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London

capital of England and the United Kingdom
For the city in Canada, see London, Ontario.

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom. The River Thames travels through the city.

London
Clockwise from top: City of London skyline, Trafalgar Square, London Eye, Tower Bridge and a London Underground roundel in front of Elizabeth Tower
Clockwise from top: City of London skyline, Trafalgar Square, London Eye, Tower Bridge and a London Underground roundel in front of Elizabeth Tower
London is located in the United Kingdom
London
London
Location of London in the UK.
Coordinates: Coordinates: 51°30′28″N 00°07′41″W / 51.50778°N 0.12806°W / 51.50778; -0.12806
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region Greater London
Districts City & 32 London boroughs
Settled by Romans as Londinium ca. AD 50
Government
 • Regional authority Greater London Authority
 • Regional assembly London Assembly
 • Mayor Sadiq Khan
 • HQ City Hall
 • UK Parliament
 - London Assembly
 - European Parliament		 74 constituencies
14 constituencies
London constituency
Area
 • City 1.00 sq mi (2.6 km2)
 • Greater London 609 sq mi (1,580 km2)
Elevation[1] 79 ft (24 m)
Population (mid-2006 est)
 • Urban 9.7 million
(Greater London Urban Area)
 • Metro 13–14 million
 • Density 8,215/sq mi (3,172/km2)
 • Greater London 7,512,400
 • Greater London density 12,331/sq mi (4,761/km2)
Time zone GMT (UTC0)
 • Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
Website http://www.london.gov.uk

London is the biggest city in western Europe, and the world's largest financial centre.[2][3][4]

London is about 2000 years old. London was founded by the Romans. It was called Londinium by the Romans. London was also called Lunnainn in Scottish Gaelic,[5] Llundain in Welsh and Londain in Irish.

For a long time, London was a small city. All its people lived inside the walls that were built by the Romans. This area is still called the City of London. There were many villages around the city. Gradually, more people came to live there. Then, step by step, the villages joined together into one huge city.

London is one of the world's most important cities for business, finance, and politics. It is also important for culture: media, entertainment, fashion, and art.

Contents

PeopleEdit

The population of London is 8.63 million[6]. Most people in London are British. However, London also has many immigrants. These people come from many different countries. They speak many different languages and have different religions and cultures. There are also many people from different countries who stay in London on business. Many people visit London as tourists. They may see the famous "Sights of London". These sights include palaces, churches and museums.

HistoryEdit

The Romans built a city called Londinium on the River Thames in the year AD 43 The name Londinium (and then 'London') came from the Celtic language of the Ancient Britons. In the year AD 61, the city was attacked and destroyed. Then the Romans rebuilt London. London became an important trading city. After the Romans left Britain, few people lived in the city for a long time. This is because the Anglo-Saxon people liked living in the countryside an did not like city life. In the 9th century, more people started living there again. It became the largest city in England. However, it did not become the capital city of England until the 12th century.

After the railways were built, London grew very big. Greater London has 33 London Boroughs (neighbourhoods) and a mayor. The old City of London is only a square mile in size but has its own Lord Mayor.

Another famous old part of Greater London is Westminster, which was always a different city from the City of London. In Westminster is Westminster Abbey (a cathedral), The Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament, with Big Ben), and 10 Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives).

EventsEdit

ClimateEdit

London has an oceanic, or temperate climate. It is not usually very hot or cold. It is often cloudy.

Climate data for Heathrow Airport
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 8.1
(46.6)		 8.4
(47.1)		 11.3
(52.3)		 14.2
(57.6)		 17.9
(64.2)		 21.0
(69.8)		 23.5
(74.3)		 23.2
(73.8)		 19.9
(67.8)		 15.5
(59.9)		 11.1
(52)		 8.3
(46.9)		 15.2
(59.4)
Average low °C (°F) 2.3
(36.1)		 2.1
(35.8)		 3.9
(39)		 5.5
(41.9)		 8.7
(47.7)		 11.7
(53.1)		 13.9
(57)		 13.7
(56.7)		 11.4
(52.5)		 8.4
(47.1)		 4.9
(40.8)		 2.7
(36.9)		 7.5
(45.5)
Rainfall mm (inches) 55.2
(2.173)		 40.9
(1.61)		 41.6
(1.638)		 43.7
(1.72)		 49.4
(1.945)		 45.1
(1.776)		 44.5
(1.752)		 49.5
(1.949)		 49.1
(1.933)		 68.5
(2.697)		 59.0
(2.323)		 55.2
(2.173)		 601.7
(23.689)
Source: Met Office

London EventsEdit

London has many celebrations, festivals and events.[9]

Wimbledon Tennis TournamentEdit

  • Championship tennis games
  • Two weeks in June and July
  • Held at the All England Club
  • Started in 1877

The Promenade ConcertEdit

  • Classical music concerts
  • From July to September
  • Held at the Royal Albert Hall
  • Started in the late 19th century (1800s)

Notting Hill CarnivalEdit

  • A festival to celebrate Caribbean culture
  • One weekend in August
  • Started in 1964

London Film FestivalEdit

  • More than 300 films
  • Last two weeks in October
  • Held at cinemas all over the city
  • Has International films

LandmarksEdit

 
The Millennium Dome, seen from the River Thames.
 
A panorama of modern London, taken from the Golden Gallery of Saint Paul’s Cathedral

London Business and EconomyEdit

London has five major business districts: the City, Westminster, Canary Wharf, Camden & Islington and Lambeth & Southwark.

The London Stock Exchange is the most international stock exchange and the largest in Europe.

Financial servicesEdit

London's largest industry is finance. This includes banks, stock exchanges, investment companies and insurance companies The Bank of England is located in London and is the second oldest bank in the world.

Professional servicesEdit

London has many professional services such as law firms, accountants,

MediaEdit

The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) which has many radio and TV stations is in London.

TourismEdit

Tourism is one of London's biggest industries. London is the most visited city in the world by international tourists with 18.8 million international visitors per year. Within the UK, London is home to the ten most-visited tourist attractions. Tourism employed the about 350,000 full-time workers in London in 2003. Tourists spend about £15 billion per year.

TechnologyEdit

A growing number of technology companies are based in London.

RetailEdit

London is a major retail centre, and in 2010 had the highest non-food retail sales of any city in the world, with a total spend of around £64.2 billion. The UK's fashion industry, centred on London, contributes tens of billions to the economy.

Manufacturing and constructionEdit

For the 19th and much of the 20th centuries London was a major manufacturing centre (see Manufacturing in London), with over 1.5 million industrial workers in 1960. Many products were made in London including ships, electronics and cars. Nowadays, most of these manufacturing companies are closed but some drug companies still make medicine in London.

TwinningsEdit

 
The Tower Bridge in London

London has twin and sister city agreements with these cities:

London also has a "partnership" agreement with Tokyo, Japan.

London Transportation (Trains, airports and Metro)Edit

The city has a huge network of transport systems including trains, metros (underground) and five main airports.

The Victorians built many train systems in the mid-19th century (1850s). Their main stations are in London, and the lines go to every part of Great Britain. There were originally five major companies but the five companies became a national rail network in modern times.

There are five airports, though only one is actually in London (London City Airport). There is the London end of the London–Birmingham canal, which was important to the industrial 19th century. The most used airport is Heathrow International Airport although it is actually outside the city.

The metro or London Underground is a system of electric trains which are in London, United Kingdom. It is the oldest underground railway in the world. It started running in 1863 as the Metropolitan Railway. After the opening the system was copied in many other cities, for example New York and Madrid. Even though it is called the Underground about half of it is above the ground. The "Tube" is a slang name for the London Underground, because the tunnels for some of the lines are round tubes running through the ground. The Underground has got 274 stations and over 408 km of track. From 2006–2007 over 1 billion passengers used the underground.

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ "London, United Kingdom Forecast : Weather Underground (weather and elevation at Heathrow Airport)" (online). Retrieved 16 March 2007. 
  2. ↑ "Global Financial Centres 9" (PDF). Z/Yen. 2011. 
  3. ↑ ""World's most economically powerful cities"". Forbes. 15 July 2008. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
  4. ↑ "Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index 2008" (PDF). Mastercard. 
  5. ↑ "London in Scottish Gaelic". Glosbe Dictionary website. Retrieved 15 April 2014. 
  6. ↑ "Population Growth in London, 1939–2015" (PDF). London Datastore. Greater London Authority. January 2015. p. 2. Retrieved 16 September 2015. 
  7. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/uk/05/london_blasts/victims/default.stm
  8. ↑ http://www.emergency-management.net/london_bomb.htm
  9. ↑ "Top 10 Annual Events in London". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2018-02-04. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Beijing, London to be sister cities". China Daily, 11 April 2006. Retrieved 6 June 2006. 
  11. ↑ "Sister City - London". nyc.gov. Retrieved 3 February 2007. 

Other websitesEdit

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