London | |
|---|---|
 Clockwise from top: City of London in the foreground with Canary Wharf in the far background; Trafalgar Square; London Eye; Tower Bridge; and a London Underground roundel in front of Elizabeth Tower | |
  London Location within the United Kingdom  London Location within England  London Location within Europe .svg) London London (Earth) | |
| Coordinates: 51°30′26″N 0°7′39″W / 51.50722°N 0.12750°W | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | England |
| Region | London (Greater London) |
| Ceremonial counties | Greater London (ceremonial county) City of London |
| Local government districts | 32 London boroughs and the City of London |
| Settled by Romans | AD 47[2] as Londinium |
| Government | |
| • Type | Executive mayoralty and deliberative assembly within unitary constitutional monarchy |
| • Body | Greater London Authority • Mayor Sadiq Khan (L) • London Assembly |
| • London Assembly | 14 constituencies |
| • UK Parliament | 73 constituencies |
| Area | |
| • Total[A] | 606.96 sq mi (1,572.03 km2) |
| • Urban | 671.0 sq mi (1,737.9 km2) |
| • Metro | 3,236 sq mi (8,382 km2) |
| • City of London | 1.12 sq mi (2.89 km2) |
| • 32 London boroughs (total) | 605.85 sq mi (1,569.14 km2) |
| Elevation | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Population (2021 except where stated) | |
| • Total[A] | 8,799,800[1] |
| • Density | 14,500/sq mi (5,598/km2) |
| • Urban (2011)[4] | 9,787,426 |
| • Metro (2023)[5] | 14,800,000 (London metropolitan area) |
| • City of London | 8,600[1] |
| Demonyms | Londoner |
| GVA (2021) | |
| • Total | £487 billion |
| • Per capita | £55,412 |
| Time zone | UTC (Greenwich Mean Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (British Summer Time) |
| Postcode areas | |
| Area codes |
|
| Budget | £19.376 billion ($25 billion)[7] |
| International airports | Inside London: Heathrow (LHR) City (LCY) Outside London: Gatwick (LGW) Stansted (STN) Luton (LTN) Southend (SEN) |
| Rapid transit system | London Underground |
| Police | Metropolitan (county of Greater London) City of London (City of London square mile) |
| Ambulance | London |
| Fire | London |
| GeoTLD | .london |
London (/ˈlʌndən/) is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million.[1][note 1] It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia.[9] The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries.[note 2][10] The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century,[11] the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire,[12] which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London,[13] which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.[note 3][14]
- ^ a b c "Population and household estimates, England and Wales: Census 2021". ons.gov.uk. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
- ^ Number 1 Poultry (ONE 94), Museum of London Archaeology, 2013. Archaeology Data Service, The University of York.
- ^ "London weather map". The Met Office. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "2011 Census – Built-up areas". ONS. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
- ^ "Major agglomerations of the world". CityPopulation.de. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ Fenton, Trevor. "Regional economic activity by gross domestic product, UK: 1998 to 2021". ons.gov.uk.
- ^ "The Greater London Authority Consolidated Budget and Component Budgets for 2021–22" (PDF).
- ^ Sub-national HDI. "Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org.
- ^ "Roman London". Museum of London. n.d. Archived from the original on 22 March 2008.
- ^ Fowler, Joshua (5 July 2013). "London Government Act: Essex, Kent, Surrey and Middlesex 50 years on". BBC News.
- ^ Mills, AD (2010). Dictionary of London Place Names. Oxford University Press. p. 152.
Of course until relatively recent times the name London referred only to the City of London with even Westminster remaining a separate entity. But when the County of London was created in 1888, the name often came to be rather loosely used for this much larger area, which was also sometimes referred to as Greater London from about this date. However, in 1965 Greater London was newly defined as a much enlarged area.
- ^ "The baffling map of England's counties". BBC News. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ^ "London Government Act 1963". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ Jones, Bill; Kavanagh, Dennis; Moran, Michael; Norton, Philip (2007). Politics UK. Harlow: Pearson Education. p. 868. ISBN 978-1-4058-2411-8.
Cite error: There are <ref group=upper-alpha> tags or {{efn-ua}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=upper-alpha}} template or {{notelist-ua}} template (see the help page).
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).