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.

Shaftesbury Memorial,
Piccadilly Circus

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 a European economic powerhouse, 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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The Underground Electric Railways Company of London, Limited (UERL), known operationally as the Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube" underground railway lines opened in London during 1906 and 1907: the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway and the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway. It was also the parent company from 1902 of the District Railway, which it electrified between 1903 and 1905. The UERL is a precursor of today's London Underground; its three tube lines form the central sections of today's Bakerloo, Northern and Piccadilly lines.

The UERL struggled financially in the first years after the opening of its lines and narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 1908 by restructuring its debt. A policy of expansion by acquisition was followed before World War I, so the company operated most of the underground railway lines in and around London. It also controlled large bus and tram fleets, the profits from which subsidised the financially weaker railways. After the war, railway extensions took the UERL's services out into suburban areas to stimulate additional passenger numbers so that, by the early 1930s, the company's lines stretched beyond the County of London and served destinations in Middlesex, Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey. (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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Mellitus (/məˈlaɪtəs/; died 24 April 624) was the first bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergy sent to augment the mission, and was consecrated as Bishop of London in 604. Mellitus was the recipient of a famous letter from Pope Gregory I known as the Epistola ad Mellitum, preserved in a later work by the medieval chronicler Bede, which suggested the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons be undertaken gradually, integrating pagan rituals and customs. In 610, Mellitus returned to Italy to attend a council of bishops, and returned to England bearing papal letters to some of the missionaries.

Mellitus was exiled from London by the pagan successors to his patron, King Sæberht of Essex, following the latter's death around 616. King Æthelberht of Kent, Mellitus' other patron, died at about the same time, forcing him to take refuge in Gaul. Mellitus returned to England the following year, after Æthelberht's successor had been converted to Christianity, but he was unable to return to London, whose inhabitants remained pagan. Mellitus was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 619. During his tenure, he was alleged to have miraculously saved the cathedral, and much of the town of Canterbury, from a fire. After his death in 624, Mellitus was revered as a saint. (Full article...)

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“	A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping, Dirty and dusty, but as wide as eye Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping In sight, then lost amidst the forestry Of masts; a wilderness of steeples peeping On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy; A huge, dun cupola, like a foolscap crown On a fool's head—and there is London Town.	”
	— Lord Byron, Don Juan (1818–24), Canto X, Stanza 82

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Did you know...

The "Circle of Lebanon" in Highgate Cemetery, London

…that the Magnificent Seven are a group of 19th-century cemeteries on what were then the fringes of London?

…that Kensal Green Cemetery is the only Victorian cemetery in Britain established by an Act of Parliament with a mandate that its bodies may not be exhumed?

…that London's first non-demoninational garden cemetery, at Abney Park, is the most important burial place in the UK of 19th-century Congregational, Baptist, Methodist and Salvation Army ministers and educationalists?

…that there were reports of a vampire haunting Highgate Cemetery (pictured) in the 1970s?

…that Beatrix Potter took the names for many of the characters in her children's books from headstones in Brompton Cemetery? (There is even a certain Peter Rabbett buried there.)

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General images

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

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

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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.