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.

Nelson's Column

London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of 8,866,180 in 2022. Its 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) tidal 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 London Underground is a metro system in the United Kingdom that serves Greater London and the home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire. Its first section opened in 1863, making it the oldest underground metro system in the world – although approximately 55% of the current network is above ground, as it generally runs on the surface in outlying suburbs.

The system is composed of 11 lines – Bakerloo, Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria, and Waterloo & City – serving 272 stations. It is operated by Transport for London (TfL). (Full article...)

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Featured picture

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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Subcategories

Articles about London can be found under these categories:

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Wollstonecraft c. 1797

Mary Wollstonecraft (UK: /ˈwʊlstənkrɑːft/ WUUL-stən-krahft, US: /-kræft/ -⁠kraft; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional (at the time) personal relationships, received more attention than her writing. Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and her works as important influences.

During her brief career she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book. Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men but appear to be only because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason. (Full article...)

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William Shakespeare Henry Wood Jack the Ripper Samuel Johnson Jack Sheppard 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

“

London is a splendid place to live in for those who can get out of it.

”

George Bruce, 7th Lord Balfour of Burleigh, quoted, Sayings of the Week, The Observer, 1 October 1944.

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Did you know...

... that The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie has the longest initial run of any play in history, having played continuously in the West End since 1952?

... that St Paul's, Covent Garden is known as the "Actor's Church" and contains monuments to such famous names as Charlie Chaplin and Vivien Leigh?

... that Bram Stoker was the business manager of the Lyceum Theatre from 1878 to 1898, and based the character of Count Dracula on the actor Henry Irving?

... that the Haymarket Theatre was once managed by John Wilkes Booth's brother-in-law, who had fled the United States after Abraham Lincoln's assassination?

... that the Peacock Theatre is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a dolphin called "Flipper"?

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General images

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

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

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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.