London (UK)

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Capital of England and the United Kingdom, on the River Thames. Since 1965 its metropolitan area has been known as Greater London (see London, Greater), consisting of the City of London and 32 boroughs; total area 1,580 sq km/610 sq mi; combined population (2001) 7,172,100. London is the biggest city in Western Europe at the heart of the most populous region – 15.5 million people live in London and the South East. The City of London, known as the ‘square mile’, is the financial and commercial centre of the UK; area 2.7 sq km/1 sq mi. Over 21 million people visited London in 2001. Popular tourist attractions include the Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Abbey. The Millennium Dome at Greenwich was the centrepiece of Britain's millennium celebrations.

History
Roman Londinium was established soon after the Roman invasion in AD 43; in the 2nd century London became a walled city; by the 11th century it was the main city of England and gradually extended beyond the walls to link with the originally separate Westminster. Throughout the 19th century London had the largest city-based population in the world.

Features
The Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror on a Roman site, and now houses the crown jewels and the royal armouries; it is a World Heritage Site. Other features include the 15th-century Guildhall; the Monument, a column designed by Christopher Wren, which marks the site in Pudding Lane where the Fire of London began in 1666; Mansion House, the residence of the lord mayor; the Barbican arts and conference centre; the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben; the Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court); and the Inns of Court. Covent Garden, once a vegetable market, is now a tourist, shopping, and entertainment area.

Architecture
London contains buildings in all styles of English architecture dating back to the 11th century.

Norman: the White Tower at the Tower of London; St Bartholomew's, Smithfield; the Temple Church.

Gothic: Westminster Abbey; Westminster Hall; Lambeth Palace; Southwark Cathedral.

Tudor: St James's Palace; Staple Inn.

17th century: Banqueting Hall, Whitehall (Inigo Jones); St Paul's; Kensington Palace; many City churches (Sir Christopher Wren).

18th century: Somerset House (Chambers); St Martin-in-the-Fields; Buckingham Palace.

19th century: British Museum (neoclassical); Houses of Parliament; Law Courts (neo-Gothic); Westminster Cathedral (Byzantine style).

20th century: Lloyd's of London (High Tech); Millennium Dome.

Between 1986, when the Greater London Council was abolished, and the year 2000, when the Greater London Authority (GLA) was established, there was no central authority for Greater London. Responsibility is now divided between the Greater London Authority and 32 London boroughs. The Greater London Authority (GLA) is a new form of strategic citywide government for London. It is made up of a directly elected Mayor – the Mayor of London – and a separately elected Assembly – the London Assembly. Ken Livingstone formally took over as the first directly-elected Mayor of London on 3 July 2000. He was declared Mayor on 5 May 2000, and two months later at the headquarters of the GLA at Romney House in Westminster he officially took control of the first city-wide government in London for 14 years. The Mayor prepares strategies to deal with London issues, and co-ordinates action on a London basis. The Assembly scrutinises the Mayor's activities, questioning the Mayor about his or her decisions. The GLA has taken over control of a number of existing government programmes in London. Its main areas of responsibilities are: transport, planning, economic development, environment, policing, fire and emergency planning, culture, and health.

The Corporation of the City of London is the local authority for the City of London, and dates back to the 12th century. Among local authorities the Corporation of London is unique. Not only is it the oldest in the country, combining its ancient traditions and ceremonial functions with the role of a modern authority, but it operates on a non-party political basis. It is governed by the Court of the Common Council, comprising the lord mayor, 24 aldermen, and 130 common councilmen. The lord mayor and two sheriffs are nominated annually by the councillors and elected by the aldermen in November (although in the late 1990s it was proposed that London's mayor should be elected by the people of London). After being sworn in at the Guildhall, he or she is presented the next day to the lord chief justice at the Royal Courts of Justice in Westminster, an event marked by the ceremonial procession of the Lord Mayor's Show. There are over 100 city guilds (livery companies) covering an array of occupations, including, in order of civic precedence, mercers, grocers, drapers, fishmongers, goldsmiths, merchant taylors, skinners, haberdashers, salters, ironmongers, vintners (wine merchants), and clothworkers. The original purpose of the guilds was to administer apprenticeships and oversee production. Although many of the professions are now in decline, there are still more than 23,000 liverymen entitled to vote at Common Hall, the ruling body of the Corporation of the City of London. The Corporation has the same functions as the boroughs and also runs the City of London Police and the health authority for the Port of London. It is also responsible for health controls on animal imports throughout Greater London, including Heathrow airport, runs the Central Criminal Court and the large markets, and owns and manages public open spaces throughout Greater London.

Commerce and industry
From Saxon times the Port of London dominated the Thames from Tower Bridge to Tilbury. Its activity is now centred outside the metropolitan area, and downstream Tilbury has been extended to cope with container traffic. The prime economic importance of modern London is as a financial centre. There are various industries, mainly on the outskirts. There are also recording, broadcasting, television, and film studios; publishing companies; and the works and offices of the national press. The civil service and education are major employers, and tourism and the service sector is important to the economy.

Some of the docks in the East End of London, once the busiest in the world, were sold to the Docklands Development Corporation, which has built offices, houses, factories, and a railway. The world's largest office development project is at Canary Wharf. The City Thameslink station, the first mainline railway station to be built in London for nearly a century, opened in 1991.

Education and entertainment
London has many museums, including the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum. Galleries include the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, Hayward Gallery, Wallace Collection, and Courtauld Institute. The former Bankside power station, opposite St Paul's Cathedral, has been converted into Tate Modern, a gallery of modern art. The University of London is the largest in Britain. The Inns of Court have been the training school for lawyers since the 13th century. London has been the centre of English drama since its first theatre was built by James Burbage in 1576. A re-creation of the Globe Theatre opened in Southwark in 1996.

Yellow represents sunshine, warmth, and wisdom. Green symbolizes the lush vegetation and agriculture. Effective date: 7 February 1974. >>