On 6 July 2005 London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics, as the first city to stage the Olympic Games three times. This was born out of London’s increasing role as an international financial centre in the 1980s. London’s development as an international financial centre matured for much of the 18th century. Yet English maritime enterprise hardly reached beyond the seas of northwestern Europe. London was a centre of England’s Jewish population before their expulsion by Edward I in 1290.
You’ve admired London’s royal landmarks on screen – now explore them in person on this Crown-based walking tour. These foraging tours reveal the edible herbs, flowers and berries hidden in the capital’s parks and gardens. DJ and clubbing royalty headline this annual fiesta of electronic music, in London’s Brockwell Park.
From about 500 an Anglo-Saxon settlement known as Lundenwic developed slightly west of the old Roman city. The city has the most museums, art galleries, libraries and cultural venues in the UK, including the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, the British Library and numerous West End theatres. 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 wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 15.1 million. If you have a Google account, you can access Gmail from login easily. Do you need to sign into your Gmail account?
Step back in time at the Tower of London
Some international railway services to Continental Europe were operated during the 20th century as boat trains. London is the centre of the National Rail network, with 70% of rail journeys starting or ending in London. With the need for more rail capacity, the Elizabeth Line (also known as Crossrail) opened in May 2022. An investment programme is attempting to reduce congestion and improve reliability, including £6.5 billion (€7.7 billion) spent before the 2012 Summer Olympics. The system serves 272 stations, and was formed from several private companies, including the world’s first underground electric line, the City and South London Railway, which opened in 1890.
Visit the City
London’s theatre district is here, as are many cinemas, bars, clubs, and restaurants, including the city’s Chinatown district (in Soho), and just to the east is Covent Garden, an area housing speciality shops. It is also a major centre for biomedical research, and three of the UK’s eight academic health science chicken road app centres are based in the city – Imperial College Healthcare, King’s Health Partners and UCL Partners (the largest such centre in Europe). At major piers including Canary Wharf, London Bridge City, Battersea Power Station and London Eye (Waterloo), services depart at least every 20 minutes during commuter times. The BBC, the world’s oldest national broadcaster, is a significant employer, while other broadcasters, including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky, also have headquarters around the city. In population terms, London is the 19th largest city and the 18th largest metropolitan region.
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As of 2021 the majority of London’s school pupils come from ethnic minority backgrounds. Of those of a White British background, estimates for 1971 put the population at 6,500,000 and 87% of the total population, which fell to 3,239,281 and 36.8% in 2021. A further 4.6% were classified as “Other Asian.” 15.9% of London’s population were of Black or mixed-Black descent. A large degree of the foreign born population who were present at the 2021 census had arrived relatively recently. The 5 largest single countries of origin were respectively India, Romania, Poland, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The number of hotel rooms in London in 2023 stood at 155,700 and is expected to grow to 183,600 rooms, the most of any city outside China. Tourism is one of London’s prime industries, employing 700,000 full-time workers in 2016, and contributes £36 billion a year to the economy. It is also the top city in the world by visitor cross-border spending, estimated at US$20.23 billion in 2015. Over half the UK’s top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and over 100 of Europe’s 500 largest companies have their headquarters in central London. However, by 2010, the city had recovered, put in place new regulatory powers, proceeded to regain lost ground and re-established London’s economic dominance.
It is the world’s biggest currency trading centre, accounting for some 37% of the $5.1 trillion average daily volume, according to the BIS. Standard Southern British English (SSBE) has been considered as an evolution of RP that is now common and widely spoken in London and the south-east of England by a wide variety of people, but is distinct from Estuary English and MLE. It has no specific geographical correlate, although it is also traditionally defined as the standard speech used in London and south-eastern England. There are Sikh communities in East and West London, particularly in Southall, home to one of the largest Sikh populations and the largest Sikh temple outside India. Large Hindu communities are found in the north-western boroughs of Harrow and Brent, the latter hosting what was until 2006 Europe’s largest Hindu temple, Neasden Temple.
London Museum
Party, parade and prance through the dazzling streets of London’s West End, taking in the city’s theatres while listening to their musical sounds. London’s eight Royal Parks offer an oasis of calm in the city – as well as amazing venues for live music, festivals and theatre. It’s full of tales and treasures, including the Crown Jewels.
The Paddington Bear Experience
London is one of the major classical and popular music capitals of the world and hosts major music corporations, such as Universal Music Group International and Warner Music Group, and countless bands, musicians and industry professionals. The Tate Gallery, as it was formerly known, also became a major centre for modern art. The national gallery of British art is at Tate Britain, originally established as an annexe of the National Gallery in 1897. In 1824 the National Gallery was founded to house the British national collection of Western paintings; this now occupies a prominent position in Trafalgar Square. Originally containing antiquities, natural history specimens, and the national library, the museum now has 7 million artefacts from around the globe. The largest cinema chain in the country, Odeon Cinemas, was founded in London in 1928 by Oscar Deutsch.
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London is Europe’s largest city economy, and is one of the world’s major financial centres. London grew rapidly in the 19th century, becoming the world’s largest city at the time. Its ancient core and financial centre, the City of London, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and has retained its medieval boundaries.e The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has been the centuries-long host of the national government and parliament. Londonc is the capital and largest cityd of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of 9.1 million people in 2024. Your Google Account helps you save time by automatically filling in passwords, addresses, and payment details using the information you’ve saved to your account.
To learn more about the Tower’s back story, join a Yeoman Warder’s tour for a fascinating and personal introduction to the life and grisly times of this fortress-palace. You probably already have a checklist of London sights to visit, but don’t forget to pause and soak up the vibe of a city that has been at the forefront of world culture for at least two millennia. On the park’s western edge stands Kensington Palace, the official London residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Hyde Park is one of London’s largest and most historic green spaces, covering 350 acres in the heart of the city. Step through the doors and you’ll find some of history’s most significant and impressive treasures, including the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies, Assyrian palace sculptures, and the Parthenon marble sculptures. The crypt beneath the cathedral holds the tombs of national figures including Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson and the Duke of Wellington.
Most rail lines terminate around the centre of London, running into eighteen terminal stations, with the exception of the Thameslink trains connecting Bedford in the north and Brighton in the south via Luton and Gatwick airports. London is a major international air transport hub with the busiest city airspace in the world. The gas and electricity distribution networks that manage and operate the towers, cables and pressure systems that deliver energy to consumers across the city are managed by National Grid plc, SGN and UK Power Networks. Many national newspapers, including The Times, founded in 1785, are edited in London; the term Fleet Street (where most national newspapers operated) remains a metonym for the British national press.
- In satellite photographs the metropolis can be seen to sit compactly in a Green Belt of open land, with its principal ring highway (the M25 motorway) threaded around it at a radius of about 20 miles (30 km) from the city center.
- Close to Richmond Park is Kew Gardens, which has the world’s largest collection of living plants.
- Next, indulge in some delicious Caribbean cuisine and take in many of the city’s best Black artists at 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning.
- The national gallery of British art is at Tate Britain, originally established as an annexe of the National Gallery in 1897.
London
London was once the capital of an empire that ruled over more than half the world’s Muslims, so it should come as no surprise that the city is home to a wide range of Muslim communities and rich in Islamic heritage. Among the highlights, you will find the oldest door in the UK, the collection of memorials to great poets and writers known as Poets’ Corner, the Coronation Chair, 14th-century cloisters, a 900-year-old garden, royal tombs and much, much more. London’s great abbey has served as the venue for many showstopper funerals and weddings – 30 monarchs are buried here, and 16 royal weddings have been hosted here, the most recent being that of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011.
Go on a vintage shopping spree in East London
- London was the centre of music hall, with the Hackney Empire, host to many music hall stars, among the best-surviving Edwardian era variety theatres.
- Getting off the Tube at Westminster will deposit you right by Big Ben, the legendary bell atop the clocktower of the Houses of Parliament.
- Then the Romans rebuilt the city, and London became an important trading hub.
London’s original city centre, the City of London is England’s smallest city. It is also the city with the highest population in the UK. London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. St Pancras International is the city’s Eurostar hub, with multiple direct connections to Europe. Escape the city for Petersham Nurseries, a garden centre with a Michelin-Green-Starred difference. Enjoy a 360-degree view of London from Britain’s tallest building, which towers over the city’s skyline.
Important national and royal ceremonies are shared between St Paul’s and Westminster Abbey. Estimates for 1961 put the total non-White ethnic minority population at 179,109 comprising 2.3% of the population at the time, having risen since then to 1,346,119 and 20.2% in 1991 and 4,068,553 and 46.2% in 2021. Black Africans accounted for 7.9% of London’s population; 3.9% identified as Black Caribbean, and 1.7% as “Other Black.” 5.7% were of mixed race.