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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.

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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Location of the castle in central London

The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was initially a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new Norman ruling class. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings Richard I, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.

The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history. It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II in the 17th century, the monarch would traditionally prepare for several nights at the Tower, and lead a procession from there to Westminster Abbey for their coronation. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower was in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century, the Princes in the Tower were housed at the castle when they mysteriously disappeared, presumed murdered. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle, its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery. (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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Articles about London can be found under these categories:

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Head and shoulders picture of a young man with flowing medium length dark hair, a beard and moustache, and a huge floppy bow tie — Portrait by Ernest Walter Histed, c. 1906

Sir Henry Joseph Wood CH (3 March 1869 – 19 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundreds of new works to British audiences. After his death, the concerts were officially renamed in his honour as the "Henry Wood Promenade Concerts", although they continued to be generally referred to as "the Proms".

Born in modest circumstances to parents who encouraged his musical talent, Wood started his career as an organist. During his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, he came under the influence of the voice teacher Manuel García and became his accompanist. After similar work for Richard D'Oyly Carte's opera companies on the works of Arthur Sullivan and others, Wood became the conductor of a small operatic touring company. He was soon engaged by the larger Carl Rosa Opera Company. One notable event in his operatic career was conducting the British premiere of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in 1892. (Full article...)

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William Shakespeare 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

“

By seeing London, I have seen as much of life as the world can show.

”

Samuel Johnson, 11 October 1773. Quoted in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791) by James Boswell

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

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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.