Portal:London

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The London Portal

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

St Paul's Cathedral

London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of 8,866,180 in 2022. The wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Thames in southeast England, at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for nearly 2,000 years. Its ancient core and financial centre, the City of London, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and has retained its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has been the centuries-long host of the national government and parliament. London grew rapidly in the 19th century, becoming the world's largest city at the time. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has referred to the metropolis around the City of London, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised the administrative area of Greater London, 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 world art, entertainment, fashion, commerce, finance, education, healthcare, media, science, technology, tourism, transport, and communications. Despite a post-Brexit exodus of stock listings from the London Stock Exchange, London remains Europe's most economically powerful city and one of the world's major financial centres. It hosts Europe's largest concentration of higher education institutions, some of which are 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. It is the most visited city in Europe and has the world's busiest city airport system. The London Underground is the world's oldest rapid transit system.

London's diverse cultures encompass over 300 languages. The 2023 population of Greater London of just under 10 million made it Europe's third-most populous city, accounting for 13.4% of the United Kingdom's population and over 16% of England's population. The Greater London Built-up Area is the fourth-most populous in Europe, with about 9.8 million inhabitants as of 2011. The London metropolitan area is the third-most populous in Europe, with about 14 million inhabitants as of 2016, making London a megacity. (Full article...)

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Oil painting representing Puck as a baby with pointed ears and curly blonde hair sitting on an enormous mushroom in a forest. He holds a small posy and grins mischievously. — Joshua Reynolds' *Puck* (1789), painted for Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, is modelled after Parmigianino's *Madonna with St. Zachary, the Magdalen, and St. John*

The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery in London, England, was the first stage of a three-part project initiated in November 1786 by engraver and publisher John Boydell in an effort to foster a school of British history painting. In addition to the establishment of the gallery, Boydell planned to produce an illustrated edition of William Shakespeare's plays and a folio of prints based upon a series of paintings by different contemporary painters. During the 1790s the London gallery that showed the original paintings emerged as the project's most popular element.

The works of William Shakespeare enjoyed a renewed popularity in 18th-century Britain. Several new editions of his works were published, his plays were revived in the theatre and numerous works of art were created illustrating the plays and specific productions of them. Capitalising on this interest, Boydell decided to publish a grand illustrated edition of Shakespeare's plays that would showcase the talents of British painters and engravers. He chose the noted scholar and Shakespeare editor George Steevens to oversee the edition, which was released between 1791 and 1803. (Full article...)

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Photo credit: David Iliff

The platform at Clapham Common, a station on London Underground's Northern line. With tracks on either side serving trains moving in opposite directions, this is an example of an island platform.

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Articles about London can be found under these categories:

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Pinter in 2005

Harold Pinter CH CBE (/ˈpɪntər/; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964) and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1971), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial (1993) and Sleuth (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television and film productions of his own and others' works.

Pinter was born and raised in Hackney, east London, and educated at Hackney Downs School. He was a sprinter and a keen cricket player, acting in school plays and writing poetry. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but did not complete the course. He was fined for refusing national service as a conscientious objector. Subsequently, he continued training at the Central School of Speech and Drama and worked in repertory theatre in Ireland and England. In 1956 he married actress Vivien Merchant and had a son, Daniel, born in 1958. He left Merchant in 1975 and married author Lady Antonia Fraser in 1980. (Full article...)

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William Shakespeare Henry Wood Jack the Ripper Samuel Johnson Jack Sheppard Mary Wollstonecraft Noël Coward Mellitus David Bowie Alice Ayres Edgar Speyer 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

“

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,
That I love London so;
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,
That I think of her wherever I go.
I get a funny feeling inside of me,
Just walking up and down;
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,
That I love London town.

”

Hubert Gregg, "Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner" (1947)

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Did you know...

…that St Pancras Old Church stands on what is believed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England?

…that the building now housing the Brick Lane Mosque (pictured) was built as a Huguenot chapel in 1743, and subsequently became a synagogue?

…that there are two London churches that claim to be the "St Clements" of the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons: St Clement Danes and St Clement Eastcheap?

…that the Neasden Temple, completed in 1995, is the largest Hindu Temple In Europe?

…that St. John's, Smith Square is nicknamed "Queen Anne’s Footstool" because its four corner towers give it the appearance of an upturned footstool?

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General images

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

Image 1Main entrance to the British Museum (from Culture of London)
Image 2Maughan Library, King's College London (from Culture of London)
Image 3Amy Winehouse was a singer-songwriter from Southgate, north London. (from Culture of London)
Image 4London 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 5Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre (from Culture of London)
Image 6A Carausius coin from Londinium mint (from History of London)
Image 7A view of London from the east in 1751 (from History of London)
Image 8Young people in Carnaby Street in 1966 (from History of London)
Image 9Satellite image by Sentinel-2 satellite (from Geography of London)
Image 10Buckingham Palace as it appeared in the 17th century (from History of London)
Image 11The Houses of Parliament from Westminster Bridge in the early 1890s (from History of London)
Image 12Brixton Academy (from Culture of London)
Image 13A plaque in the City of London noting the re-establishment of the Roman walled city (from History of London)
Image 14A detailed copy of John Rocque's Map of London, 1741–5 (from History of London)
Image 15A 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 16Girl in costume at the Notting Hill Carnival (from Culture of London)
Image 17Section 2 (from History of London)
Image 18A silver coin of Alfred, with the legend ÆLFRED REX (from History of London)
Image 19The statue of Alfred the Great at Winchester, erected 1899 (from History of London)
Image 20The "Woodcut" map of London, formally titled Civitas Londinum (c. 1561) (from History of London)
Image 21Richard Blome's map of London (1673). The development of the West End had recently begun to accelerate. (from History of London)
Image 22A signpost on Parliament Square with directions for nearby attractions (from Tourism in London)
Image 23Outline of the London region (from Geography of London)
Image 24In spite of heavy traffic, several companies operate tour buses in London. (from Tourism in London)
Image 25Cheapside pictured in 1909, with the church of St Mary-le-Bow in the background (from History of London)
Image 26John 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 27Floral Hall of the Royal Opera House (from Culture of London)
Image 28The Shard (left), an icon of 21st-century London (from History of London)
Image 29London c. 1300 (from History of London)
Image 30People gathered in Whitehall to hear Winston Churchill's victory speech, 8 May 1945. (from History of London)
Image 31A tourist stall selling various London and United Kingdom related souvenirs on the edge of Trafalgar Square on the Strand (from Tourism in London)
Image 32A medal of Constantius I capturing London (inscribed as lon) in 296 after defeating Allectus. From Beaurains treasure. (from History of London)
Image 33John Evelyn's plan for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire (from History of London)
Image 34Firefighters putting out flames after an air raid during The Blitz, 1941 (from History of London)
Image 35Buckingham Palace in 1837, enlarged by John Nash (from History of London)
Image 36Section 1 (from History of London)
Image 37Ogilby & 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 38Samuel Pepys, chronicler of Stuart London (from History of London)
Image 39Three cultural icons of London: a K2 red telephone box, Big Ben and a red double-decker bus (from Culture of London)
Image 40Shaftesbury Avenue, c. 1949 (from History of London)
Image 41The National Gallery from Trafalgar Square (from Culture of London)
Image 42Section 3 (from History of London)
Image 43The Clock Tower of Wren's St Paul's Cathedral (from History of London)
Image 44Tourists at Buckingham Palace (from Tourism in London)
Image 45Tourists consulting a map near St Paul's Cathedral (from Tourism in London)
Image 46Tourism in London 2013 (from Tourism in 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

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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.