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Panorama of modern London, taken from the Golden Gallery of St Paul's Cathedral. See Panorama of London for more panoramic images.

London Eye

London (/ˈlʌndən/ ) is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its mediaeval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" also refers to the metropolis around this core, historically split among the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London, which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

As one of the world's major global cities, London exerts a strong influence on its arts, entertainment, fashion, commerce and finance, education, health care, media, science and technology, tourism, transport, and communications. Its GDP (€801.66 billion in 2017) makes it the largest urban economy in Europe, and it is one of the major financial centres in the world. With Europe's largest concentration of higher education institutions, it is home to some of the highest-ranked academic institutions in the world—Imperial College London in natural and applied sciences, the London School of Economics in social sciences, and the comprehensive University College London. London is the most visited city in Europe and has the busiest city airport system in the world. The London Underground is the oldest rapid transit system in the world.

London's diverse cultures encompass over 300 languages. The mid-2018 population of Greater London of about 9 million made it Europe's third-most populous city, accounting for 13.4% of the population of the United Kingdom and over 16% of the population of England. The Greater London Built-up Area is the fourth-most populous in Europe, with about 9.8 million inhabitants at the 2011 census. The London metropolitan area is the third-most populous in Europe, with about 14 million inhabitants in 2016, granting London the status of a megacity. (Full article...)

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The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the wall to the west. The death toll is generally thought to have been relatively small, although some historians have challenged this belief.

The fire started in a bakery in Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on Sunday 2 September, and spread rapidly. The use of the major firefighting technique of the time, the creation of firebreaks by means of removing structures in the fire's path, was critically delayed due to the indecisiveness of the Lord Mayor, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sunday night, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm which defeated such measures. The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose of suspicious foreigners setting fires. The fears of the homeless focused on the French and Dutch, England's enemies in the ongoing Second Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups became victims of street violence. On Tuesday, the fire spread over nearly the whole City, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and leaping the River Fleet to threaten Charles II's court at Whitehall. Coordinated firefighting efforts were simultaneously getting underway. The battle to put out the fire is considered to have been won by two key factors: the strong east wind dropped, and the Tower of London garrison used gunpowder to create effective firebreaks, halting further spread eastward. (Full article...)

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Photo credit: David Iliff

The City of London skyline, as viewed toward the northwest from the top floor viewing platform of City Hall on the southern side of the River Thames, in 2008. Not to be confused with the London metropolitan area, the City covers 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km²) and, along with Westminster is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew.

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Subcategories

Articles about London can be found under these categories:

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William Shakespeare (bapt. 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs and whether the works attributed to him were written by others. (Full article...)

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Henry Wood Jack the Ripper Samuel Johnson Jack Sheppard Mary Wollstonecraft Noël Coward Mellitus David Bowie Alice Ayres Edgar Speyer Harold Pinter Edmund Evans Elizabeth Canning Henry Moore William Sterndale Bennett Gilbert Foliot Lilias Armstrong Laurence Olivier George Lansbury Marie Lloyd Stanley Holloway Robert of Jumièges

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Selected quotation

“

London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.

”

Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (1887)

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Did you know...

...that the Dulwich Picture Gallery opened in 1817 with a collection assembled for a never-realised Polish national gallery, and that it was first purpose-built public art gallery in England?

...that the Petrie Museum ranks behind only the collections of the Cairo Museum, the British Museum and the Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin, by quantity of ancient Egyptian artefacts?

...that the remains of London's Roman amphitheatre can be found in the basement of the Guildhall Art Gallery?

...that the Bethnal Green Museum, now the V&A Museum of Childhood (pictured), is housed in a pre-fabricated building moved from South Kensington in 1872?

...that the Secretum was the name given to a cupboard in the British Museum containing a collection of supposed ancient erotica, which in fact largely consisted of Victorian fakes?

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General images

The following are images from various London-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Three cultural icons of London: a K2 red telephone box, Big Ben and a red double-decker bus (from Culture of London)
Image 2Section 3 (from History of London)
Image 3John Evelyn's plan for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire (from History of London)
Image 4Ogilby & Morgan's map of the City of London (1673). "A Large and Accurate Map of the City of London. Ichnographically describing all the Streets, Lanes, Alleys, Courts, Yards, Churches, Halls, & Houses &c. Actually Surveyed and Delineated by John Ogilby, His Majesties Cosmographer." (from History of London)
Image 5Samuel Pepys, chronicler of Stuart London (from History of London)
Image 6A silver coin of Alfred, with the legend ÆLFRED REX (from History of London)
Image 7Cheapside pictured in 1909, with the church of St Mary-le-Bow in the background (from History of London)
Image 8Young people in Carnaby Street in 1966 (from History of London)
Image 9A Carausius coin from Londinium mint (from History of London)
Image 10Amy Winehouse was a singer-songwriter from Southgate, north London. (from Culture of London)
Image 11Maughan Library, King's College London (from Culture of London)
Image 12The Shard (left), an icon of 21st-century London (from History of London)
Image 13Shaftesbury Avenue, c. 1949 (from History of London)
Image 14A medal of Constantius I capturing London (inscribed as lon) in 296 after defeating Allectus. Beaurains hoard. (from History of London)
Image 15London c. 1300 (from History of London)
Image 16Tourism in London 2013 (from Tourism in London)
Image 17A signpost on Parliament Square with directions for nearby attractions (from Tourism in London)
Image 18Section 2 (from History of London)
Image 19Firefighters putting out flames after an air raid during The Blitz, 1941 (from History of London)
Image 20John Norden's map of London in 1593. There is only one bridge across the Thames, but parts of Southwark on the south bank of the river have been developed. (from History of London)
Image 21The Clock Tower of Wren's St Paul's Cathedral (from History of London)
Image 22A view of London from the east in 1751 (from History of London)
Image 23A tourist stall selling various London and United Kingdom related souvenirs on the edge of Trafalgar Square on the Strand (from Tourism in London)
Image 24A depiction of the imprisonment of Charles, Duke of Orléans in the Tower of London, from a 15th-century manuscript. Old London Bridge is in the background (from History of London)
Image 25Satellite image by Sentinel-2 satellite (from Geography of London)
Image 26People gathered in Whitehall to hear Winston Churchill's victory speech, 8 May 1945. (from History of London)
Image 27Tourists at Buckingham Palace (from Tourism in London)
Image 28Richard Blome's map of London (1673). The development of the West End had recently begun to accelerate. (from History of London)
Image 29Section 1 (from History of London)
Image 30Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre (from Culture of London)
Image 31Buckingham Palace in 1837, enlarged by John Nash (from History of London)
Image 32London as engraved by J. & C. Walker in 1845 from a map by R Creighton. Many districts in the West End were fully developed, and the East End also extended well beyond the eastern fringe of the City of London. There were now several bridges over the Thames, allowing the rapid development of South London. (from History of London)
Image 33Buckingham Palace as it appeared in the 17th century (from History of London)
Image 34A detailed copy of John Rocque's Map of London, 1741–5 (from History of London)
Image 35The statue of Alfred the Great at Winchester, erected 1899 (from History of London)
Image 36Tourists consulting a map near St Paul's Cathedral (from Tourism in London)
Image 37The "Woodcut" map of London, formally titled Civitas Londinum (c. 1561) (from History of London)
Image 38Outline of the London region (from Geography of London)
Image 39In spite of heavy traffic, several companies operate tour buses in London. (from Tourism in London)
Image 40The Houses of Parliament from Westminster Bridge in the early 1890s (from History of London)
Image 41A plaque in the City of London noting the re-establishment of the Roman walled city (from History of London)

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London Boroughs

City of London † City of Westminster Kensington and Chelsea Hammersmith and Fulham Wandsworth Lambeth Southwark Tower Hamlets Hackney Islington Camden Brent Ealing Hounslow Richmond Kingston upon Thames		Merton Sutton Croydon Bromley Lewisham Greenwich Bexley Havering Barking and Dagenham Redbridge Newham Waltham Forest Haringey Enfield Barnet Harrow Hillingdon
† sui generis – not a London borough

More about London Boroughs
Category: London boroughs

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London Topics

London-related topics

History

Politics

London government	Mayor of London Greater London Authority London Assembly The 32 London Boroughs City of London Corporation Ken Livingstone London Development Agency City Hall London Plan Metropolitan Board of Works Greater London Council London County Council
UK government in London	Downing Street MI5 SIS (MI6) Middlesex Guildhall Palace of Westminster Palace of Whitehall Portcullis House Somerset House War Office Whitehall

Geography

Attractions

Historic	Barbican Estate Covent Garden Leicester Square Mayfair Palace of Westminster Piccadilly Circus St Paul's Cathedral Tower Bridge Tower of London Trafalgar Square Westminster Abbey
Royal	Buckingham Palace Clarence House Hampton Court Palace Horse Guards Parade Kensington Palace The Mall St James's Palace
Modern	8 Canada Square 22 Bishopsgate Canary Wharf Citigroup Centre London Eye Millennium Bridge The O2 Arena Millennium Dome One Canada Square The Gherkin The Shard Tower 42 Wembley Stadium
Retail	Bond Street Carnaby Street Harrods Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge Liberty Oxford Street Regent Street Selfridges Tottenham Court Road
Monuments	Albert Memorial Cenotaph Cleopatra's Needle Monument to the Great Fire Nelson's Column more ...

Civic

Culture

Economy

Education

Museums
and galleries

League teams
(tiers 1–4)

1	Arsenal Brentford Chelsea Crystal Palace Fulham Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United
2	Millwall Queens Park Rangers
3	Charlton Athletic Leyton Orient
4	AFC Wimbledon Sutton United

Non-league teams
(tiers 5–8)

5	Barnet Bromley Dagenham & Redbridge Wealdstone
6	Hampton & Richmond Borough Welling United
7	Carshalton Athletic Cray Wanderers Dulwich Hamlet Enfield Town Hanwell Town Haringey Borough Hayes & Yeading United Hendon Hornchurch Kingstonian Wingate & Finchley
8	Corinthian-Casuals Cray Valley Paper Mills Hadley Hanworth Villa Harrow Borough New Salamis Northwood Romford Sutton Common Rovers Tooting & Mitcham United Uxbridge Walthamstow

Rivalries

London derbies

Cup competitions

Transport

London has one of the oldest and largest public transport systems in the world. Many components of its transport system, such as the double-decker bus, the Hackney Carriage black taxi and the Tube, are internationally recognised symbols of London. London has a comprehensive rail network with several major railway stations, including two international train stations at St Pancras railway station and Stratford International, which connect London to mainland Europe through the Eurostar service. London also has six international airports. In addition to public transport, London is the start point for a number of motorway routes. The M25 is an orbital motorway which enables vehicles to avoid travelling through central London, and is one of the busiest motorways in Europe.

Transport in London

Companies and
organisations

Transport for
London (TfL)

London Underground	Night Tube Bakerloo Central Circle District Hammersmith & City Jubilee Metropolitan Northern Piccadilly Victoria Waterloo & City
London Rail	Docklands Light Railway Elizabeth line Tramlink London Overground North London East London South London West London Gospel Oak to Barking Lea Valley Romford–Upminster Watford DC
London Buses	East London Transit Superloop Night buses
Other	Coach station Cycle hire Dial-a-Ride IFS Cloud Cable Car London River Services London Streets Source London Taxi and Private Hire office

Bus operators

River operators

Train operators

Other

Airports

Within London	City Heathrow London Heliport Military: Northolt Private: Biggin Hill
Outside London	Gatwick Luton Southend Stansted

Major stations

Central area	Baker Street Bank-Monument Blackfriars Bond Street Cannon Street Charing Cross City Thameslink Earl's Court Elephant & Castle Euston Farringdon Fenchurch Street Green Park King's Cross Liverpool Street London Bridge Marylebone Moorgate Oxford Circus Paddington St Pancras International Tottenham Court Road Vauxhall Victoria Waterloo Waterloo East Westminster
Other	Barking Bromley South Canary Wharf Clapham Junction Ealing Broadway East Croydon Finsbury Park Heathrow stations Highbury & Islington Lewisham London City Airport Richmond Stratford Surbiton Sutton Upminster West Ham West Hampstead stations Whitechapel Willesden Junction Wimbledon

Roads

Motorways	M1 M4 M11 M25 London Orbital Former: M41 (West Cross Route) A40(M) (Westway) A102(M) (East Cross Route)
Ring roads	London Inner Ring Road North Circular Road South Circular Road
Charging	Congestion charge Low emission zone Ultra Low Emission Zone