of London's oldest and most important buildings as seen in this painting (Canaletto, 1749 A.D.)
In the 11th century King Edward the Confessor re-founded and rebuilt Westminster Abbey and Westminster, a short distance upstream from London became a favoured royal residence. From this point onward Westminster steadily supplanted the City of London itself as a venue for the business of national government.[40]
Following his victory in the Battle of Hastings, William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England in the newly finished Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.[41] William constructed the Tower of London, the first of the many Norman castles in England to be rebuilt in stone, in the southeastern corner of the city to intimidate the native inhabitants.[42] In 1097, William II began the building ofWestminster Hall, close by the abbey of the same name. The hall became the basis of a newPalace of Westminster.[43][44]
During the 12th century the institutions of central government, which had hitherto accompanied the royal court as it moved around the country, grew in size and sophistication and became increasingly fixed in one place. In most cases this was Westminster, although the royal treasury, having been moved from Winchester, came to rest in the Tower. While the City of Westminster developed into a true capital in governmental terms, its distinct neighbour, the City of London, remained England's largest city and principal commercial centre and flourished under its own unique administration, the Corporation of London. In 1100 its population was around 18,000; by 1300 it had grown to nearly 100,000.[45]
Disaster struck during the Black Death in the mid-14th century, when London lost nearly a third of its population.[46] London was the focus of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.[47]
Early modern
London in 1806
During the Tudor period the Reformation produced a gradual shift to Protestantism, with much of London passing from church to private ownership.[48] Mercantilism grew and monopoly trading companies such as the British East India Company were established, with trade expanding to the New World. London became the principal North Sea port, with migrants arriving from England and abroad. The population rose from an estimated 50,000 in 1530 to about 225,000 in 1605.[48]
In the 16th century William Shakespeare and his contemporaries lived in London at a time of hostility to the development of the theatre. By the end of the Tudor period in 1603, London was still very compact. There was an assassination attempt on James I in Westminster, through the Gunpowder Plot on 5 November 1605.[49] London was plagued by disease in the early 17th century,[50] culminating in the Great Plague of 1665–1666, which killed up to 100,000 people, or a fifth of the population.[51]
The Great Fire of London broke out in 1666 in Pudding Lane in the city and quickly swept through the wooden buildings.[52] Rebuilding took over ten years and was supervised byRobert Hooke[53][54][55] as Surveyor of London.[56] In 1708 Christopher Wren's masterpiece,St. Paul's Cathedral was completed. During the Georgian era new districts such as Mayfairwere formed in the west; and new bridges over the Thames encouraged development in South London. In the east, the Port of London expanded downstream.
In 1762 George III acquired Buckingham House and it was enlarged over the next 75 years. During the 18th century, London was dogged by crime and the Bow Street Runners were established in 1750 as a professional police force.[57] In total, more than 200 offenses were punishable by death,[58] and women and children were hanged for petty theft.[59] Over 74 per cent of children born in London died before they were five.[60] The coffee house became a popular place to debate ideas, with growing literacy and the development of the printing press making news widely available; and Fleet Street became the centre of the British press.
| “ | You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford. | ” |
Late modern and contemporary
London was the world's largest city from about 1831 to 1925.[62] London's overcrowded conditions led to cholera epidemics,[63] claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and 6,000 in 1866.[64]Rising traffic congestion led to the creation of the world's first local urban rail network. TheMetropolitan Board of Works oversaw infrastructure expansion. It was replaced in 1889 by theLondon 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 and destroyed large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. Immediately after the war, the 1948 Summer Olympics were held at the original Wembley Stadium, at a time when the city had barely recovered from the war.
In 1951 the Festival of Britain was held on the South Bank. The Great Smog of 1952 led to the Clean Air Act 1956, which ended the "pea-souper" fogs for which London had been notorious. From the 1950s onwards, London became home to a large number of immigrants, largely from Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, making London one of the most diverse cities in Europe.
Starting in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for the worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London subculture associated with Carnaby Street. The role of trendsetter was revived during the punk era. In 1965 London's political boundaries were expanded to take into account the growth of the urban area and a new Greater London Council was created. During The Troubles inNorthern Ireland, London was subjected to bombing attacks by the Provisional IRA. Racial inequality was highlighted by the 1981 Brixton riot. Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after World War II, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s. The principal ports for London moved downstream to Felixstowe and Tilbury, with the London Docklands area becoming a focus for regeneration.
The Thames Barrier was completed in the 1980s to protect London against tidal surges from the North Sea. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986, which left London as the only large metropolis in the world without a central administration. In 2000, London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the Greater London Authority. To celebrate the start of the 21st century, the Millennium Dome, London Eye and Millenium Bridge were constructed. On 7 July 2005, several London Underground trains and a bus were bombed in a series of terrorist attacks.[65]
Government
Local government
Main articles: Local government in London, History of local government in London, and List of heads of London government
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The current sub-regions as defined by the GLA
The administration of London is formed of 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.[66] The GLA consists of two elected components; the Mayor of London, who has executive powers, and the London Assembly, who scrutinise the mayor's decisions and can accept or reject his budget proposals each year. The headquarters of the GLA is City Hall, Southwark; the current mayor is Boris Johnson. The mayor's statutory planning strategy is published as theLondon Plan, which as of mid-2009 is being revised, for final publication in 2011. The local authorities are the councils of the 32 London boroughs and the City of London Corporation.[67] They are responsible for most local services, such as local planning, schools, social services, local roads and refuse collection. Certain functions, such as waste management, are provided through joint arrangements.
Policing in Greater London, with the exception of the City of London, is provided by the Metropolitan Police Force, overseen by theMetropolitan Police Authority. The City of London has its own police force – the City of London Police.[68] The British Transport Policeare responsible for police services on National Rail and London Underground services in the capital.[69]
The London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for Greater London. It is run by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and is the third-largest fire service in the world.[70] National Health Service ambulance services are provided by theLondon Ambulance Service (LAS) NHS Trust, the largest free at the point of use emergency ambulance service in the world.[71] TheLondon Air Ambulance charity operates in conjunction with the LAS where required. Her Majesty's Coastguard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution operate on the River Thames.[72][73]
National government
London is the seat of the Government of the United Kingdom, which is located around the Palace of Westminster. Many government departments are located close to Parliament, particularly along Whitehall, including the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street.[74] The British Parliament is often referred to as the "Mother of Parliaments" (although this sobriquet was first applied to England itself by John Bright)[75] because it has been the model for most other parliamentary systems, and its Acts have created many other parliaments.
Geography
Scope
Map of Central London
Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London. The small, ancientCity of London at its core once contained the whole settlement, but as the urban area grew the City Corporation resisted attempts to amalgamate it with its suburbs, causing "London" to be defined in a number ways for different purposes; and the situation was once open to legal debate.[76] Forty per cent of Greater London is covered by the London post town, within which 'LONDON' forms part of postal addresses.[77][78]
The London telephone area code (020) 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 normally what is referred to as 'London'.[79] and the Greater London boundary has been aligned to it in places.[80]
Outward urban expansion is now prevented by the Metropolitan Green Belt,[81] although the built-up area extends beyond the boundary in places, resulting in a separately defined Greater London Urban Area. Beyond this is the vast London commuter belt.[82] Greater London is split for some purposes into Inner London and Outer London.[83] The city is split by the River Thames into North and South, with an informal Central London area in its interior. 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 
51°30′26″N00°07′39″W.[84]
51°30′26″N00°07′39″W.[84]
Status
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 the ceremonial counties.[85] The current area of Greater London has incorporated areas that were once part of the counties of Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire.[86] London's status as the capital of England, and later the United Kingdom, has never been granted or confirmed officially—by statute or in written form.[note 3]
Its position was formed through constitutional convention, making its status 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.[90] More recently, Greater London has been defined as a region of England and in this context known as London.[8]
Topography
West and central London seen fromSPOT satellite
Greater London covers an area of 1,579 square kilometres (610 sq mi), an area which had a population of 7,172,036 in 2001 and a population density of 4,542 inhabitants per square kilometre (11,760 /sq mi). A larger area, referred to as the London Metropolitan Region or the London Metropolitan Agglomeration covers an area of 8,382 square kilometres (3,236 sq mi) has a population of 12,653,500 and a population density of 1,510 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,900 /sq mi).[91] Modern London stands on the Thames, its primary geographical feature, 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 including Parliament Hill, Addington Hills, and Primrose Hill. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river with extensivemarshlands; at high tide, its shores reached five times their present width.[92]
Since the Victorian era the Thames has been extensively embanked, and many of its Londontributaries now flow underground. The Thames is a tidal river, and London is vulnerable to flooding.[93] 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.[94]
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 2070, concepts for its future enlargement or redesign are already being discussed.[95]
Climate
London has a temperate marine climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), like much of the British Isles, so the city rarely sees extremely high or low temperatures. London receives an average of only 1468 hours of sunshine every year.[96] Despite this, summers are generally warm, with daytime temperatures above 20 °C (68 °F) on over 90% of days. Warm weather can usually be expected from May to September – in recent years, 30 °C (86 °F) has been recorded in early May on several occasions and as late as mid September. On average, London receives 28 days above 25 °C (77 °F) per year, and 4 days above 30 °C (86 °F). All of these weather statistics are based on averages from sheltered suburbs. Taking into effect the UHI effect, Inner London can be up to 5 °C warmer than the surrounding areas. Temperatures in the London Underground can easily reach well above 40 °C (104 °F) on warm days. Heatwaves do occur, although serious heatwaves are not as common. During mild heatwaves, temperatures usually reach above 32 °C (90 °F) for several days and do not drop below 20 °C (68 °F) at night. During more severe heatwaves such as 2003 and 2006, temperatures can reach above 35 °C (95 °F) during the day and at times were as high as 23 °C (73 °F) in some areas at night. June and July 2006 were notable for the intense heat, with temperatures regularly reaching above 33 °C (91 °F) and the mean max for July of that year coming out at above 28 °C (82 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 38.1 °C (100.6 °F) at Kew Gardens (37.5 °C (99.5 °F) atGreenwich Observatory) on 10 August 2003[97] during the 2003 European heat wave.
Winters in London are chilly, but rarely below freezing, with daytime highs around 6 °C (43 °F) – 8 °C (46 °F). Winter temperatures can reach as high as 16 °C (61 °F) occasionally, and also below 0 °C (32 °F) during daytime, especially in 2010–2011 winter.[98] The lowest ever recorded temperature was −21.1 °C (−6 °F) in January 1795. Spring is characterised by mild days and cool evenings in March and April, and generally warm days and mild nights during May. Spring is normally a very mixed affair however, with cool weather possible until late April. 29 °C (84 °F) has been recorded in April, and similarly cool temperatures have been recorded in early May. Spring is normally the driest time of year in London. Autumn is usually mild but often unsettled as colder air from the arctic and warmer air from the tropics meet. Temperatures usually remain warm, above 18 °C (64 °F) until late September. London is a relatively dry city with regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year, with an average of 583.6 millimetres (22.98 in) every year. This is lower than many cities such as New York, Paris, Sydney and around the same as Jerusalem and San Francisco.
Snow is relatively uncommon, particularly because heat from the urban area can make London up to 5 °C (9 °F) warmer than the surrounding areas in winter. Some snowfall, however, is usually seen up to a few times a year. The February 2009 Great Britain and Ireland snowfall was the heaviest London had seen for 18 years.
London is in USDA Hardiness zone 9, and AHS Heat Zone 2.[99] Although extreme weather does not happen very often, deep depressions have been known to pass through like the Great Storm of 1987. Tornados are rare, but the Kensal Green area of the city was hit by the 2006 London tornado causing £10 million of damage and injuring 6 people.
In the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, London was noted for its dense fogs and smogs. Following the deadlyGreat Smog of 1952, the Clean Air Act 1956 was passed, leading to the decline of such severe pollution in the capital.[100] Nevertheless, in 2010 the City of London was ranked as one of the most polluted places in Europe.[101]
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