   #copyright

London

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

                       London
    The Palace of Westminster on the River Thames

   The Palace of Westminster on the River Thames
                      Location

   London region shown within England
   Coordinates:         51°30′25″N, 0°07′39″W
                     Government
   Sovereign state:     United Kingdom
   Constituent country: England
   Region:              London
   Regional authority:  Greater London Authority
   Regional assembly:   London Assembly
   HQ:                  City Hall
   Mayor:               Ken Livingstone
                    Subdivisions
   Districts:           City & 32 London boroughs
   UK Parliament:       74 constituencies
   London Assembly:     14 constituencies
   European Parliament: London constituency
                      Geography
   City of London
   Area:                2.6 km² (1.00 sq mi)
   Population:          9,200 (2005 est.)
   Density:             3,172/ km²
   Greater London
   Area:                1,579 km² (609 sq mi)
   Population:          7.5 million (2005 est.)
   Density:             4,761/ km²
   Wider population
   Urban area:          8.5 million
   Metro area:          12-14 million
                      Time Zone
   Standard:            GMT (UTC)
   Summer: ( DST)       BST (UTC+1)
                       Website
   http://www.london.gov.uk

   London ( pronounced [ˈlʌndən]) is the capital city of England and the
   United Kingdom. An important settlement for around two millennia,
   London is today one of the world's most important business and
   financial centres, and its influence in politics, culture, education,
   entertainment, media, fashion, sport and the arts all contribute to its
   status as one of the key global cities.

   London is the most populous city in the European Union with a
   population of 7.5 million and a metropolitan area population of between
   12 and 14 million. Its population is very cosmopolitan, drawing from a
   diverse range of peoples, cultures and religions, speaking over 300
   different languages. Residents of London are referred to as Londoners.

   London is an international transport hub, with five international
   airports and a large port. It serves as the largest aviation hub in the
   world, and its principal airport, Heathrow, carries more international
   passengers than any other.

   London is a major tourist destination - counting iconic landmarks such
   as the Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London,
   Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye amongst its
   many attractions, along with famous institutions such as the British
   Museum and the National Gallery.

Defining London

Area

   Today, "London" usually refers to the area known as Greater London
   which is also the London region of England. At the heart of the
   conurbation is the small, ancient City of London which was historically
   the entirety of the city. Londoners generally refer to the City of
   London simply as "The City" or the "Square Mile". London's metropolitan
   area grew considerably during the Victorian era and again during the
   Interwar period with expansion halted in the 1940s by World War II and
   Green Belt legislation and has been largely static since.

   The extent of the London postal district, Metropolitan Police District,
   local government area, London transport area, urban sprawl, coverage of
   the London telephone area code and metropolitan area have rarely been
   coterminous and are not currently. The area delimited by the orbital
   M25 motorway is sometimes used to define the "London area" and the
   Greater London boundary has been aligned to it in places. London is
   split for some purposes into Inner London and Outer London.

   The co-ordinates of the nominal centre of London (traditionally
   considered to be the original Charing Cross, near the junction of
   Trafalgar Square and Whitehall) are approximately 51°30′29″N,
   00°07′29″W. The Romans may have marked the centre of Londinium with the
   London Stone in the City.

Status

   The entire London urban area may be classed as a "city" using a
   geographical definition, but politically it is not so. Officially,
   London is a region containing two smaller cities within its built-up
   area: the City of London and the City of Westminster (see City status
   in the UK).

   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. 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.

Geography and climate

   London as seen at night by the International Space Station.
   Enlarge
   London as seen at night by the International Space Station.

Topography and climate

   Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 km²), making
   it one of the world's largest cities by area. Its primary geographical
   feature is the Thames, a navigable river which crosses the city from
   the southwest to the east. The Thames Valley is a floodplain surrounded
   by gently rolling hills such as Parliament Hill 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. 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. 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. In 1974, a decade of work began on the
   construction of the Thames Barrier across the Thames at Woolwich to
   deal with this threat, but a more substantial barrier further
   downstream may be necessary in the near future.

   London has a temperate climate with regular but generally light
   precipitation throughout the year - London is in fact amongst the
   driest of Europe's capitals. 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).
   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. Snow is uncommon, particularly because
   heat from the urban area can make London 5 °C (9 °F) hotter than the
   surrounding areas in winter. London is in USDA Hardiness zone 9, and
   AHS Heat Zone 2.
   Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
   Avg high °C (°F) 7.2 (45.0) 7.6 (45.7) 10.3 (50.5) 13.0 (55.4) 17.0
   (62.6) 20.3 (68.5) 22.3 (72.1) 21.9 (71.4) 19.1 (66.4) 15.2 (59.4) 10.4
   (50.7) 8.2 (46.8)
   Avg low temperature °C (°F) 2.4 (36.3) 2.5 (36.5) 3.8 (38.8) 5.6 (42.1)
   8.7 (47.7) 11.6 (52.9) 13.7 (56.7) 13.4 (56.1) 11.4 (52.5) 8.9 (48.0)
   5.1 (41.2) 3.4 (38.1)
   Source: Worldweather.org

Districts

   Part of the London skyline looking east from the South Bank of the
   Thames.
   Enlarge
   Part of the London skyline looking east from the South Bank of the
   Thames.

   London's vast urban area is often described using a large set of
   district names (e.g. Bloomsbury, Mayfair, Whitechapel). These are for
   the most part informal designations which have become commonplace
   through tradition, each referring to a neighbourhood with its own
   distinctive character, but no official boundaries (often overlapping).
   One area of London which does have a strict definition is the City of
   London (usually just called The City), the largest financial district
   and central business district ( CBD) in Europe. The City has its own
   governance and boundaries, giving it a distinctive status as the only
   completely autonomous local authority in London. London's other
   financial hub is the Docklands area in the east of the city, dominated
   by the Canary Wharf complex, whilst many other businesses locate in the
   City of Westminster which is the home of the UK's national government.

   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. The West London area is
   known for fashionable and expensive residential areas such as Notting
   Hill, Kensington and Chelsea — where some propeties can sell for
   £5,000,000 and above.

   Meanwhile, the eastern side of London contains the East End — 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.
   The surrounding East London area saw much of London's early industrial
   development; now, brownfield sites throughout the area are being
   redeveloped, including areas along the Thames (the Thames Gateway) and
   up the Lower Lea Valley, which is being developed into the Olympic Park
   for the 2012 Olympics. North London and South London are informal
   divisions of the capital made by the River Thames, although they can
   define varying areas.

Built environment

   Sunset over the City, with the Docklands development in the background.
   Enlarge
   Sunset over the City, with the Docklands development in the background.

   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 buildings; high-rise buildings are fairly
   rare, even in employment centres. Thus, skyscrapers such as the City's
   "Gherkin", Tower 42 and One Canada Square stand out due to both their
   height and their relative rarity.

   However, developments of tall buildings are encouraged in the London
   Plan, which will lead to the erection of many new skyscrapers over the
   next few years as London goes through a high-rise boom, particularly in
   the two financial centres, the City of London and Canary Wharf. 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.

   The buildings of London are a collection of different styles
   accumulated mostly over the time since the Great Fire in 1666. Although
   the City is characterised by 18th and 19th century architecture, there
   are a number of examples of more modern construction, such as the
   Lloyd's building and 30 St Mary Axe. London's focal point is the
   mid-19th century Trafalgar Square, marked with Nelson's Column and the
   site of major demonstrations and street events in the capital.

Parks and gardens

   London has a number of open spaces situated throughout the city. 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.
   More central places 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 outside the
   city centre are also notable, including the remaining Royal Parks of
   Greenwich Park to the south east, and Bushy Park and Richmond Park to
   the south west. Some more informal, semi-natural open spaces also
   exist, including the 791-acre Hampstead Heath of north London.

History

Early London

   Although there is some evidence of scattered pre-Roman 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.
   Westminster Abbey is one of London's oldest and most important
   buildings
   Enlarge
   Westminster Abbey is one of London's oldest and most important
   buildings

   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.

   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. 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. 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 Ealdwīc ("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. 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. By
   this time, London had become the largest and most prosperous city in
   England, although the official seat of government was still at
   Winchester.

Norman and medieval London

   The Great Fire of London destroyed large parts of the city in 1666.
   Enlarge
   The Great Fire of London destroyed large 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, whilst building a castle in
   the southeast 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), whilst 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.

   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.

   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
   (and killing off much of the disease-carrying rat population).
   Rebuilding took over ten years.

Rise of modern London

   A London street hit during the Blitz of World War II
   Enlarge
   A London street hit during the Blitz of World War II

   London's growth accelerated in the 18th century, and was the world's
   largest city from about 1831 to 1925 . This growth was aided from 1836
   by London's first railways which put small countryside towns within
   easy reach of the city. The rail network expanded very rapidly, and
   caused these places to grow whilst 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 yet further expansion and urbanisation.

   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 British Airways London Eye, one of the many symbols of modern
   London.
   Enlarge
   The British Airways London Eye, one of the many symbols of modern
   London.

   The Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe during World War II
   killed over 30,000 Londoners 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 events such as the
   Brixton Riots in the 1980s.

   An economic revival from the 1980s onwards re-established London's
   position as an eminent trading centre. However, as the seat of
   government and the most important city in the UK, it has been subjected
   to bouts of terrorism. IRA 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 ceasefire. 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

   City Hall at night, headquarters of the Greater London Authority.
   Enlarge
   City Hall at night, headquarters of the Greater London Authority.

   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), whilst local
   administration is carried out by 33 smaller districts.

   The GLA is responsible for strategic planning, policing, the fire
   service, transport and economic development. It consists of two elected
   parts — 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 GLA is a recent organisation,
   having been set up in 2000 to replace the similar Greater London
   Council (GLC) which was abolished in 1986.

   The current 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.

   The 33 local districts are the 32 London boroughs and the City of
   London. They are responsible for local services not overseen by the
   GLA, such as local planning, schools, social services, 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
   Corporation of London which is elected by both residents and
   businesses, and which has existed more or less unchanged since the
   Middle Ages.

   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 five Strategic Health Authorities.

National government

   The Houses of Parliament at dusk
   Enlarge
   The Houses of Parliament at dusk

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

   The British Parliament is often referred to as the "Mother of
   Parliaments" 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
   organized 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.
   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

   Bishopsgate, in the City of London.
   Enlarge
   Bishopsgate, in the City of 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).

   As Europe's largest city economy, year-by-year, London's economy
   generates approximately 19% of the UK's GDP or £219 billion in 2005;
   whilst the entire London metropolitan area generates approximately 30%
   of UK GDP or £345 billion in 2005.

   London shifted to a mostly service-based economy earlier than other
   European cities, particularly following the Second World War. London's
   relative success as a service industry and business centre can be
   attributed to a large array of factors: English becoming the new lingua
   franca; its former position as the capital of the British Empire; its
   close relationship with the US and various countries in Asia; English
   law being the most important and most used contract law in
   international business, the multi-cultural infrastructure (schools,
   places of worship, cultural and social organisations); relatively low
   taxes, particularly for foreigners (non-UK domiciled residents do not
   get taxed on their foreign earnings); a business friendly environment
   (e.g. in the City of London the local government is not elected by the
   resident population but instead by business - the City of London is a
   business democracy), good transport infrastructure, particularly its
   aviation industry and a deregulated economy with little intervention by
   the government.

   Currently, over 85% (3.2 million) of the employed population of greater
   London works in the services industries. Another half a million
   employees resident in Greater London work in manufacturing and
   construction, almost equally divided between both.

   London has five major business districts: the City, Westminster, Canary
   Wharf, Camden & Islington and Lambeth & Southwark.
   Business District Office Space (m²) Business Concentration
   The City 7,740,000 finance, broking, insurance, legal
   Westminster 5,780,000 head offices, real estate, private banking, hedge
   funds, government
   Camden & Islington 2,294,000 creative industries, finance, design, art,
   fashion, architecture
   Canary Wharf 2,120,000 banking, media, legal
   Lambeth & Southwark 1,780,000 accountancy, consultancy, local
   government

   London's largest industry remains finance, and its financial exports
   make it a large contributor to the UK's balance of payments. The City
   is the largest financial and business centre in Europe, 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.
   The headquarters of Reuters, the world's largest news agency.
   Enlarge
   The headquarters of Reuters, the world's largest news agency.

   More than half of the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and
   over 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies are headquartered 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. The BBC is a key employer,
   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, whilst annual
   expenditure by tourists is around £15bn. London is a popular
   destination for tourists, attracting 27 million overnight-stay visitors
   every year, second only to Paris.

   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. Most of this actually passes through
   Tilbury, outside the boundary of Greater London.

Demographics

   Piccadilly Circus at night.
   Enlarge
   Piccadilly Circus at night.

   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 7,517,700 people living in the Greater London
   area in mid- 2005. However, London's continuous urban area extends
   beyond the borders of Greater London and was home to 8,278,251 people
   at the 2001 UK census, whilst its wider metropolitan area has a
   population of between 12 and 14 million depending on the definition of
   that area . As per Eurostat, London is the most populous city and
   metropolitan area of the European Union .
     * By Population of city (proper), London ranks 15th in the world.
     * By Population of metropolitan area, London ranks 15th in the world.
     * By Number of billionaires (United States Dollars), London ranks 4th
       in the world with 19.
     * In terms of cost of living, London is the 1st most expensive city
       in the world to live in.

   It is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the industrialised
   world, with more than 300 languages spoken and 50 non-indigenous
   communities with a population of more than 10,000 living in London. The
   2001 census showed that about 27% of London's population were born
   outside the UK, and about 29% were classified as non-white.

   In terms of religion, London is historically 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, whilst 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. Despite all of this,
   observance is very low within the Anglican denomination and yet
   considerably higher among London's Roman Catholic and Christian
   Orthodox communities.

   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. Sikh
   communities are located in East and West London, which is also home to
   one of 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 and Israel) and Golders Green in North London.

Transport

   Paddington Station, one of London's main railway terminals.
   Enlarge
   Paddington Station, one of London's main railway terminals.

   Transport is one of the four areas of policy administered by the Mayor
   of London, but the mayor's financial control is limited. The public
   transport network, administered by Transport for London (TfL), is the
   most extensive in the world, 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.

Rail

   The centrepiece of the public transport network is the London
   Underground, the oldest and largest metro system in the world, dating
   from 1863. The Metro system was home to the world's first underground
   electric line, the City & South London Railway, which began service in
   1890. Nearly 1 billion journeys are made each year on the London
   Underground system. The Underground serves the central area and most
   suburbs to the north of the Thames, whilst those to the south are
   served by an extensive suburban rail network. Commuter and intercity
   railways generally do not cross the city, instead running into fourteen
   terminal stations scattered around its historic centre. The London bus
   network caters for most local journeys and carries even more passengers
   than the Underground. These internationally recognised buses are the
   trademark of London transport along-side black cabs and the
   underground.
     * Metro systems by annual passenger ridership, London ranks 7th in
       the world, with 976 million passengers per year.

Air

   London is an international transport hub, with five sizeable airports
   and a cross-channel rail service. Heathrow is the busiest airport in
   the world for international traffic; such traffic is also handled at
   Gatwick, whilst Stansted and Luton cater mostly for low-cost short-haul
   flights. London City, the smallest and most central airport, is focused
   on business travellers. Eurostar trains link London Waterloo station
   with Lille and Paris in France, and Brussels in Belgium.

   Biggin Hill is often counted as London's sixth airport. However, this
   is not an international airport and handles mainly chartered aircraft.
     * By annual passenger air traffic (2002 census), London ranks 1st in
       the world, with around 133,599,000 passengers using London Heathrow
       Airport, London Gatwick Airport, London Stansted Airport, London
       Luton Airport and London City Airport in the year 2005.

Road

   Although the vast 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 an orbital motorway (the M25, outside the
   built-up area) circuit 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 cancelled in
   the early 1970s due to vociferous objections from the population and
   the huge costs. 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 central London. Motorists who are residents in the
   defined zone can also buy a season pass which is renewed monthly.

Education

   Home to a diverse range of universities, colleges and schools, London
   has a significant student population (about 378,000) 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. 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 all 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 Queen Mary and more
   specialised institutions such as Imperial, the London School of
   Economics, SOAS, the Royal Academy of Music and the Institute of
   Education.

   London's other universities, such as City University, London
   Metropolitan University, Middlesex University, UEL, 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 home to a number of important museums and other institutions
   which are major tourist attractions as well as playing a research role.
   The Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Victoria and Albert
   Museum (dealing with fashion and design) are clustered in South
   Kensington's "museum quarter", whilst 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. The
   city also houses extensive art collections, primarily in the National
   Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern.

Society and culture

Leisure and entertainment

   Bond Street, one of Mayfair's main shopping streets.
   Enlarge
   Bond Street, one of Mayfair's main shopping streets.

   Within the City of Westminster, the entertainment district of the West
   End has its focus around Leicester Square, where London film premieres
   are held, and Piccadilly Circus, with its giant electronic
   advertisements. London's theatre district is here, as are many cinemas,
   bars, clubs and restaurants, including the city's Chinatown district,
   whilst just to the east is Covent Garden, an area housing speciality
   shops and London's " Avenue of Stars" which honours achievers in the
   entertainment industry.

   London's busiest shopping area is Oxford Street, a mainstream shopping
   street nearly 2 km long. The adjoining Bond Street in Mayfair is a more
   upmarket location along with the Knightsbridge area - home to the
   Harrods department store - to the southwest. The districts of
   Knightsbridge ( Sloane Street), Mayfair (Bond Street, Brook Street),
   and Chelsea (King's Road) represent London's prestigious role in the
   world of fashion, being an international centre of fashion alongside
   Paris, Milan, New York and Tokyo. Furthermore, London has a number of
   markets, including Camden Market for fashions, Portobello Road for
   antiques and Borough Market for foods.

   London offers a huge variety of cuisines as a result of its ethnically
   diverse population. Well-known gastronomic centres include the
   Bangladeshi restaurants of Brick Lane and the Chinese food of
   Chinatown. Soho offers a variety of relatively cheap international
   restaurants, whilst more upmarket restaurants are scattered around
   central London, with concentrations in Mayfair. Across the city, areas
   home to particular ethnic groups are often recognisable by restaurants,
   food shops and market stalls offering their local fare, and even the
   large supermarkets stock such items in areas with sizeable ethnic
   groups.

   The Caribbean-descended community in Notting Hill in West London
   organises 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, whilst 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 (official)
   Queen's Birthday.

Literature and film

   Charles Dickens (1812-1870), whose works formed a pervasive image of
   Victorian London
   Enlarge
   Charles Dickens (1812-1870), whose works formed a pervasive image of
   Victorian London

   London has been the setting for many works of literature. Two writers
   closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, famous
   among other things for his eyewitness account of the Great Fire, and
   Charles Dickens, whose representation of a foggy, snowy, grimy London
   of street sweepers and pickpockets is a major influence on people's
   vision of early Victorian London. James Boswell's biographical Life of
   Johnson mostly takes place in London, and is the source of Johnson's
   famous aphorism: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life;
   for there is in London all that life can afford." The earlier (1722) A
   Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe is a fictionalisation of the
   events of the 1665 Great Plague. William Shakespeare spent a large part
   of his life living and working in London; his contemporary Ben Jonson
   was also based in London, and some of his work -- most notably his play
   The Alchemist -- was set in the city. Later important depictions of
   London from the 19th and early 20th centuries are the afore-mentioned
   Dickens novels, and Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Sherlock Holmes
   stories. The 1933 novel Down and Out in Paris and London by George
   Orwell describes life in poverty in both cities. A modern writer
   pervasively influenced by the city is Peter Ackroyd, in works such as
   London: The Biography, The Lambs of London and Hawksmoor. Along with
   Bloomsbury, the hilly area of Hampstead has traditionally been the
   literary heartland of London.

   Traditionally, London has played a significant role in the film
   industry, and boasts major studios at Pinewood and Shepperton, both
   just outside West London, as well as an important special effects and
   post-production community. Many films have also used London as a
   location and have done much to shape international perceptions of the
   city. See main article London in film.

   The city also hosts a number of performing arts schools, including the
   Central School of Speech and Drama, whose past students include Judi
   Dench and Laurence Olivier, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic
   Art (educators of Jim Broadbent and Donald Sutherland amongst others)
   and the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (past students
   including Joan Collins and Roger Moore).

   The London Film Festival is held in the city each October.

Music

   London is one of the major music capitals in the world and is home to
   one of the five major global music corporations EMI. London and its
   surrounding Home Counties have spawned iconic and popular artists
   through the years, including The Who, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd,
   Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Cream, Iron Maiden, The
   Yardbirds, Genesis, Elton John, Yes, Queen, The Clash, The Sex Pistols,
   Radiohead, Keane, Jamiroquai, Coldplay, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Robbie
   Williams and Bernard Butler. London's current scene for local live
   bands can be found in Camden and the West End. London is also home to
   the first and original Hard Rock Cafe and EMI's Abbey Road Studios.
   More recently, London has been the centre for the UK's thriving urban
   music scene, with artists like Dillinja ( Drum 'n' Bass / Jungle), So
   Solid Crew ( UK Garage), Dizzee Rascal ( Grime) and Roots Manuva ( UK
   Hip Hop) becoming popular.

Sport

   No. 1 Court at the All England Club in Wimbledon
   Enlarge
   No. 1 Court at the All England Club in Wimbledon

   London has hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in 1908 and 1948. In July
   2005 London was chosen to host the Games in 2012, which will make it
   the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times.
   London was also the host of the British Empire Games in 1934.

   London's most popular sport (for both participants and spectators) is
   football. London has 12 League Football clubs, including six in the
   Premiership (Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham
   Hotspur and West Ham United) and a further six in the remaining three
   divisions ( Barnet, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient, Millwall
   and Queens Park Rangers), plus countless non-league and amateur
   football teams.

   London has a unique place in the history of football. First, in the
   sixteenth century headmaster of St Paul's School Richard Mulcaster is
   credited with taking mob football and transforming it into organised
   and refereed team football in order to be beneficial for schoolboys.
   Second, London was home to Ebenezer Cobb Morley who was a founding
   member of the Football Association in 1862. In 1863, he wrote to Bell's
   Life newspaper proposing a governing body for football that led to the
   first meeting at the Freemason's Tavern in central London that created
   the Football Association, the English governing body of soccer and the
   first of its kind anywhere in the world. He wrote at his house in
   Barnes the first set of rules of true modern soccer that were adopted
   by the FA and spread all over the world. It is, therefore, true to say
   that Association football (soccer) was invented in London

   London also has four rugby union teams in the Guinness Premiership (
   London Irish, Saracens, Wasps and NEC Harlequins), although only the
   Harlequins play in London (all the other three now play outside Greater
   London), as well as a rugby league Super League club in Harlequins RL.
   London also has many famous other rugby union clubs in lower leagues,
   including Richmond F.C., Blackheath R.C., Rosslyn Park F.C. and Barnes
   R.F.C.

   Wembley Stadium (which is currently being rebuilt) has traditionally
   been the home of the English national football team, and serves as the
   venue for the FA Cup final as well as rugby league's Challenge Cup
   final. Twickenham Stadium in west London is the national rugby union
   stadium.

   Cricket in London centres on its two Test cricket grounds at Lord's
   (home of Middlesex CC) in St John's Wood, and The Oval (home of Surrey
   CC) in Kennington.

   One of London's most well-known annual sports competitions is the
   Wimbledon Tennis Championships, held at the All England Club in the
   south-western suburb of Wimbledon. Other key events are the annual
   mass-participation London Marathon which sees some 35,000 runners
   attempt a 42 km course around the city, and the Oxford vs. Cambridge
   Boat Race on the River Thames between Putney and Mortlake.

Twinnings

   London has " sister city" agreements with the following cities:
     * United States New York City, USA since 2001
     * Russia Moscow, Russia
     * Germany Berlin, Germany (since 2000)
     * People's Republic of China Beijing, China since 2006
     * Japan Tokyo, Japan since 2006
     * Romania Bucharest, Romania (since 2002)
     * France Paris, France (since 2001)

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