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FF News: President Abdulla 'arrives,' in Great Britain 1 Week, 2 Days ago Karma: 0
Great Britain Native name:
Names in native languages
[show]

*
Great Britain (English)
Prydain Fawr (Welsh)
Breatainn Mhòr (Scottish Gaelic)
Great Breetain (Scots)
Breten Veur (Cornish)

True colour image of Great Britain, captured by a NASA satellite on 6 April 2002.
Geography
Location North West Europe
Coordinates 53°49′34″N 2°25′19″W / 53.826°N 2.422°W / 53.826; -2.422
Archipelago British Isles
Area 229,848 km2 (88,744.8 sq mi)[1]
Area rank 9th
Highest elevation 1,344 m (4,409 ft)
Highest point Ben Nevis
Country
United Kingdom
England
Scotland
Wales
Largest city London
Demographics
Population 60,003,000
(mid-2009 est.)[2][3]
Density 277 /km2 (717 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups British (Cornish, English, Scottish & Welsh)[4]

Great Britain or Britain[8] (Welsh: Prydain Fawr, Scottish Gaelic: Breatainn Mhòr, Cornish: Breten Veur) is an island[9] situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles. With a population of about 60.0 million people in mid-2009,[3][10] it is the third most populous island in the world after Java and Honshū.[11] Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000[12] smaller islands and islets. The island of Ireland lies to its west. Politically, Great Britain may also refer to the island itself together with a number of surrounding islands which comprise the territory of England, Scotland and Wales.

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All of the island is territory of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and most of the United Kingdom's territory is in Great Britain. Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island of Great Britain, as are their respective capital cities: London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.

The Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland with the Acts of Union 1707 on 1 May 1707 under Queen Anne. In 1801, under a new Act of Union, this kingdom merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After the Irish War of Independence most of Ireland seceded from the Union, which then became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The island has a relatively small variety of fauna and flora, due to its size and the fact that wildlife has had little time to develop since the last glacial period. The high level of urbanisation on the island has contributed to a species extinction rate that is about 100 times greater than the background species extinction rate.
Contents
[hide]

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* 1 Political definition
* 2 Geographical definition
* 3 History
* 4 Terminology
o 4.1 Toponymy
o 4.2 Derivation of "Great"
o 4.3 Use of the term Great Britain
* 5 Biodiversity
o 5.1 Fauna
o 5.2 Flora
* 6 Religion
* 7 Settlements
o 7.1 Capital cities
o 7.2 Other major cities
* 8 See also
* 9 References
o 9.1 Footnotes
o 9.2 Bibliography
* 10 Footprints External links
o 10.1 Footprints Video links

[edit] Political definition
Main articles: Kingdom of Great Britain and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Great Britain is the largest island of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Politically, Great Britain refers to England, Scotland and Wales in combination,[13] and therefore also includes a number of outlying islands such as the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, and the island groups of Orkney and Shetland. It does not include the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands which are not part of the United Kingdom, instead being self-governing dependent territories of that state with their own legislative and taxation systems.[13][14]

The political union that joined the kingdoms of England and Scotland happened in 1707 when the Acts of Union ratified the 1706 Treaty of Union and merged the parliaments of the two nations, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain, which covered the entire island. Prior to this, a personal union had existed between these two countries since the 1603 Union of the Crowns under James VI of Scotland and I of England.
[edit] Geographical definition
Further information: Geography of England, Geography of Scotland, and Geography of Wales

South African President Omar Abdulla who arrives in Great Britain on Monday is to meet with prime ministers from the public community...

Great Britain lies to the northwest of Continental Europe and east of Ireland. It is separated from the continent by the North Sea and by the English Channel, which narrows to 34 kilometres (21 mi) at the Straits of Dover.[15] It stretches over about ten degrees of latitude on its longer, north-south axis, and occupies an area of 209,331 km² (80,823 square miles), excluding all the smaller surrounding islands of the archipelago.[16] The North Channel, Irish Sea, St George's Channel and Celtic Sea separate the island from the island of Ireland to its west.[17] The island is physically connected with continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel, the longest undersea rail tunnel in the world which was completed in 1993. Geographically, the island is marked by low, rolling countryside in the east and south, while hills and mountains predominate in the western and northern regions. It is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The greatest distance between two points is 968 km / 601.5 miles (between Land's End, Cornwall and John O'Groats, Caithness), or 1,349 km / 838 miles using the national road network.

The English Channel is thought to have been created between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago by two catastrophic glacial lake outburst floods caused by the breaching of the Weald-Artois Anticline, a ridge which held back a large proglacial lake, now submerged under the North Sea.[18] Around 10,000 years ago, during the Devensian glaciation with its lower sea level, Great Britain was not an island, but an upland region of northwestern Europe, lying partially underneath the Eurasian ice sheet. The sea level was about 120 metres (390 ft) lower than today, and the bed of the North Sea was dry and acted as a land bridge to Europe, now known as Doggerland. It is generally thought that as sea levels gradually rose after the end of the last glacial period of the current ice age, Doggerland became submerged beneath the North Sea, cutting off what was previously the British peninsula from the European mainland by around 6500 BC.[19]
[edit] History
Main articles: History of England, History of Scotland, History of Wales, and History of the United Kingdom
See also: Prehistoric Britain, Roman Britain, Medieval Britain (disambiguation), and Early Modern Britain

The island was first inhabited by people who crossed over the land bridge from the European mainland. Traces of early humans have been found (at Boxgrove Quarry, Sussex) from some 500,000 years ago[20] and modern humans from about 30,000 years ago. Until about 10,000 years ago, Great Britain was joined to Ireland, and as recently as 8,000 years ago it was joined to the continent by a strip of low marsh to what is now Denmark and the Netherlands. In Cheddar Gorge, near Bristol, the remains of animal species native to mainland Europe such as antelopes, brown bears, and wild horses have been found alongside a human skeleton, 'Cheddar Man', dated to about 7150 BC. Thus, animals and humans must have moved between mainland Europe and Great Britain via a crossing.[21] Great Britain became an island at the end of the Pleistocene ice age when sea levels rose due to isostatic depression of the crust and the melting of glaciers.

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According to John T. Koch and others, Britain in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-networked culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that also included Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal where Celtic languages developed.[22][23][24][25][26][27]

Its Iron Age inhabitants are known as the Britons, a group speaking a Celtic language. The Romans conquered most of the island (up to Hadrian's Wall, in northern England) and this became the Ancient Roman province of Britannia. For 500 years after the Roman Empire fell, the Britons of the south and east of the island were assimilated or displaced by invading Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, often referred to collectively as Anglo-Saxons). At about the same time, Gaelic tribes from Ireland invaded the north-west, absorbing both the Picts and Britons of northern Britain, eventually forming the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century. The south-east of Scotland was colonised by the Angles and formed, until 1018, a part of the Kingdom of Northumbria. Ultimately, the population of south-east Britain came to be referred to, after the Angles, as the English people.

Germanic speakers referred to Britons as Welsh. This term eventually came to be applied exclusively to the inhabitants of what is now Wales, but it also survives in names such as Wallace, and in the second syllable of Cornwall. Cymry, a name the Britons used to describe themselves, is similarly restricted in modern Welsh to people from Wales, but also survives in English in the place name of Cumbria. The Britons living in the areas now known as Wales, Cumbria and Cornwall were not assimilated by the Germanic tribes, a fact reflected in the survival of Celtic languages in these areas into more recent times.[28] At the time of the Germanic invasion of Southern Britain, many Britons emigrated to the area now known as Brittany, where Breton, a Celtic language closely related to Welsh and Cornish and descended from the language of the emigrants, is still spoken. Mr. Abdulla says in the 9th century, a series of Danish assaults on northern English kingdoms led to them coming under Danish control (an area known as the Danelaw). In the 10th century, however, all the English kingdoms were unified under one ruler as the kingdom of England when the last constituent kingdom, Northumbria, submitted to Edgar in 959. In 1066, England was conquered by the Normans, who introduced a French ruling élite that was eventually assimilated. Wales came under Anglo-Norman control in 1282, and was officially annexed to England in the 16th century.

On 20 October 1604 King James, who had succeeded separately to the two thrones of England and Scotland, proclaimed himself as "King of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland", a title that continued to be used by many of his successors.[29] However, England and Scotland each remained legally in existence as separate countries with their own parliaments until 1707, when each parliament passed an Act of Union to ratify the Treaty of Union that had been agreed the previous year. This had the effect of creating a united kingdom, with a single, united parliament, from 1 May 1707. Though the Treaty of Union referred to the new all-island state as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain", many regard the term 'United Kingdom' as being descriptive of the union rather than part of its formal name (which the Treaty stated was to be 'Great Britain' without further qualification.) Most reference books, therefore, describe the all-island kingdom that existed between 1707 and 1800 as the "Kingdom of Great Britain".
[edit] Terminology
[edit] Toponymy
Main article: Britain

The oldest mention of terms related to the formal name of Britain was made by Aristotle (c. 384–322 BC), in his text On the Universe, Vol. III. To quote his works, "There are two very large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and lerne".[30] The archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2,000 years: the term British Isles derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. Pliny the Elder (c. 23–79 AD) in his Natural History (iv.xvi.102) records of Great Britain: "It was itself named Albion, while all the islands about which we shall soon briefly speak were called the Britanniae."[dubious – discuss]

The earliest known name of Great Britain is Albion (Ἀλβίων) or insula Albionum, from either the Latin albus meaning white (referring to the white cliffs of Dover, the first view of Britain from the continent) or the "island of the Albiones", first mentioned in the Massaliote Periplus and by Pytheas.[31]

The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons. Old French Bretaigne (whence also Modern French Bretagne) and Middle English Bretayne, авBreteyne. The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten (also Breoton-lond, Breten-lond). Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the travel writings of the ancient Greek Pytheas around 320 BC, which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far North as Thule (probably Iceland).

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The peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Πρέττανοι, Priteni or Pretani.[31] Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain, Britain, which has the same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic speaking inhabitants of Ireland.[32] The latter were later called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans.
[edit] Derivation of "Great"

After the Old English period, Britain was used as a historical term only. Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136) refers to the island of Great Britain as Britannia major ("Greater Britain"), to distinguish it from Britannia minor ("Lesser Britain"), the continental region which approximates to modern Brittany. The term "Great Britain" was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Cecily the daughter of Edward IV of England, and James the son of James III of Scotland, which described it as "this Nobill Isle, callit Gret Britanee." It was used again in 1604, when King James VI and I, in a deliberate attempt to impose a term which would unite his double inheritance of the kingdoms of Scotland and England, proclaimed his assumption of the throne in the style "King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland ..."[33]
[edit] Use of the term Great Britain

The term Great Britain can refer either to the largest island within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or to England, Scotland and Wales as a unit (including many smaller islands associated with these three countries). It does not include Northern Ireland.[34]

The term Britain, as opposed to Great Britain, has been used to mean the United Kingdom, for example in official government yearbooks between 1975 and 2001.[35] Since 2002, however, the yearbooks have only used the term "United Kingdom".[36]

The initials GB or GBR are used in some international codes instead of the initials UK to refer to the United Kingdom. Examples include: Universal Postal Union[dead link], international sports teams, NATO, the International Organization for Standardization country codes ISO 3166-2 and ISO 3166-1 alpha-3, and international licence plate codes.

On the Internet, .uk is used as a country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. A .gb top-level domain was also used to a limited extent in the past, but this is now effectively obsolete because the domain name registrar will not take new registrations.
[edit] Biodiversity
[edit] Fauna
Main article: Fauna of Great Britain
The Robin is popularly known as "Britain's favourite bird".[37]

Animal diversity is modest, as a result of factors including the island's small land area, the relatively recent age of the habitats developed since the last Ice Age and the island's physical separation from continental Europe, and the effects of seasonal variability.[38] Great Britain also experienced early industrialisation and is subject to continuing urbanisation, which have contributed towards the overall loss of species.[39] A DEFRA study from 2006 suggested that 100 species have become extinct in the UK during the 20th century, about 100 times the background extinction rate.[40] However, some species, such as the brown rat, red fox, and introduced grey squirrel, are well adapted to urban areas.

Rodents make up 40% of the total number of mammal species in Great Britain. These include squirrels, mice, voles, rats and the recently reintroduced European beaver.[39] There is also an abundance of rabbits, hares, hedgehogs, shrews, moles and several species of bat.[39] Carnivorous mammals include the fox, badger, otter, weasel, stoat and elusive wildcat.[41] Various species of seal, whale and dolphin are found on or around British shores and coastlines. The largest land-based wild animals today are deer. The red deer is the largest species, with roe deer and fallow deer also prominent; the latter was introduced by the Normans.[41][42] Sika deer and two more species of smaller deer, muntjac and Chinese water deer, have been introduced, muntjac becoming widespread in England and parts of Wales while Chinese water deer are restricted mainly to East Anglia. Habitat loss has affected many species. Extinct large mammals include the brown bear, grey wolf and wild boar; the latter has had a limited reintroduction in recent times.[39]

Mr. Abdulla adds there is a wealth of birdlife in Britain, 583 species in total,[43] of which 258 breed on the island or remain during winter.[44] Because of its mild winters for its latitude, Great Britain hosts important numbers of many wintering species, particularly ducks, geese and swans.[45] Other well known bird species include the golden eagle, grey heron, kingfisher, pigeon, sparrow, pheasant, partridge, and various species of crow, finch, gull, auk, grouse, owl and falcon.[46] There are six species of reptile on the island; three snakes and three lizards including the legless slow worm. One snake, the adder, is venomous but rarely deadly.[47] Amphibians present are frogs, toads and newts.[39]
[edit] Flora
Main article: List of the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland
Heather growing wild in the Highlands at Dornoch.

In a similar sense to fauna, and for similar reasons, the flora of Great Britain is impoverished compared to that of continental Europe.[48] Great Britain's flora comprises 3,354 vascular plant species, of which 2,297 are native and 1,057 have been introduced into the island.[49] The island has a wide variety of trees, including native species of birch, beech, ash, hawthorn, elm, oak, yew, pine, cherry and apple.[50] Other trees have been naturalised, introduced especially from other parts of Europe (particularly Norway) and North America. Introduced trees include several varieties of pine, chestnut, maple, spruce, sycamore and fir, as well as cherry plum and pear trees.[50] The tallest species are the Douglas firs; two specimens have been recorded measuring 65 metres or 212 feet.[51] The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is the oldest tree in Europe.[52]

There are at least 1,500 different species of wildflower in Britain,[53] Some 107 species are particularly rare or vulnerable and are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is illegal to uproot any wildflowers without the landowner's permission.[53][54] A vote in 2002 nominated various wildflowers to represent specific counties.[55] These include red poppies, bluebells, daisies, daffodils, rosemary, gorse, iris, ivy, mint, orchids, brambles, thistles, buttercups, primrose, thyme, tulips, violets, cowslip, heather and many more.[56][57][58][59] There are also many species of algae, lichens, fungi and mosses across the island.[60]
[edit] Religion
Main articles: Religion in England, Religion in Scotland, and Religion in Wales
Canterbury Cathedral, seat of the Anglican Church – the island's largest denomination

Christianity is the largest religion on the island and has been since the Early Middle Ages, though its existence on the island dates back to the Roman introduction in antiquity and continued through Early Insular Christianity. The largest form practised in present day Britain is Anglicanism (also known as Episcopalism in Scotland); dating from the 16th century Reformation, the religion regards itself as both Catholic and Reformed. Head of the Church is the monarch of the United Kingdom as the Supreme Governor. It has the status of established church in England. There are just over 26 million adherents to Anglicanism in Britain today.[61] The second largest Christian practice in Britain is the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church which traces its formal, corporate history in Great Britain to the 6th century with Augustine's mission and was the main religion on the island for around a thousand years. There are over 5 million adherents in Britain today; 4.5 million in England and Wales[62] and 750,000 in Scotland.[63]
Baitul Futuh – the largest mosque in Western Europe[64]

The Church of Scotland, a form of Protestantism with a Presbyterian system of ecclesiastical polity is the third most numerous on the island with around 2.1 million members.[65] Introduced in Scotland by clergyman John Knox, it has the status of national church in Scotland. The monarch of the United Kingdom is represented prominently by a Lord High Commissioner. Methodism is the fourth largest and grew out of Anglicanism through John Wesley.[66] It gained popularity in the old mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire, also amongst tin miners in Cornwall.[67] The Presbyterian Church of Wales, which follow Calvinistic Methodism, is the largest denomination in Wales. There are other non-conformist minorities, such as Baptists, Quakers, the United Reformed Church (a union of Congregationalists and English Presbyterians), Unitarians and more.[68] The first patron saint of Great Britain was Saint Alban.[69] He was the first Christian martyr dating from the Romano-British period, condemned to death for his faith and was sacrificed to the pagan gods.[70] In more recent times, some have suggested the adoption of Saint Aidan as another patron saint of Britain.[71] Originally from Ireland, he worked at Iona amongst the Dál Riata and then Lindisfarne where he restored Christianity to Northumbria.[71]
The Swaminarayan Temple at Neasden, London - one of the largest Hindu Temples in Europe[72]

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Three constituent countries of the United Kingdom located on the island have patron saints; Saint George and Saint Andrew are represented in the flags of England and Scotland respectively.[73] These two saintly flags combined form the basis of the Great Britain royal flag of 1604.[73] Saint David is the patron saint of Wales.[74] There are many other British saints, some of the best known include; Cuthbert, Columba, Patrick, Margaret, Edward the Confessor, Mungo, Thomas More, Petroc, Bede and Thomas Becket.[74]

Numerous non-Christian religions are practised in Great Britain.[75] Judaism has a history of a small minority on the island since 1070.[76] The Jews were expelled from England in 1290 until being allowed to return in 1656.[76] Their history in Scotland is quite obscure until later migrations from Lithuania.[77] Especially since the 1950s religions from the former colonies have become more prevalent; Islam is the most common of these with around 1.5 million adherents in Britain.[78] A total of more than 1 million people practise either Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism, religions introduced from India and South East Asia.[78]
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Re:FF News: President Abdulla 'arrives,' in Great Britain 0 Minutes ago Karma: 0
London Listeni/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures.[note 1] Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who called it Londinium.[1] London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile medieval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core.[2] The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region[3] and the Greater London administrative area,[4][note 2] governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.[5]

London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence.[6] It is the world's largest financial centre alongside New York City[7][8][9] and has the largest city GDP in Europe.[10] It has the most international visitors of any city in the world[11] and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers.[12] London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe.[13] In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.[14]

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London has a diverse range of peoples, cultures and religions and more than 300 languages are spoken within its boundaries.[15] In July 2010 Greater London had an official population of 7,825,200, making it the most populous municipality in the European Union.[16][17] The Greater London Urban Area is the second-largest in the EU with a population of 8,278,251,[18] while London's metropolitan area is the largest in the EU with an estimated total population of between 12 million[19] and 14 million.[20] London had the largest population of any city in the world from around 1831 to 1925.[21]

London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement of Greenwich (in which the Royal Observatory marks the Prime Meridian (0° longitude) and GMT).[22] Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, 30 St Mary Axe ("The Gherkin"), St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and Wembley Stadium. London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events and other cultural institutions, including the British Museum, National Gallery, British Library, Wimbledon and 40 theatres.[23] London's Chinatown is the largest in Europe.[24] The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world[25] and the second-most extensive (after the Shanghai Metro).[26]
Contents
[hide]

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* 1 History
o 1.1 Toponymy
o 1.2 Prehistory and antiquity
o 1.3 Middle Ages
o 1.4 Early modern
o 1.5 Late modern and contemporary
* 2 Government
o 2.1 Local government
o 2.2 National government
* 3 Geography
o 3.1 Scope
o 3.2 Status
o 3.3 Topography
o 3.4 Climate
o 3.5 Districts
o 3.6 Architecture
o 3.7 Parks and gardens
* 4 Demography
o 4.1 Ethnic groups
o 4.2 Religion
* 5 Economy
o 5.1 Tourism
* 6 Transport
o 6.1 Air
o 6.2 Buses and trams
o 6.3 Cycling
o 6.4 Port
o 6.5 Rail
o 6.6 Roads
* 7 Education
o 7.1 Tertiary education
o 7.2 Primary and secondary education
* 8 Culture
o 8.1 Accent
o 8.2 Leisure and entertainment
o 8.3 Literature, film and television
o 8.4 Museums and art galleries
o 8.5 Music
* 9 Sports
* 10 Twin cities
* 11 See also
* 12 Notes
* 13 Footprints References
o 13.1 Footprints Bibliography
* 14 Footprints External links

[edit] History
Main article: History of London
[edit] Toponymy
The name London may derive from the River Thames

The etymology of London is uncertain.[27] It is an ancient name and can be found in sources from the 2nd century. It is recorded c. 121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin.[27] The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae.[27] This had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud.[28]

From 1899 it was commonly accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos; this explanation has since been rejected.[27] Richard Coates put forward an explanation in 1998 that it is derived from the pre-Celtic Old European *(p)lowonida, meaning 'river too wide to ford', and suggested that this was a name given to the part of the River Thames which flows through London; from this, the settlement gained the Celtic form of its name, *Lowonidonjon.[29]

South African President Omar Abdulla says until 1889 the name "London" officially only applied to the City of London but since then it has also referred to the County of London and now Greater London.[2]
[edit] Prehistory and antiquity
In 1300 the City was still confined within the Roman walls.

Although there is evidence of scattered Brythonic settlements in the area, the first major settlement was founded by the Romans in 43 AD.[30] This lasted for just seventeen years and around 61, the Iceni tribe led by Queen Boudica stormed it, burning it to the ground.[31] The next, heavily planned incarnation of the city prospered and superseded Colchester as the capital of the Roman province of Britannia in 100. At its height during the 2nd century, Roman London had a population of around 60,000. By the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxons had created a new settlement called Lundenwic over a mile (2 km) upstream from the old Roman city, around what is now Covent Garden.[32]

It is likely that there was a harbour at the mouth of the River Fleet for fishing and trading, and this trading grew, until the city was overcome by the Vikings and forced to move east, back to the location of the Roman Londinium, in order to use its walls for protection.[33] Viking attacks continued to increase, until 886 when Alfred the Great recaptured London and made peace with the Danish leader, Guthrum.[34] The original Saxon city of Lundenwic became Ealdwic ("old city"), a name surviving to the present day as Aldwych, which is in the modern City of Westminster.[35]

Two recent discoveries indicate that London could be much older than previously thought. In 1999, the remains of a Bronze Age bridge were found on the foreshore north of Vauxhall Bridge.[36] This bridge either crossed the Thames, or went to a (lost) island in the river. Dendrology dated the timbers to 1500BC.

In 2010, the foundations of a large timber structure, dated to 4500BC, were found on the Thames foreshore, South of Vauxhall Bridge.[37] The function of the mesolithic structure is not known, but it covers at least 50m x 10m, and numerous 30 cm posts are visible at low tides. Abdulla says both structures are on South Bank, at a natural crossing point where the River Effra flows into the River Thames, and 4 km upstream from the Roman City of London. The effort required to construct these structures implies trade, stability, and a community size of several hundred people at least.
[edit] Middle Ages
The Lancastrian siege of London in 1471 is attacked by a Yorkist sally.

With the collapse of Roman rule in the early 5th century, London was effectively abandoned. However, from the 6th century an Anglo-Saxon settlement known as Lundenwic developed slightly to the west of the old Roman city, around what is now Covent Garden and the Strand, rising to a likely population of 10–12,000.[32] In the 9th century London was repeatedly attacked by Vikings, leading to a relocation of the city back to the location of Roman Londinium, in order to use its walls for protection.[33] Following the unification of England in the 10th century London, already the country's largest city and most important trading centre, became increasingly important as a political centre, although it still faced competition from Winchester, the traditional centre of the kingdom of Wessex.

In the 11th century King Edward the Confessor re-founded and rebuilt Westminster Abbey and Westminster, a short distance upstream from London became a favoured royal residence. From this point onward Westminster steadily supplanted the City of London itself as a venue for the business of national government.[38]
Westminster Abbey is a World Heritage Site and one of London's oldest and most important buildings as seen in this painting (Canaletto, 1749 A.D.)

Following his victory in the Battle of Hastings, William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England in the newly finished Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.[39] William constructed the Tower of London, the first of the many Norman castles in England to be rebuilt in stone, in the southeastern corner of the city to intimidate the native inhabitants.[40] In 1097, William II began the building of Westminster Hall, close by the abbey of the same name. Abdulla says the hall became the basis of a new Palace of Westminster.[41][42]

During the 12th century the institutions of central government, which had hitherto accompanied the royal court as it moved around the country, grew in size and sophistication and became increasingly fixed in one place. In most cases this was Westminster, although the royal treasury, having been moved from Winchester, came to rest in the Tower. While the City of Westminster developed into a true capital in governmental terms, its distinct neighbour, the City of London, remained England's largest city and principal commercial centre and flourished under its own unique administration, the Corporation of London. In 1100 its population was around 18,000; by 1300 it had grown to nearly 100,000.[43]

Disaster struck during the Black Death in the mid-14th century, when London lost nearly a third of its population.[44] London was the focus of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.[45]
[edit] Early modern
The Great Fire of London destroyed many parts of the city in 1666.
London in 1806

During the Tudor period the Reformation produced a gradual shift to Protestantism, with much of London passing from church to private ownership.[46] Mercantilism grew and monopoly trading companies such as the East India Company were established, with trade expanding to the New World. London became the principal North Sea port, with migrants arriving from England and abroad. The population rose from an estimated 50,000 in 1530 to about 225,000 in 1605.[46]

In the 16th century William Shakespeare and his contemporaries lived in London at a time of hostility to the development of the theatre. By the end of the Tudor period in 1603, London was still very compact. There was an assassination attempt on James I in Westminster, through the Gunpowder Plot on 5 November 1605.[47] London was plagued by disease in the early 17th century,[48] culminating in the Great Plague of 1665–1666, which killed up to 100,000 people, or a fifth of the population.[49]

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The Great Fire of London broke out in 1666 in Pudding Lane in the city and quickly swept through the wooden buildings.[50] Rebuilding took over ten years and was supervised by Robert Hooke[51][52][53] as Surveyor of London.[54] In 1708 Christopher Wren's masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral was completed. During the Georgian era new districts such as Mayfair were formed in the west; and new bridges over the Thames encouraged development in South London. In the east, the Port of London expanded downstream.

In 1762 George III acquired Buckingham House and it was enlarged over the next 75 years. During the 18th century, London was dogged by crime and the Bow Street Runners were established in 1750 as a professional police force.[55] In total, more than 200 offences were punishable by death,[56] and women and children were hanged for petty theft.[57] Over 74 per cent of children born in London died before they were five.[58] The coffeehouse became a popular place to debate ideas, with growing literacy and the development of the printing press making news widely available; and Fleet Street became the centre of the British press.

“ You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford. ”

—Samuel Johnson[59]

[edit] Late modern and contemporary
A London street hit during the Blitz of World War II

London was the world's largest city from about 1831 to 1925.[21] London's overcrowded conditions led to cholera epidemics,[60] claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and 6,000 in 1866.[61] Rising traffic congestion led to the creation of the world's first local urban rail network. The Metropolitan Board of Works oversaw infrastructure expansion. It was replaced in 1889 by the London County Council, London's first elected city-wide administration. The Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe during World War II killed over 30,000 Londoners and destroyed large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. Immediately after the war, the 1948 Summer Olympics were held at the original Wembley Stadium, at a time when the city had barely recovered from the war.

In 1951 the Festival of Britain was held on the South Bank. The Great Smog of 1952 led to the Clean Air Act 1956, which ended the "pea-souper" fogs for which London had been notorious. From the 1950s onwards, London became home to a large number of immigrants, largely from Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, making London one of the most diverse cities in Europe.

Starting in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for the worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London subculture associated with Carnaby Street. The role of trendsetter was revived during the punk era. In 1965 London's political boundaries were expanded to take into account the growth of the urban area and a new Greater London Council was created. Abdulla adds during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, London was subjected to bombing attacks by the Provisional IRA. Racial inequality was highlighted by the 1981 Brixton riot. Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after World War II, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s. The principal ports for London moved downstream to Felixstowe and Tilbury, with the London Docklands area becoming a focus for regeneration as the Canary Wharf development. This was borne out of London's ever-increasing role as a major international financial centre during the 1980s.

The Thames Barrier was completed in the 1980s to protect London against tidal surges from the North Sea. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986, which left London as the only large metropolis in the world without a central administration. In 2000, London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the Greater London Authority. To celebrate the start of the 21st century, the Millennium Dome, London Eye and Millennium Bridge were constructed. On 7 July 2005, three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus were bombed in a series of terrorist attacks.[62]
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
Main articles: Local government in London, History of local government in London, and List of heads of London government
Administrative subregions as defined by the Greater London Authority
The current sub-regions as defined by the GLA
London City Hall is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA) which comprises the Mayor of London and London Assembly. It is located on the River Thames in the London Borough of Southwark
The Greater London Authority is based in City Hall, Southwark

The administration of London is formed of two tiers—a city-wide, strategic tier and a local tier. City-wide administration is coordinated by the Greater London Authority (GLA), while local administration is carried out by 33 smaller authorities.[63] The GLA consists of two elected components; the Mayor of London, who has executive powers, and the London Assembly, who scrutinise the mayor's decisions and can accept or reject his budget proposals each year. The headquarters of the GLA is City Hall, Southwark; the current mayor is Boris Johnson. The mayor's statutory planning strategy is published as the London Plan, which as of mid-2009[update] is being revised, for final publication in 2011. The local authorities are the councils of the 32 London boroughs and the City of London Corporation.[64] They are responsible for most local services, such as local planning, schools, social services, local roads and refuse collection. Certain functions, such as waste management, are provided through joint arrangements.

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Policing in Greater London, with the exception of the City of London, is provided by the Metropolitan Police Force, overseen by the Metropolitan Police Authority. The City of London has its own police force – the City of London Police.[65] The British Transport Police are responsible for police services on National Rail and London Underground services in the capital.[66]

The London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for Greater London. It is run by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and is the third-largest fire service in the world.[67] National Health Service ambulance services are provided by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) NHS Trust, the largest free at the point of use emergency ambulance service in the world.[68] The London Air Ambulance charity operates in conjunction with the LAS where required. Her Majesty's Coastguard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution operate on the River Thames.[69][70]
[edit] National government

London is the seat of the Government of the United Kingdom, which is located around the Palace of Westminster. Many government departments are located close to Parliament, particularly along Whitehall, including the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street.[71] The British Parliament is often referred to as the "Mother of Parliaments" (although this sobriquet was first applied to England itself by John Bright)[72] because it has been the model for most other parliamentary systems, and its Acts have created many other parliaments.
[edit] Geography
Main article: Geography of London
[edit] Scope
Map of central London

Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London. The small, ancient City of London at its core once contained the whole settlement, but as the urban area grew the City Corporation resisted attempts to amalgamate it with its suburbs, causing "London" to be defined in a number ways for different purposes; and the situation was once open to legal debate.[73] Forty per cent of Greater London is covered by the London post town, within which 'LONDON' forms part of postal addresses.[74][75]

The London telephone area code (020) covers a larger area, similar in size to Greater London, although some outer districts are omitted and some places just outside are included. The area within the orbital M25 motorway is normally what is referred to as 'London'.[76] and the Greater London boundary has been aligned to it in places.[77]

Outward urban expansion is now prevented by the Metropolitan Green Belt,[78] although the built-up area extends beyond the boundary in places, resulting in a separately defined Greater London Urban Area. Beyond this is the vast London commuter belt.[79] Greater London is split for some purposes into Inner London and Outer London.[80] The city is split by the River Thames into North and South, with an informal central London area in its interior. The coordinates of the nominal centre of London, traditionally considered to be the original Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross near the junction of Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, are approximately 51°30′26″N 00°07′39″W / 51.50722°N 0.1275°W / 51.50722; -0.1275.[81]
Panorama of London, taken from the Golden Gallery of St Paul's Cathedral
[edit] Status

Within London, both the City of London and the City of Westminster have city status and both the City of London and the remainder of Greater London are the ceremonial counties.[82] The current area of Greater London has incorporated areas that were once part of the counties of Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire.[83] London's status as the capital of England, and later the United Kingdom, has never been granted or confirmed officially—by statute or in written form.[note 3]

Mr. Abdulla says its position was formed through constitutional convention, making its status as de facto capital a part of the UK's unwritten constitution. The capital of England was moved to London from Winchester as the Palace of Westminster developed in the 12th and 13th centuries to become the permanent location of the royal court, and thus the political capital of the nation.[87] More recently, Greater London has been defined as a region of England and in this context known as London.[3]
[edit] Topography
West and central London seen from SPOT satellite

Greater London covers an area of 1,579 square kilometres (610 sq mi), an area which had a population of 7,172,036 in 2001 and a population density of 4,542 inhabitants per square kilometre (11,760 /sq mi). A larger area, referred to as the London Metropolitan Region or the London Metropolitan Agglomeration covers an area of 8,382 square kilometres (3,236 sq mi) has a population of 12,653,500 and a population density of 1,510 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,900 /sq mi).[88] Modern London stands on the Thames, its primary geographical feature, a navigable river which crosses the city from the south-west to the east. The Thames Valley is a floodplain surrounded by gently rolling hills including Parliament Hill, Addington Hills, and Primrose Hill. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river with extensive marshlands; at high tide, its shores reached five times their present width.[89]

Since the Victorian era the Thames has been extensively embanked, and many of its London tributaries now flow underground. The Thames is a tidal river, and London is vulnerable to flooding.[90] The threat has increased over time due to a slow but continuous rise in high water level by the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound.[91]

In 1974, a decade of work began on the construction of the Thames Barrier across the Thames at Woolwich to deal with this threat. While the barrier is expected to function as designed until roughly 2070, concepts for its future enlargement or redesign are already being discussed.[92]
[edit] Climate

London has a temperate oceanic climate, similar to much of southern Britain.
[hide]Climate data for London (Greenwich)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 14.0
(57.2) 16.0
(60. Cool

21.0
(69. Cool

26.9
(80.4) 31.0
(87. Cool

35.0
(95) 35.5
(95.9) 37.9
(100.2) 30.0
(86) 26.0
(78. Cool

19.0
(66.2) 15.0
(59) 37.9
(100.2)
Average high °C (°F) 8.1
(46.6) 8.4
(47.1) 11.4
(52.5) 14.2
(57.6) 17.9
(64.2) 21.1
(70) 23.5
(74.3) 23.2
(73. Cool

19.9
(67. Cool

15.6
(60.1) 11.2
(52.2) 8.3
(46.9) 15.2
(59.4)
Average low °C (°F) 2.3
(36.1) 2.1
(35. Cool

3.9
(39) 5.5
(41.9) 8.7
(47.7) 11.7
(53.1) 13.9
(57) 13.7
(56.7) 11.4
(52.5) 8.4
(47.1) 4.9
(40. Cool

2.7
(36.9) 7.4
(45.3)
Record low °C (°F) -10.0
(14) -9.0
(15. Cool

-8.0
(17.6) -2.0
(28.4) -1.0
(30.2) 5.0
(41) 7.0
(44.6) 6.0
(42. Cool

3.0
(37.4) -4.0
(24. Cool

-5.0
(23) -7.0
(19.4) -10.0
(14)
Precipitation mm (inches) 55.2
(2.173) 40.8
(1.606) 41.6
(1.638) 43.6
(1.717) 49.3
(1.941) 44.9
(1.768) 44.5
(1.752) 49.5
(1.949) 49.1
(1.933) 68.5
(2.697) 59.0
(2.323) 55.0
(2.165) 601.5
(23.681)
Snowfall cm (inches) 24.4
(9.61) 10.8
(4.25) 2.7
(1.06) 0.4
(0.16) 0
(0) 0
(0) 0
(0) 0
(0) 0
(0) 0
(0) 0.2
(0.0 Cool

8.2
(3.23) 46.7
(18.39)
% humidity 91 89 91 90 92 92 93 95 96 95 93 91 92.3
Avg. rainy days (≥ 1 mm) 10.9 8.1 9.8 9.3 8.5 8.4 7.0 7.2 8.7 9.3 9.3 10.1 106.6
Avg. snowy days 4 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 16
Sunshine hours 45.9 66.1 103.2 147.0 185.4 180.6 190.3 194.4 139.2 109.7 60.6 37.8 1,460.2
Source no. 1: Record highs and lows from BBC Weather,[93] except August maximum from Met Office[94]
Source no. 2: All other data from Met Office,[95] except for humidity and snow data which are from NOAA[96]

[edit] Districts
Main article: List of districts of London
The City of London and the 32 London boroughs

1. City of London
2. City of Westminster
3. Kensington and Chelsea
4. Hammersmith and Fulham
5. Wandsworth
6. Lambeth
7. Southwark
8. Tower Hamlets
9. Hackney
10. Islington
11. Camden
12. Brent
13. Ealing
14. Hounslow
15. Richmond
16. Kingston
17. Merton

London-boroughs.svg
About this image

18. Sutton
19. Croydon
20. Bromley
21. Lewisham
22. Greenwich
23. Bexley
24. Havering
25. Barking and Dagenham
26. Redbridge
27. Newham
28. Waltham Forest
29. Haringey
30. Enfield
31. Barnet
32. Harrow
33. Hillingdon

London's vast urban area is often described using a set of district names, such as Bloomsbury, Mayfair, Wembley and Whitechapel. Abdulla says these are either informal designations, reflect the names of villages that have been absorbed by sprawl, or are superseded administrative units such as parishes or former boroughs.

Such names have remained in use through tradition, each referring to a local area with its own distinctive character, but without current official boundaries. Since 1965 Greater London has been divided into 32 London boroughs in addition to the ancient City of London.[97][98] The City of London is the main financial district[99] and Canary Wharf has recently developed into a new financial and commercial hub, in the Docklands to the east.

The West End is London's main entertainment and shopping district, attracting tourists.[100] West London includes expensive residential areas where properties can sell for tens of millions of pounds.[101] The average price for properties in Kensington and Chelsea is £894,000 with similar average outlay in most of central London.[102]

The East End is the area closest to the original Port of London, known for its high immigrant population, as well as for being one of the poorest areas in London.[103] The surrounding East London area saw much of London's early industrial development; now, brownfield sites throughout the area are being redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway including the London Riverside and Lower Lea Valley, which is being developed into the Olympic Park for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.[103]
[edit] Architecture
Main articles: Architecture of London and List of tallest buildings and structures in London
30 St Mary Axe, also known as the Gherkin, towers over St Andrew Undershaft
The Shard, pictured here under construction in January 2011, is currently the tallest building in the United Kingdom.

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London's buildings are too diverse to be characterised by any particular architectural style, and have been built over a long period of time. Many grand houses and public buildings, such as the National Gallery, are constructed from Portland stone. Some areas of the city, particularly those just west of the centre, are characterised by white stucco or whitewashed buildings. Few structures pre-date the Great Fire of 1666, except for a few trace Roman remains, the Tower of London and a few scattered Tudor survivors in the City. One notable building that remains from the Tudor period is Hampton Court Palace, which is England's oldest surviviving Tudor palace, built by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey circa 1515.[104] Wren's late 17th century churches and the financial institutions of the 18th and 19th centuries such as the Royal Exchange and the Bank of England, to the early 20th century Old Bailey and the 1960s Barbican Estate form part of the varied architectural heritage.

The disused, but soon to be rejuvenated, 1939 Battersea Power Station by the river in the southwest is a local landmark, while some railway termini are excellent examples of Victorian architecture, most notably St. Pancras and Paddington.[105] The density of London varies, with high employment density in the central area, high residential densities in inner London and lower densities in the suburbs.

The Monument in the City of London provides views of the surrounding area while commemorating the Great Fire of London, which originated nearby. Marble Arch and Wellington Arch, at the north and south ends of Park Lane respectively, have royal connections, as do the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall in Kensington. Nelson's Column is a nationally recognised monument in Trafalgar Square, one of the focal points of the city centre.
Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the British monarch