Portal:London

Panorama of modern London, taken from the Golden Gallery of St Paul's Cathedral. See Panorama of London for more panoramic images.

Shaftesbury Memorial,
Piccadilly Circus

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. London is Europe’s most economically powerful city, and is one of the world's major financial centres. London hosts Europe's largest concentration of higher education institutions, comprising over 50 universities and colleges and enrolling more than 500,000 students as of 2023. It is home to several of the world's leading academic institutions: Imperial College London, internationally recognised for its excellence in natural and applied sciences, and University College London (UCL), a comprehensive research-intensive university, consistently rank among the top ten globally. Other notable institutions include King's College London (KCL), highly regarded in law, humanities, and health sciences; the London School of Economics (LSE), globally prominent in social sciences and economics; and specialised institutions such as the Royal College of Art (RCA), Royal Academy of Music (RAM), the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and London Business School (LBS). 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 per cent of the United Kingdom's population and over 16 per cent 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...)

Featured articles and Featured lists are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia..

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the wall to the west. The death toll is generally thought to have been relatively small, although some historians have challenged this belief.

The fire started in a bakery in Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on Sunday 2 September, and spread rapidly. The use of the major firefighting technique of the time, the creation of firebreaks by means of removing structures in the fire's path, was critically delayed due to the indecisiveness of the Lord Mayor, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sunday night, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm which defeated such measures. The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose of suspicious foreigners setting fires. The fears of the homeless focused on the French and Dutch, England's enemies in the ongoing Second Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups became victims of street violence. On Tuesday, the fire spread over nearly the whole city, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and leaping the River Fleet to threaten Charles II's court at Whitehall Palace. Coordinated firefighting efforts were simultaneously getting underway. The battle to put out the fire is considered to have been won by two key factors: the strong east wind dropped, and the Tower of London garrison used gunpowder to create effective firebreaks, halting further spread eastward. (Full article...)

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Photo credit: David Iliff

The London Eye from Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Lambeth. At 135-metre (443 ft) tall it is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually. When erected in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world.

Articles about London can be found under these categories:

Areas of London

Buildings and structures in London

Cities in London

Culture in London

Economy of London

Education in London

Environment of London

Geography of London

Local government in London

Health in London

History of London

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This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia..

William Shakespeare (c. 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" or simply "the Bard". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613) he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others. (Full article...)

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Henry Wood 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

“

London is a modern Babylon.

”

Benjamin Disraeli, Tancred (1847), Book V, Chapter 5.

…that St Pancras Old Church stands on what is believed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England?

…that the building now housing the Brick Lane Mosque (pictured) was built as a Huguenot chapel in 1743, and subsequently became a synagogue?

…that there are two London churches that claim to be the "St Clements" of the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons: St Clement Danes and St Clement Eastcheap?

…that the Neasden Temple, completed in 1995, is the largest Hindu Temple In Europe?

…that St. John's, Smith Square is nicknamed "Queen Anne’s Footstool" because its four corner towers give it the appearance of an upturned footstool?

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

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

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

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.

This directory of lists of people from London is divided by London borough. A person from London is known as a Londoner.

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