Two of those timbers were radiocarbon dated to between 1750 BC and 1285 BC. In 2010, the foundations of a large timber structure, dated to between 4800 BC and 4500 BC, were found on the Thames's south foreshore, downstream of Vauxhall Bridge.
During the 18th century, London was dogged by crime, and the Bow Street Runners were established in 1750 as a professional police force.
The first of these to be established was the British Museum in Bloomsbury, in 1753.
At Kew, the most rainfall in one month is in November 1755 and the least is in both December 1788 and July 1800.
London's development as an international financial centre matured for much of the 1700s. In 1762, George III acquired Buckingham House and it was enlarged over the next 75 years.
At Kew, the most rainfall in one month is in November 1755 and the least is in both December 1788 and July 1800.
London took over as a major financial centre shortly after 1795 when the Dutch Republic collapsed before the Napoleonic armies.
At Kew, the most rainfall in one month is in November 1755 and the least is in both December 1788 and July 1800.
Following the invasion of Amsterdam by Napoleonic armies, many financiers relocated to London and the first London international issue was arranged in 1817.
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. The British Library is the second largest library in the world, and the national library of the United Kingdom.
London then overtook Amsterdam as the leading international financial centre. According to Samuel Johnson: ===Late modern and contemporary=== London was the world's largest city from 1831 to 1925, with a population density of 325 people per hectare.
The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 was specifically aimed at weakening Dutch economic power.
London's overcrowded conditions led to cholera epidemics, claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and 6,000 in 1866.
It existed until 1853, when the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg sold the property to South Eastern Railway.
The National Portrait Gallery was founded in 1856 to house depictions of figures from British history; its holdings now comprise the world's most extensive collection of portraits.
John Camden Hotten, in his Slang Dictionary of 1859, makes reference to "their use of a peculiar slang language" when describing the costermongers of the East End.
It dates from 1863. Over four million journeys are made every day on the Underground network, over 1 billion each year.
London's overcrowded conditions led to cholera epidemics, claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and 6,000 in 1866.
Peter Schrijver has specifically suggested, on these grounds, that the name originally meant 'place that floods (periodically, tidally)'. Until 1889, the name "London" applied officially only to the City of London, but since then it has also referred to the County of London and to Greater London. In writing, "London" is, on occasion, colloquially contracted to "LDN".
Mile End also had in April 1893.
However, the most consecutive days without rain was 73 days in the spring of 1893. Winters are generally cool with little temperature variation.
The national gallery of British art is at Tate Britain, originally established as an annexe of the National Gallery in 1897.
The wettest year on record is 1903, with a total fall of and the driest is 1921, with a total fall of .
The previous record high was in August 1911 at the Greenwich station.
The wettest year on record is 1903, with a total fall of and the driest is 1921, with a total fall of .
Other professional teams in London are AFC Wimbledon, Barnet, Brentford, Bromley, Dagenham & Redbridge, Leyton Orient, Millwall, and Sutton United. From 1924, the original Wembley Stadium was the home of the English national football team.
London then overtook Amsterdam as the leading international financial centre. According to Samuel Johnson: ===Late modern and contemporary=== London was the world's largest city from 1831 to 1925, with a population density of 325 people per hectare.
London has one of the largest wheelchair-accessible networks in the world and from the third quarter of 2007, became more accessible to hearing and visually impaired passengers as audio-visual announcements were introduced. London's coach hub is Victoria Coach Station, an Art Deco building opened in 1932.
The public transport network is administered by Transport for London (TfL). The lines that formed the London Underground, as well as trams and buses, became part of an integrated transport system in 1933 when the London Passenger Transport Board or London Transport was created.
The city was also the host of the British Empire Games in 1934.
Racial inequality was highlighted by the 1981 Brixton riot. Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after the Second World War, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s.
In January 2015, Greater London's population was estimated to be 8.63 million, the highest level since 1939.
Its population peaked at 8,615,245 in 1939 immediately before the outbreak of the Second World War, but had declined to 7,192,091 at the 2001 Census.
From the 1940s onwards, London became home to many immigrants, primarily from Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, making London one of the most diverse cities worldwide.
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 soup fogs" for which London had been notorious. Primarily starting in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for the worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London subculture associated with the King's Road, Chelsea and Carnaby Street.
The Great Smog of 1952 led to the Clean Air Act 1956, which ended the "pea soup fogs" for which London had been notorious. Primarily starting in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for the worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London subculture associated with the King's Road, Chelsea and Carnaby Street.
A plan for a comprehensive network of motorways throughout the city (the Ringways Plan) was prepared in the 1960s but was mostly cancelled in the early 1970s.
Nevertheless, despite its relatively low annual precipitation, London still receives 109.6 rainy days on the 1.0 mm threshold annually—higher than, or at least very similar to, the aforementioned cities. Temperature extremes in London range from at Kew on 10 August 2003 down to at Northolt on 1 January 1962.
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.
Since 1965 Greater London has been divided into 32 London boroughs in addition to the ancient City of London.
It hosted the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, with England defeating West Germany, and served as the venue for the FA Cup Final as well as rugby league's Challenge Cup final.
The coach station was initially run by a group of coach companies under the name of London Coastal Coaches; however, in 1970 the service and station were included in the nationalisation of the country's coach services, becoming part of the National Bus Company.
A plan for a comprehensive network of motorways throughout the city (the Ringways Plan) was prepared in the 1960s but was mostly cancelled in the early 1970s.
During The Troubles in Northern Ireland, London was subjected to bombing attacks by the Provisional Irish Republican Army for two decades, starting with the Old Bailey bombing in 1973.
The threat has increased over time because of a slow but continuous rise in high water level by the slow 'tilting' of the British Isles (up in Scotland and Northern Ireland and down in southern parts of England, Wales and Ireland) caused by post-glacial rebound. In 1974 a decade of work began on the construction of the Thames Barrier across the Thames at Woolwich to deal with this threat.
There was also a previous spell of 15 consecutive days above in England in 1976 which also caused many heat related deaths.
Racial inequality was highlighted by the 1981 Brixton riot. Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after the Second World War, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s.
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 without a central administration until 2000 when London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the Greater London Authority.
Racial inequality was highlighted by the 1981 Brixton riot. Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after the Second World War, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s.
Many television programmes have been set in London, including the popular television soap opera EastEnders, broadcast by the BBC since 1985. ===Museums, art galleries and libraries=== London is home to many museums, galleries, and other institutions, many of which are free of admission charges and are major tourist attractions as well as playing a research role.
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 without a central administration until 2000 when London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the Greater London Authority.
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which opened in 1987, is a second, more local metro system using smaller and lighter tram-type vehicles that serve the Docklands, Greenwich and Lewisham. ====Suburban==== There are more than 360 railway stations in the London Travelcard Zones on an extensive above-ground suburban railway network.
In 1988, the coach station was purchased by London Transport which then became Transport for London.
During the period 1991–2001 a net 726,000 immigrants arrived in London. The region covers an area of .
Such usage originated in SMS language, and is often found, on a social media user profile, suffixing an alias or handle. ==History== ===Prehistory=== In 1993, the remains of a Bronze Age bridge were found on the south foreshore, upstream of Vauxhall Bridge.
The ministerial post of minister for London was created in 1994.
The opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 connected London directly to the continental rail network, allowing Eurostar services to begin.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that, , London's foreign-born population was 2,650,000 (33 per cent), up from 1,630,000 in 1997. The 2011 census showed that 36.7 per cent of Greater London's population were born outside the UK.
A prominent explanation was Richard Coates's 1998 argument that the name derived from pre-Celtic Old European *, meaning "river too wide to ford".
Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue has the largest membership of any single Orthodox synagogue in the whole of Europe, overtaking Ilford synagogue (also in London) in 1998.
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 without a central administration until 2000 when London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the Greater London Authority.
The Metropolitan Police have made detailed crime figures, broken down by category at borough and ward level, available on their website since 2000. Recorded crime has been rising in London, notably violent crime and murder by stabbing and other means have risen.
They indicate that 2000 species of flowering plant have been found growing there and that the tidal Thames supports 120 species of fish.
In 2000, this collection moved to Tate Modern, a new gallery housed in the former Bankside Power Station, which was built by the Basel-based architecture firm of Herzog & de Meuron. ===Music=== 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, as well as countless bands, musicians and industry professionals.
More recently, Greater London has been defined as a region of England and in this context is known as London. ===Topography=== Greater London encompasses a total area of , an area which had a population of 7,172,036 in 2001 and a population density of .
A survey in 2001 by the London-based Mammal Society found that 80 per cent of 3,779 respondents who volunteered to keep a diary of garden mammal visits liked having them around.
Its population peaked at 8,615,245 in 1939 immediately before the outbreak of the Second World War, but had declined to 7,192,091 at the 2001 Census.
However, the population then grew by just over a million between the 2001 and 2011 Censuses, to reach 8,173,941 in the latter enumeration. However, London's continuous urban area extends beyond the borders of Greater London and was home to 9,787,426 people in 2011, while its wider metropolitan area has a population of between 12 and 14 million depending on the definition used.
One way to get an idea of their relative importance is to look at relative amounts of office space: Greater London had 27 million m2 of office space in 2001, and the City contains the most space, with 8 million m2 of office space.
Nevertheless, despite its relatively low annual precipitation, London still receives 109.6 rainy days on the 1.0 mm threshold annually—higher than, or at least very similar to, the aforementioned cities. Temperature extremes in London range from at Kew on 10 August 2003 down to at Northolt on 1 January 1962.
During the 2003 European heat wave prolonged heat led to hundreds of heat-related deaths.
The A1 and M1 connect London to Leeds, and Newcastle and Edinburgh. London is notorious for its traffic congestion; in 2009, the average speed of a car in the rush hour was recorded at . In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced to reduce traffic volumes in the city centre.
A 2003 report attributed a quarter of the entire UK leisure economy to London at 25.6 events per 1000 people.
In 2003, the gardens were put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
On 6 July 2005 London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics, making London the first city to stage the Olympic Games three times.
On 7 July 2005, three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus were bombed in a series of terrorist attacks. In 2008, Time named London alongside New York City and Hong Kong as Nylonkong, hailing it as the world's three most influential global cities.
In January 2005, a survey of London's ethnic and religious diversity claimed that there were more than 300 languages spoken in London and more than 50 non-indigenous communities with a population of more than 10,000.
There are large Bengali Muslim communities in the eastern boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham. Large Hindu communities are in the north-western boroughs of Harrow and Brent, the latter of which hosts what was, until 2006, Europe's largest Hindu temple, Neasden Temple.
The community set up the London Jewish Forum in 2006 in response to the growing significance of devolved London Government. ===Accents=== Cockney is an accent heard across London, mainly spoken by working-class and lower-middle class Londoners.
5.0 per cent are of mixed race. As of 2007, Black and Asian children outnumbered White British children by about six to four in state schools across London.
Because of its prominent global role, London's economy had been affected by the financial crisis of 2007–2008.
In 2007 the Mayor of London assumed responsibility for some local lines, which now form the London Overground network, adding to the existing responsibility for the London Underground, trams and buses.
Since 2007, high-speed trains link St.
London has one of the largest wheelchair-accessible networks in the world and from the third quarter of 2007, became more accessible to hearing and visually impaired passengers as audio-visual announcements were introduced. London's coach hub is Victoria Coach Station, an Art Deco building opened in 1932.
On 7 July 2005, three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus were bombed in a series of terrorist attacks. In 2008, Time named London alongside New York City and Hong Kong as Nylonkong, hailing it as the world's three most influential global cities.
In March 2008 its fifth terminal was opened.
Since June 2008, Transport for London has completely owned and operated Tramlink. ===Cable car=== London's first and to date only cable car is the Emirates Air Line, which opened in June 2012.
Since 2008, the British Academy Film Awards have taken place at the Royal Opera House.
In 2009–2010 the combined revenue expenditure by London councils and the GLA amounted to just over £22 billion (£14.7 billion for the boroughs and £7.4 billion for the GLA). The London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for Greater London.
The first high-speed domestic trains started in June 2009 linking Kent to London.
The launch of a bicycle hire scheme in July 2010 was successful and generally well received. ===Port and river boats=== The Port of London, once the largest in the world, is now only the second-largest in the United Kingdom, handling 45 million tonnes of cargo each year as of 2009.
The A1 and M1 connect London to Leeds, and Newcastle and Edinburgh. London is notorious for its traffic congestion; in 2009, the average speed of a car in the rush hour was recorded at . In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced to reduce traffic volumes in the city centre.
Two of those timbers were radiocarbon dated to between 1750 BC and 1285 BC. In 2010, the foundations of a large timber structure, dated to between 4800 BC and 4500 BC, were found on the Thames's south foreshore, downstream of Vauxhall Bridge.
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.
London is a major retail centre and in 2010 had the highest non-food retail sales of any city in the world, with a total spend of around £64.2 billion.
Since 2010 and average of £1.2 billion is taken in revenue each year.
The launch of a bicycle hire scheme in July 2010 was successful and generally well received. ===Port and river boats=== The Port of London, once the largest in the world, is now only the second-largest in the United Kingdom, handling 45 million tonnes of cargo each year as of 2009.
Greater London Built-up Area is the fourth-most populous in Europe, after Istanbul, Moscow, and Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census.
The mayor's statutory planning strategy is published as the London Plan, which was most recently revised in 2011.
While Londoners are accustomed to wildlife such as birds and foxes sharing the city, more recently urban deer have started becoming a regular feature, and whole herds of fallow deer come into residential areas at night to take advantage of London's green spaces. ==Demography== The 2011 census recorded that 2,998,264 people or 36.7% of London's population are foreign-born making London the city with the second largest immigrant population, behind New York City, in terms of absolute numbers.
However, the population then grew by just over a million between the 2001 and 2011 Censuses, to reach 8,173,941 in the latter enumeration. However, London's continuous urban area extends beyond the borders of Greater London and was home to 9,787,426 people in 2011, while its wider metropolitan area has a population of between 12 and 14 million depending on the definition used.
Altogether at the 2011 census, of London's 1,624,768 population aged 0 to 15, 46.4 per cent were White, 19.8 per cent were Asian, 19 per cent were Black, 10.8 per cent were Mixed and 4 per cent represented another ethnic group.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that, , London's foreign-born population was 2,650,000 (33 per cent), up from 1,630,000 in 1997. The 2011 census showed that 36.7 per cent of Greater London's population were born outside the UK.
In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted three modern Summer Olympic Games. London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region.
On 6 July 2005 London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics, making London the first city to stage the Olympic Games three times.
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 was developed into the Olympic Park for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. ===Architecture=== London's buildings are too diverse to be characterised by any particular architectural style, partly because of their varying ages.
An investment programme is attempting to reduce congestion and improve reliability, including £6.5 billion (€7.7 billion) spent before the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Since June 2008, Transport for London has completely owned and operated Tramlink. ===Cable car=== London's first and to date only cable car is the Emirates Air Line, which opened in June 2012.
The network has 39 stops and four routes, and carried 28 million people in 2013.
Music station BBC Radio 1Xtra was set up to support the rise of local urban contemporary music both in London and in the rest of the United Kingdom. ==Recreation== ===Parks and open spaces=== A 2013 report by the City of London Corporation said that London is the "greenest city" in Europe with 35,000 acres of public parks, woodlands and gardens.
In 2015, there were 118 homicides, a 25.5% increase over 2014.
On average the price per square metre in central London is €24,252 (April 2014).
In April 2014, the city was among the first to receive a geoTLD.
In February 2014 London was ranked as the European City of the Future in the 2014/15 list by FDi Magazine. 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. ===Tourism=== London is one of the leading tourist destinations in the world and in 2015 was ranked as the most visited city in the world with over 65 million visits.
A 2014 PricewaterhouseCoopers report termed London the global capital of higher education. A number of world-leading education institutions are based in London.
In January 2015, Greater London's population was estimated to be 8.63 million, the highest level since 1939.
In 2015, there were 118 homicides, a 25.5% increase over 2014.
About 69% of children born in London in 2015 had at least one parent who was born abroad.
In February 2014 London was ranked as the European City of the Future in the 2014/15 list by FDi Magazine. 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. ===Tourism=== London is one of the leading tourist destinations in the world and in 2015 was ranked as the most visited city in the world with over 65 million visits.
It is also the top city in the world by visitor cross-border spending, estimated at US$20.23 billion in 2015.
London was the world top city destination as ranked by TripAdvisor users. In 2015 the top most-visited attractions in the UK were all in London.
According to the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, London has the greatest concentration of top class universities in the world and its international student population of around 110,000 is larger than any other city in the world.
The London Business School is considered one of the world's leading business schools and in 2015 its MBA programme was ranked second-best in the world by the Financial Times.
The London metropolitan area is the third-most populous in Europe, after Istanbul and the Moscow Metropolitan Area, with 14,040,163 inhabitants in 2016. 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 in Greenwich where the Royal Observatory, Greenwich defines the Prime Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time.
During the Brexit referendum in 2016, the UK as a whole decided to leave the European Union, but a majority of London constituencies voted to remain in the EU. ==Administration== ===Local government=== The administration of London is formed of two tiers: a citywide, strategic tier and a local tier.
The mayor since 2016 has been Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital.
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.
In 2017, international passengers made up over 95% of the total at Southend, the highest proportion of any London airport. ===Rail=== ====Underground and DLR==== The London Underground, commonly referred to as the Tube, is the oldest and third longest metro system in the world.
In 2017, London hosted the World Championships in Athletics for the first time. London's most popular sport is football and it has eight clubs in the English Premier League as of the 2020–21 season: Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham United.
There were 50 murders from the start of 2018 to mid April 2018.
Most recently in Summer 2018 and with much drier than average conditions prevailing from May to December.
It is mainly spoken by upper-class and upper-middle class Londoners. ==Economy== London's gross regional product in 2018 was almost £500 billion, around a quarter of UK GDP.
Kearney's 2018 Global Cities Index. London's largest industry is finance, and its financial exports make it a large contributor to the UK's balance of payments.
It is one of the largest financial centres in the world and in 2019, London had the second highest number of ultra high-net-worth individuals in Europe, after Paris.
In 2019/20, the network had more than 2 billion commuter trips per year.
And in 2020, London had the second-highest number of billionaires of any city in Europe, after Moscow.
The highest pressure ever reported is on 20 January 2020. Summers are generally warm, sometimes hot.
The city is also home to three of the world's top ten performing arts schools (as ranked by the 2020 QS World University Rankings): the Royal College of Music (ranking 2nd in the world), the Royal Academy of Music (ranking 4th) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (ranking 6th). With students in London and around 48,000 in University of London Worldwide, the federal University of London is the largest contact teaching university in the UK.
In 2017, London hosted the World Championships in Athletics for the first time. London's most popular sport is football and it has eight clubs in the English Premier League as of the 2020–21 season: Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham United.
is the busiest station in Europe by the number of trains passing. With the need for more rail capacity in London, Crossrail is expected to open in 2021.
In the 2021 QS World University Rankings, Imperial College London is ranked #8 in the world, University College London (UCL) is ranked 10th, and King's College London (KCL) is ranked 31st.
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