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London[c] is the capital and largest city[d] of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of 8,866,180 in 2022.[2] The wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million.[7] 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.[8] Its ancient core and financial centre, the City of London, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and has retained its medieval boundaries.[e][9] 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,[10][11] 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,[12] which since 1965 has largely comprised the administrative area of Greater London, governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.[f][13]
As one of the world's major global cities,[14][15] London exerts a strong influence on world art, entertainment, fashion, commerce, finance, education, healthcare, media, science, technology, tourism, transport, and communications.[16][17] Despite a post-Brexit exodus of stock listings from the London Stock Exchange,[18][19] London remains a European economic powerhouse,[20] and one of the world's major financial centres. It hosts Europe's largest concentration of higher education institutions,[21] 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.[22][23] It is the most visited city in Europe and has the world's busiest city airport system.[24] The London Underground is the world's oldest rapid transit system.[25]
London's diverse cultures encompass over 300 languages.[26] The 2023 population of Greater London of just under 10 million[27] made it Europe's third-most populous city,[28] accounting for 13.4% of the United Kingdom's population[29] 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.[30][3] The London metropolitan area is the third-most populous in Europe, with about 14 million inhabitants as of 2016, making London a megacity.[g][31][32]
Four World Heritage Sites are located in London: Kew Gardens; the Tower of London; the site featuring the Palace of Westminster, Church of St. Margaret, and Westminster Abbey; and the historic settlement in Greenwich where the Royal Observatory defines the prime meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time.[33] Other landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, and Trafalgar Square. The city has the most museums, art galleries, libraries, and cultural venues in the UK, including the British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, British Library, and numerous West End theatres.[34] Important sporting events held in London include the FA Cup Final, the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, and the London Marathon. It became the first city to host three Summer Olympic Games upon hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics.[35]
- ^ Number 1 Poultry (ONE 94), Museum of London Archaeology, 2013. Archaeology Data Service, The University of York.
- ^ a b c "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
- ^ a b "2011 Census – Built-up areas". nomisweb.co.uk. ONS. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
- ^ "Major agglomerations of the world". City Population. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ a b UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – London Region (E12000007)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "London | English meaning". Cambridge Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus.
- ^ "Major Agglomerations". Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ "Roman London". Museum of London. n.d. Archived from the original on 22 March 2008.
- ^ Fowler, Joshua (5 July 2013). "London Government Act: Essex, Kent, Surrey and Middlesex 50 years on". BBC News.
- ^ Mills, AD (2010). Dictionary of London Place Names. Oxford University Press. p. 152.
- ^ Chambers, W., The Postman's Knock, Chambers's Edinburgh Journal (1857)
- ^ "The baffling map of England's counties". BBC News. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ^ Jones, Bill; Kavanagh, Dennis; Moran, Michael; Norton, Philip (2007). Politics UK. Harlow: Pearson Education. p. 868. ISBN 978-1-4058-2411-8.
- ^ "Global Power City Index 2020". Institute for Urban Strategies – The Mori Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 25 March 2021.; Adewunmi, Bim (10 March 2013). "London: The Everything Capital of the World". The Guardian. London.; "What's The Capital of the World?". More Intelligent Life. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- ^ "These are the world's top cities. Which one ranked highest for the 10th year running?". World Economic Forum. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- ^ "Leading 200 science cities". Nature. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "The World's Most Influential Cities 2014". Forbes. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2021.; Dearden, Lizzie (8 October 2014). "London is 'the most desirable city in the world to work in', study finds". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
- ^ Daniel O'Boyle (6 June 2024). "Shein has ethical concerns? So do many London-listed companies — let's look at them too". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
The post-Brexit London Stock Exchange has struggled to properly articulate what it offers over New York.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
LSEExoduswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "London is Europe's leading economic powerhouse, says new report" (Press release). Greater London Authority. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ "Number of international students in London continues to grow" (Press release). Greater London Authority. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010.
- ^ "Times Higher Education World University Rankings". 19 September 2018.; "Top Universities: Imperial College London".; "Top Universities: LSE". Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ "QS World University Rankings 2022". Top Universities. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ "Revealed: The most crowded skies on the planet". The Telegraph. London. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
London: Our capital's collective airport system is the busiest in the whole world. A total of 170,980,680 passengers.
- ^ "London Underground". Transport for London. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ "Languages spoken in the UK population". National Centre for Language. 16 June 2008. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. "CILT, the National Centre for Languages". Archived from the original on 13 February 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
- ^ "London, UK Metro Area Population 1950-2023". Macrotrends. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ "Largest EU City. Over 7 million residents in 2001". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 8 January 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
- ^ "Focus on London – Population and Migration | London DataStore". Greater London Authority. Archived from the original on 16 October 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "Demographia World Urban Areas, 15th Annual Edition" (PDF). Demographia. April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- ^ "Metropolitan Area Populations". Eurostat. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ "The London Plan (March 2015)". Greater London Authority. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
- ^ "Lists: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 26 November 2008.
- ^ Blackman, Bob (25 January 2008). "West End Must Innovate to Renovate, Says Report". What's on Stage. London. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
- ^ "IOC elects London as the Host City of the Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012" (Press release). International Olympic Committee. 6 July 2005. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2006.
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