London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom.[7][8] Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans.[9] The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits.[10][11][12][13][14][note 1] The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.[15][note 2][16]
London is considered to be one of the world's most important global cities[17][18][19] and has been termed the world's most powerful,[20] most desirable,[21] most influential,[22] most visited,[23] most expensive,[24][25] innovative,[26] sustainable,[27] most investment friendly,[28] and most popular for work[29] city in the world. London exerts a considerable impact upon the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transportation.[30][31] London ranks 26 out of 300 major cities for economic performance.[32] It is one of the largest financial centres[33] and has either the fifth or sixth largest metropolitan area GDP.[note 3][34][35][36][37][38] It is the most-visited city as measured by international arrivals[39] and has the busiest city airport system as measured by passenger traffic.[40] It is the leading investment destination,[41][42][43][44] hosting more international retailers[45][46] and ultra high-net-worth individuals[47][48] than any other city. London's universities form the largest concentration of higher education institutes in Europe,[49] and is home of world-class institutions such as Imperial College London in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and the London School of Economics in economics, finance, and business.[50][51][52] In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted three modern Summer Olympic Games.[53]
London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region.[54] Its estimated mid-2018 municipal population (corresponding to Greater London) was 8,908,081,[4] the most populous of any city in the European Union[55] and accounting for 13.4% of the UK population.[56] London's urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census.[57] The population within the London commuter belt is the most populous in the EU with 14,040,163 inhabitants in 2016.[note 4][3][58] London was the world's most populous city from c. 1831 to 1925.[59]
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 in Greenwich where the Royal Observatory, Greenwich defines the Prime Meridian, 0° longitude, and Greenwich Mean Time.[60] Other landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and The Shard. London has numerous museums, galleries, libraries and sporting events. These include the British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, British Library and West End theatres.[61] The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world.
"London" is an ancient name, attested already in the first century AD, usually in the Latinised form Londinium;[62] for example, handwritten Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio ("in London").[63]
Over the years, the name has attracted many mythicising explanations. The earliest attested appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written around 1136.[62] This had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud.[64]
Modern scientific analyses of the name must account for the origins of the different forms found in early sources Latin (usually Londinium), Old English (usually Lunden), and Welsh (usually Llundein), with reference to the known developments over time of sounds in those different languages. It is agreed that the name came into these languages from Common Brythonic; recent work tends to reconstruct the lost Celtic form of the name as *[Londonjon] or something similar. This was adapted into Latin as Londinium and borrowed into Old English, the ancestor-language of English.[65]
The toponymy of the Common Brythonic form is much debated. A prominent explanation was Richard Coates's 1998 argument that the name derived from pre-Celtic Old European *(p)lowonida, meaning "river too wide to ford". Coates 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.[66] However, most work has accepted a Celtic origin for the name, and recent studies have favoured an explanation along the lines of a Celtic derivative of a proto-Indo-European root *lendh- ('sink, cause to sink'), combined with the Celtic suffix *-injo- or *-onjo- (used to form place-names). Peter Schrijver has specifically suggested, on these grounds, that the name originally meant 'place that floods (periodically, tidally)'.[67][65]
Until 1889, the name "London" applied to the City of London, but since then it has also referred to the County of London and Greater London.[68] "London" is sometimes written informally as "LDN".[69]
History
Prehistory
In 1993, the remains of a Bronze Age bridge were found on the south foreshore, upstream of Vauxhall Bridge.[70] This bridge either crossed the Thames or reached a now lost island in it. Two of those timbers were radiocarbon dated to between 1750 BC and 1285 BC.[70]
In 2010, the foundations of a large timber structure, dated to between 4800 BC and 4500 BC,[71] were found on the Thames's south foreshore, downstream of Vauxhall Bridge.[72] The function of the mesolithic structure is not known. Both structures are on the south bank where the River Effra flows into the Thames.[72]
Roman London
Although there is evidence of scattered Brythonic settlements in the area, the first major settlement was founded by the Romans about four years[1] after the invasion of AD 43.[73] This lasted only until around AD 61, when the Iceni tribe led by Queen Boudica stormed it, burning it to the ground.[74] The next, heavily planned, incarnation of Londinium prospered, and it superseded Colchester as the capital of the Roman province of Britannia in 100. At its height in the 2nd century, Roman London had a population of around 60,000.[75]
Anglo-Saxon and Viking period London
With the collapse of Roman rule in the early 5th century, London ceased to be a capital, and the walled city of Londinium was effectively abandoned, although Roman civilisation continued in the area of St Martin-in-the-Fields until around 450.[76] From around 500, an Anglo-Saxon settlement known as Lundenwic developed slightly west of the old Roman city.[77] By about 680, the city had regrown into a major port, although there is little evidence of large-scale production. From the 820s repeated Viking assaults brought decline. Three are recorded; those in 851 and 886 succeeded, while the last, in 994, was rebuffed.
The Vikings established Danelaw over much of eastern and northern England; its boundary stretched roughly from London to Chester. It was an area of political and geographical control imposed by the Viking incursions which was formally agreed by the Danish warlord, Guthrum and the West Saxon king Alfred the Great in 886. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that Alfred "refounded" London in 886. Archaeological research shows that this involved abandonment of Lundenwic and a revival of life and trade within the old Roman walls. London then grew slowly until about 950, after which activity increased dramatically.[79]
By the 11th century, London was beyond all comparison the largest town in England. Westminster Abbey, rebuilt in the Romanesque style by King Edward the Confessor, was one of the grandest churches in Europe. Winchester had previously been the capital of Anglo-Saxon England, but from this time on, London became the main forum for foreign traders and the base for defence in time of war. In the view of Frank Stenton: "It had the resources, and it was rapidly developing the dignity and the political self-consciousness appropriate to a national capital."[80][81]
Middle Ages
After winning the Battle of Hastings, William, Duke of Normandy was crowned King of England in the newly completed Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.[82] 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.[83] In 1097, William II began the building of Westminster Hall, close by the abbey of the same name. The hall became the basis of a new Palace of Westminster.[84][85]
In the 12th century, the institutions of central government, which had hitherto accompanied the royal English court as it moved around the country, grew in size and sophistication and became increasingly fixed in one place. For most purposes 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 it 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.[86] Disaster struck in the form of the Black Death in the mid-14th century, when London lost nearly a third of its population.[87] London was the focus of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.[88]
London was also a centre of England's Jewish population before their expulsion by Edward I in 1290. Violence against Jews took place in 1190, after it was rumoured that the new King had ordered their massacre after they had presented themselves at his coronation.[89] In 1264 during the Second Barons' War, Simon de Montfort's rebels killed 500 Jews while attempting to seize records of debts.[90]
Early modern
During the Tudor period the Reformation produced a gradual shift to Protestantism, and much of London property passed from church to private ownership, which accelerated trade and business in the city.[91] In 1475, the Hanseatic League set up its main trading base (kontor) of England in London, called the Stalhof or Steelyard. It existed until 1853, when the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg sold the property to South Eastern Railway.[92] Woollen cloth was shipped undyed and undressed from 14th/15th century London to the nearby shores of the Low Countries, where it was considered indispensable.[93]
But the reach of English maritime enterprise hardly extended beyond the seas of north-west Europe. The commercial route to Italy and the Mediterranean Sea normally lay through Antwerp and over the Alps; any ships passing through the Strait of Gibraltar to or from England were likely to be Italian or Ragusan. Upon the re-opening of the Netherlands to English shipping in January 1565, there ensued a strong outburst of commercial activity.[94] The Royal Exchange was founded.[95] Mercantilism grew, and monopoly trading companies such as the 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.[91]
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, in the Gunpowder Plot on 5 November 1605.[96]
In 1637, the government of Charles I attempted to reform administration in the area of London. The plan called for the Corporation of the City to extend its jurisdiction and administration over expanding areas around the City. Fearing an attempt by the Crown to diminish the Liberties of London, a lack of interest in administering these additional areas, or concern by city guilds of having to share power, the Corporation refused. Later called "The Great Refusal", this decision largely continues to account for the unique governmental status of the City
In the English Civil War the majority of Londoners supported the Parliamentary cause. After an initial advance by the Royalists in 1642, culminating in the battles of Brentford and Turnham Green, London was surrounded by a defensive perimeter wall known as the Lines of Communication. The lines were built by up to 20,000 people, and were completed in under two months.[98] The fortifications failed their only test when the New Model Army entered London in 1647,[99] and they were levelled by Parliament the same year.[100]
London was plagued by disease in the early 17th century,[101] culminating in the Great Plague of 1665–1666, which killed up to 100,000 people, or a fifth of the population
The Great Fire of London broke out in 1666 in Pudding Lane in the city and quickly swept through the wooden buildings.[103] Rebuilding took over ten years and was supervised by Robert Hooke[104][105][106] as Surveyor of London.[107] In 1708 Christopher Wren's masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral was completed. During the Georgian era, new districts such as Mayfair were formed in the west; new bridges over the Thames encouraged development in South London. In the east, the Port of London expanded downstream. London's development as an international financial centre matured for much of the 1700s.
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.[108] In total, more than 200 offences were punishable by death,[109] including petty theft.[110] Most children born in the city died before reaching their third birthday.
The coffeehouse 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. Following the invasion of Amsterdam by Napoleonic armies, many financiers relocated to London, especially a large Jewish community, and the first London international issue[clarification needed] was arranged in 1817. Around the same time, the Royal Navy became the world leading war fleet, acting as a serious deterrent to potential economic adversaries of the United Kingdom. The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 was specifically aimed at weakening Dutch economic power. London then overtook Amsterdam as the leading international financial centre.[112] In 1888, London became home to a series of murders by a man known only as Jack the Ripper and It has since become one of the world's most famous unsolved mysteries.
According to Samuel Johnson:
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.
— Samuel Johnson, 1777[113]
Late modern and contemporary
London was the world's largest city from c.1831 to 1925,[59] with a population density of 325 people per hectare.[114] London's overcrowded conditions led to cholera epidemics,[115] claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and 6,000 in 1866.[116] Rising traffic congestion led to the creation of the world's first local urban rail network. The Metropolitan Board of Works oversaw infrastructure expansion in the capital and some of the surrounding counties; it was abolished in 1889 when the London County Council was created out of those areas of the counties surrounding the capital.
other bombings by the German Luftwaffe killed over 30,000 Londoners, destroying large tracts of housing and other buildings across the city.[118]
Immediately after the war, the 1948 Summer Olympics were held at the original Wembley Stadium, at a time when London was still recovering from the war.[119] From the 1940s onwards, London became home to many immigrants, primarily from Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan,[120] making London one of the most diverse cities worldwide. In 1951, the Festival of Britain was held on the South Bank.[121] The Great Smog of 1952 led to the Clean Air Act 1956, which ended the "pea soup fogs" for which London had been notorious.[122]
Primarily starting in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for the worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London subculture[123] associated with the King's Road, Chelsea[124] and Carnaby Street.[125] The role of trendsetter was revived during the punk era.[126] 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.[127] During The Troubles in Northern Ireland, London was subjected to bombing attacks by the Provisional Irish Republican Army[128] for two decades, starting with the Old Bailey bombing in 1973.[129][130] Racial inequality was highlighted by the 1981 Brixton riot.[131]
Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after the Second World War, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s.[132] The principal ports for London moved downstream to Felixstowe and Tilbury, with the London Docklands area becoming a focus for regeneration, including the Canary Wharf development. This was borne out of London's ever-increasing role as a major international financial centre during the 1980s.[133] The Thames Barrier was completed in the 1980s to protect London against tidal surges from the North Sea.[134]
The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986, which left London without a central administration until 2000 when London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the Greater London Authority.[135] To celebrate the start of the 21st century, the Millennium Dome, London Eye and Millennium Bridge were constructed.[136] On 6 July 2005 London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics, making London the first city to stage the Olympic Games three times.[137] On 7 July 2005, three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus were bombed in a series of terrorist attacks.[138]
In 2008, Time named London alongside New York City and Hong Kong as Nylonkong, hailing it as the world's three most influential global cities.[139] In January 2015, Greater London's population was estimated to be 8.63 million, the highest level since 1939.[140] During the Brexit referendum in 2016, the UK as a whole decided to leave the European Union, but a majority of London constituencies voted to remain in the EU.[141]
Administration
The administration of London is formed of two tiers: a citywide, strategic tier and a local tier. Citywide administration is coordinated by the Greater London Authority (GLA), while local administration is carried out by 33 smaller authorities.[142] The GLA consists of two elected components: the Mayor of London, who has executive powers, and the London Assembly, which scrutinises the mayor's decisions and can accept or reject the mayor's budget proposals each year. The headquarters of the GLA is City Hall, Southwark. The mayor since 2016 has been Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital.[143][144] The mayor's statutory planning strategy is published as the London Plan, which was most recently revised in 2011.[145] The local authorities are the councils of the 32 London boroughs and the City of London Corporation.[146] 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. In 2009–2010 the combined revenue expenditure by London councils and the GLA amounted to just over £22 billion (£14.7 billion for the boroughs and £7.4 billion for the GLA).[147]
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.[148] National Health Service ambulance services are provided by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) NHS Trust, the largest free-at-the-point-of-use emergency ambulance service in the world.[149] The London 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,[150][151] which is under the jurisdiction of the Port of London Authority from Teddington Lock to the sea.[152]
National government
London is the seat of the Government of the United Kingdom. Many government departments, as well as the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street, are based close to the Palace of Westminster, particularly along Whitehall.[153] The British Parliament is often referred to as the "Mother of Parliaments" (although this sobriquet was first applied to England itself, and not to Westminster, by John Bright)[154] because it has been a model for many other parliamentary systems.[154] There are 73 Members of Parliament (MPs) from London, elected from local parliamentary constituencies in the national Parliament. As of May 2015, 49 are from the Labour Party, 21 are Conservatives, and three are Liberal Democrat.[155]
The UK government ministerial post of Minister for London was created in 1994 and currently occupied by Nick Hurd.[156]
Policing and crime
Policing in Greater London, with the exception of the City of London, is provided by the Metropolitan Police Service, overseen by the Mayor through the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).[157][158] The City of London has its own police force – the City of London Police.[159] The British Transport Police are responsible for police services on National Rail, London Underground, Docklands Light Railway and Tramlink services.[160] A fourth police force in London, the Ministry of Defence Police, do not generally become involved with policing the general public.
Crime rates vary widely by area, ranging from parts with serious issues to parts considered very safe. Today crime figures are made available nationally at Local Authority[161] and Ward level.[162] In 2015 there were 118 homicides, a 25.5% increase over 2014.[163] The Metropolitan Police have made detailed crime figures, broken down by category at borough and ward level, available on their website since 2000.[164]
Recorded crime has been rising in London, notably violent crime and murder by stabbing and other means have risen. There have been 50 murders from the start of 2018 to mid April 2018. Funding cuts to police in London are likely to have contributed to this, though other factors are also involved.[165]
Geography
London, also referred to as Greater London, is one of nine regions of England and the top-level subdivision covering most of the city's metropolis.[note 5] The small ancient City of London at its core once comprised the whole settlement, but as its urban area grew, the Corporation of London resisted attempts to amalgamate the city with its suburbs, causing "London" to be defined in a number of ways for different purposes.[166]
Forty per cent of Greater London is covered by the London post town, within which 'LONDON' forms part of postal addresses.[167][168] The London telephone area code (020) covers a larger area, similar in size to Greater London, although some outer districts are excluded and some places just outside are included. The Greater London boundary has been aligned to the M25 motorway in places.[169]
Outward urban expansion is now prevented by the Metropolitan Green Belt,[170] 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.[171] Greater London is split for some purposes into Inner London and Outer London.[172] 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 about 51°30′26″N 00°07′39″W.[173] However the geographical centre of London, on one definition, is in the London Borough of Lambeth, just 0.1 miles to the northeast of Lambeth North tube station.[174]
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 counties for the purposes of lieutenancies.[175] The area of Greater London includes areas that are part of the historic counties of Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire.[176] 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 6]
Its position was formed through constitutional convention, making its status as de facto capital a part of the UK's uncodified 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.[180] More recently, Greater London has been defined as a region of England and in this context is known as London.[13]
Topography
Greater London encompasses a total area of 1,583 square kilometres (611 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). The extended area known as the London Metropolitan Region or the London Metropolitan Agglomeration, comprises a total area of 8,382 square kilometres (3,236 sq mi) has a population of 13,709,000 and a population density of 1,510 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,900/sq mi).[181] 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. Historically London grew up at the lowest bridging point on the Thames. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river with extensive marshlands; at high tide, its shores reached five times their present width.[182]
Since the Victorian era the Thames 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.[183] The threat has increased over time because of a slow but continuous rise in high water level by the slow 'tilting' of the British Isles (up in Scotland and Northern Ireland and down in southern parts of England, Wales and Ireland) caused by post-glacial rebound.[184][185]
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.[186]
Climate
London has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb ) receiving less precipitation than Rome, Bordeaux, Lisbon, Naples, Sydney or New York City.[187][188][189][190][191][192] Temperature extremes in London range from 38.1 °C (100.6 °F) at Kew during August 2003[193] down to −21.1 °C (−6.0 °F). [194] However, an unofficial reading of −24 °C (−11 °F) was reported on 3 January 1740.[195] Conversely, the highest unofficial temperature ever known to be recorded in the United Kingdom occurred in London in the 1808 heat wave. The temperature was recorded at 105 °F (40.6 °C) on 13 July. It is thought that this temperature, if accurate, is one of the highest temperatures of the millennium in the United Kingdom. It is thought that only days in 1513 and 1707 could have beaten this.[196] Since records began in London (first at Greenwich in 1841[197]), the warmest month on record is July 1868, with a mean temperature of 22.5 °C (72.5 °F) at Greenwich whereas the coldest month is December 2010, with a mean temperature of −6.7 °C (19.9 °F) at Northolt.[198]
Summers are generally warm, sometimes hot. London's average July high is 24 °C (74 °F). On average each year, London experiences 31 days above 25 °C (77.0 °F) and 4.2 days above 30.0 °C (86.0 °F) every year. During the 2003 European heat wave there were 14 consecutive days above 30 °C (86.0 °F) and 2 consecutive days when temperatures reached 38 °C (100 °F), leading to hundreds of heat-related deaths.[199] There was also a previous spell of 15 consecutive days above 32.2 °C (90.0 °F) in 1976 which also caused many heat related deaths.[200] The previous record high was 38 °C (100 °F) in August 1911 at the Greenwich station.[197] Droughts can also, occasionally, be a problem, especially in summer. Most recently in Summer 2018[201] and with much drier than average conditions prevailing from May to December.[202] However, the most consecutive days without rain was 73 days in the spring of 1893.[203]
Winters are generally cool with little temperature variation. Heavy snow is rare but snow usually happens at least once each winter. Spring and autumn can be pleasant. As a large city, London has a considerable urban heat island effect,[204] making the centre of London at times 5 °C (9 °F) warmer than the suburbs and outskirts. This can be seen below when comparing London Heathrow, 15 miles (24 km) west of London, with the London Weather Centre.[205]
Although London and the British Isles have a reputation of frequent rainfall, London's average of 602 millimetres (23.7 in) of precipitation annually actually makes it drier than the global average.[206] The absence of heavy winter rainfall leads to many climates around the Mediterranean having more annual precipitation than London.
