London, United Kingdom

London, the capital city of the United Kingdom, is situated on the River Thames in the south-east of England. Its population of almost 8 million makes it the largest city in the European Union, and its surrounding metropolitan area population is estimated at between 12 and 14 million. It consists of 32 boroughs and the City of London. The City of London, occupying the site of the old walled mediaeval city north of the Thames, is the financial and business centre, including the Bank of England, the London Stock Exchange, and the Royal Exchange. The City of Westminster is the administrative and judicial centre, including the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, and government departments. The West End is the main shopping and entertainment centre, around Oxford Street, Piccadilly, and Regent Street; the outer boroughs comprise mixed residential and industrial developments. London's extensive docklands, have been extensively redeveloped and the area is now served by the Docklands Light Railway.

History

(the account of the period up to the 18th century draws upon Walter Besant's 1901 History of London[1])

London has been Britain's principal commercial centre ever since its establishment by the Romans at around 50CE, and in the course of the following twelve centuries it developed into a centre of international trading. The European merchants of the Hanseatic League set up a trading centre in the City's Steelyard in the 12th century, and they were gradually supplanted by English traders known as "mercers". The mercers, led by Richard Whittington (the "Dick Whittington" of legend) acquired substantial wealth and political influence. London itself had been acquiring political importance. The wealth and population of London gave it power that was said to be unequalled by that of any other medieval city. Londoners were able in effect, to elect a prospective monarch (as in the case of Stephen), or depose a reigning monarch (as in the case of Edward II), and their ability to raise a several-thousand-strong army enabled them to protect a reigning monarch. Westminster, on the western side of London, was the site of a major royal palace and the place of coronations; and by the 13th century it was firmly established as the seat of the country's government. The ability of the monarch to raise money from loans from London's merchants was established in the 16th century by Thomas Gresham, by the establishment of the Royal Exchange and the facility it offered for collective action. (Central government's ability to raise money by loans was subsequently formalised by the foundation of the Bank of England in 1694). The rapid growth in London's population that occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries caused problems arising from its high housing density and poor water supply, and great damage was done by epidemics and fires, culminating in the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666.

Geography

The unqualified use of the term "London" normally refers to the area covered by the City of London and by the 32 London Boroughs The inner London boroughs are: Camden, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth and the City of Westminster. The outer London boroughs are: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Waltham Forest. The counties surrounding the Greater London are termed the "home counties", and they comprise: Essex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire to the north of the Thames, and Surrey, Kent, and Sussex to the south. Greater London lies within the London Basin, which is bounded to the south by the chalk of North Downs, and to the north by the chalk outcrop of the Chiltern Hills, and is geologically comprised mainly of clay.

Population

The resident population of Greater London as at 30th June 2010 was estimated to be 7.83 million, an increase of 71.6 thousand from the previous year.Its ethnic composition in 2011 is estimated to be 5.2 million white and 2.7 million BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic). There were 3.2 million households, including 1.4 million couples, 1.3 million sole person households and 300 thousand single parents

Transport

Rail

London is also served with a large number of train services, with Eurostar links to Paris, Brussels and Lille, as well as a large number of National Rail stations, with links to other large cities in Britain - Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Newcastle and other destinations.

Air

London is a major transport hub, with five airports Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City Airport.