Portal:London

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The London Portal

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

St Paul's Cathedral

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. Despite a post-Brexit exodus of stock listings from the London Stock Exchange, London remains a European economic powerhouse, and one of the world's major financial centres. It hosts Europe's largest concentration of higher education institutions, 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. 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% of the United Kingdom's population 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. 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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Featured article - show another

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

Queen's Gate House, still commonly known by its previous name of Baden-Powell House, is a conference centre in South Kensington, London. It was built as a tribute to Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, and has served as the headquarters for The Scout Association, as a hostel providing modern and affordable lodging for Scouts, Guides, their families and the general public staying in London and as a conference and event venue.

The building committee, chaired by Sir Harold Gillett, Lord Mayor of London, purchased the site in 1956, and assigned Ralph Tubbs to design the house in the modern architectural style. The foundation stone was laid in 1959 by World Chief Guide Olave, Lady Baden-Powell, and it was opened in 1961 by Queen Elizabeth II. The largest part of the £400,000 cost was provided by the Scout Movement itself and the building previously included a number of tributes to the founder including hosting a small exhibition about Scouting, and a granite statue of Baden-Powell by Don Potter located outside the building. (Full article...)

List of Featured articles and lists

edit

Featured picture

Photo credit: Library of Congress / Durova (restored by Adam Cuerden)

Vauxhall Gardens, depicted here in a print after Thomas Rowlandson, was a pleasure garden in Vauxhall, South London. It was one of the leading venues for public entertainment in London from the mid-17th to the mid-19th century. The figures in the print include George IV and his mistress Mary Robinson, the socialite Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, and the luminaries Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Hester Thrale and Oliver Goldsmith.

More featured pictures...

edit

Subcategories

Articles about London can be found under these categories:

edit

Related portals

Featured biography - show another

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

Interior view of Hereford Cathedral. The lower sections predate Foliot's time as bishop.

Gilbert Foliot (c. 1110 – 18 February 1187) was a medieval English monk and prelate, successively Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Born to an ecclesiastical family, he became a monk at Cluny Abbey in France at about the age of twenty. After holding two posts as prior in the Cluniac order he was appointed Abbot of Gloucester Abbey in 1139, a promotion influenced by his kinsman Miles of Gloucester. During his tenure as abbot he acquired additional land for the abbey, and may have helped to fabricate some charters—legal deeds attesting property ownership—to gain advantage in a dispute with the Archbishops of York. Although Foliot recognised Stephen as the King of England, he may have also sympathised with the Empress Matilda's claim to the throne. He joined Matilda's supporters after her forces captured Stephen, and continued to write letters in support of Matilda even after Stephen's release.

Foliot accompanied Theobald of Bec, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to a papal council at Reims in 1148. During his time there he was appointed to the Diocese of Hereford by Pope Eugene III. Despite a promise made in Reims not to recognise Stephen, Foliot on his return to England nevertheless swore fealty to the king, causing a temporary rift in his relationship with Henry of Anjou, Matilda's son, who eventually became King Henry II of England in 1154. When Theobald died in 1160, it was widely assumed that he would be replaced by Foliot, but King Henry nominated his Chancellor, Thomas Becket, instead. Foliot later claimed to have opposed this appointment, and supported Henry during the king's dispute with the new archbishop. Foliot was translated, or moved, to the Diocese of London in 1163, perhaps as consolation for not receiving Canterbury. (Full article...)

List of Featured biographies
William Shakespeare 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 Lilias Armstrong Laurence Olivier George Lansbury Marie Lloyd Stanley Holloway Robert of Jumièges

edit

Selected quotation

“

London, thou art the flour of cities all!

”

William Dunbar (1460?–1520?), London

More quotations...

edit

Did you know...

... that the Grade I-listed George Inn, Southwark (pictured), is London's only remaining coaching inn, and appears on a map dating to 1543?

... that the Spaniards Inn on Hampstead Heath appears in Charles Dickens's Pickwick Papers and Barnaby Rudge, and in Bram Stoker's Dracula?

... that the London Beer Flood of 1814 claimed 9 lives after a large vat of the drink burst at Meux's Brewery on Tottenham Court Road?

... that the vaulted cellars of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese are thought to belong to a thirteenth-century Carmelite monastery which once stood on the site?

... that the Fortune of War at Smithfield stood at the place where the Great Fire of London is said to have stopped, and was a popular haunt for body-snatchers?

More did you know facts...

General images

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

edit

London Boroughs

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

edit

London Topics

edit

Transport

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.