
[[Image:Uk-london-bigben-tower.jpg|thumb|155px|The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster which contains Big Ben]] [[Image:Tower Bridge.JPG|thumb|250px|Tower Bridge at night]] [[Image:Routemaster Bus, Piccadilly Circus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A red routemaster crosses Piccadilly Circus.]] London (see also List of European cities with alternative names#L) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. It produces 17% of the UK's Gross domestic product and the City of London is one of the world's major financial centres. The former capital of a British Empire, London is pre-eminent in the culture, communications, politics, finance, and arts of its country, and has considerable influence worldwide. Alongside New York City, Paris, and Tokyo, London is often listed among the four major global cities. The estimated population, as of 1 January 2005, was 7,421,228 in Greater London, and several million more in London's metropolitan area (see the Demographics section below), easily making London the largest city in the UK. Its population includes a very diverse range of peoples, cultures, and religions, making it one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe, and the world. Many of the world's wealthiest people are also permanent or temporary residents. London is the home of many institutions, organisations and companies, and as such retains an important role in global affairs. It has a great number of important buildings, including world-famous museums, theatres, concert halls, airports, railway stations, palaces, and offices. It is also the home of many embassy, consulates and High commissioner. ==Defining London== Today, "London" usually refers to the conurbation known as Greater London, which is divided into thirty two London Boroughs, and the City of London. Historically, "London" referred to the square mile of the City of London at its heart, from which the city grew. Between 1889 and 1965 it referred to the former County of London which covered the area now known as Inner London. There are other definitions of "London" for special purposes, such as the area within the London postal district; the area within the telephone area code 020; the area accessible by public transport using a Transport for London Travelcard; the area delimited by the M25 motorway orbital motorway; and the London commuter belt. The coordinates of the centre of London (traditionally considered to be Charing Cross, near Trafalgar Square) are approximately . The Ancient Rome marked the centre of Londinium with the London Stone in the City. ==Geography and climate== [[Image:London_Landsat.jpg|thumb|250px|A Landsat 7 satellite image of west London. The prominent green space in the middle is Hyde Park, London, with Green Park and St. James's Park to its right]] Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 square kilometre). London is a port on the Thames, a navigable river. The river has had a major influence on the development of the city. London was founded on the north bank of the Thames and there was only a single bridge, London Bridge, for many centuries. As a result, the main focus of the city was on the north side of the Thames. When more bridges were built in the 18th century, the city expanded in all directions as the mostly flat or gently rolling countryside around the Thames floodplain presented no obstacle to growth. There are some hills in London, examples being Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill, but these provided fine prospects of the city centre without significantly affecting the directions of the spread of the city and London is therefore roughly circular. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river than it is today. It has been extensively embankment, and many of its London tributary now flow Subterranean rivers of London. 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 and the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacier isostatic rebound. The Thames Barrier was constructed across the Thames at Woolwich in the 1970s to deal with this threat, but in early 2005 it was suggested that a ten-mile long barrier further downstream might be required to deal with the flood risk in the future [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4162905.stm]. London has a temperate climate, with warm but seldom hot summers, cool but rarely severe winters, and regular but generally light precipitation (meteorology) throughout the year. Summer temperatures rarely rise much above 33Celsius (91.4Fahrenheit), though higher temperatures have become more common recently. The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 37.9°C (100.2°F), measured at Heathrow Airport during the European Heat Wave of 2003. Heavy snowfalls are almost unknown. In recent winters, snow has generally only settled once or twice and it is rarely more than an inch (25 millimetre). London's average annual precipitation of less than 24 inches (600 mm) is lower than that of Rome or Sydney. London's large built up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings: sometimes temperatures are 5°C (9°F) warmer in the city than in the surrounding areas. == History == [[Image:StPaulsCathedral.jpg|thumb|left|300px|St. Paul's Cathedral during the bombing of London.]] Although there is very little remaining evidence left of any pre-Roman settlement, the name London comes from the Latin name ''Londinium'', as London was founded by the Romans during their reign over the island. This fortified settlement was the capital of the Roman Britain of Britannia. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Londinium was abandoned and a Saxon town named ''Lundenwic'' was established approximately one mile to the west in what is now Aldwych, in the 7th century AD. The old Roman city was then re-occupied during the late 9th century or early 10th century. Westminster was once a distinct town, and has been the seat of the English royal court and government since the mediæval era. Eventually, Westminster and London grew together and formed the basis of London, becoming England's largest – though not capital – city (Winchester, Hampshire was the capital city of England until the 12th century). London has grown steadily over centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of neighbouring villages and towns, farmland, countryside, meadows and woodlands, spreading in every direction. From the 16th century to the early 20th century, London flourished as the capital of the British Empire. In 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through and destroyed a large part of the City of London. Re-building took over 10 years, but London's growth accelerated in the 18th century and by the early 19th century it was the largest city in the world. London's local government system struggled to cope with this rapid growth, especially in providing the city with adequate infrastructure. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to provide London with infrastructure to cope with its growth. In 1889 the MBW was abolished, and the County of London was created which was administered by the London County Council, the first elected London- wide administrative body In the early part of the 20th century, Londoners used coal for heating their homes, which produced large amounts of smoke. In combination with climatic conditions this often caused a characteristic smog, and London became known for its typical "London Fog", also known as "Pea Soupers". London is also sometimes referred to as "The Smoke", probably because of this. The Clean Air Act 1956 was introduced following the five-day "pea souper" of 5 December to 9 December 1952, which killed over 4,000 people, mandating the creating of "smokeless zones" where the use of "smokeless" fuels was required. Probably the most significant changes to London in the last 100 years were as a result of the The Blitz and other bombing by the Germany ''Luftwaffe'' that took place during World War II. The bombing 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 unity in architecture that has become part of London's character. In 1965 the London County Council was superseded by the Greater London Council (GLC). Greater London incorporated many additional suburbs into the capital, including 20 of the current London boroughs. The GLC was abolished in 1986 after conflicts between the Thatcher government and its left wing controlling group led by Ken Livingstone. The GLC's powers were delegated to the boroughs. In 2000 the pendulum swung the other way with the creation of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the election for London first Mayor of London, which Ken Livingstone won as an independent candidate. However the mayor and the GLA have limited responsibilities and little financial independence. Until their 1997 ceasefire, London was regularly a target for IRA bombers seeking to pressurise the British government into negotiations with Sinn Féin on Northern Ireland. == Modern London == [[image:london.millennium.bridge.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A downstream view of the London Millennium Bridge spanning the River Thames between Tate Modern gallery and St. Pauls Cathedral.]] Today Greater London comprises the City of London, 32 London boroughs (including the City of Westminster), and the Inner Temple and Middle Temples. The dominant centre of activity in London is the City of Westminster (including the West End) which is the main cultural, entertainment and shopping district, the location of most of London's major corporate headquarters outside of the financial services sector, and the centre of the Government of the United Kingdom. The City of London, (known as the "Square Mile"), is an important financial centre. Very busy during the working week, most parts of the City tend to be quiet at weekends, since it is primarily a non-residential area. London attracts very large numbers of visitors and tourists. Tourist attractions are mainly in Central London, comprising the historic City of London; the West End with its cinemas, bars, clubs, theatres, shops and restaurants; the City of Westminster with the Royal palaces of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House etc., the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with its museums (the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum) and Hyde Park, London. Other important tourist attractions include the Bankside area of Southwark with the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, and London Bridge, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, Tate Britain on the Embankment, the British Museum in Bloomsbury, London. There are many other museums and places of interest. ==London Districts== ''See also: Inner London, Outer London.'' ===Central London=== [[Image:EnglandLondon.png|right|thumb|200px|Greater London and the Regions of England.]] ====City of London (the "Square Mile")==== The City of London is the principal financial district of the United Kingdom, and is one of the most important in the World. It is governed by the Corporation of London, an ancient body headed by the Lord Mayor of London. The City also has its own police force, the City of London police. Once dominated by the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, it is now home to many tall buildings, including the tallest, Tower 42 (formerly, and popularly still, known as the NatWest Tower) and 30 St Mary Axe (popularly known as the "Gherkin", built in 2003). The City has only a small (c. 7,000) resident population, but a daytime working population of more than 300,000. Its primacy as the chief financial district has been directly challenged in recent years by Canary Wharf in East London. ====The West End==== The West End of London is the most popular shopping and entertainment district in London. Oxford Street is one of the best known shopping streets in the world. Running from Tottenham Court Road in the east to Marble Arch in the west, via Oxford Circus where it crosses Regent Street, it is home to many large department stores and shops (Selfridges, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer). South of Oxford Street's eastern end is Soho, a network of small streets crowded with restaurants, pubs, clubs, smaller shops and boutiques, and theatres and cinemas, as well as media companies and film, advertising and post-production companies. Soho is also well known for its very lively club and bar scene, and the notorious sex industry. Piccadilly is an elegant thoroughfare running from Piccadilly Circus in the east to Hyde Park Corner in the west. It is adjacent to Mayfair, and Green Park. Regent Street and Bond Street are important thoroughfares. ===East London=== East London, England saw much of London's early industrial development and much of it now is being extensively redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway. It is also key to London 2012 to host the 2012 Olympics. Further afield, there is much suburban development. ==== The East End ==== The East End of London is closest to the original Port of London, and tended for that reason to be the area of the city where immigrants arriving into the port would settle first. Successive waves of immigrants include the France, the Huguenots, Belgium, Jews, Gujaratis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and many other groups. The East End extends from the eastern side of the City of London and includes areas such as Whitechapel, Mile End, Bethnal Green, Hackney, Bow and Poplar. The area has many of places of interest including many of London markets, (for example Columbia Road market, Old Spitalfields market, Brick Lane Market, Petticoat Lane Market), and several museums, including the Geffrye Museum and the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. The East End is an area of uncertain delimitations. It abounds with legend, sentimentality and cockneys. It has a somewhat clichéd history of working class cheer, resilience, organised crime and gangsters such as the Kray Twins, and poverty, ameliorated by a spirit of British toughness. ====Docklands==== [[Image:Canary Wharf complex.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The Canary Wharf complex: the tallest building, 1 Canada Square, has been the UK's tallest skyscraper since 1993.]] The Docklands, on the Isle of Dogs, has developed enormously since the early 1980s. For a period in the early 1980s many warehouse buildings in Wapping had been occupied and used as artists studios and low cost loft living spaces. This inevitably drew the attention of property developers who gradually (and then not so gradually) moved in to take over. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up to accelerate the process, and the first phases of major development started to reshape the area, culminating in Canary Wharf, whose best known feature is the 1 Canada Square office tower (which is often incorrectly called "Canary Wharf"), which has been the UK's tallest skyscraper since 1993. A massive scale development within the last three or four years has added a great many more skyscrapers, and many large businesses (investment banks, law firms, etc.) have moved in. A new headquarters for HSBC and Barclays as well as the European headquarters of Citigroup, have now been completed, and are in use. Attracted by this growth, restaurants, bars and nightclubs have opened, there is a shopping mall beneath the Canary Wharf structure, and a cinema complex has opened in the area. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) serves the area connecting to the London Underground at Bank and Monument stations. There is a huge sports and music venue nearby, London Arena. There has also been a great deal of residential development in the area, extending west around Limehouse Basin and towards Wapping, where loft apartments are ''de rigueur'' for a community of bankers, software developers and others working in the financial service industries in and around Docklands. Further east in the London Borough of Newham is London City Airport and the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. ===West London=== West London includes many of the traditionally fashionable and expensive residential areas such as Notting Hill, made famous recently by a Notting Hill (movie) starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Nearby is the famous antique market at Portobello Road. Kensington and Chelsea, London are the most expensive places to live in the country. The area is also famous for the Kings Road, a distinguished and attractive shopping street and thoroughfare. Further to the west, at White City, near Shepherd's Bush, is the principal operating centre for the BBC while in the extreme west, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, lies Heathrow Airport. Considered more Southwest than West London, on account of it being the only London borough to straddle the River Thames, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames includes the attractive riverside districts of Richmond upon Thames and Twickenham. This corner of the city plays home to Richmond Park, London's largest, and Twickenham, the home of English rugby. ===South London=== [[Image:IMG_0077.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The London Eye is a recent, and largely welcome, addition to the London skyline.]] South London contains such diverse districts as Wimbledon (famous as the home of the major tennis Wimbledon Championships), Bermondsey, and Dulwich. Redevelopment of Elephant and Castle, a road intersection and district close to the centre of the city, is due to start in 2006. Greenwich is on the banks of the Thames where the river broadens into a wide meandering reach of muddy water. It is an historic neighbourhood and boasts a fine Greenwich Park and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. It is also has a popular market. Brixton, Camberwell and Peckham are home to many families (and their descendants) who immigrated to London from the West Indies during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, sometimes known as British Afro-Caribbean community. ===North London=== North London includes suburbs such as Hampstead and Highgate which retain a village atmosphere. North London is more hilly than the south, and many of the hills give excellent views across the city. Large parks include Hampstead Heath, which includes Parliament Hill, noted for its fine views over the city, and the Hampstead bathing ponds; and Alexandra Park, London, site of Alexandra Palace. Many areas have significant minority populations including Stamford Hill, home to a significant community of Orthodox Jews, and the Green Lanes area of Harringay which has large Turkish and Greek communities. Islington is one of the more affluent areas in North London; it is also home to the world famous football club, Arsenal FC. ==Demographics== [[Image:London_iss_c1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|London by night as seen from the International Space Station. The London Orbital M25 motorway can be seen ringing the city, most notable here to the south, and two dark spots on the edge of the densely packed lights of Central London are just noticeable in this thumbnail view: Hyde Park and Regents Park.]] London had about 860,000 people in 1801 (in comparison, Paris had about 670,000 in 1802), and the population of Edo (modern-day Tokyo, Japan), at the time the largest city in the world, has been estimated at 1 million to 1.25 million people. London was the most populous city in the world from 1825 until 1925, when it was overtaken by New York City. Residents of London are known as "Londoners". In the 2001 census, the City and the 32 boroughs (some 1,579 km² or 610 square miles) had an official 7,172,036 inhabitants, making London one of the most populous cities in Europe alongside Moscow and Paris. Subsequent reviews suggested that the returns were understated, and that the population on Census Day was closer to 7.29 million. The official estimate of London's population in mid-2003 is 7,387,900 [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8561.xls] In the 2001 census, 76% of these seven million people classed their ethnic group as white (classified as United Kingdom White, Irish people or "Other White" in the Census 2001), 10% as Indian, Bangladeshi or Pakistani, 5% as black African, 5% as black Caribbean, 3% as mixed race and 1% as Overseas Chinese. The largest religious groupings are Christianity (58.2%) and Atheism (15.8%). 21.8% of inhabitants were born outside the European Union. The Irish are the largest foreign-born group in London (numbering approximately 200,000). The population of the urban area of London at the 2001 census, as calculated by the Office for National Statistics, was 8,278,251 inhabitants. (External reference: [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=8271&More=Y]), Although it is important to realize that when comparing urban areas with other cities, each country has a different definition that can vary widely. As for the metropolitan area of London: unlike many other countries, the United Kingdom does not provide national metropolitan area population figures based on commuter percentages and economic influence. This is left up to each individual city to define. This has created much confusion when comparing London's true metropolitan area region with others around the world. It is helped even less by the term "Greater London" for the political entity of the "City Proper", which is often confused as a metropolitan area. Without a specific national reference to London's metropolitan area, many different sources provide alternate definitions. One such definition describes the London metropolitan area (6,267 square miles, 16,043 km²) with a population of 13,945,000 — larger than the combined populations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. (External references: [http://www.demographia.com/dm-lonarea.htm], [http://www.lbwf.gov.uk/demography/census/london/london_boroughs_census2001.pdf]) If this definition is followed, then London is the largest metropolitan area of Europe, along with Moscow (whose metropolitan area has somewhere around 14 million people), and above Paris (11.5 million people in the metropolitan area in 2004). However, the definition used here for the metropolitan area of London should be taken with a lot of caution, as it includes areas quite far away from London, such as Dover, right by the English Channel, or Colchester, in the very north of Essex. Discounting eastern Kent, northern Essex, and West Berkshire, the figure is closer to 12 million to 12.5 million people. In 2004, the Government of Greater London officially defined a metropolitan region centered on London with a population of approximately 18 million people, including a large portion (though not all of) the South East England and East of England regions (As described in the "London Plan" from the Mayor of London external link below). A metropolitan region is not the same as a metropolitan area. It is a region where there are a vast number of linkages and networks between all the urban settlements. Another metropolitan region is the one extending from Rotterdam to Cologne along the Rhine River, with about 30 million people in it. It should be noted, however, that the metropolitan region of London defined here bears little or no relation to what "London" is understood to be by the British public. (External references:[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_all.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_1.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/draft_london_plan/dlp_ch1.pdf]) [[Image:London_Eye_panorama.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Panorama of London taken from the London Eye.]] ==Government== [[Image:City hall london.jpg|thumb|200px|City Hall (London) at night. The Greater London Authority meets here.]] Greater London is divided into the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. The boroughs are the most important unit of local government in London, and are responsible for running most local services in their respective areas. The City of London is run not by a conventional local authority, but by the historical Corporation of London. The Greater London Authority (GLA) is the London-wide body responsible for co-ordinating the boroughs, strategic planning, and running some London-wide services such as policing, the fire service and transport. The GLA consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The mayor is elected by the Supplementary Vote system while the assembly is elected by the Additional Member System. The incumbent Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was elected as an independent candidate in the London mayoral election, 2000. Despite opposition from all the main political parties and the press, his popularity with Londoners has remained high. Livingstone was expelled from the Labour Party (UK) when he opposed the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson in the 2000 Mayoral election. Re-admitted by that party in 2004, he was re-elected as Mayor as an official Labour candidate in the London mayoral election, 2004 later that year. Previous London wide administrative bodies were the Metropolitan Board of Works from 1855-1889; the London County Council from 1889-1965; and the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1965-1986. When the GLC was abolished, most of its functions were devolved to the London boroughs, while others were taken over by Local government in the United Kingdom#Joint-boards or other unelected bodies. The boroughs thus enjoyed "unitary authority" and a degree of autonomy when the GLC was abolished, and although losing some powers which have been repatriated to the GLA they still retain many areas they did not control under the GLC. The territorial police force for the 32 London boroughs is the Metropolitan Police Service, more commonly referred to as the Metropolitan Police, or simply "the Met". The City of London has its own police force, the City of London Police. Health services in London are managed by the national government via the NHS. Greater London is divided into five Strategic Health Authorities [http://www.nhs.uk/england/authoritiestrusts/sha/MapSearch.aspx?rg=Y21]. ==Transport and Infrastructure== Transport is one of the four areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, but the mayor's financial control is limited. The executive agency which runs London's transport system is Transport for London (TfL). The public transport network is one of the most extensive in the world, but faces serious congestion and reliability issues. ===Rail=== [[image:london.underground.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The London Underground at Green Park tube station.]] London's Underground Railway is the oldest in the world, and possibly one of the busiest. It is thought that more than 3 million people use the Underground every day. The Underground has in recent decades suffered from a lack of sufficient investment since the sums of money needed to keep it fully modernised are very high. This has led to congestion and delays for passengers in some areas of the network, although there have also been improvements, for example the opening of the Jubilee Line Extension. Recently the London Rail and Tram network has received substantial funding. London has the second largest urban rail system in the world after Tokyo. It includes: *Rail transport in Great Britain *London Underground *Tramlink *Docklands Light Rail *Heathrow Express *Eurostar Many of the UK's rail lines radiate from London. London's rail termini are: Blackfriars station, Cannon Street station, Charing Cross railway station, Euston station, Fenchurch Street railway station, Kings Cross railway station, Liverpool Street station, London Bridge station (which also has through platforms), Marylebone station, Paddington station, St Pancras railway station, Victoria Station (London) and Waterloo station. With the exception of Fenchurch Street, all of these stations also have associated London Underground stations. The Heathrow Express is not strictly a part of the public rail system, but is owned by BAA plc. As of 2005, Transport for London runs the London Underground (the world's first underground rail network or metro), commonly also known as "The Tube". The national government's recently introduced public-private partnerships to the London Underground despite opposition from many parties, including the Mayor of London. The largest project currently underway is the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Phase 2, which will provide fast Eurostar rail services all the way from Stratford in East London, England to the CTRL Phase 1, which was completed in 2003, and on via the Channel Tunnel to Paris, Brussels and other destinations in continental Europe. Currently Eurostar operates out of Waterloo International Terminal at Waterloo, and Eurostar trains have to traverse a circuitous route over local railway tracks through Vauxhall, Clapham and Brixton before connecting to the CTRL Phase 1 at Ebbsfleet in Kent. The CTRL Phase 2 project involves a huge civil engineering project to construct a tunnel from Stratford to St Pancras Station (now completed), where a major renovation and redesign of the terminal will open for Eurostar train services in 2007. Eurostar will then run from London to Paris on high speed track for its entire journey. The CTRL project is significant in that it represents the first new major rail line to be built in the UK for over 100 years. An ambitious project is Crossrail, which proposes a new east-west tunnel traversing central London. Financing for this has not yet been agreed. Smaller projects include extensions to the East London Line of the Underground, and to the Docklands Light Railway. The tramlink system is also being extended, particularly in Croydon, in South London. There are far fewer Underground rail lines in South London than in North London. This is partly because the underlying geology of South London is much less favourable for tunnelling than it is north of the Thames. It also reflects the concentration of the network on Central London, which was focused to north of the Thames to a greater extent when most of the underground lines were built than is the case today. South London relies on over-ground commuter lines to a greater extent, but these tend to offer less frequent services. The North London Line runs from Canning Town in East London all the way to Kew in the west, going through Hackney, Hampstead and Acton on the way. Until 2003 there was also an underground railway for mail transport, the London Post Office Railway. ''See also:'' *:Category:London's railways *Rail transport in Great Britain ===Roads=== Most of the streets of central London were laid out before cars were invented and London's road network is often congested. Attempts to tackle this go back at least to the 1740s, when the New Road was built through the fields north of the city; it is now just another congested central London thoroughfare. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, new wide roads such as Victoria Embankment, Shaftesbury Avenue and Kingsway were created. Some drastic plans for motorways in the heart of the city were put forward in the decades immediately after World War II, but they came to little due to the costs involved and objections to the mass demolitions required. By the end of the 20th century policy swung towards a preference for public transport improvements. The most significant road scheme in the London area in the late 20th century was probably the M25 motorway orbital motorway, many sections of which are outside the boundaries of Greater London. There is also an inner circular route, comprised of the North Circular (the A406 road from Gunnersbury to West Ham) and the South Circular (the A205 road). This route is narrow and inadequate in places, especially in South London. Many of the UK's motorways radiate from London. These are: M1 motorway (England) (to the north); M11 motorway (north east); M2 motorway and M20 motorway (south east); M23 motorway (south); M3 motorway (south west); M4 motorway (west); M40 motorway (north west). Various other trunk roads start in London, for example the A1 road (The A1 road), the A10 road (to Cambridge), the A2 road (to Dover), the A20 road (via Folkestone to Dover) and the A3 road (to Portsmouth). ====Buses and taxis==== London's famous red double decker buses are now run by private companies, although it is a requirement that the buses still be painted red. However the iconic red "Routemaster" bus has now almost disappeared. There have been major improvements to the bus service in recent years, and passenger journeys are now more than 5 million a day, which is around 2 million more than on the Underground. Another icon, the famous London taxi Hackney carriage remains a common sight. ====Cars==== In February 2003, Transport for London (TfL) introduced a radical scheme to charge private motorists pound sterling5.00 per day for driving vehicles within a designated area of Central London during peak hours: the London Congestion Charge. This scheme has succeeded in significantly reducing traffic congestion and hence improving reliability of bus and taxi services. It is generally approved of by London's residents, but is still controversial in some quarters, notably amongst those claiming to represent small businesses. The charge will rise to £8 in July 2005. ===Air travel=== [[Image:Heathrow.view.arp.jpg|thumb|right|250px|London Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport.]] The London region is served by six main airports. The largest and two smallest of these (Heathrow, London City Airport and London Biggin Hill Airport) are inside the boundary of Greater London, but the other three (London Gatwick Airport, London Stansted Airport, and London Luton Airport) are outside Greater London. There are also a few small airfields and private airports. Heathrow is London's principal airport and a major hub. It is currently the world's busiest airport international airport in the world, with four terminal buildings. A fifth terminal will open in 2008. City and Biggin Hill are both smaller airports, the latter does not currently have scheduled flights. Gatwick and Stansted airports are also World's busiest airport international airports, with approximately 30 million and 20 million passengers a year respectively. They are both outside the boundaries of Greater London, as is the fourth largest airport which serves London, London Luton Airport. Dedicated direct rail services serve Gatwick and Stansted, Luton is served by Thameslink, and the Heathrow Express and London Underground Piccadilly Line both serve Heathrow. London's fifth largest international airport, and the one closest to the city centre, is London City Airport in Docklands. Other airfields in Greater London include Northolt Aerodrome, and others close to London include Manston Airport in Kent and Southend Airport in Essex. ===Water transport=== The River Thames is navigable to ocean going vessels as far as London Bridge, and to substantial craft well past Greater London. Historically, the river was one of London's main transport arteries. This is no longer the case, but there are still small scale passenger services, and a large number of leisure cruises operating on the river. Additionally some bulk cargoes are carried on the river, and the Mayor of London wishes to increase this use. London also has several Canals of the United Kingdom, including the Regent's Canal which links the Thames to the Grand Union Canal and thus to the waterway network across much of England. These canals are no longer used to transport goods, but they are popular with leisure cruisers. ===Electric power supply=== Several power stations were built to generate electricity in the centre of London, including the famous power stations at Bankside and Battersea (both now disused). Bankside power station has now been converted into Tate Modern, but still houses part of a large electricity transformer substation (you can hear it humming when you visit Tate Modern). HVDC Kingsnorth has been a unique element of the London power grid since 1975, the first urban high voltage direct current transmission system in the world. It was subsequently converted to standard 3-phase alternating current. ===Water=== The Thames Water Ring Main supplies much of London with water. Sewage disposal was historically a problem, causing major pollution of the Thames and potable water supplies. London suffered from major outbreaks of cholera and typhus well into the mid-1800s. Indeed, the problem was so severe that Parliament was suspended on occasion due to the stench from the river. These problems were solved when Sir Joseph Bazalgette completed his system of intercepting mains to divert sewage from the Thames to outfalls east of London, where the tide would sweep the sewage out to sea. ==Education== ===Universities and Colleges=== London has the largest student population of any British city, although not the highest per capita. Universities in London may be divided into two groups: First, the federal University of London, which, with over 100,000 students, is the largest university in the United Kingdom. It comprises over 50 colleges and institutes 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. The largest and most prestigious colleges include University College London (UCL), Imperial College London, King's College London, Queen Mary, University of London and the London School of Economics, while smaller schools and institutes include the School of Oriental and African Studies, the Institute of Education, and Birkbeck, University of London, which specialises in part time and mature students. Secondly, there are the independent universities, most of which were polytechnics until UK polytechnics were granted university status in Further and Higher Education Act, 1992. ===Arts Education=== London is Britain's leading centre for arts education. London's four Music school are the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, and Trinity College of Music, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Other drama schools include Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts ("RADA"), and the Central School of Speech and Drama. Art schools include Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Chelsea School of Art, and Camberwell School of Art, (all part of the University of the Arts), and Goldsmith's College and the Slade School of Art (both part of the University of London), and The Royal College of Art. The former Hornsey School of Art is now part of Middlesex University. ===Medical education=== There are many medical schools in London, some of which are centuries old, for example Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, Guy's Hospital, and St Thomas' Hospital. ===Research=== Imperial College London is a leading centre of scientific research and stands alongside MIT and other US universities in terms of international reputation. The Royal Institution is an historic and important repository and proponent of the acquisition of scientific knowledge through research and study. ===Schools=== Most state schools in London are run by the London Boroughs. In common with other large cities in the UK, there are problems in some inner city schools, particularly those in less affluent areas. It is difficult to retain teachers in struggling schools. London's high property prices mean that teachers are often unable to afford to buy their own homes, which forces many to moving to more affordable parts of the country. There are many private schools in Greater London including some of England's best known public school (UK) such as Harrow School and Westminster School. ==Media== The British media are concentrated in London. This fact is sometimes accused of creating a "London bias" in the media's output. The British Broadcasting Corporation, which remains Britain's most respected news and media organisation, is based in London, though it also has centres in many other UK cities, from which much regional broadcasting emanates. Other TV companies including ITV plc and BSkyB, are also London based. Channel 4 and Five (TV) are also London based, as are a great many TV production companies. The English newspaper market is dominated by List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, all of which are edited in London. Until the 1970s, most of the national newspapers were concentrated in Fleet Street, but the 1980s, with the advent of computerised printing technologies saw most move away from the confines of Fleet Street to larger premises with automated printing works, notably to Wapping, near Tower Bridge. The move was resisted strongly by the printing trade union SOGAT 82, and strike action at the News International buildings in Wapping in 1986 saw violent skirmishes. The last major news agency in Fleet Street, Reuters, moved to Canary Wharf in 2005, but ''Fleet Street'' is still commonly used as a collective term for the national press. London is at the centre of British film and television production industries, with major studio facilities on the western fringes of the conurbation and a large post production industry centred in Soho. London is one of the two leading centres of English language publishing alongside New York. Globally important media companies based in London range from publishing group Pearson PLC, to the information agency Reuters, to the world's number two advertising business WPP Group. The local media generally have a lower profile than the national media in London as in the rest of England, but there are some important local outlets. London has its own local daily evening newspaper, the ''Evening Standard'', and a free newspaper called ''Metro (Associated Metro Limited)'', is distributed in the morning, mainly at railway stations. The BBC operates BBC London 94.9 radio, and there are several independent radio stations, including Capital FM, Kiss FM and Resonance FM. ==Religion== [[Image:westminster abbey night.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Westminster Abbey.]] When Pope Gregory I sent Augustine of Canterbury to bring England into the Catholic fold in 597, it was intended that the envoy should become "Archbishop of London", as the city was remembered as the capital of Roman Britain. In the event, the saint received his most hospitable reception in the Kingdom of Kent, and the archiepiscopal see was founded at Canterbury. Nonetheless London has been at the centre of England's religious life for much of its history, and each Archbishop of Canterbury has traditionally spent much of his time in London, where he has an official residence at Lambeth Palace. London's two Anglican bishops are the Bishop of London, whose see is London north of the Thames, and whose throne is in London's grandest church, the baroque St Paul's Cathedral (designed by Sir Christopher Wren), and the Bishop of Southwark, who tends to Anglicans south of the river. However, as in the rest of the UK, religious attendance in London is low, and the Church of England has borne the brunt of this decline. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster is generally regarded as the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Other traditional Protestant denominations whose headquarters are in London include the United Reformed Church and the Quakers. Many of London's immigrant groups have established denominations in the city, for example Greek Orthodoxy. In addition various evangelical churches exist. London is the most important centre of Islam in the United Kingdom. Two London boroughs contain the highest proportion of Muslims in the UK: Tower Hamlets and Newham. The London Central Mosque is a well known landmark on the edge of Regent's Park, while other large mosques have been built in Whitechapel Mosque and Finsbury Park Mosque. London also has a large Hindu population. Southall, in West London is home to many Hindus. The Hindu temple at Neasden, Neasden Temple is remarkable as the largest Hindu temple outside of India. Much of the enormously elaborate and intricate marble sculpture used in the building was carved in India. Over two thirds of Jews in the United Kingdom live in London, which ranks thirteenth in the world as a Jewish population centre [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/concepts/demography/demtables.html#10]. ==Sport== The most popular spectator sport in London is Football (soccer), and London has several of England's leading football clubs. Historically the London clubs have not accumulated as many trophies as those from the North West England, such as Liverpool F.C. and Manchester United F.C., but at present Arsenal F.C. (founded at Woolwich Arsenal but moved to Highbury in 1913), and Chelsea F.C. (who play in Fulham) are regarded as two of the FA Premier League's "Big 3". In 2003/04 they became the first pair of London clubs to finish first and second in England's top football league, with Arsenal winning. In 2004/05 they did so again, this time with Chelsea winning. London clubs are able to charge higher ticket prices than clubs in other parts of the country (particularly for corporate facilities), and this has swung English football's balance of power towards London. Before Chelsea's recent rise in fortunes the two highest profile London clubs were Arsenal and their long-standing North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of whom were considered to be members of English football's "Big 5" for most of the post-war period. In 2005/06 there are six London clubs in the Premier League in total: Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea, and Charlton Athletic F.C., Fulham F.C. and West Ham United F.C.. There are five London clubs in the fully professional The Football League, namely Brentford F.C., Crystal Palace F.C. (who play in South Norwood), Leyton Orient F.C., Millwall F.C. and Queens Park Rangers F.C.—all of whom have previously played in the top division. In a controversial move, Wimbledon F.C. left London in 2003 to play in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, changing their name to Milton Keynes Dons F.C., and the newly formed AFC Wimbledon inherited most of their support, despite playing at a much lower level in the National League System. There are also numerous London clubs playing outside the top four divisions of English football (among them AFC Wimbledon), one or two of which are fully professional and many of which are part-time professional. London was one of the venues for the Football World Cup 1966 in 1966, and the 1996 European Football Championship in 1996, and hosted the final of both tournaments. London also hosted the UEFA Champions League in 1968, 1978 and 1992. Rugby Union is also well established in London, especially in the middle-class suburbs to the north and west of the city. The Twickenham stadium is in Twickenham. Three of the twelve clubs in the elite Guinness Premiership have London origins. London Irish, Saracens (rugby club) and London Wasps share football grounds just outside the boundaries of Greater London, but in the metropolitan area. Harlequins (rugby), relegated to National Division One after the 2004/05 season, still play in Greater London. The Northern England based sport of rugby league has maintained a Super League (Europe) club called the London Broncos in the capital in recent years as part of its expansion efforts, but the club has struggled to be viable. There are also London teams in the top flight British leagues in ice hockey (London Racers) and basketball (London Towers), but neither of these sports draws nearly the large number of spectators that football and rugby do. There are two Test cricket cricket grounds: Lord's Cricket Ground, home of Middlesex County Cricket Club and the Marylebone Cricket Club, located in the leafy suburb of St. John's Wood, just north of Regent's Park; and The Oval, home of Surrey County Cricket Club in South London. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, home of the Wimbledon Championships, is in Wimbledon, London in South West London. Wembley Stadium, currently being rebuilt, is the national football stadium, traditionally the home of the FA Cup Final as well as major international football matches, and Rugby League matches. During the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium, Cardiff's Millennium Stadium has been the venue for the FA Cup Final. London hosts one of the world's largest mass-participation marathons, the London Marathon, and has twice hosted the Olympic Games, in 1908 Summer Olympics and 1948 Summer Olympics, and is one of the cities bidding to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. ==Culture== [[Image:Buckingham.palace.london.jpg|250px|thumb|The principal facade of Buckingham Palace was designed in 1850 by Edward Blore and redesigned in 1913 by Sir Aston Webb.]] ===Music=== London has five professional symphony orchestras; the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. There are also several chamber orchestras, some of which specialise in period instrument performances, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. The principal orchestral music venues are the Royal Festival Hall, and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which are both in the South Bank; the Barbican Centre; and the Royal Albert Hall, which hosts the Proms each summer. Chamber music venues include the Purcell Room at the South Bank; the Wigmore Hall and St. John's, Smith Square. The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden is home to the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet, London companies. The other main opera company is the English National Opera. In the summer opera is performed in a temporary pavilion by Opera Holland Park, and there are occasional performances by visiting opera companies and small freelance professional opera companies. The major venues for contemporary dance productions include the Sadler's Wells Theatre and the Barbican Centre. London is also famous for its rock scene, and was the starting point of such bands as The Clash. Most major bands' tours will pass through London as well, favorite venues being the Brixton Academy, the Astoria, and the Hammersmith Apollo. ===Festivals=== London hosts several festivals, fairs and carnivals throughout the year. The most famous is the Notting Hill Carnival, the world's largest carnival. The carnival takes place over the August bank holiday weekend, and attracts almost 2 million people. It has a distinctly Afro-Caribbean flavour, and highlights include a competition between London's steelpan bands and a 3 mile street parade with dancing and music. There are also large parades held on St. George's Day (April 23) and St Patrick's Day (March 17). The Dance Umbrella is held every October, and features a variety of dance companies putting on displays across London. In addition there are many smaller fairs and parades, including the Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre, a fair held annually to promote animal rights. ===Theatre=== There are over three dozen major theatres, most concentrated in the West End (see the articles West End Theatre and List of London venues). West End theatres are commercial ventures and show musicals, comedy and serious drama. The subsidised or non-commercial theatre includes the Royal National Theatre, which is based at the South Bank; the Royal Shakespeare Company which is based in Stratford-upon-Avon, but presents seasons in London; Globe Theatre, a modern reconstruction of the home of William Shakespeare's troupe; The Royal Court Theatre which specialises in new drama; the Old Vic; and the Young Vic. London also boasts a vibrant fringe theatre culture including places such as the Battersea Arts Centre, The UCL Bloomsbury, The Place, and Tricycle Theatre. ===Art=== The British National collection of Western Art to 1900 is held at National Gallery, London. Other major collections of pre-1900 art are The Wallace Collection; the Courtauld Gallery at the Courtauld Institute of Art; and Dulwich Picture Gallery. The national collection of post-1900 art is at Tate Modern and the national collection of British Art is at Tate Britain. National Portrait Gallery, London has a major collection of portraits of all periods. The Royal Academy's frequently changing exhibitions are also important. In addition to Tate Modern major contemporary art venues include White Cube, the Saatchi Gallery, and The Institute of Contemporary Arts. ===Museums=== There are over 240 museums in London. Among the more important are the British Museum (antiquities from all over the world), the Victoria and Albert Museum (applied and decorative arts), the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum (London), the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum, and the Museum of London. ===Night-life=== Apart from the pubs and clubs, there are many music venues. Among the best known are Shepherds Bush Empire, Brixton Academy, Hammersmith Apollo, Wembley Arena, The Marquee, The UCL Bloomsbury, Albert Hall and the London Astoria. London is home to many clubs such as the Ministry of Sound. ==Business== [[Image:174 7432.jpg|thumb|250px|The packed streets of the City of London, the modern financial district and heart of the city in past centuries.]] The City of London is the financial centre of London, home to banks, brokers, insurers and legal and accounting firms. A second financial district is developing at Canary Wharf to the east of central London. This is much smaller than City of London, but has equally prestigious occupants, including the global headquarters of HSBC. Non-financial business headquarters are located throughout central London. Some are in City of London, but more are located further west, in and around Mayfair, St. James's, the Strand and elsewhere. More than half of the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE) are headquartered in central London, and more than 70% in London's metropolitan area. London is a leading global centre for professional services, and media and creative industries. Tourism is one of the UK's largest industries, and in 2003 employed the equivalent of 350,000 full time workers in London [http://www.visitbritain.com/]. While the Port of London is now only the third largest in the United Kingdom — rather than largest in the world, as it once was — it still handles 50 million tonnes of cargo each year. The main docks are now at Tilbury, which is outside the boundary of Greater London. London's economy generates pound sterling116,444 million annually, and accounts for 17% of the UK's Gross Domestic Product; ''see Economy of the United Kingdom''. (External link: [http://www.lda.gov.uk/ London Development Authority]). ==London tourist attractions== [[Image:trafalgar_square_night_small.jpg|thumb|250px|Trafalgar Square
:image:trafalgar_square_night_panorama.jpg]] ===Places of interest=== ''This is a selective list. See also: :category:London attractions. *Chinatown, London *Covent Garden *Downing Street *Horse Guards Parade *Leicester Square *The London Dungeon *London Eye *London Planetarium *London Zoo *Madame Tussauds *Piccadilly Circus *South Bank *Theatreland *Tower Bridge *Tower of London *Trafalgar Square ===Buildings and Monuments=== [[Image:PalaceOfWestminsterAtNight.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Palace of Westminster seen across the River Thames.]] *1 Canada Square (the centrepiece of Canary Wharf) *30 St Mary Axe (also known as "The Gherkin" and the "Swiss Re Building") *Albert Memorial *Alexandra Palace *Bank of England *Battersea Power Station *British Library *Broadcasting House *BT Tower (Formerly known as the Post Office Tower) *Buckingham Palace *Bush House *City Hall (London) *Clarence House *Cleopatra's Needle *Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain *Hampton Court Palace *Lambeth Palace *Kensington Palace *Lloyd's building *Marble Arch *Millennium Dome *The Monument (to the Great Fire of London) *Nelson's Column *Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament and tower containing Big Ben) *Royal Albert Hall *Royal Courts of Justice *Royal Festival Hall *Royal Greenwich Observatory and the Prime Meridian *Royal Opera House *Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden *St Pancras Station *St Paul's Cathedral *Somerset House *Syon House *Temple of Mithras, London *Tower 42 (formerly known as the Natwest Tower) *Westminster Abbey ===Museums and galleries=== *See #Museums and #Art above. ===Markets and shopping areas=== *West End *Knightsbridge *Borough Market *Portobello Road Market *Petticoat Lane Market *Brick Lane Market *Covent Garden There are many diverse shopping areas in various parts of London. ===Parks and gardens=== *Alexandra Park, London *Battersea Park *Brockwell Park *Chelsea Physic Garden *Green Park *Greenwich Park *Hampstead Heath *Hampton Court *Holland Park *Hyde Park, London *Kennington Park *Kensington Gardens *Kensington Roof Gardens *Primrose Hill *Regents Park *Richmond Park *Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (known as Kew Gardens) *St. James's Park *Victoria Park, East London ===Other places of interest=== *The Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court with famous trials but inconvenient for the unprepared tourist since personal items prohibited include bags and mobile phones. *Tyburn was the location for many infamous executions by hanging. *Battersea Power Station and the Millennium Dome are two architecturally interesting buildings which currently stand empty. However mixed use developments centred on both buildings are due to commence in 2005. The Millennium Dome will become an indoor sports hall, and Battersea Power Station will become a shopping and leisure facility. ==London in the arts== [[Image:Chinatown.london.700px.jpg|thumb|200px|London's Chinatown, near Leicester Square.]] ===Literature featuring London=== London has been the setting for many works of literature. The two writers who are perhaps most closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, famous among other things for his eye-witness account of the Great Fire of London, 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 era London. Other famous works that feature London include ''A Journal of the Plague Year'' and ''Moll Flanders'' by Daniel Defoe, ''The Secret Agent'' by Joseph Conrad, the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, ''The Waste Land'' by T. S. Eliot, ''The Apes of God'' by Wyndham Lewis, ''Down and Out in Paris and London'' by George Orwell, ''Fever Pitch'' by Nick Hornby and ''White Teeth'' by Zadie Smith. ===Films featuring London=== London has appeared as the setting for many films, for example Notting Hill, and the Ealing comedies. There are gangster films and the romantic comedy of Richard Curtis. Adaptations of Dickens and the Sherlock Holmes novels abound. London is home to a very large film post-production and special effects industry. ===TV shows featuring London=== * ''Are You Being Served?'' * ''The Bill'' * ''Doctor Who'' * ''EastEnders'' * ''Family Affairs'' * ''Minder'' * ''Only Fools and Horses'' * ''Men Behaving Badly'' * ''Spooks'' * ''Ultraviolet (TV miniseries)'' ===Songs featuring London=== *''Cities'' by Talking Heads from their 1979 album ''Fear of Music''. *''Down in the Tube Station at Midnight'' by The Jam *''Doing the Lambeth Walk'' Music Hall favourite *''Emit Remmus'' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers *''I'm Going To Get Lit Up When The Lights Go On In London'' by Hubert Gregg *''Knock 'Em in The Old Kent Road''' *''London'' by Tangerine Dream (words by William Blake) *''London'' by Third Eye Blind *''London Calling'' Album and title song by The Clash *''London Bridge is falling down'' Traditional nursery rhyme *''London Town'' Album by Paul McCartney and Wings *''Lullaby of London'' by The Pogues *''Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner'' by Hubert Gregg *''A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square'' by Eric Maschwitz *''Pop Music'' by M *''Streets of London'' by Ralph McTell *''The Sights and Sounds of London Town'' by Richard Thompson from his album Mock Tudor *''Time For Heroes'' by The Libertines *''Waterloo Sunset'' by The Kinks (some would say it is one of Ray Davies best songs, and it was recently voted London's 'national anthem' by Time Out magazine) *''Werewolves of London'' by Warren Zevon ==Major exhibitions staged in London== *1851 – Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations — The Crystal Palace *1862 – International Exhibition (1862) *1871 – First Annual International Exhibition (1871) *1872 – Second Annual International Exhibition (1872) *1873 – Third Annual International Exhibition (1873) *1874 – Fourth Annual International Exhibition (1874) *1886 – Colonial and Indian Exhibition (1886) *1899 – Greater Britain Exhibition (1899) *1908 – Franco-British Exhibition (1908) *1924 – British Empire Exhibition at Wembley *1951 – Festival of Britain *2000 – Millennium Dome == See also == [[Image:Tower bridge.jpg|thumb|250px|Tower Bridge crosses the River Thames next to the Tower of London. ''See also:'' :image:Tower bridge opening.jpg.]] * Hidden London * List of churches and cathedrals of London * List of heads of London government * List of places in London * London in fiction * London markets * London postal districts * Mayor of London * Subterranean London * Subterranean rivers of London * Tall buildings in London * University of London * Wikipedia:List of images/Places/Europe/United Kingdom/Cities/London * City status in the United Kingdom == External links == ===Governmental=== * [http://www.london.gov.uk/ The official website of the Mayor of London, the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority]. * [http://www.transportforlondon.gov.uk/tfl/ Transport for London] *: ... including [http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/ The London Underground] (The Tube) * [http://www.london2012.org/en/ The Olympic Bid]. * [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/press_release_l.asp The National Statistics Office's 2001 census overview for London]. * The London Plan 2004, [http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_1.pdf abbreviated] and [http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_all.pdf in full]. ===Travel guides=== * * [http://london.openguides.org/ The Open Guide to London], a project to document all of London in a wiki. * [http://www.englandguide.co.uk/London London Guide] from Englandguide.co.uk * [http://www.urbanpath.com Urban Path: Nice things in London] * [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom/england/london World66 Guide to London], a travel guide written by its users. ===Historical texts=== * [http://books.guardian.co.uk/firstchapters/story/0,6761,544022,00.html First chapter of the book "''London: The Biography''"] by Peter Ackroyd * [http://www.fictionalcities.co.uk/ Novels set in London reviewed by Century of setting] * [http://www.londinium.com Londinium.com, the original site for London] * [http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/richardc/london2.ps An Explanation of the Name of London] (PostScript file) ===Other=== * [http://www.thisislondon.com/ The ''Evening Standard''
==Archive== *Talk:London/archive1 == General Points == Duncanssmith writes: Since size is an issue with this article, I have been breaking things down into bullet-point lists where possible. I am still working on improving the structure and logic as well. Its got a way to go. I think the New York City article is a pretty good example to follow. Its clear, concise and pithy. A request - please keep sentences short and uncomplicated where possible! I feel there is no need to go on at length about everything under the sun all the time - please keep to the subject headings, think about what you are writing, and if you want to stray off subject, look for an existing heading to put your contribution into! Please feel free to change anything you like! Thanks. User:Duncanssmith 16:21, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Just read NYC article and found we are missing things== I've just read the New York City article and realised that this article, which I thought was pretty close to done, is missing some fairly important things. Firstly two that should perhaps be main subsections: *Education, especially higher education *Media, including London as a centre of the international non-English language media Other things that I think be covered that are wholly or almost wholly absent now, but should perhaps not have their own sections: *Religion *Police/crime/courts/legal London *Cuisine *Shopping *Climate *Redevelopment (there's more to it than Docklands} *London's role as a preferred city for the international rich *Charities and think tanks. Role as an opinion forming centre generally (ties in with education and media as above and also with politics). *relationship between London and the rest of the UK. ("Metropolitan values"; provincial resentment etc) I don't want to make the article as long as New York's which is a little flabby in places, but we do seem to have quite a few omissions which I didn't spot until I read a comparable article. I'll start filling them in soon, but please help out if you agree that they matter. User:Pcpcpc 08:43, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC) Duncanssmith writes: I agree - I think your suggested item headings are very good and relevant. And I'm all for getting rid of flab! Go for it! User:Duncanssmith 10:40, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Power Infrastructure == Why and when was HVDC Kingsnorth shut down? Extend this chapture, please. (Please put details about history of HVDC Kingsnorth to the article "HVDC Kingsnorth " == Reverted lost content == I reverted a bunch of content at the end of this article that was taken out by an IP-user. Please check this page before making new edits, to be sure this has not been done again. Otherwise, a hasty revert may "forget" your new work. — User:Xiong (User talk:Xiong) 04:20, 2005 Apr 1 (UTC) == Writing style == When I read the London article first I was appalled by the writing style. To be frank the article was full of needlessly dependency-ridden over-complicated run-on sentences, and horrific cliches! The writer(s) of this article seemed to be trying to "big up" London with claims that London is the "biggest" "most important" etc city "in the world" throughout, with less emphasis on actual information! Superlatives abounding may be interesting to school children, but I felt that most people would be better off reading more interesting and informative content. Duncanssmith 1 April 2005. 11:36 BST *Please leave others to judge the quality of your contributions. Many of your additions were good, but I think you removed some useful information and weakened the context in places. It seems that by the term "value-laden" in your edit comment you mean politically incorrect, but Wikipedia is not a tool of the liberal establishment. Rather it is has a policy of neutrality, which is quite a different thing. *London is widely regarded as one of the largest and most significant cities in the world. Perhaps this is a mass delusion, but none the less the existence of this perception is factual and relevant, and I think it may properly be stated. There is much more boosterism in Wikipedia's articles about many other famous cities than there is here. Articles which merely list facts without context are indigestible. As for the intellectual respectibility of claims about London's status, please note the first sentence of the London article in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica describes London as "the greatest city in the world". That would breach Wikipedia's neutrality policy, but it is a reminder that removing all comparatives is not necessarily good practice as it may leave the uninformed reader floundering for context. Duncanssmith here: Thanks for your comments. I will certainly leave others to judge the quality of my contributions, after all thats what this Wiki thing is all about isn't it? Voting with your feet or whatever. Anyone can rewrite anything I rewrite at any time! I actually don't think I weakened anything -I made some of the previous author(s)'s contributions more readable and clearer. I removed a couple of irrelevant things like "Wealthy Londoners send their children to Eton, a famous school outside London" which I felt didn't add much to anyone's knowledge of London. Wikipedia might not be a tool of the liberal establishment (whatever that might mean!) but I think it should try to reflect actual facts rather than contain such claims as "there has been a lot of immigration in East London most of it Asian Muslims" or whatever. I don't think it is "PC" to want to correct that. Probably all writing is "value laden." I am for more factual info over subjective opinion. For example "Football is the most popular sport in London." Obviously written by a football fan! You get my drift! I look forward to reading all your edits! Duncanssmith 5 April 2005. 10:50 BST User:Duncanssmith 10:37, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Population == "one source suggests a figure of 13,945,000 for 2001" any reference would be nice. User:Rich Farmbrough 11:28, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Areas== Why do we have a section about the East End but not the West End, also the East End has its own article. Wouldn't it be an idea to have an "Areas of London" section or something, to highlight the differences between the different areas. User:G-Man 20:48, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Duncanssmith writes: :I quite agree - it would be very good to have subdivisions as you suggest. Why not start a few? I thought it might be good to do it by borough, or by well-known areas, for example "South of the River" or "Maida Vale and Paddington" or whatever. The difficulty is London is a very big subject! The previous author(s) had put the East End part in, and I did add to it and rewrite it quite a bit. :I know its being a bit copy-cattish but the New York City article is very well structured, and clearly and authoritatively written (gives that impression anyway!) part of my motivation in starting to reorganise the London section was to bring it up to that standard. The article definitely needs a lot of structural improvement, and will in time be broken out into other articles in their own right (I expect the East End section could be a candidate for this.) Please do make these changes if you have time and the inclination, because it surely benefits everyone. :thanks. User:Duncanssmith 09:26, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::Duncanssmith writes: ::OK - I have started a new section - Districts of London or whatever and started off bits about various neighbourhoods. It might be too much detail if it all gets filled in completely, but its intended as a place to start. Hopefully other people will add things as we go forward. ::regards. User:Duncanssmith 17:44, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::''(have slightly format-tidied this talk page so as to make it follow-able: it doesn't need to be so formal!) ...'' ::I really dislike this addition. the "London" page is, by its nature, an overview page. If we start placing information about every district in London - and it would mean 'every' as a sub-selection would be impossible to agree on - then it would get a very excessive proportion of the whole article. Either this should be a "Districts of London" article in itself, or - preferably - just a link to the category that already exists of the London districts. I won't revert what is there at the moment, but I strongly suggest that the author moves useful content elsewhere. --User:VampWillow:User_talk:VampWillow 18:18, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::Yes I agree. I have removed the headings for individual towns (these were just too much) and made the text much higher level but I think we could get away with making the detail even more scant. User:Mrsteviec 18:23, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) User:Duncanssmith Good - seems like I've stimulated a bit of a discussion at least! Get on with it then! User:Duncanssmith 20:39, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) == table == {| border=1 cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" width=230 |- !colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#ff9999"|City of Manchester |- |colspan=2 align=center| |- !colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Geography |- |width="45%"|Status:||Metropolitan borough, City (1853) |- |Regions of England:||North West England |- |Ceremonial County:||Greater Manchester |- |Surface area:
- Total||List of English districts by area
1 E8 m2 square kilometre |- |Admin. HQ:||Manchester |- |ONS coding system:||00BN |- |Geographical coordinates:|| |- !colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Demographics |- |Population:
- City (2002 est)
- Total (2002 est)
- Density||List of English districts by population
422,302
2,513,468
3,652 / km² |- |Ethnicity:||81.0% White
9.1% S.Asian
4.5% Afro-Carib.
1.3% Chinese |- !colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Politics |- |colspan=2 align=center|
Manchester City Council
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/ |- |Local_government_in_England#Councils_and_councillors:||Leader & Cabinet |- |Executive:||Labour Party (UK) |- |MPs elected in the UK general election, 2001:||Keith Bradley, Paul Goggins, Gerald Kaufman, Tony Lloyd, Graham Stringer |} Please can we fill in this table, copied from Manchester, with london data then put it in the article, as it looks a bit bare without a nice summary table. thanks User:Bluemoose 14:36, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) User:Duncanssmith writes: Thanks for offering! Go ahead! User:Duncanssmith 15:29, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: I don't think it would be apt to add that table on this page as the table already exists on Greater London, City of London and all the "London Borough of..." pages. It would just be repetition, or worse conflicting information especially as in the context of this page "London" is somewhat ambiguous (and should be) User:Mrsteviec 15:53, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::Plus London is a region, not a county. User:Duncanssmith writes: Hmm - yes, but the London page certainly could use more relevant (and better) images. What about the Corporation of London logo and doesn't the GLA have something? What about the Underground symbol etc? maybe London is just too big a subject to narrow down to a few symbolic images. User:Duncanssmith ==FAC?== Are we ready for WP:FAC now? It looks great to me. -- User:ALoan User_talk:ALoan 18:05, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Surely it needs a nice picture of a Routemaster bus going round Trafalgar Square. - User:Solipsist 20:03, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::If see one and have a camera, take a photo and post it! It's all nasty modern buses, including the bendy ones, around my way. -- User:ALoan User_talk:ALoan 20:16, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::I've now got a some pics of Routemasters going round Piccadilly Circus, but I'm not sure I am happy enough with any of the results. -- User:Solipsist 15:24, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC) It needs a reference section if it's not to be summarily rejected, User:Jguk 23:03, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC) :I think that would just be clutter. The references for most of it belong in the hundreds of more detailed articles which it links to. :I think it's still seriously lacking in some ways. It needs to give more of an idea of what the city is like, some idea of the atmosphere of the place, what types of people live and works there and how and why (and I don't just mean which ethnic groups). Also, more on the city's role in the UK and the World. At the moment it is too dry. The New York article gave a much better idea of what that city is ''like'' as a city when I read it some time ago. This article is an accumulation of detail that lacks life. I might have a go at doing some of this sometime, but I know it won't be easy. User:CalJW 06:45, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==10 Best== In the intro 4 cities in comparison seems almost claustrophobic at this point. How about London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Moscow? Criteria could include population and the city's international nature. I suppose substitutes would include Sao Paolo, Johannesburg, Bombay and ???. I just feel impulsively that London looks even better when compared with more cities than just 4, and maybe 10 is a manageable number. It would certainly be even more welcoming to visitors than the article already is. As a non-native, thank you for reading.--User:McDogm 23:04, 9 May 2005 (UTC) --Well the top four are almost universally considered to be the most important global cities. The others you mentioned are what could be considered currently developing into true global city status, but are not anywhere near the same level as London at the present time. --User:Jleon 15:36, 19 May 2005 (UTC) == Reorganised images. == I put the panorama image back where it was previously. Its a bad image (more apparent when it was displayed at high resolution), understandably because its not the most convenient position for taking a panorama... but there are just too many seams to the picture, and very little info. I also put the Tower image further up for better presentation... A really cool image of the bridge would be a better choice for that position, but I am not an expert on London (by any stretch). Hope this helps. --User:Spundun 19:56, 22 May 2005 (UTC) == Article splitting == This article is 69KB, more than twice as large as 32KB. I want to see if there is any real way to get the sections into their own articles and I can't find one here. User:Georgia guy 23:05, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC) == Wikibook on London == Anyone is welcome to contribute to the Wikibook guide on London. Find it at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/London . We especially need info on travel in the city. Thanks! User:Charlie123 14:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
{| style="margin:0 auto;" class="toccolours" |align=center| Greater London | London || |- |align=center| ''London boroughs'' : London Borough of Barking and Dagenham | London Borough of Barnet | London Borough of Bexley | London Borough of Brent | London Borough of Bromley | London Borough of Camden | City of London | London Borough of Croydon | London Borough of Ealing | London Borough of Enfield | London Borough of Greenwich | London Borough of Hackney | London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham | London Borough of Haringey | London Borough of Harrow | London Borough of Havering | London Borough of Hillingdon | London Borough of Hounslow | London Borough of Islington | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea | Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames | London Borough of Lambeth | London Borough of Lewisham | London Borough of Merton | London Borough of Newham | London Borough of Redbridge | London Borough of Richmond upon Thames | London Borough of Southwark | London Borough of Sutton | London Borough of Tower Hamlets | London Borough of Waltham Forest | London Borough of Wandsworth | City of Westminster |- |align=center| Greater London Authority | London Assembly | Mayor of London |}
#redirect Template:London
[[Image:PalaceOfWestminsterAtNight.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The United Kingdom's seat of government is the Palace of Westminster (seen from the South Bank of the Thames)]] London, the capital city of the United Kingdom, lies in the south-east of England, on the River Thames. With over seven million inhabitants within Greater London and around fourteen million in the wider metro area, it is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe after Moscow. The historic centre, the City of London (or Square Mile), is far smaller but remains a separate political entity and an important finance centre. history of London an an urban centre is believed to have begun with the Roman Empire foundation of the town of Londinium. In medieval times, Westminster was established as the England Kingdom of England capital, and in 1707 London became capital of the Act of Union 1707 United Kingdom. For centuries the city has been a globally important centre of culture, commerce and politics. Well known for such sights as Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, the Palace of Westminster, Tower Bridge and its distinctive Buses in London, London is a major tourist destination. Cities in EnglandMetropolitan areasCapitals in Europe
Category names should match article names whereever possible. If we have the article about London at London the category about London should be at :Category:London. User:Morwen - User_talk:Morwen 15:01, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC) : I agree completely, :Category:London UK should be moved to :Category:London; especially given there are shedloads more articles in the London category than the London, Ontario one. — User:OwenBlacker 21:02, Jun 29, 2004 (UTC) ::I agree also. Category titles should reflect article titles, so :Category:London Canada should be :Category:London, Ontario, and :Category:London UK should be at :Category:London. I'm going to shift articles over. - User:MykReeve 21:43, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
== Law Courts == Shouldn't the law courts (Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn) be listed separately, since they are enclaves not part of the City of London? User:John Kenney User_talk:John Kenney 05:59, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC) : The law courts are enclaves? They don't look like it [http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=531200&Y=181100 on Streetmap]… — User:OwenBlacker 13:11, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC) == Flag == Why is the flag on this template a George's Cross (of England), rather than the defaced version that London uses? — User:OwenBlacker 13:11, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC)
Thanks for the user page help, darling! User:PZFUN 00:56, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC) Welcome! Hello, and Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers to Wikipedia. Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: *Wikipedia:How to edit a page *Wikipedia:Tutorial *Wikipedia:Picture tutorial *Wikipedia:How to write a great article *Wikipedia:Naming conventions *Wikipedia:Manual of Style I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedia:Wikipedians! By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and vote pages using three tildes, like this: ~~ ~. Four tildes (~~ ~~) produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, see the Wikipedia:Help, add a question to the Wikipedia:village pump or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! --User:Lst27 User talk:Lst27 21:46, 5 Dec 2004 (UTC)
I don't think you'll mind this, because it's just an unused duplicate. I'm requried to notify you.User:Superm401 | User_talk:Superm401 20:25, May 22, 2005 (UTC)
[[Image:Matt London at Charlesde Gaulle Airport.jpg|thumb|right|London at Charles de Gaulle Airport.]] London is from the fair city of Seattle, Washington where he grew up among the evergreen trees and under the shadow of Mount Rainier. Somehow he managed to survive the constant threat of earthquake or volcanic eruption, and wound up studying at Purchase College in the small town of Purchase, New York. Feeling dissatisfied with the fields and suburb, he migrated recently to New York City where he lives two blocks away from the former World Trade Center.
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London's_transport_history_from_1933
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London's_Transport_Museum
London's_West_End
London's_West_End
London,_AR
London,_Arkansas
London,_Arkansas
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London,_Brighton_and_South_Coast_Railway
London,_British_Library,_MS_Royal_I._D._V-VIII
London,_CA
London,_California
London,_Canada
London,_Chatham_and_Dover_Railway
London,_Chatham_and_Dover_Railway
London,_England
London,_England
London,_Great_Britain
London,_Kentucky
London,_KY
London,_MI
London,_Michigan
London,_Midland,_&_Scottish_Railway
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London,_Midland_and_Scottish_Railway_locomotives
London,_Minnesota
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London,_OH
London,_Ohio
London,_ON
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London,_Ontario
London,_Ontario
London,_Ontario/Temp
London,_Ontario/Temp
London,_Ontario_mayors
London,_Ontario_trivia
London,_Texas
London,_Tilbury_and_Southend_Railway
London,_Tilbury_and_Southend_Railway
London,_TX
London,_UK
London,_United_Kingdom
London-Fanshawe
London-geo-stub
London-West_of_England_Roman_Roads
London/archive1
London/London_at_Night
London/Putney
LondonCalling.ogg
Londonderry
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Londonderry,_Nova_Scotia
Londonderry,_Vermont
Londonderry,_VT
Londonderry_(CDP),_New_Hampshire
Londonderry_(CDP),_NH
Londonderry_(CDP),_Rockingham_County,_New_Hampshire
Londonderry_(CDP),_Rockingham_County,_NH
Londonderry_(constituency)
Londonderry_(constituency)
Londonderry_(disambiguation)
Londonderry_(name)
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Londonderry_(town),_NH
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Londonderry_(town),_Rockingham_County,_NH
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Londonderry_Air
Londonderry_Airport
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Londonderry_East_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
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Londonderry_Township,_Bedford_County,_Pennsylvania
Londonderry_Township,_Chester_County,_PA
Londonderry_Township,_Chester_County,_Pennsylvania
Londonderry_Township,_Dauphin_County,_PA
Londonderry_Township,_Dauphin_County,_Pennsylvania
Londonderry_Township,_PA
Londonderry_Township,_Pennsylvania
LondonE
LondonEC
Londoner
Londoners
Londoner_v._City_and_County_of_Denver
LondonN
LondonNW
Londons
LondonSE
LondonSE
LondonStations
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LondonSW
LondonTheatreUK
Londontowne,_Maryland
Londontowne,_MD
LondonUndergroundLines
LondonUndergroundLines
LondonW
LondonWC
London_&_Brighton_Railway
London_&_Croydon_Railway
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London_&_North_Western_Railway
London_'66-'67
London_'66-'67
London_(disambiguation)
London_(disambiguation)
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London_0_Hull_4
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London_2012_Olympic_bid
London_94.9
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London_After_Midnight_(movie)
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London
[[Image:Uk-london-bigben-tower.jpg|thumb|155px|The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster which contains Big Ben]] [[Image:Tower Bridge.JPG|thumb|250px|Tower Bridge at night]] [[Image:Routemaster Bus, Piccadilly Circus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A red routemaster crosses Piccadilly Circus.]] London (see also List of European cities with alternative names#L) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. It produces 17% of the UK's Gross domestic product and the City of London is one of the world's major financial centres. The former capital of a British Empire, London is pre-eminent in the culture, communications, politics, finance, and arts of its country, and has considerable influence worldwide. Alongside New York City, Paris, and Tokyo, London is often listed among the four major global cities. The estimated population, as of 1 January 2005, was 7,421,228 in Greater London, and several million more in London's metropolitan area (see the Demographics section below), easily making London the largest city in the UK. Its population includes a very diverse range of peoples, cultures, and religions, making it one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe, and the world. Many of the world's wealthiest people are also permanent or temporary residents. London is the home of many institutions, organisations and companies, and as such retains an important role in global affairs. It has a great number of important buildings, including world-famous museums, theatres, concert halls, airports, railway stations, palaces, and offices. It is also the home of many embassy, consulates and High commissioner. ==Defining London== Today, "London" usually refers to the conurbation known as Greater London, which is divided into thirty two London Boroughs, and the City of London. Historically, "London" referred to the square mile of the City of London at its heart, from which the city grew. Between 1889 and 1965 it referred to the former County of London which covered the area now known as Inner London. There are other definitions of "London" for special purposes, such as the area within the London postal district; the area within the telephone area code 020; the area accessible by public transport using a Transport for London Travelcard; the area delimited by the M25 motorway orbital motorway; and the London commuter belt. The coordinates of the centre of London (traditionally considered to be Charing Cross, near Trafalgar Square) are approximately . The Ancient Rome marked the centre of Londinium with the London Stone in the City. ==Geography and climate== [[Image:London_Landsat.jpg|thumb|250px|A Landsat 7 satellite image of west London. The prominent green space in the middle is Hyde Park, London, with Green Park and St. James's Park to its right]] Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 square kilometre). London is a port on the Thames, a navigable river. The river has had a major influence on the development of the city. London was founded on the north bank of the Thames and there was only a single bridge, London Bridge, for many centuries. As a result, the main focus of the city was on the north side of the Thames. When more bridges were built in the 18th century, the city expanded in all directions as the mostly flat or gently rolling countryside around the Thames floodplain presented no obstacle to growth. There are some hills in London, examples being Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill, but these provided fine prospects of the city centre without significantly affecting the directions of the spread of the city and London is therefore roughly circular. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river than it is today. It has been extensively embankment, and many of its London tributary now flow Subterranean rivers of London. 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 and the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacier isostatic rebound. The Thames Barrier was constructed across the Thames at Woolwich in the 1970s to deal with this threat, but in early 2005 it was suggested that a ten-mile long barrier further downstream might be required to deal with the flood risk in the future [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4162905.stm]. London has a temperate climate, with warm but seldom hot summers, cool but rarely severe winters, and regular but generally light precipitation (meteorology) throughout the year. Summer temperatures rarely rise much above 33Celsius (91.4Fahrenheit), though higher temperatures have become more common recently. The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 37.9°C (100.2°F), measured at Heathrow Airport during the European Heat Wave of 2003. Heavy snowfalls are almost unknown. In recent winters, snow has generally only settled once or twice and it is rarely more than an inch (25 millimetre). London's average annual precipitation of less than 24 inches (600 mm) is lower than that of Rome or Sydney. London's large built up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings: sometimes temperatures are 5°C (9°F) warmer in the city than in the surrounding areas. == History == [[Image:StPaulsCathedral.jpg|thumb|left|300px|St. Paul's Cathedral during the bombing of London.]] Although there is very little remaining evidence left of any pre-Roman settlement, the name London comes from the Latin name ''Londinium'', as London was founded by the Romans during their reign over the island. This fortified settlement was the capital of the Roman Britain of Britannia. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Londinium was abandoned and a Saxon town named ''Lundenwic'' was established approximately one mile to the west in what is now Aldwych, in the 7th century AD. The old Roman city was then re-occupied during the late 9th century or early 10th century. Westminster was once a distinct town, and has been the seat of the English royal court and government since the mediæval era. Eventually, Westminster and London grew together and formed the basis of London, becoming England's largest – though not capital – city (Winchester, Hampshire was the capital city of England until the 12th century). London has grown steadily over centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of neighbouring villages and towns, farmland, countryside, meadows and woodlands, spreading in every direction. From the 16th century to the early 20th century, London flourished as the capital of the British Empire. In 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through and destroyed a large part of the City of London. Re-building took over 10 years, but London's growth accelerated in the 18th century and by the early 19th century it was the largest city in the world. London's local government system struggled to cope with this rapid growth, especially in providing the city with adequate infrastructure. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to provide London with infrastructure to cope with its growth. In 1889 the MBW was abolished, and the County of London was created which was administered by the London County Council, the first elected London- wide administrative body In the early part of the 20th century, Londoners used coal for heating their homes, which produced large amounts of smoke. In combination with climatic conditions this often caused a characteristic smog, and London became known for its typical "London Fog", also known as "Pea Soupers". London is also sometimes referred to as "The Smoke", probably because of this. The Clean Air Act 1956 was introduced following the five-day "pea souper" of 5 December to 9 December 1952, which killed over 4,000 people, mandating the creating of "smokeless zones" where the use of "smokeless" fuels was required. Probably the most significant changes to London in the last 100 years were as a result of the The Blitz and other bombing by the Germany ''Luftwaffe'' that took place during World War II. The bombing 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 unity in architecture that has become part of London's character. In 1965 the London County Council was superseded by the Greater London Council (GLC). Greater London incorporated many additional suburbs into the capital, including 20 of the current London boroughs. The GLC was abolished in 1986 after conflicts between the Thatcher government and its left wing controlling group led by Ken Livingstone. The GLC's powers were delegated to the boroughs. In 2000 the pendulum swung the other way with the creation of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the election for London first Mayor of London, which Ken Livingstone won as an independent candidate. However the mayor and the GLA have limited responsibilities and little financial independence. Until their 1997 ceasefire, London was regularly a target for IRA bombers seeking to pressurise the British government into negotiations with Sinn Féin on Northern Ireland. == Modern London == [[image:london.millennium.bridge.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A downstream view of the London Millennium Bridge spanning the River Thames between Tate Modern gallery and St. Pauls Cathedral.]] Today Greater London comprises the City of London, 32 London boroughs (including the City of Westminster), and the Inner Temple and Middle Temples. The dominant centre of activity in London is the City of Westminster (including the West End) which is the main cultural, entertainment and shopping district, the location of most of London's major corporate headquarters outside of the financial services sector, and the centre of the Government of the United Kingdom. The City of London, (known as the "Square Mile"), is an important financial centre. Very busy during the working week, most parts of the City tend to be quiet at weekends, since it is primarily a non-residential area. London attracts very large numbers of visitors and tourists. Tourist attractions are mainly in Central London, comprising the historic City of London; the West End with its cinemas, bars, clubs, theatres, shops and restaurants; the City of Westminster with the Royal palaces of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House etc., the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with its museums (the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum) and Hyde Park, London. Other important tourist attractions include the Bankside area of Southwark with the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, and London Bridge, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, Tate Britain on the Embankment, the British Museum in Bloomsbury, London. There are many other museums and places of interest. ==London Districts== ''See also: Inner London, Outer London.'' ===Central London=== [[Image:EnglandLondon.png|right|thumb|200px|Greater London and the Regions of England.]] ====City of London (the "Square Mile")==== The City of London is the principal financial district of the United Kingdom, and is one of the most important in the World. It is governed by the Corporation of London, an ancient body headed by the Lord Mayor of London. The City also has its own police force, the City of London police. Once dominated by the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, it is now home to many tall buildings, including the tallest, Tower 42 (formerly, and popularly still, known as the NatWest Tower) and 30 St Mary Axe (popularly known as the "Gherkin", built in 2003). The City has only a small (c. 7,000) resident population, but a daytime working population of more than 300,000. Its primacy as the chief financial district has been directly challenged in recent years by Canary Wharf in East London. ====The West End==== The West End of London is the most popular shopping and entertainment district in London. Oxford Street is one of the best known shopping streets in the world. Running from Tottenham Court Road in the east to Marble Arch in the west, via Oxford Circus where it crosses Regent Street, it is home to many large department stores and shops (Selfridges, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer). South of Oxford Street's eastern end is Soho, a network of small streets crowded with restaurants, pubs, clubs, smaller shops and boutiques, and theatres and cinemas, as well as media companies and film, advertising and post-production companies. Soho is also well known for its very lively club and bar scene, and the notorious sex industry. Piccadilly is an elegant thoroughfare running from Piccadilly Circus in the east to Hyde Park Corner in the west. It is adjacent to Mayfair, and Green Park. Regent Street and Bond Street are important thoroughfares. ===East London=== East London, England saw much of London's early industrial development and much of it now is being extensively redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway. It is also key to London 2012 to host the 2012 Olympics. Further afield, there is much suburban development. ==== The East End ==== The East End of London is closest to the original Port of London, and tended for that reason to be the area of the city where immigrants arriving into the port would settle first. Successive waves of immigrants include the France, the Huguenots, Belgium, Jews, Gujaratis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and many other groups. The East End extends from the eastern side of the City of London and includes areas such as Whitechapel, Mile End, Bethnal Green, Hackney, Bow and Poplar. The area has many of places of interest including many of London markets, (for example Columbia Road market, Old Spitalfields market, Brick Lane Market, Petticoat Lane Market), and several museums, including the Geffrye Museum and the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. The East End is an area of uncertain delimitations. It abounds with legend, sentimentality and cockneys. It has a somewhat clichéd history of working class cheer, resilience, organised crime and gangsters such as the Kray Twins, and poverty, ameliorated by a spirit of British toughness. ====Docklands==== [[Image:Canary Wharf complex.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The Canary Wharf complex: the tallest building, 1 Canada Square, has been the UK's tallest skyscraper since 1993.]] The Docklands, on the Isle of Dogs, has developed enormously since the early 1980s. For a period in the early 1980s many warehouse buildings in Wapping had been occupied and used as artists studios and low cost loft living spaces. This inevitably drew the attention of property developers who gradually (and then not so gradually) moved in to take over. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up to accelerate the process, and the first phases of major development started to reshape the area, culminating in Canary Wharf, whose best known feature is the 1 Canada Square office tower (which is often incorrectly called "Canary Wharf"), which has been the UK's tallest skyscraper since 1993. A massive scale development within the last three or four years has added a great many more skyscrapers, and many large businesses (investment banks, law firms, etc.) have moved in. A new headquarters for HSBC and Barclays as well as the European headquarters of Citigroup, have now been completed, and are in use. Attracted by this growth, restaurants, bars and nightclubs have opened, there is a shopping mall beneath the Canary Wharf structure, and a cinema complex has opened in the area. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) serves the area connecting to the London Underground at Bank and Monument stations. There is a huge sports and music venue nearby, London Arena. There has also been a great deal of residential development in the area, extending west around Limehouse Basin and towards Wapping, where loft apartments are ''de rigueur'' for a community of bankers, software developers and others working in the financial service industries in and around Docklands. Further east in the London Borough of Newham is London City Airport and the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. ===West London=== West London includes many of the traditionally fashionable and expensive residential areas such as Notting Hill, made famous recently by a Notting Hill (movie) starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Nearby is the famous antique market at Portobello Road. Kensington and Chelsea, London are the most expensive places to live in the country. The area is also famous for the Kings Road, a distinguished and attractive shopping street and thoroughfare. Further to the west, at White City, near Shepherd's Bush, is the principal operating centre for the BBC while in the extreme west, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, lies Heathrow Airport. Considered more Southwest than West London, on account of it being the only London borough to straddle the River Thames, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames includes the attractive riverside districts of Richmond upon Thames and Twickenham. This corner of the city plays home to Richmond Park, London's largest, and Twickenham, the home of English rugby. ===South London=== [[Image:IMG_0077.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The London Eye is a recent, and largely welcome, addition to the London skyline.]] South London contains such diverse districts as Wimbledon (famous as the home of the major tennis Wimbledon Championships), Bermondsey, and Dulwich. Redevelopment of Elephant and Castle, a road intersection and district close to the centre of the city, is due to start in 2006. Greenwich is on the banks of the Thames where the river broadens into a wide meandering reach of muddy water. It is an historic neighbourhood and boasts a fine Greenwich Park and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. It is also has a popular market. Brixton, Camberwell and Peckham are home to many families (and their descendants) who immigrated to London from the West Indies during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, sometimes known as British Afro-Caribbean community. ===North London=== North London includes suburbs such as Hampstead and Highgate which retain a village atmosphere. North London is more hilly than the south, and many of the hills give excellent views across the city. Large parks include Hampstead Heath, which includes Parliament Hill, noted for its fine views over the city, and the Hampstead bathing ponds; and Alexandra Park, London, site of Alexandra Palace. Many areas have significant minority populations including Stamford Hill, home to a significant community of Orthodox Jews, and the Green Lanes area of Harringay which has large Turkish and Greek communities. Islington is one of the more affluent areas in North London; it is also home to the world famous football club, Arsenal FC. ==Demographics== [[Image:London_iss_c1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|London by night as seen from the International Space Station. The London Orbital M25 motorway can be seen ringing the city, most notable here to the south, and two dark spots on the edge of the densely packed lights of Central London are just noticeable in this thumbnail view: Hyde Park and Regents Park.]] London had about 860,000 people in 1801 (in comparison, Paris had about 670,000 in 1802), and the population of Edo (modern-day Tokyo, Japan), at the time the largest city in the world, has been estimated at 1 million to 1.25 million people. London was the most populous city in the world from 1825 until 1925, when it was overtaken by New York City. Residents of London are known as "Londoners". In the 2001 census, the City and the 32 boroughs (some 1,579 km² or 610 square miles) had an official 7,172,036 inhabitants, making London one of the most populous cities in Europe alongside Moscow and Paris. Subsequent reviews suggested that the returns were understated, and that the population on Census Day was closer to 7.29 million. The official estimate of London's population in mid-2003 is 7,387,900 [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8561.xls] In the 2001 census, 76% of these seven million people classed their ethnic group as white (classified as United Kingdom White, Irish people or "Other White" in the Census 2001), 10% as Indian, Bangladeshi or Pakistani, 5% as black African, 5% as black Caribbean, 3% as mixed race and 1% as Overseas Chinese. The largest religious groupings are Christianity (58.2%) and Atheism (15.8%). 21.8% of inhabitants were born outside the European Union. The Irish are the largest foreign-born group in London (numbering approximately 200,000). The population of the urban area of London at the 2001 census, as calculated by the Office for National Statistics, was 8,278,251 inhabitants. (External reference: [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=8271&More=Y]), Although it is important to realize that when comparing urban areas with other cities, each country has a different definition that can vary widely. As for the metropolitan area of London: unlike many other countries, the United Kingdom does not provide national metropolitan area population figures based on commuter percentages and economic influence. This is left up to each individual city to define. This has created much confusion when comparing London's true metropolitan area region with others around the world. It is helped even less by the term "Greater London" for the political entity of the "City Proper", which is often confused as a metropolitan area. Without a specific national reference to London's metropolitan area, many different sources provide alternate definitions. One such definition describes the London metropolitan area (6,267 square miles, 16,043 km²) with a population of 13,945,000 — larger than the combined populations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. (External references: [http://www.demographia.com/dm-lonarea.htm], [http://www.lbwf.gov.uk/demography/census/london/london_boroughs_census2001.pdf]) If this definition is followed, then London is the largest metropolitan area of Europe, along with Moscow (whose metropolitan area has somewhere around 14 million people), and above Paris (11.5 million people in the metropolitan area in 2004). However, the definition used here for the metropolitan area of London should be taken with a lot of caution, as it includes areas quite far away from London, such as Dover, right by the English Channel, or Colchester, in the very north of Essex. Discounting eastern Kent, northern Essex, and West Berkshire, the figure is closer to 12 million to 12.5 million people. In 2004, the Government of Greater London officially defined a metropolitan region centered on London with a population of approximately 18 million people, including a large portion (though not all of) the South East England and East of England regions (As described in the "London Plan" from the Mayor of London external link below). A metropolitan region is not the same as a metropolitan area. It is a region where there are a vast number of linkages and networks between all the urban settlements. Another metropolitan region is the one extending from Rotterdam to Cologne along the Rhine River, with about 30 million people in it. It should be noted, however, that the metropolitan region of London defined here bears little or no relation to what "London" is understood to be by the British public. (External references:[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_all.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_1.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/draft_london_plan/dlp_ch1.pdf]) [[Image:London_Eye_panorama.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Panorama of London taken from the London Eye.]] ==Government== [[Image:City hall london.jpg|thumb|200px|City Hall (London) at night. The Greater London Authority meets here.]] Greater London is divided into the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. The boroughs are the most important unit of local government in London, and are responsible for running most local services in their respective areas. The City of London is run not by a conventional local authority, but by the historical Corporation of London. The Greater London Authority (GLA) is the London-wide body responsible for co-ordinating the boroughs, strategic planning, and running some London-wide services such as policing, the fire service and transport. The GLA consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The mayor is elected by the Supplementary Vote system while the assembly is elected by the Additional Member System. The incumbent Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was elected as an independent candidate in the London mayoral election, 2000. Despite opposition from all the main political parties and the press, his popularity with Londoners has remained high. Livingstone was expelled from the Labour Party (UK) when he opposed the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson in the 2000 Mayoral election. Re-admitted by that party in 2004, he was re-elected as Mayor as an official Labour candidate in the London mayoral election, 2004 later that year. Previous London wide administrative bodies were the Metropolitan Board of Works from 1855-1889; the London County Council from 1889-1965; and the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1965-1986. When the GLC was abolished, most of its functions were devolved to the London boroughs, while others were taken over by Local government in the United Kingdom#Joint-boards or other unelected bodies. The boroughs thus enjoyed "unitary authority" and a degree of autonomy when the GLC was abolished, and although losing some powers which have been repatriated to the GLA they still retain many areas they did not control under the GLC. The territorial police force for the 32 London boroughs is the Metropolitan Police Service, more commonly referred to as the Metropolitan Police, or simply "the Met". The City of London has its own police force, the City of London Police. Health services in London are managed by the national government via the NHS. Greater London is divided into five Strategic Health Authorities [http://www.nhs.uk/england/authoritiestrusts/sha/MapSearch.aspx?rg=Y21]. ==Transport and Infrastructure== Transport is one of the four areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, but the mayor's financial control is limited. The executive agency which runs London's transport system is Transport for London (TfL). The public transport network is one of the most extensive in the world, but faces serious congestion and reliability issues. ===Rail=== [[image:london.underground.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The London Underground at Green Park tube station.]] London's Underground Railway is the oldest in the world, and possibly one of the busiest. It is thought that more than 3 million people use the Underground every day. The Underground has in recent decades suffered from a lack of sufficient investment since the sums of money needed to keep it fully modernised are very high. This has led to congestion and delays for passengers in some areas of the network, although there have also been improvements, for example the opening of the Jubilee Line Extension. Recently the London Rail and Tram network has received substantial funding. London has the second largest urban rail system in the world after Tokyo. It includes: *Rail transport in Great Britain *London Underground *Tramlink *Docklands Light Rail *Heathrow Express *Eurostar Many of the UK's rail lines radiate from London. London's rail termini are: Blackfriars station, Cannon Street station, Charing Cross railway station, Euston station, Fenchurch Street railway station, Kings Cross railway station, Liverpool Street station, London Bridge station (which also has through platforms), Marylebone station, Paddington station, St Pancras railway station, Victoria Station (London) and Waterloo station. With the exception of Fenchurch Street, all of these stations also have associated London Underground stations. The Heathrow Express is not strictly a part of the public rail system, but is owned by BAA plc. As of 2005, Transport for London runs the London Underground (the world's first underground rail network or metro), commonly also known as "The Tube". The national government's recently introduced public-private partnerships to the London Underground despite opposition from many parties, including the Mayor of London. The largest project currently underway is the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Phase 2, which will provide fast Eurostar rail services all the way from Stratford in East London, England to the CTRL Phase 1, which was completed in 2003, and on via the Channel Tunnel to Paris, Brussels and other destinations in continental Europe. Currently Eurostar operates out of Waterloo International Terminal at Waterloo, and Eurostar trains have to traverse a circuitous route over local railway tracks through Vauxhall, Clapham and Brixton before connecting to the CTRL Phase 1 at Ebbsfleet in Kent. The CTRL Phase 2 project involves a huge civil engineering project to construct a tunnel from Stratford to St Pancras Station (now completed), where a major renovation and redesign of the terminal will open for Eurostar train services in 2007. Eurostar will then run from London to Paris on high speed track for its entire journey. The CTRL project is significant in that it represents the first new major rail line to be built in the UK for over 100 years. An ambitious project is Crossrail, which proposes a new east-west tunnel traversing central London. Financing for this has not yet been agreed. Smaller projects include extensions to the East London Line of the Underground, and to the Docklands Light Railway. The tramlink system is also being extended, particularly in Croydon, in South London. There are far fewer Underground rail lines in South London than in North London. This is partly because the underlying geology of South London is much less favourable for tunnelling than it is north of the Thames. It also reflects the concentration of the network on Central London, which was focused to north of the Thames to a greater extent when most of the underground lines were built than is the case today. South London relies on over-ground commuter lines to a greater extent, but these tend to offer less frequent services. The North London Line runs from Canning Town in East London all the way to Kew in the west, going through Hackney, Hampstead and Acton on the way. Until 2003 there was also an underground railway for mail transport, the London Post Office Railway. ''See also:'' *:Category:London's railways *Rail transport in Great Britain ===Roads=== Most of the streets of central London were laid out before cars were invented and London's road network is often congested. Attempts to tackle this go back at least to the 1740s, when the New Road was built through the fields north of the city; it is now just another congested central London thoroughfare. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, new wide roads such as Victoria Embankment, Shaftesbury Avenue and Kingsway were created. Some drastic plans for motorways in the heart of the city were put forward in the decades immediately after World War II, but they came to little due to the costs involved and objections to the mass demolitions required. By the end of the 20th century policy swung towards a preference for public transport improvements. The most significant road scheme in the London area in the late 20th century was probably the M25 motorway orbital motorway, many sections of which are outside the boundaries of Greater London. There is also an inner circular route, comprised of the North Circular (the A406 road from Gunnersbury to West Ham) and the South Circular (the A205 road). This route is narrow and inadequate in places, especially in South London. Many of the UK's motorways radiate from London. These are: M1 motorway (England) (to the north); M11 motorway (north east); M2 motorway and M20 motorway (south east); M23 motorway (south); M3 motorway (south west); M4 motorway (west); M40 motorway (north west). Various other trunk roads start in London, for example the A1 road (The A1 road), the A10 road (to Cambridge), the A2 road (to Dover), the A20 road (via Folkestone to Dover) and the A3 road (to Portsmouth). ====Buses and taxis==== London's famous red double decker buses are now run by private companies, although it is a requirement that the buses still be painted red. However the iconic red "Routemaster" bus has now almost disappeared. There have been major improvements to the bus service in recent years, and passenger journeys are now more than 5 million a day, which is around 2 million more than on the Underground. Another icon, the famous London taxi Hackney carriage remains a common sight. ====Cars==== In February 2003, Transport for London (TfL) introduced a radical scheme to charge private motorists pound sterling5.00 per day for driving vehicles within a designated area of Central London during peak hours: the London Congestion Charge. This scheme has succeeded in significantly reducing traffic congestion and hence improving reliability of bus and taxi services. It is generally approved of by London's residents, but is still controversial in some quarters, notably amongst those claiming to represent small businesses. The charge will rise to £8 in July 2005. ===Air travel=== [[Image:Heathrow.view.arp.jpg|thumb|right|250px|London Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport.]] The London region is served by six main airports. The largest and two smallest of these (Heathrow, London City Airport and London Biggin Hill Airport) are inside the boundary of Greater London, but the other three (London Gatwick Airport, London Stansted Airport, and London Luton Airport) are outside Greater London. There are also a few small airfields and private airports. Heathrow is London's principal airport and a major hub. It is currently the world's busiest airport international airport in the world, with four terminal buildings. A fifth terminal will open in 2008. City and Biggin Hill are both smaller airports, the latter does not currently have scheduled flights. Gatwick and Stansted airports are also World's busiest airport international airports, with approximately 30 million and 20 million passengers a year respectively. They are both outside the boundaries of Greater London, as is the fourth largest airport which serves London, London Luton Airport. Dedicated direct rail services serve Gatwick and Stansted, Luton is served by Thameslink, and the Heathrow Express and London Underground Piccadilly Line both serve Heathrow. London's fifth largest international airport, and the one closest to the city centre, is London City Airport in Docklands. Other airfields in Greater London include Northolt Aerodrome, and others close to London include Manston Airport in Kent and Southend Airport in Essex. ===Water transport=== The River Thames is navigable to ocean going vessels as far as London Bridge, and to substantial craft well past Greater London. Historically, the river was one of London's main transport arteries. This is no longer the case, but there are still small scale passenger services, and a large number of leisure cruises operating on the river. Additionally some bulk cargoes are carried on the river, and the Mayor of London wishes to increase this use. London also has several Canals of the United Kingdom, including the Regent's Canal which links the Thames to the Grand Union Canal and thus to the waterway network across much of England. These canals are no longer used to transport goods, but they are popular with leisure cruisers. ===Electric power supply=== Several power stations were built to generate electricity in the centre of London, including the famous power stations at Bankside and Battersea (both now disused). Bankside power station has now been converted into Tate Modern, but still houses part of a large electricity transformer substation (you can hear it humming when you visit Tate Modern). HVDC Kingsnorth has been a unique element of the London power grid since 1975, the first urban high voltage direct current transmission system in the world. It was subsequently converted to standard 3-phase alternating current. ===Water=== The Thames Water Ring Main supplies much of London with water. Sewage disposal was historically a problem, causing major pollution of the Thames and potable water supplies. London suffered from major outbreaks of cholera and typhus well into the mid-1800s. Indeed, the problem was so severe that Parliament was suspended on occasion due to the stench from the river. These problems were solved when Sir Joseph Bazalgette completed his system of intercepting mains to divert sewage from the Thames to outfalls east of London, where the tide would sweep the sewage out to sea. ==Education== ===Universities and Colleges=== London has the largest student population of any British city, although not the highest per capita. Universities in London may be divided into two groups: First, the federal University of London, which, with over 100,000 students, is the largest university in the United Kingdom. It comprises over 50 colleges and institutes 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. The largest and most prestigious colleges include University College London (UCL), Imperial College London, King's College London, Queen Mary, University of London and the London School of Economics, while smaller schools and institutes include the School of Oriental and African Studies, the Institute of Education, and Birkbeck, University of London, which specialises in part time and mature students. Secondly, there are the independent universities, most of which were polytechnics until UK polytechnics were granted university status in Further and Higher Education Act, 1992. ===Arts Education=== London is Britain's leading centre for arts education. London's four Music school are the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, and Trinity College of Music, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Other drama schools include Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts ("RADA"), and the Central School of Speech and Drama. Art schools include Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Chelsea School of Art, and Camberwell School of Art, (all part of the University of the Arts), and Goldsmith's College and the Slade School of Art (both part of the University of London), and The Royal College of Art. The former Hornsey School of Art is now part of Middlesex University. ===Medical education=== There are many medical schools in London, some of which are centuries old, for example Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, Guy's Hospital, and St Thomas' Hospital. ===Research=== Imperial College London is a leading centre of scientific research and stands alongside MIT and other US universities in terms of international reputation. The Royal Institution is an historic and important repository and proponent of the acquisition of scientific knowledge through research and study. ===Schools=== Most state schools in London are run by the London Boroughs. In common with other large cities in the UK, there are problems in some inner city schools, particularly those in less affluent areas. It is difficult to retain teachers in struggling schools. London's high property prices mean that teachers are often unable to afford to buy their own homes, which forces many to moving to more affordable parts of the country. There are many private schools in Greater London including some of England's best known public school (UK) such as Harrow School and Westminster School. ==Media== The British media are concentrated in London. This fact is sometimes accused of creating a "London bias" in the media's output. The British Broadcasting Corporation, which remains Britain's most respected news and media organisation, is based in London, though it also has centres in many other UK cities, from which much regional broadcasting emanates. Other TV companies including ITV plc and BSkyB, are also London based. Channel 4 and Five (TV) are also London based, as are a great many TV production companies. The English newspaper market is dominated by List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, all of which are edited in London. Until the 1970s, most of the national newspapers were concentrated in Fleet Street, but the 1980s, with the advent of computerised printing technologies saw most move away from the confines of Fleet Street to larger premises with automated printing works, notably to Wapping, near Tower Bridge. The move was resisted strongly by the printing trade union SOGAT 82, and strike action at the News International buildings in Wapping in 1986 saw violent skirmishes. The last major news agency in Fleet Street, Reuters, moved to Canary Wharf in 2005, but ''Fleet Street'' is still commonly used as a collective term for the national press. London is at the centre of British film and television production industries, with major studio facilities on the western fringes of the conurbation and a large post production industry centred in Soho. London is one of the two leading centres of English language publishing alongside New York. Globally important media companies based in London range from publishing group Pearson PLC, to the information agency Reuters, to the world's number two advertising business WPP Group. The local media generally have a lower profile than the national media in London as in the rest of England, but there are some important local outlets. London has its own local daily evening newspaper, the ''Evening Standard'', and a free newspaper called ''Metro (Associated Metro Limited)'', is distributed in the morning, mainly at railway stations. The BBC operates BBC London 94.9 radio, and there are several independent radio stations, including Capital FM, Kiss FM and Resonance FM. ==Religion== [[Image:westminster abbey night.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Westminster Abbey.]] When Pope Gregory I sent Augustine of Canterbury to bring England into the Catholic fold in 597, it was intended that the envoy should become "Archbishop of London", as the city was remembered as the capital of Roman Britain. In the event, the saint received his most hospitable reception in the Kingdom of Kent, and the archiepiscopal see was founded at Canterbury. Nonetheless London has been at the centre of England's religious life for much of its history, and each Archbishop of Canterbury has traditionally spent much of his time in London, where he has an official residence at Lambeth Palace. London's two Anglican bishops are the Bishop of London, whose see is London north of the Thames, and whose throne is in London's grandest church, the baroque St Paul's Cathedral (designed by Sir Christopher Wren), and the Bishop of Southwark, who tends to Anglicans south of the river. However, as in the rest of the UK, religious attendance in London is low, and the Church of England has borne the brunt of this decline. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster is generally regarded as the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Other traditional Protestant denominations whose headquarters are in London include the United Reformed Church and the Quakers. Many of London's immigrant groups have established denominations in the city, for example Greek Orthodoxy. In addition various evangelical churches exist. London is the most important centre of Islam in the United Kingdom. Two London boroughs contain the highest proportion of Muslims in the UK: Tower Hamlets and Newham. The London Central Mosque is a well known landmark on the edge of Regent's Park, while other large mosques have been built in Whitechapel Mosque and Finsbury Park Mosque. London also has a large Hindu population. Southall, in West London is home to many Hindus. The Hindu temple at Neasden, Neasden Temple is remarkable as the largest Hindu temple outside of India. Much of the enormously elaborate and intricate marble sculpture used in the building was carved in India. Over two thirds of Jews in the United Kingdom live in London, which ranks thirteenth in the world as a Jewish population centre [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/concepts/demography/demtables.html#10]. ==Sport== The most popular spectator sport in London is Football (soccer), and London has several of England's leading football clubs. Historically the London clubs have not accumulated as many trophies as those from the North West England, such as Liverpool F.C. and Manchester United F.C., but at present Arsenal F.C. (founded at Woolwich Arsenal but moved to Highbury in 1913), and Chelsea F.C. (who play in Fulham) are regarded as two of the FA Premier League's "Big 3". In 2003/04 they became the first pair of London clubs to finish first and second in England's top football league, with Arsenal winning. In 2004/05 they did so again, this time with Chelsea winning. London clubs are able to charge higher ticket prices than clubs in other parts of the country (particularly for corporate facilities), and this has swung English football's balance of power towards London. Before Chelsea's recent rise in fortunes the two highest profile London clubs were Arsenal and their long-standing North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of whom were considered to be members of English football's "Big 5" for most of the post-war period. In 2005/06 there are six London clubs in the Premier League in total: Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea, and Charlton Athletic F.C., Fulham F.C. and West Ham United F.C.. There are five London clubs in the fully professional The Football League, namely Brentford F.C., Crystal Palace F.C. (who play in South Norwood), Leyton Orient F.C., Millwall F.C. and Queens Park Rangers F.C.—all of whom have previously played in the top division. In a controversial move, Wimbledon F.C. left London in 2003 to play in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, changing their name to Milton Keynes Dons F.C., and the newly formed AFC Wimbledon inherited most of their support, despite playing at a much lower level in the National League System. There are also numerous London clubs playing outside the top four divisions of English football (among them AFC Wimbledon), one or two of which are fully professional and many of which are part-time professional. London was one of the venues for the Football World Cup 1966 in 1966, and the 1996 European Football Championship in 1996, and hosted the final of both tournaments. London also hosted the UEFA Champions League in 1968, 1978 and 1992. Rugby Union is also well established in London, especially in the middle-class suburbs to the north and west of the city. The Twickenham stadium is in Twickenham. Three of the twelve clubs in the elite Guinness Premiership have London origins. London Irish, Saracens (rugby club) and London Wasps share football grounds just outside the boundaries of Greater London, but in the metropolitan area. Harlequins (rugby), relegated to National Division One after the 2004/05 season, still play in Greater London. The Northern England based sport of rugby league has maintained a Super League (Europe) club called the London Broncos in the capital in recent years as part of its expansion efforts, but the club has struggled to be viable. There are also London teams in the top flight British leagues in ice hockey (London Racers) and basketball (London Towers), but neither of these sports draws nearly the large number of spectators that football and rugby do. There are two Test cricket cricket grounds: Lord's Cricket Ground, home of Middlesex County Cricket Club and the Marylebone Cricket Club, located in the leafy suburb of St. John's Wood, just north of Regent's Park; and The Oval, home of Surrey County Cricket Club in South London. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, home of the Wimbledon Championships, is in Wimbledon, London in South West London. Wembley Stadium, currently being rebuilt, is the national football stadium, traditionally the home of the FA Cup Final as well as major international football matches, and Rugby League matches. During the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium, Cardiff's Millennium Stadium has been the venue for the FA Cup Final. London hosts one of the world's largest mass-participation marathons, the London Marathon, and has twice hosted the Olympic Games, in 1908 Summer Olympics and 1948 Summer Olympics, and is one of the cities bidding to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. ==Culture== [[Image:Buckingham.palace.london.jpg|250px|thumb|The principal facade of Buckingham Palace was designed in 1850 by Edward Blore and redesigned in 1913 by Sir Aston Webb.]] ===Music=== London has five professional symphony orchestras; the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. There are also several chamber orchestras, some of which specialise in period instrument performances, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. The principal orchestral music venues are the Royal Festival Hall, and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which are both in the South Bank; the Barbican Centre; and the Royal Albert Hall, which hosts the Proms each summer. Chamber music venues include the Purcell Room at the South Bank; the Wigmore Hall and St. John's, Smith Square. The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden is home to the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet, London companies. The other main opera company is the English National Opera. In the summer opera is performed in a temporary pavilion by Opera Holland Park, and there are occasional performances by visiting opera companies and small freelance professional opera companies. The major venues for contemporary dance productions include the Sadler's Wells Theatre and the Barbican Centre. London is also famous for its rock scene, and was the starting point of such bands as The Clash. Most major bands' tours will pass through London as well, favorite venues being the Brixton Academy, the Astoria, and the Hammersmith Apollo. ===Festivals=== London hosts several festivals, fairs and carnivals throughout the year. The most famous is the Notting Hill Carnival, the world's largest carnival. The carnival takes place over the August bank holiday weekend, and attracts almost 2 million people. It has a distinctly Afro-Caribbean flavour, and highlights include a competition between London's steelpan bands and a 3 mile street parade with dancing and music. There are also large parades held on St. George's Day (April 23) and St Patrick's Day (March 17). The Dance Umbrella is held every October, and features a variety of dance companies putting on displays across London. In addition there are many smaller fairs and parades, including the Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre, a fair held annually to promote animal rights. ===Theatre=== There are over three dozen major theatres, most concentrated in the West End (see the articles West End Theatre and List of London venues). West End theatres are commercial ventures and show musicals, comedy and serious drama. The subsidised or non-commercial theatre includes the Royal National Theatre, which is based at the South Bank; the Royal Shakespeare Company which is based in Stratford-upon-Avon, but presents seasons in London; Globe Theatre, a modern reconstruction of the home of William Shakespeare's troupe; The Royal Court Theatre which specialises in new drama; the Old Vic; and the Young Vic. London also boasts a vibrant fringe theatre culture including places such as the Battersea Arts Centre, The UCL Bloomsbury, The Place, and Tricycle Theatre. ===Art=== The British National collection of Western Art to 1900 is held at National Gallery, London. Other major collections of pre-1900 art are The Wallace Collection; the Courtauld Gallery at the Courtauld Institute of Art; and Dulwich Picture Gallery. The national collection of post-1900 art is at Tate Modern and the national collection of British Art is at Tate Britain. National Portrait Gallery, London has a major collection of portraits of all periods. The Royal Academy's frequently changing exhibitions are also important. In addition to Tate Modern major contemporary art venues include White Cube, the Saatchi Gallery, and The Institute of Contemporary Arts. ===Museums=== There are over 240 museums in London. Among the more important are the British Museum (antiquities from all over the world), the Victoria and Albert Museum (applied and decorative arts), the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum (London), the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum, and the Museum of London. ===Night-life=== Apart from the pubs and clubs, there are many music venues. Among the best known are Shepherds Bush Empire, Brixton Academy, Hammersmith Apollo, Wembley Arena, The Marquee, The UCL Bloomsbury, Albert Hall and the London Astoria. London is home to many clubs such as the Ministry of Sound. ==Business== [[Image:174 7432.jpg|thumb|250px|The packed streets of the City of London, the modern financial district and heart of the city in past centuries.]] The City of London is the financial centre of London, home to banks, brokers, insurers and legal and accounting firms. A second financial district is developing at Canary Wharf to the east of central London. This is much smaller than City of London, but has equally prestigious occupants, including the global headquarters of HSBC. Non-financial business headquarters are located throughout central London. Some are in City of London, but more are located further west, in and around Mayfair, St. James's, the Strand and elsewhere. More than half of the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE) are headquartered in central London, and more than 70% in London's metropolitan area. London is a leading global centre for professional services, and media and creative industries. Tourism is one of the UK's largest industries, and in 2003 employed the equivalent of 350,000 full time workers in London [http://www.visitbritain.com/]. While the Port of London is now only the third largest in the United Kingdom — rather than largest in the world, as it once was — it still handles 50 million tonnes of cargo each year. The main docks are now at Tilbury, which is outside the boundary of Greater London. London's economy generates pound sterling116,444 million annually, and accounts for 17% of the UK's Gross Domestic Product; ''see Economy of the United Kingdom''. (External link: [http://www.lda.gov.uk/ London Development Authority]). ==London tourist attractions== [[Image:trafalgar_square_night_small.jpg|thumb|250px|Trafalgar Square
:image:trafalgar_square_night_panorama.jpg]] ===Places of interest=== ''This is a selective list. See also: :category:London attractions. *Chinatown, London *Covent Garden *Downing Street *Horse Guards Parade *Leicester Square *The London Dungeon *London Eye *London Planetarium *London Zoo *Madame Tussauds *Piccadilly Circus *South Bank *Theatreland *Tower Bridge *Tower of London *Trafalgar Square ===Buildings and Monuments=== [[Image:PalaceOfWestminsterAtNight.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Palace of Westminster seen across the River Thames.]] *1 Canada Square (the centrepiece of Canary Wharf) *30 St Mary Axe (also known as "The Gherkin" and the "Swiss Re Building") *Albert Memorial *Alexandra Palace *Bank of England *Battersea Power Station *British Library *Broadcasting House *BT Tower (Formerly known as the Post Office Tower) *Buckingham Palace *Bush House *City Hall (London) *Clarence House *Cleopatra's Needle *Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain *Hampton Court Palace *Lambeth Palace *Kensington Palace *Lloyd's building *Marble Arch *Millennium Dome *The Monument (to the Great Fire of London) *Nelson's Column *Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament and tower containing Big Ben) *Royal Albert Hall *Royal Courts of Justice *Royal Festival Hall *Royal Greenwich Observatory and the Prime Meridian *Royal Opera House *Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden *St Pancras Station *St Paul's Cathedral *Somerset House *Syon House *Temple of Mithras, London *Tower 42 (formerly known as the Natwest Tower) *Westminster Abbey ===Museums and galleries=== *See #Museums and #Art above. ===Markets and shopping areas=== *West End *Knightsbridge *Borough Market *Portobello Road Market *Petticoat Lane Market *Brick Lane Market *Covent Garden There are many diverse shopping areas in various parts of London. ===Parks and gardens=== *Alexandra Park, London *Battersea Park *Brockwell Park *Chelsea Physic Garden *Green Park *Greenwich Park *Hampstead Heath *Hampton Court *Holland Park *Hyde Park, London *Kennington Park *Kensington Gardens *Kensington Roof Gardens *Primrose Hill *Regents Park *Richmond Park *Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (known as Kew Gardens) *St. James's Park *Victoria Park, East London ===Other places of interest=== *The Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court with famous trials but inconvenient for the unprepared tourist since personal items prohibited include bags and mobile phones. *Tyburn was the location for many infamous executions by hanging. *Battersea Power Station and the Millennium Dome are two architecturally interesting buildings which currently stand empty. However mixed use developments centred on both buildings are due to commence in 2005. The Millennium Dome will become an indoor sports hall, and Battersea Power Station will become a shopping and leisure facility. ==London in the arts== [[Image:Chinatown.london.700px.jpg|thumb|200px|London's Chinatown, near Leicester Square.]] ===Literature featuring London=== London has been the setting for many works of literature. The two writers who are perhaps most closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, famous among other things for his eye-witness account of the Great Fire of London, 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 era London. Other famous works that feature London include ''A Journal of the Plague Year'' and ''Moll Flanders'' by Daniel Defoe, ''The Secret Agent'' by Joseph Conrad, the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, ''The Waste Land'' by T. S. Eliot, ''The Apes of God'' by Wyndham Lewis, ''Down and Out in Paris and London'' by George Orwell, ''Fever Pitch'' by Nick Hornby and ''White Teeth'' by Zadie Smith. ===Films featuring London=== London has appeared as the setting for many films, for example Notting Hill, and the Ealing comedies. There are gangster films and the romantic comedy of Richard Curtis. Adaptations of Dickens and the Sherlock Holmes novels abound. London is home to a very large film post-production and special effects industry. ===TV shows featuring London=== * ''Are You Being Served?'' * ''The Bill'' * ''Doctor Who'' * ''EastEnders'' * ''Family Affairs'' * ''Minder'' * ''Only Fools and Horses'' * ''Men Behaving Badly'' * ''Spooks'' * ''Ultraviolet (TV miniseries)'' ===Songs featuring London=== *''Cities'' by Talking Heads from their 1979 album ''Fear of Music''. *''Down in the Tube Station at Midnight'' by The Jam *''Doing the Lambeth Walk'' Music Hall favourite *''Emit Remmus'' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers *''I'm Going To Get Lit Up When The Lights Go On In London'' by Hubert Gregg *''Knock 'Em in The Old Kent Road''' *''London'' by Tangerine Dream (words by William Blake) *''London'' by Third Eye Blind *''London Calling'' Album and title song by The Clash *''London Bridge is falling down'' Traditional nursery rhyme *''London Town'' Album by Paul McCartney and Wings *''Lullaby of London'' by The Pogues *''Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner'' by Hubert Gregg *''A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square'' by Eric Maschwitz *''Pop Music'' by M *''Streets of London'' by Ralph McTell *''The Sights and Sounds of London Town'' by Richard Thompson from his album Mock Tudor *''Time For Heroes'' by The Libertines *''Waterloo Sunset'' by The Kinks (some would say it is one of Ray Davies best songs, and it was recently voted London's 'national anthem' by Time Out magazine) *''Werewolves of London'' by Warren Zevon ==Major exhibitions staged in London== *1851 – Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations — The Crystal Palace *1862 – International Exhibition (1862) *1871 – First Annual International Exhibition (1871) *1872 – Second Annual International Exhibition (1872) *1873 – Third Annual International Exhibition (1873) *1874 – Fourth Annual International Exhibition (1874) *1886 – Colonial and Indian Exhibition (1886) *1899 – Greater Britain Exhibition (1899) *1908 – Franco-British Exhibition (1908) *1924 – British Empire Exhibition at Wembley *1951 – Festival of Britain *2000 – Millennium Dome == See also == [[Image:Tower bridge.jpg|thumb|250px|Tower Bridge crosses the River Thames next to the Tower of London. ''See also:'' :image:Tower bridge opening.jpg.]] * Hidden London * List of churches and cathedrals of London * List of heads of London government * List of places in London * London in fiction * London markets * London postal districts * Mayor of London * Subterranean London * Subterranean rivers of London * Tall buildings in London * University of London * Wikipedia:List of images/Places/Europe/United Kingdom/Cities/London * City status in the United Kingdom == External links == ===Governmental=== * [http://www.london.gov.uk/ The official website of the Mayor of London, the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority]. * [http://www.transportforlondon.gov.uk/tfl/ Transport for London] *: ... including [http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/ The London Underground] (The Tube) * [http://www.london2012.org/en/ The Olympic Bid]. * [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/press_release_l.asp The National Statistics Office's 2001 census overview for London]. * The London Plan 2004, [http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_1.pdf abbreviated] and [http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_all.pdf in full]. ===Travel guides=== * * [http://london.openguides.org/ The Open Guide to London], a project to document all of London in a wiki. * [http://www.englandguide.co.uk/London London Guide] from Englandguide.co.uk * [http://www.urbanpath.com Urban Path: Nice things in London] * [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom/england/london World66 Guide to London], a travel guide written by its users. ===Historical texts=== * [http://books.guardian.co.uk/firstchapters/story/0,6761,544022,00.html First chapter of the book "''London: The Biography''"] by Peter Ackroyd * [http://www.fictionalcities.co.uk/ Novels set in London reviewed by Century of setting] * [http://www.londinium.com Londinium.com, the original site for London] * [http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/richardc/london2.ps An Explanation of the Name of London] (PostScript file) ===Other=== * [http://www.thisislondon.com/ The ''Evening Standard''
London
==Archive== *Talk:London/archive1 == General Points == Duncanssmith writes: Since size is an issue with this article, I have been breaking things down into bullet-point lists where possible. I am still working on improving the structure and logic as well. Its got a way to go. I think the New York City article is a pretty good example to follow. Its clear, concise and pithy. A request - please keep sentences short and uncomplicated where possible! I feel there is no need to go on at length about everything under the sun all the time - please keep to the subject headings, think about what you are writing, and if you want to stray off subject, look for an existing heading to put your contribution into! Please feel free to change anything you like! Thanks. User:Duncanssmith 16:21, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Just read NYC article and found we are missing things== I've just read the New York City article and realised that this article, which I thought was pretty close to done, is missing some fairly important things. Firstly two that should perhaps be main subsections: *Education, especially higher education *Media, including London as a centre of the international non-English language media Other things that I think be covered that are wholly or almost wholly absent now, but should perhaps not have their own sections: *Religion *Police/crime/courts/legal London *Cuisine *Shopping *Climate *Redevelopment (there's more to it than Docklands} *London's role as a preferred city for the international rich *Charities and think tanks. Role as an opinion forming centre generally (ties in with education and media as above and also with politics). *relationship between London and the rest of the UK. ("Metropolitan values"; provincial resentment etc) I don't want to make the article as long as New York's which is a little flabby in places, but we do seem to have quite a few omissions which I didn't spot until I read a comparable article. I'll start filling them in soon, but please help out if you agree that they matter. User:Pcpcpc 08:43, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC) Duncanssmith writes: I agree - I think your suggested item headings are very good and relevant. And I'm all for getting rid of flab! Go for it! User:Duncanssmith 10:40, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Power Infrastructure == Why and when was HVDC Kingsnorth shut down? Extend this chapture, please. (Please put details about history of HVDC Kingsnorth to the article "HVDC Kingsnorth " == Reverted lost content == I reverted a bunch of content at the end of this article that was taken out by an IP-user. Please check this page before making new edits, to be sure this has not been done again. Otherwise, a hasty revert may "forget" your new work. — User:Xiong (User talk:Xiong) 04:20, 2005 Apr 1 (UTC) == Writing style == When I read the London article first I was appalled by the writing style. To be frank the article was full of needlessly dependency-ridden over-complicated run-on sentences, and horrific cliches! The writer(s) of this article seemed to be trying to "big up" London with claims that London is the "biggest" "most important" etc city "in the world" throughout, with less emphasis on actual information! Superlatives abounding may be interesting to school children, but I felt that most people would be better off reading more interesting and informative content. Duncanssmith 1 April 2005. 11:36 BST *Please leave others to judge the quality of your contributions. Many of your additions were good, but I think you removed some useful information and weakened the context in places. It seems that by the term "value-laden" in your edit comment you mean politically incorrect, but Wikipedia is not a tool of the liberal establishment. Rather it is has a policy of neutrality, which is quite a different thing. *London is widely regarded as one of the largest and most significant cities in the world. Perhaps this is a mass delusion, but none the less the existence of this perception is factual and relevant, and I think it may properly be stated. There is much more boosterism in Wikipedia's articles about many other famous cities than there is here. Articles which merely list facts without context are indigestible. As for the intellectual respectibility of claims about London's status, please note the first sentence of the London article in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica describes London as "the greatest city in the world". That would breach Wikipedia's neutrality policy, but it is a reminder that removing all comparatives is not necessarily good practice as it may leave the uninformed reader floundering for context. Duncanssmith here: Thanks for your comments. I will certainly leave others to judge the quality of my contributions, after all thats what this Wiki thing is all about isn't it? Voting with your feet or whatever. Anyone can rewrite anything I rewrite at any time! I actually don't think I weakened anything -I made some of the previous author(s)'s contributions more readable and clearer. I removed a couple of irrelevant things like "Wealthy Londoners send their children to Eton, a famous school outside London" which I felt didn't add much to anyone's knowledge of London. Wikipedia might not be a tool of the liberal establishment (whatever that might mean!) but I think it should try to reflect actual facts rather than contain such claims as "there has been a lot of immigration in East London most of it Asian Muslims" or whatever. I don't think it is "PC" to want to correct that. Probably all writing is "value laden." I am for more factual info over subjective opinion. For example "Football is the most popular sport in London." Obviously written by a football fan! You get my drift! I look forward to reading all your edits! Duncanssmith 5 April 2005. 10:50 BST User:Duncanssmith 10:37, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Population == "one source suggests a figure of 13,945,000 for 2001" any reference would be nice. User:Rich Farmbrough 11:28, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC) ==Areas== Why do we have a section about the East End but not the West End, also the East End has its own article. Wouldn't it be an idea to have an "Areas of London" section or something, to highlight the differences between the different areas. User:G-Man 20:48, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Duncanssmith writes: :I quite agree - it would be very good to have subdivisions as you suggest. Why not start a few? I thought it might be good to do it by borough, or by well-known areas, for example "South of the River" or "Maida Vale and Paddington" or whatever. The difficulty is London is a very big subject! The previous author(s) had put the East End part in, and I did add to it and rewrite it quite a bit. :I know its being a bit copy-cattish but the New York City article is very well structured, and clearly and authoritatively written (gives that impression anyway!) part of my motivation in starting to reorganise the London section was to bring it up to that standard. The article definitely needs a lot of structural improvement, and will in time be broken out into other articles in their own right (I expect the East End section could be a candidate for this.) Please do make these changes if you have time and the inclination, because it surely benefits everyone. :thanks. User:Duncanssmith 09:26, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::Duncanssmith writes: ::OK - I have started a new section - Districts of London or whatever and started off bits about various neighbourhoods. It might be too much detail if it all gets filled in completely, but its intended as a place to start. Hopefully other people will add things as we go forward. ::regards. User:Duncanssmith 17:44, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::''(have slightly format-tidied this talk page so as to make it follow-able: it doesn't need to be so formal!) ...'' ::I really dislike this addition. the "London" page is, by its nature, an overview page. If we start placing information about every district in London - and it would mean 'every' as a sub-selection would be impossible to agree on - then it would get a very excessive proportion of the whole article. Either this should be a "Districts of London" article in itself, or - preferably - just a link to the category that already exists of the London districts. I won't revert what is there at the moment, but I strongly suggest that the author moves useful content elsewhere. --User:VampWillow:User_talk:VampWillow 18:18, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::Yes I agree. I have removed the headings for individual towns (these were just too much) and made the text much higher level but I think we could get away with making the detail even more scant. User:Mrsteviec 18:23, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) User:Duncanssmith Good - seems like I've stimulated a bit of a discussion at least! Get on with it then! User:Duncanssmith 20:39, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC) == table == {| border=1 cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" width=230 |- !colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#ff9999"|City of Manchester |- |colspan=2 align=center| |- !colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Geography |- |width="45%"|Status:||Metropolitan borough, City (1853) |- |Regions of England:||North West England |- |Ceremonial County:||Greater Manchester |- |Surface area:
- Total||List of English districts by area
1 E8 m2 square kilometre |- |Admin. HQ:||Manchester |- |ONS coding system:||00BN |- |Geographical coordinates:|| |- !colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Demographics |- |Population:
- City (2002 est)
- Total (2002 est)
- Density||List of English districts by population
422,302
2,513,468
3,652 / km² |- |Ethnicity:||81.0% White
9.1% S.Asian
4.5% Afro-Carib.
1.3% Chinese |- !colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Politics |- |colspan=2 align=center|
Manchester City Council
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/ |- |Local_government_in_England#Councils_and_councillors:||Leader & Cabinet |- |Executive:||Labour Party (UK) |- |MPs elected in the UK general election, 2001:||Keith Bradley, Paul Goggins, Gerald Kaufman, Tony Lloyd, Graham Stringer |} Please can we fill in this table, copied from Manchester, with london data then put it in the article, as it looks a bit bare without a nice summary table. thanks User:Bluemoose 14:36, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) User:Duncanssmith writes: Thanks for offering! Go ahead! User:Duncanssmith 15:29, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) :: I don't think it would be apt to add that table on this page as the table already exists on Greater London, City of London and all the "London Borough of..." pages. It would just be repetition, or worse conflicting information especially as in the context of this page "London" is somewhat ambiguous (and should be) User:Mrsteviec 15:53, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::Plus London is a region, not a county. User:Duncanssmith writes: Hmm - yes, but the London page certainly could use more relevant (and better) images. What about the Corporation of London logo and doesn't the GLA have something? What about the Underground symbol etc? maybe London is just too big a subject to narrow down to a few symbolic images. User:Duncanssmith ==FAC?== Are we ready for WP:FAC now? It looks great to me. -- User:ALoan User_talk:ALoan 18:05, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Surely it needs a nice picture of a Routemaster bus going round Trafalgar Square. - User:Solipsist 20:03, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::If see one and have a camera, take a photo and post it! It's all nasty modern buses, including the bendy ones, around my way. -- User:ALoan User_talk:ALoan 20:16, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC) :::I've now got a some pics of Routemasters going round Piccadilly Circus, but I'm not sure I am happy enough with any of the results. -- User:Solipsist 15:24, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC) It needs a reference section if it's not to be summarily rejected, User:Jguk 23:03, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC) :I think that would just be clutter. The references for most of it belong in the hundreds of more detailed articles which it links to. :I think it's still seriously lacking in some ways. It needs to give more of an idea of what the city is like, some idea of the atmosphere of the place, what types of people live and works there and how and why (and I don't just mean which ethnic groups). Also, more on the city's role in the UK and the World. At the moment it is too dry. The New York article gave a much better idea of what that city is ''like'' as a city when I read it some time ago. This article is an accumulation of detail that lacks life. I might have a go at doing some of this sometime, but I know it won't be easy. User:CalJW 06:45, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==10 Best== In the intro 4 cities in comparison seems almost claustrophobic at this point. How about London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Moscow? Criteria could include population and the city's international nature. I suppose substitutes would include Sao Paolo, Johannesburg, Bombay and ???. I just feel impulsively that London looks even better when compared with more cities than just 4, and maybe 10 is a manageable number. It would certainly be even more welcoming to visitors than the article already is. As a non-native, thank you for reading.--User:McDogm 23:04, 9 May 2005 (UTC) --Well the top four are almost universally considered to be the most important global cities. The others you mentioned are what could be considered currently developing into true global city status, but are not anywhere near the same level as London at the present time. --User:Jleon 15:36, 19 May 2005 (UTC) == Reorganised images. == I put the panorama image back where it was previously. Its a bad image (more apparent when it was displayed at high resolution), understandably because its not the most convenient position for taking a panorama... but there are just too many seams to the picture, and very little info. I also put the Tower image further up for better presentation... A really cool image of the bridge would be a better choice for that position, but I am not an expert on London (by any stretch). Hope this helps. --User:Spundun 19:56, 22 May 2005 (UTC) == Article splitting == This article is 69KB, more than twice as large as 32KB. I want to see if there is any real way to get the sections into their own articles and I can't find one here. User:Georgia guy 23:05, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC) == Wikibook on London == Anyone is welcome to contribute to the Wikibook guide on London. Find it at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/London . We especially need info on travel in the city. Thanks! User:Charlie123 14:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
London
{| style="margin:0 auto;" class="toccolours" |align=center| Greater London | London || |- |align=center| ''London boroughs'' : London Borough of Barking and Dagenham | London Borough of Barnet | London Borough of Bexley | London Borough of Brent | London Borough of Bromley | London Borough of Camden | City of London | London Borough of Croydon | London Borough of Ealing | London Borough of Enfield | London Borough of Greenwich | London Borough of Hackney | London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham | London Borough of Haringey | London Borough of Harrow | London Borough of Havering | London Borough of Hillingdon | London Borough of Hounslow | London Borough of Islington | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea | Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames | London Borough of Lambeth | London Borough of Lewisham | London Borough of Merton | London Borough of Newham | London Borough of Redbridge | London Borough of Richmond upon Thames | London Borough of Southwark | London Borough of Sutton | London Borough of Tower Hamlets | London Borough of Waltham Forest | London Borough of Wandsworth | City of Westminster |- |align=center| Greater London Authority | London Assembly | Mayor of London |}
London
#redirect Template:London
London
[[Image:PalaceOfWestminsterAtNight.jpg|200px|thumb|right|The United Kingdom's seat of government is the Palace of Westminster (seen from the South Bank of the Thames)]] London, the capital city of the United Kingdom, lies in the south-east of England, on the River Thames. With over seven million inhabitants within Greater London and around fourteen million in the wider metro area, it is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe after Moscow. The historic centre, the City of London (or Square Mile), is far smaller but remains a separate political entity and an important finance centre. history of London an an urban centre is believed to have begun with the Roman Empire foundation of the town of Londinium. In medieval times, Westminster was established as the England Kingdom of England capital, and in 1707 London became capital of the Act of Union 1707 United Kingdom. For centuries the city has been a globally important centre of culture, commerce and politics. Well known for such sights as Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, the Palace of Westminster, Tower Bridge and its distinctive Buses in London, London is a major tourist destination. Cities in EnglandMetropolitan areasCapitals in Europe
London
Category names should match article names whereever possible. If we have the article about London at London the category about London should be at :Category:London. User:Morwen - User_talk:Morwen 15:01, 11 Jun 2004 (UTC) : I agree completely, :Category:London UK should be moved to :Category:London; especially given there are shedloads more articles in the London category than the London, Ontario one. — User:OwenBlacker 21:02, Jun 29, 2004 (UTC) ::I agree also. Category titles should reflect article titles, so :Category:London Canada should be :Category:London, Ontario, and :Category:London UK should be at :Category:London. I'm going to shift articles over. - User:MykReeve 21:43, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
London
== Law Courts == Shouldn't the law courts (Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn) be listed separately, since they are enclaves not part of the City of London? User:John Kenney User_talk:John Kenney 05:59, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC) : The law courts are enclaves? They don't look like it [http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=531200&Y=181100 on Streetmap]… — User:OwenBlacker 13:11, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC) == Flag == Why is the flag on this template a George's Cross (of England), rather than the defaced version that London uses? — User:OwenBlacker 13:11, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC)
London
Thanks for the user page help, darling! User:PZFUN 00:56, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC) Welcome! Hello, and Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers to Wikipedia. Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers: *Wikipedia:How to edit a page *Wikipedia:Tutorial *Wikipedia:Picture tutorial *Wikipedia:How to write a great article *Wikipedia:Naming conventions *Wikipedia:Manual of Style I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedia:Wikipedians! By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and vote pages using three tildes, like this: ~
London
[[Image:Matt London at Charlesde Gaulle Airport.jpg|thumb|right|London at Charles de Gaulle Airport.]] London is from the fair city of Seattle, Washington where he grew up among the evergreen trees and under the shadow of Mount Rainier. Somehow he managed to survive the constant threat of earthquake or volcanic eruption, and wound up studying at Purchase College in the small town of Purchase, New York. Feeling dissatisfied with the fields and suburb, he migrated recently to New York City where he lives two blocks away from the former World Trade Center.
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
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LA | LB | LC | LD | LE | LF | LG | LH | LI | LJ | LK | LM | LN | LO | LP | LR | LS | LT | LU | LW | LX | LY | LZ |Words begining with London:
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London's_railways
London's_transport_history_from_1933
London's_transport_history_from_1933
London's_Transport_Museum
London's_West_End
London's_West_End
London,_AR
London,_Arkansas
London,_Arkansas
London,_Brighton,_and_South_Coast_Railway
London,_Brighton_and_South_Coast_Railway
London,_British_Library,_MS_Royal_I._D._V-VIII
London,_CA
London,_California
London,_Canada
London,_Chatham_and_Dover_Railway
London,_Chatham_and_Dover_Railway
London,_England
London,_England
London,_Great_Britain
London,_Kentucky
London,_KY
London,_MI
London,_Michigan
London,_Midland,_&_Scottish_Railway
London,_Midland_and_Scottish_Railway
London,_Midland_and_Scottish_Railway_locomotives
London,_Minnesota
London,_MN
London,_OH
London,_Ohio
London,_ON
London,_Ontario
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London,_Ontario/Temp
London,_Ontario/Temp
London,_Ontario_mayors
London,_Ontario_trivia
London,_Texas
London,_Tilbury_and_Southend_Railway
London,_Tilbury_and_Southend_Railway
London,_TX
London,_UK
London,_United_Kingdom
London-Fanshawe
London-geo-stub
London-West_of_England_Roman_Roads
London/archive1
London/London_at_Night
London/Putney
LondonCalling.ogg
Londonderry
Londonderry
Londonderry,_New_Hampshire
Londonderry,_NH
Londonderry,_Nova_Scotia
Londonderry,_Vermont
Londonderry,_VT
Londonderry_(CDP),_New_Hampshire
Londonderry_(CDP),_NH
Londonderry_(CDP),_Rockingham_County,_New_Hampshire
Londonderry_(CDP),_Rockingham_County,_NH
Londonderry_(constituency)
Londonderry_(constituency)
Londonderry_(disambiguation)
Londonderry_(name)
Londonderry_(town),_New_Hampshire
Londonderry_(town),_NH
Londonderry_(town),_Rockingham_County,_New_Hampshire
Londonderry_(town),_Rockingham_County,_NH
Londonderry_Air
Londonderry_Air
Londonderry_Airport
Londonderry_East_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
Londonderry_East_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
Londonderry_Township,_Bedford_County,_PA
Londonderry_Township,_Bedford_County,_Pennsylvania
Londonderry_Township,_Chester_County,_PA
Londonderry_Township,_Chester_County,_Pennsylvania
Londonderry_Township,_Dauphin_County,_PA
Londonderry_Township,_Dauphin_County,_Pennsylvania
Londonderry_Township,_PA
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LondonTheatreUK
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Londontowne,_MD
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London_&_Croydon_Railway
London_&_North_Eastern_Railway
London_&_North_Western_Railway
London_'66-'67
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London_(disambiguation)
London_(disambiguation)
London_(electoral_district)
London_(European_Parliament_constituency)
London_0_Hull_4
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London_2012
London_2012_Olympic_bid
London_94.9
London_Academy
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London_Academy_of_Music_and_Dramatic_Art
London_Action_Resource_Centre
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London_After_Midnight
London_After_Midnight_(band)
London_After_Midnight_(movie)
London_Agreement
London_Airport
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London_and_Greenwich_Railway
London_and_North-Western_Railway
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London_and_North_Eastern_Railway_locomotives
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London_arts_scene
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London_Assembly_constituencies
London_Assembly_Election,_2000
London_Assembly_Election,_2004
London_Astoria
London_attractions
London_at_night,_as_seen_from_space
London_auction_houses
London_Balloon_Festival
London_bands
London_Baptist_Confession_of_Faith
London_Biggin_Hill_Airport
London_Black_Taxi
London_Blitz
London_Borough
London_borough
London_borough
London_Boroughs
London_boroughs
London_Borough_of_Barking
London_Borough_of_Barking_and_Dagenham
London_Borough_of_Barnet
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London_Borough_of_Bexley
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London_Borough_of_Bromley
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London_Borough_of_Ealing
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London_Borough_of_Hammersmith
London_Borough_of_Hammersmith_and_Fulham
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London_Borough_of_Harrow
London_Borough_of_Havering
London_Borough_of_Hillingdon
London_Borough_of_Hounslow
London_Borough_of_Islington
London_Borough_of_Kensington_and_Chelsea
London_Borough_of_Kingston
London_Borough_of_Kingston_upon_Thames
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London_Borough_of_Lambeth
London_Borough_of_Lewisham
London_Borough_of_Merton
London_Borough_of_Newham
London_Borough_of_Redbridge
London_Borough_of_Richmond
London_Borough_of_Richmond_upon_Thames
London_Borough_of_Richmond_upon_Thames
London_Borough_of_Southwark
London_Borough_of_Southwark
London_Borough_of_Sutton
London_Borough_of_Tower_Hamlets
London_Borough_of_Tower_Hamlets
London_Borough_of_Walford
London_Borough_of_Waltham_Forest
London_Borough_of_Wandsworth
London_Borough_of_Westminster
London_Borouh_of_Barking
London_Bridge
London_Bridge
London_Bridge_(disambiguation)
London_Bridge_(Lake_Havasu_City)
London_Bridge_Is_Falling_Down
London_Bridge_Is_falling_down
London_Bridge_Is_falling_down
London_Bridge_is_Falling_Down
London_Bridge_is_Falling_Down
London_Bridge_is_falling_down
London_Bridge_is_falling_down
London_Bridge_railway_station
London_Bridge_railway_station
London_Bridge_rail_station
London_Bridge_station
London_Bridge_station
London_Bridge_Tower
London_Bridge_Tower
London_Bridge_tube_station
London_Bridge_tube_station
London_Britain
London_Britain_Township,_PA
London_Britain_Township,_Pennsylvania
London_Broadcasting_Company
London_Broil
London_Broncos
London_Bureau
London_bus
London_Buses
London_buses
London_Buses_Route_11
London_Business_School
London_Calling
London_Calling
London_Calling_(album)
London_Calling_(song)
London_Calling_(song)
London_Canal_Museum
London_Cannon
London_Canon_Tables
London_Canon_Tables
London_Cathedral
London_Central_Mosque
London_Central_Secondary_School
London_Central_Secondary_School
London_central_secondary_school
London_Charing_Cross
London_Charter
London_Charterhouse
London_Charter_of_the_International_Military_Tribunal
London_Charter_of_the_International_Military_Tribunal
London_Chronicle
London_City_Airport
London_City_Council
London_City_Hall
London_City_Mission
London_Classical_Players
London_class_battleship
London_class_cruiser
London_Clay
London_clay
London_Coliseum
London_College_of_Communication
London_College_of_Fashion
London_College_of_Printing
London_Colney
London_Commuter_Belt
London_commuter_belt
London_commuter_belt
London_Company
London_Company
London_Conference
London_conference
London_Congestion_Charge
London_Congestion_Charge
London_Congestion_charge
London_congestion_charge
London_Contemporary_Dance_School
London_Contemporary_Dance_Theatre
London_Convention
London_Convention
London_Corresponding_Society
London_County_Council
London_County_cricketers
London_Critics'_Circle_Theatre_Award
London_Critics'_Circle_Theatre_Awards
London_Daily_Mirror
London_Daily_Telegraph
London_deep-level_shelters
London_deep-level_shelters
London_Deep_Level_Shelters
London_Defence_Positions
London_Defence_Positions
London_Dial-a-Ride
London_dispersion_force
London_dispersion_forces
London_Districts
London_Docklands
London_Docklands
London_Docklands_Development_Corporation
London_Docklands_Light_Railway_stations
London_Docks
London_docks
London_drops
London_Dungeon
London_E1
London_E10
London_E11
London_E12
London_E13
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London_E16
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London_E17
London_E17/Delete
London_E18
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London_E20
London_E3
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London_EC2
London_EC3
London_EC4
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London_Euston
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London_Financial_Guide
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London_Fletcher
London_force
London_forces
London_forces
London_Forum
London_Free_Press
London_Free_Press
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London_Gatwick_International_Airport
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London_Gazette
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London_General_Omnibus_Company
London_geography_stubs
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London_gold_market
London_Government
London_Government
London_Greek_Radio
London_grill
London_grill
London_Grove_Township,_PA
London_Grove_Township,_Pennsylvania
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London_Gun
London_Heathrow
London_Heathrow_Airport
London_Heathrow_Airport
London_Heathrow_airport
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London_Heliport
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London_Hippodrome
London_history
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London_hospitals
London_hotels
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London_IMAX
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London_Institute_of_Pataphysics
London_Institute_of_Pataphysics
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London_interbank_offered_rate
London_International_Airport
London_International_Exhibition_of_1851
London_International_Financial_Futures_and_Options_Exchange
London_International_Financial_Futures_Exchange
London_International_Hot_Air_Balloon_Festival
London_International_Mime_Festival
London_International_Surrealist_Exhibition
London_Internet_Exchange
London_in_fiction
London_in_fiction
London_in_film
London_in_film
London_Irish
London_Irish_RFC
London_Journal
London_Journal
London_King's_Cross
London_Knights
London_Knights
London_Lesbian_and_Gay_Centre
London_Library
London_Library
London_Liverpool_Street
London_LOOP
London_Loop
London_Luton
London_Luton_Airport
London_Majors
London_Manston_Airport
London_Marathon
London_Marathon
London_markets
London_markets
London_Marylebone
London_Marylebone_station
London_Mathematical_Society
London_Mayor
London_mayor
London_mayoral_election,_2000
London_mayoral_election,_2000
London_Mayoral_election,_2004
London_mayoral_election,_2004
London_mayoral_election,_2004
London_media
London_Metal_Exchange
London_Metropolitan_Archives
London_metropolitan_area
London_Metropolitan_Police
London_Metropolitan_University
London_Midland_&_Scottish_Railway
London_Midland_and_Scottish_Railway
London_Midland_Region
London_Millennium_Bridge
London_Millennium_Bridge
London_Millennium_Footbridge
London_Mills,_IL
London_Mills,_Illinois
London_Monarchs
London_Monster
London_museums
London_Musicians_Collective
London_N1
London_N10
London_N12
London_N14
London_N15
London_N17
London_N19
London_N2
London_N20
London_N21
London_N3
London_N4
London_N6
London_N7
London_N8
London_Naval_Agreement
London_Naval_Conference
London_Naval_Treaty
London_Naval_Treaty
London_Necropolis
London_Necropolis_Company
London_Necropolis_Company
London_Necropolis_railway_station
London_Neutral_Internet_eXchange
London_News
London_North-Centre
London_North_Centre
London_North_Western_Railway
London_NW2
London_NW2
London_NW3
London_Open_House
London_Oratory_School
London_Orbital
London_Orbital_motorway
London_orchestras
London_Outer_Orbital_Path
London_Pact
London_Pact
London_Paddington
London_Palladium
London_parks_and_commons
London_Pavilion
London_Philharmonic
London_Philharmonic_Orchestra
London_places_of_worship
London_Plane
London_plane
London_Planetarium
London_Poles
London_Police
London_police
London_politicians
London_Polytechnic
London_Polytechnic
London_Positivist_Society
London_postal_district
London_postal_district
London_postal_districts
London_postcode
London_post_code
London_Post_Office_Railway
London_Post_Office_Railway
London_Post_Office_Railway
London_Post_Office_Railway_1930_Stock
London_Post_Office_Railway_1962_Stock
London_Post_Office_Railway_1980_Stock
London_Post_Office_Railway_rolling_stock
London_Post_Office_Railway_rolling_stock
London_Post_Office_Railway_rolling_stock
London_prisons
London_Prize_Ring_rules
London_Psychogeographical_Association
London_Psychogeographical_Association
London_Publications
London_Publishing
London_Qualifications
London_Racers
London_Racers
London_Rail
London_railway_stations
London_railway_stations
London_Records
London_redevelopment_projects
London_referendum,_1998
London_Regiment
London_Residuary_Body
London_Review_of_Books
London_River_Services
London_Road
London_Road_(Brighton)_railway_station
London_Road_Fire_Station_(Manchester)
London_School
London_schools_and_colleges
London_School_Board
London_School_of_Contemporary_Dance
London_School_of_Differential_Psychology
London_School_of_Differential_Psychology
London_School_of_Economics
London_School_of_Economics
London_school_of_Economics
London_School_of_Economics_and_Political_Science
London_School_of_Economics_and_Political_Science
London_School_of_Hygiene_and_Tropical_Medicine
London_Science_Museum
London_Scottish
London_Scottish_(regiment)
London_Scottish_Bank
London_Scottish_RFC
London_SE1
London_SE10
London_SE11
London_SE12
London_SE13
London_SE14
London_SE15
London_SE16
London_SE17
London_SE18
London_SE19
London_SE2
London_SE21
London_SE22
London_SE25
London_SE28
London_SE3
London_SE4
London_SE5
London_SE6
London_SE7
London_SE8
London_SE9
London_Season_(The_Real_World)
London_Season_(The_Real_World)
London_sewerage_system
London_sewers
London_shops
London_Skolars
London_Slang
London_Smog_Disaster_of_1952
London_Socialist_Alliance
London_Sounds_Eastern
London_Southend_Airport
London_South_Bank_University
London_South_Bank_University
London_squares
London_SS
London_St._Pancras
London_Stansted
London_Stansted_Airport
London_Stock_Exchange
London_Stone
London_Straits_Convention
London_Street_Management
London_St_Pancras
London_Suede
London_Sunday_Times
London_SW1
London_SW10
London_SW11
London_SW12
London_SW13
London_SW14
London_SW15
London_SW16
London_SW18
London_SW2
London_SW3
London_SW4
London_SW6
London_SW8
London_SW9
London_Symphony
London_symphony
London_Symphony_Orchestra
London_Symphony_Orchestra
London_Symphony_Orchestra_&_Chorus
London_Taxi
London_Taxis_International
London_theatres
London_Tilbury_&_Southend_Railway
London_Times
London_Tower
London_Towers
London_Town
London_Township,_MI
London_Township,_Michigan
London_Township,_Minnesota
London_Township,_MN
London_to_Brighton
London_to_Brighton_events
London_to_Greenwich_Railway
London_To_Peking_Motor_Challenge
London_Trams
London_Transport
London_Transport
London_Transport_Museum
London_Treaty
London_treaty_for_the_reduction_of_naval_armaments
London_Trocadero
London_Tube
London_tube
LONDON_TV
London_UK
London_Underground
London_Underground
London_Underground
London_underground
London_Underground_1938_Stock
London_Underground_1959_Stock
London_Underground_1962_Stock
London_Underground_1973_Stock
London_Underground_1992_Stock
London_Underground_Circle_Line
London_Underground_coaching_stock
London_Underground_Diesel_Locomotives
London_Underground_diesel_locomotives
London_Underground_Electric_Locomotives
London_Underground_electric_locomotives
London_Underground_electric_multiple_units
London_Underground_G_Stock
London_Underground_O_Stock
London_Underground_Q_Stock
London_Underground_Rolling_Stock
London_Underground_Rolling_Stock
London_Underground_Rolling_Stock
London_Underground_rolling_stock
London_Underground_rolling_stock
London_Underground_rolling_stock
London_Underground_R_Stock
London_Underground_Standard_Stock
London_Underground_stations
London_Underground_stations
London_Underground_Station_List/template
London_Underground_Station_List/template
London_Underground_stubs
London_Underground_T_Stock
London_Underground_Zone_1
London_Underground_Zone_1
London_Underground_zone_1
London_Underground_Zone_2
London_Underground_zone_2
London_Underground_zone_2
London_Underground_Zone_3
London_Underground_zone_3
London_Underground_zone_4
London_Underground_Zone_5
London_Underground_zone_5
London_Underground_Zone_6
London_Underground_zone_6
London_Underground_zone_6
London_underworld
London_University
London_Victoria
London_Victoria_railway_station
London_Victoria_station
London_Virginia_Company
London_Virginia_Company
London_Voodoo
London_W1
London_W1
London_W2
London_Wall
London_Wall_and_its_gates
London_Wasps
London_Waterloo
London_Waterloo_station
London_WC1
London_WC2
London_Weekend_Television
London_Welsh
London_Welsh_RFC
London_West
London_West_End
London_Wetlands_Centre
London_words
London_XI
London_Zoo
London—Fanshaw
London—Fanshawe
London—Middlesex
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