London

London (/ˈlʌndən/ ( listen)) is the capital and most populous city of [England] and the [United Kingdom].[7][8] Standing on the [River Thames] in the south east of the island of Great Britain, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. It was founded by the [Romans], who named it Londinium.[9] London's ancient core, the [City of London], largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km2) [medieval] boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, "London" has also referred to the [metropolis] around this core, historically split between [Middlesex], [Essex], [Surrey], [Kent] and [Hertfordshire],[10][11][12] which today largely makes up [Greater London],[13][14][note 1] a region governed by the [Mayor of London] and the [London Assembly].[15][note 2][16]

London is a leading [global city][17][18] in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transportation.[19][20][21] It is the world's largest [financial centre][22][23][24][25] and has the [fifth or sixth largest metropolitan area GDP in the world].[note 3][26][27] London is often regarded as a world cultural capital.[28][29][30] It is the world's most-visited city as measured by international arrivals[31] and has the [world's largest city airport system] measured by passenger traffic.[32] It is the world's leading [investment] destination,[33][34][35][36] hosting more [international retailers][37][38] and [ultra high-net-worth individuals][39][40] than any other city. London's universities form the largest concentration of higher education institutes in Europe.[41] In [2012], London became the first city to have hosted the modern [Summer Olympic Games] three times.[42]

London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region.[43] Its estimated mid-2016 municipal population (corresponding to [Greater London]) was 8,787,892,[3] the largest of any [city in the European Union][44] and accounting for 13.4% of the UK population.[45] [London's urban area] is the second [most populous in the EU], after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census.[46] The [city's metropolitan area] is the [most populous in the EU] with 14,040,163 inhabitants in 2016,[note 4][2] while the [Greater London Authority] states the population of the city-region (covering a large part of the south east) as 22.7 million.[47][48] London was the [world's most populous city] from [around 1831 to 1925].[49]

London contains four [World Heritage Sites]: the [Tower of London]; [Kew Gardens]; the site comprising the [Palace of Westminster], [Westminster Abbey], and [St Margaret's Church]; and the historic settlement of [Greenwich] (in which the [Royal Observatory, Greenwich] defines the [Prime Meridian], 0° [longitude], and [GMT]).[50] Other landmarks include [Buckingham Palace], the [London Eye], [Piccadilly Circus], [St Paul's Cathedral], [Tower Bridge], [Trafalgar Square] and [The Shard]. London is home to numerous [museums], galleries, libraries, [sporting events] and other cultural institutions, including the [British Museum], [National Gallery], [Natural History Museum], [Tate Modern], [British Library] and [West End] theatres.[51] The [London Underground] is the oldest underground railway network in the world.

Etymology

The [etymology of London] is uncertain.[52] It is an ancient name, attested already in the first century AD, usually in the Latinised form Londinium;[52] for example, handwritten Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio ("in London").[53]

Over the years, the name has attracted many mythicising explanations. The earliest attested appears in [Geoffrey of Monmouth's] Historia Regum Britanniae, written around 1136.[52] This had it that the name originated from a supposed [King Lud], who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud.[54]

Modern scientific analyses of the name must account for the origins of the different forms found in early sources [Latin] (usually Londinium), [Old English] (usually Lunden), and [Welsh] (usually Llundein), with reference to the known developments over time of sounds in those different languages. It is agreed that the name came into these languages from [British Celtic]; recent work tends to reconstruct the lost Celtic form of the name as *[Londonjon] or something similar. This was adapted into Latin as Londinium and borrowed into [West Germanic], the ancestor-language of English, already before English had become widely spoken in Britain.[55]

The etymology and original meaning of the British Celtic form is much debated. A prominent explanation was [Richard Coates's] 1998 argument that the name derived from pre-Celtic [Old European] *(p)lowonida, meaning "river too wide to ford". Coates suggested that this was a name given to the part of the [River Thames] which flows through London; from this, the settlement gained the Celtic form of its name, *Lowonidonjon.[56] However, most work has accepted a Celtic origin for the name, and recent studies have favoured an explanation along the lines of a Celtic derivative of an [proto-Indo-European] root * ('sink, cause to sink'), combined with the Celtic suffix *-injo- or *-onjo- (used to form place-names). [Peter Schrijver] has specifically suggested, on these grounds, that the name originally meant 'place that floods (periodically, tidally)'.[57][55]

Until 1889, the name "London" officially applied only to the [City of London], but since then it has also referred to the [County of London] and now to [Greater London].[58]

"London" is sometimes abbreviated as "L'don" or "LDN".[59]

History

Prehistory

Two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area. In 1999, the remains of a [Bronze Age] bridge were found on the foreshore north of [Vauxhall Bridge].[60] This bridge either crossed the Thames or reached a now lost island in it. [Dendrochronology] dated the timbers to ca. 1500 BC.[60] In 2010 the foundations of a large timber structure, dated to ca. 4500 BC, were found on the Thames foreshore, south of Vauxhall Bridge.[61] The function of the mesolithic structure is not known. Both structures are on the south bank, at a natural crossing point where the [River Effra] flows into the Thames.[61]

Roman London

Although there is evidence of scattered [Brythonic] settlements in the area, the first major settlement was founded by the [Romans] after the invasion of 43 AD.[62] This lasted only until around 61, when the [Iceni] tribe led by [Queen Boudica] stormed it, burning it to the ground.[63] The next, heavily planned, incarnation of Londinium prospered, and it superseded [Colchester] as the capital of the [Roman province] of [Britannia] in 100. At its height in the 2nd century, Roman London had a population of around 60,000.[64]

Anglo-Saxon London (and Viking period)

With the collapse of Roman rule in the early 5th century, London ceased to be a capital, and the walled city of Londinium was effectively abandoned, although Roman civilisation continued in the area of [St Martin-in-the-Fields] until around 450.[65] From around 500, an [Anglo-Saxon] settlement known as [Lundenwic] developed slightly west of the old Roman city.[66] By about 680, the city had regrown into a major port, although there is little evidence of large-scale production. From the 820s repeated [Viking] assaults brought decline. Three are recorded; those in 851 and 886 succeeded, while the last, in 994, was rebuffed.[67]

The Vikings established [Danelaw] over much of eastern and northern England; its boundary stretched roughly from London to [Chester]. It was an area of political and geographical control imposed by the Viking incursions which was formally agreed by the [Danish] [warlord], [Guthrum] and the [West Saxon] king [Alfred the Great] in 886. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that Alfred "refounded" London in 886. Archaeological research shows that this involved abandonment of Lundenwic and a revival of life and trade within the old Roman walls. London then grew slowly until about 950, after which activity increased dramatically.[68]

By the 11th century, London was beyond all comparison the largest town in England. [Westminster Abbey], rebuilt in the [Romanesque] style by King [Edward the Confessor], was one of the grandest churches in Europe. [Winchester] had previously been the capital of Anglo-Saxon England, but from this time on, London became the main forum for foreign traders and the base for defence in time of war. In the view of [Frank Stenton]: "It had the resources, and it was rapidly developing the dignity and the political self-consciousness appropriate to a national capital."[69][70]

Middle Ages

After winning the [Battle of Hastings], [William, Duke of Normandy] was crowned [King of England] in the newly completed Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.[71] William constructed the [Tower of London], the first of the many Norman castles in England to be rebuilt in stone, in the southeastern corner of the city, to intimidate the native inhabitants.[72] In 1097, [William II] began the building of [Westminster Hall], close by the abbey of the same name. The hall became the basis of a new [Palace of Westminster].[73][74]

In the 12th century, the institutions of central government, which had hitherto accompanied the royal English court as it moved around the country, grew in size and sophistication and became increasingly fixed in one place. For most purposes this was Westminster, although the royal treasury, having been moved from Winchester, came to rest in the Tower. While the [City of Westminster] developed into a true capital in governmental terms, its distinct neighbour, the City of London, remained England's largest city and principal commercial centre, and it flourished under its own unique administration, the [Corporation of London]. In 1100, its population was around 18,000; by 1300 it had grown to nearly 100,000.[75] Disaster struck in the form of the [Black Death] in the mid-14th century, when London lost nearly a third of its population.[76] London was the focus of the [Peasants' Revolt] in 1381.[77]

Early modern

During the [Tudor period] the [Reformation] produced a gradual shift to Protestantism, and much of London property passed from church to private ownership, which accelerated trade and business in the city.[78] In 1475, the [Hanseatic League] set up its main trading base (kontor) of Britain in London, since called Stalhof or Steelyard. It existed until 1853, when the Hanseatic cities of [Lübeck], [Bremen] and [Hamburg] sold the property to [South Eastern Railway].[79] [Woollen] cloth was shipped undyed and undressed from 14th/15th century London to the nearby shores of the [Low Countries], where it was considered indispensable.[80]

But the reach of English maritime enterprise hardly extended beyond the seas of north-west Europe. The commercial route to Italy and the [Mediterranean Sea] normally lay through [Antwerp] and over the [Alps]; any ships passing through the [Strait of Gibraltar] to or from England were likely to be Italian or [Ragusan]. Upon the re-opening of the [Netherlands] to English shipping in January 1565, there ensued a strong outburst of commercial activity.[81] The [Royal Exchange] was founded.[82] [Mercantilism] grew, and monopoly trading companies such as the [East India Company] were established, with trade expanding to the [New World]. London became the principal [North Sea] port, with migrants arriving from England and abroad. The population rose from an estimated 50,000 in 1530 to about 225,000 in 1605.[78]

In the 16th century [William Shakespeare] and his contemporaries lived in London at a time of hostility to the development of the [theatre]. By the end of the Tudor period in 1603, London was still very compact. There was an assassination attempt on [James I] in Westminster, in the [Gunpowder Plot] on 5 November 1605.[83]

In the [English Civil War] the majority of Londoners supported the [Parliamentary] cause. After an initial advance by the [Royalists] in 1642, culminating in the battles of [Brentford] and [Turnham Green], London was surrounded by a defensive perimeter wall known as the [Lines of Communication]. The lines were built by up to 20,000 people, and were completed in under two months.[84] The fortifications failed their only test when the [New Model Army] entered London in 1647,[85] and they were levelled by Parliament the same year.[86]

London was [plagued] by disease in the early 17th century,[87] culminating in the [Great Plague] of 1665–1666, which killed up to 100,000 people, or a fifth of the population.[88]

The [Great Fire of London] broke out in 1666 in Pudding Lane in the city and quickly swept through the wooden buildings.[89] Rebuilding took over ten years and was supervised by [Robert Hooke][90][91][92] as Surveyor of London.[93] In 1708 [Christopher Wren]'s masterpiece, [St Paul's Cathedral] was completed. During the [Georgian era], new districts such as [Mayfair] were formed in the west; new bridges over the Thames encouraged development in [South London]. In the east, the [Port of London] expanded downstream. London's development as an international [financial centre] matured for much of the 1700s.

In 1762, [George III] acquired [Buckingham House] and it was enlarged over the next 75 years. During the 18th century, London was dogged by crime, and the [Bow Street Runners] were established in 1750 as a professional police force.[94] In total, more than 200 offences were punishable by death,[95] including petty theft.[96] Most children born in the city died before reaching their third birthday.[97]

The [coffeehouse] became a popular place to debate ideas, with growing [literacy] and the development of the [printing press] making news widely available; and [Fleet Street] became the centre of the British press. Following the invasion of Amsterdam by Napoleonic armies, many financiers relocated to London, especially a large Jewish community, and the first London international issue[clarification needed] was arranged in 1817. Around the same time, the [Royal Navy] became the world leading war fleet[citation needed], acting as a serious deterrent to potential economic adversaries of the United Kingdom. The repeal of the [Corn Laws] in 1846 was specifically aimed at weakening Dutch economic power[citation needed]. London then overtook Amsterdam as the leading international financial centre[citation needed].[98]In 1888, London became home to a series of murders by a man known only as [Jack the Ripper] and It has since become one of the world's most famous unsolved mysteries.

According to Samuel Johnson:

You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.
— Samuel Johnson, 1777[99]

Late modern and contemporary

London was the world's [largest city from about 1831 to 1925].[49] London's overcrowded conditions led to [cholera] epidemics,[100] claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and 6,000 in 1866.[101] Rising [traffic congestion] led to the creation of the world's first local urban rail network. The [Metropolitan Board of Works] oversaw infrastructure expansion in the capital and some of the surrounding counties; it was abolished in 1889 when the [London County Council] was created out of those areas of the counties surrounding the capital. [London was bombed by the Germans during the First World War],[102] and during the Second World War, [the Blitz] and other bombings by the German Luftwaffe killed over 30,000 Londoners, destroying large tracts of housing and other buildings across the city.[103] Immediately after the war, the [1948 Summer Olympics] were held at the original [Wembley Stadium], at a time when London was still recovering from the war.[104]

From the 1940s onwards, London became home to a large number of immigrants, primarily from [Commonwealth] countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan,[105] making London one of the most diverse cities worldwide. In 1951, the [Festival of Britain] was held on the [South Bank].[106] The [Great Smog] of 1952 led to the [Clean Air Act 1956], which ended the "[pea soup fogs]" for which London had been notorious.[107]

Primarily starting in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for the worldwide [youth culture], exemplified by the [Swinging London] subculture[108] associated with the [King's Road], [Chelsea][109] and [Carnaby Street].[110] The role of trendsetter was revived during the [punk] era.[111] In 1965 London's political boundaries were expanded to take into account the growth of the urban area and a new [Greater London Council] was created.[112] During [The Troubles] in Northern Ireland, London was subjected to bombing attacks by the [Provisional IRA].[113] Racial inequality was highlighted by the [1981 Brixton riot].[114]

Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after the Second World War, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s.[115] The principal ports for London moved downstream to [Felixstowe] and [Tilbury],[citation needed] with the [London Docklands] area becoming a focus for regeneration, including the [Canary Wharf] development. This was borne out of London's ever-increasing role as a major international financial centre during the 1980s.[116] The [Thames Barrier] was completed in the 1980s to protect London against tidal surges from the [North Sea].[117]

The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986, which left London without a central administration until 2000 when London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the [Greater London Authority].[118] To celebrate the start of the 21st century, the [Millennium Dome], [London Eye] and [Millennium Bridge] were constructed.[119] On 6 July 2005 London was awarded the [2012 Summer Olympics], making London the first city to stage the [Olympic Games] three times.[120] On 7 July 2005, three [London Underground] trains and a [double-decker bus] were bombed in a [series of terrorist attacks].[121]

In 2008, London named alongside New York City and Hong Kong as [Nylonkong], being hailed as the world's three most influential [global cities].[122] In January 2015, Greater London's population was estimated to be 8.63 million, the highest level since 1939.[123] During the [Brexit referendum] in 2016, the UK as a whole decided to leave the European Union, but a majority of London constituencies voted to remain in the EU.[124]

Administration

Local government

The administration of London is formed of two tiers: a citywide, strategic tier and a local tier. Citywide administration is coordinated by the [Greater London Authority] (GLA), while local administration is carried out by 33 smaller authorities.[125] The GLA consists of two elected components: the [Mayor of London], who has executive powers, and the [London Assembly], which scrutinises the mayor's decisions and can accept or reject the mayor's budget proposals each year. The headquarters of the GLA is [City Hall], [Southwark]; the mayor is [Sadiq Khan], the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital.[126][127] The mayor's [statutory planning] strategy is published as the [London Plan], which was most recently revised in 2011.[128] The local authorities are the councils of the 32 [London boroughs] and the [City of London Corporation].[129] They are responsible for most local services, such as local planning, schools, [social services], local roads and refuse collection. Certain functions, such as [waste management], are provided through joint arrangements. In 2009–2010 the combined revenue expenditure by London councils and the GLA amounted to just over £22 billion (£14.7 billion for the boroughs and £7.4 billion for the GLA).[130]

The [London Fire Brigade] is the [statutory] [fire and rescue service] for Greater London. It is run by the [London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority] and is the third largest fire service in the world.[131] [National Health Service] [ambulance services] are provided by the [London Ambulance Service (LAS) NHS Trust], the largest free-at-the-point-of-use emergency ambulance service in the world.[132] The [London Air Ambulance] charity operates in conjunction with the LAS where required. [Her Majesty's Coastguard] and the [Royal National Lifeboat Institution] operate on the [River Thames],[133][134] which is under the jurisdiction of the [Port of London Authority] from [Teddington Lock] to the sea.[135]

National government

London is the seat of the [Government of the United Kingdom]. Many government departments, as well as the [Prime Minister's] residence at [10 Downing Street], are based close to the [Palace of Westminster], particularly along [Whitehall].[136] The British Parliament is often referred to as the "Mother of Parliaments" (although this [sobriquet] was first applied to England itself by [John Bright])[137] because it has been the model for most other [parliamentary systems].[137] There are 73 Members of Parliament (MPs) from London, elected from local parliamentary [constituencies] in the national [Parliament]. As of May 2015, 49 are from the [Labour Party], 21 are [Conservatives], and three are [Liberal Democrat].[138]

The UK government ministerial post of [Minister for London] was created in 1994 and currently occupied by [Jo Johnson].[139]

Policing and crime

Policing in Greater London, with the exception of the [City of London], is provided by the [Metropolitan Police Service], overseen by the Mayor through the [Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime] (MOPAC).[140][141] The City of London has its own police force – the [City of London Police].[142] The [British Transport Police] are responsible for police services on [National Rail], [London Underground], [Docklands Light Railway] and [Tramlink] services.[143] A fourth police force in London, the [Ministry of Defence Police], do not generally become involved with policing the general public.

Crime rates vary widely by area, ranging from parts with serious issues to parts considered very safe. Today crime figures are made available nationally at [Local Authority][144] and [Ward] level.[145] In 2015 there were 118 homicides, a 25.5% increase over 2014.[146] The Metropolitan Police have made detailed crime figures, broken down by category at borough and ward level, available on their website since 2000.[147]

Recorded crime has been rising in London, notably violent crime and murder by stabbing and other means have risen. There have been 50 murders from the start of 2018 to mid April 2018. Funding cuts to the London police likely contributed to this though other factors are also involved.[148]

Geography

Scope

[London], also referred to as Greater London, is one of nine [regions of England] and the top-level subdivision covering most of the city's metropolis.[note 5] The small ancient [City of London] at its core once comprised the whole settlement, but as its urban area grew, the [Corporation of London] resisted attempts to amalgamate the city with its suburbs, causing "London" to be defined in a number of ways for different purposes.[149]

Forty per cent of Greater London is covered by the [London post town], within which 'LONDON' forms part of postal addresses.[150][151] The London telephone [area code] (020) covers a larger area, similar in size to Greater London, although some outer districts are excluded and some places just outside are included. The Greater London boundary has been [aligned to the M25 motorway] in places.[152]

Outward urban expansion is now prevented by the [Metropolitan Green Belt],[153] although the built-up area extends beyond the boundary in places, resulting in a separately defined [Greater London Urban Area]. Beyond this is the vast [London commuter belt].[154] Greater London is split for some purposes into [Inner London] and [Outer London].[155] The city is split by the River Thames into [North] and [South], with an informal [central London] area in its interior. The coordinates of the nominal centre of London, traditionally considered to be the original [Eleanor Cross] at [Charing Cross] near the junction of [Trafalgar Square] and [Whitehall], are about 51°30′26″N 00°07′39″W / 51.50722°N 0.12750°W / 51.50722; -0.12750.[156] However the geographical centre of London, on one definition, is in the [London Borough of Lambeth], just 0.1 miles to the northeast of [Lambeth North tube station].[157]

Status

Within London, both the [City of London] and the [City of Westminster] have [city status] and both the City of London and the remainder of Greater London are [counties for the purposes of lieutenancies].[158] The area of [Greater London] has incorporated areas that are part of the [historic counties] of [Middlesex], Kent, [Surrey], Essex and [Hertfordshire].[159] London's status as the capital of England, and later the United Kingdom, has never been granted or confirmed officially—by [statute] or in written form.[note 6]

Its position was formed through [constitutional convention], making its status as de facto capital a part of the [UK's unwritten constitution]. The capital of England was moved to London from [Winchester] as the [Palace of Westminster] developed in the 12th and 13th centuries to become the permanent location of the [royal court], and thus the political capital of the nation.[163] More recently, Greater London has been defined as a [region of England] and in this context is known as London.[13]