London

London is the capital of the United Kingdom and (de facto) in the UK. London was founded under the name Londinium as the capital of the Roman province of Britannia, for which it also served as a port city on the River Thames. The city is crossed by the Thames, which flows through the city and divides it in a north-south direction, although it is crossed by many bridges and tunnels; The most famous bridge is the New Gothic Tower Bridge.

London had about 8.4 million inhabitants in 2013, and with suburbs (London Metropolitan Area) about 13.8 million inhabitants in early 2015, making it the EU's most populous metropolitan region. At the 2001 census, almost 22% of the population was born outside the EU.

Throughout history, London has had a great influence on culture, finance, trade and politics both nationally and internationally. The city has, from a historical perspective, been favored by the UK's dominant position, both as a leading industrialized country but also by a prominent role in trade and politics. Even today, London is one of the world's largest financial centers and has one of the highest per capita GDP among European cities.

London also has a prominent role in education and culture. The University of London was founded in 1836 and today there are several prominent universities in the city (including King's College, University College London, London School of Economics and Richmond University). The city has a long line of rich museums, libraries, theaters and similar cultural centers, which together manage a cultural heritage from both the UK and the world.

London was founded by the Roman Empire under its rule over the British Isles. The name given to the city by the Romans, Londinium, is of Roman origin and was possibly the former name of the area. This fortified settlement was the capital of the Roman province of Britannia. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Londinium was abandoned and a Saxon city named Lundenwic was established about one and a half kilometers further west, in what is now Aldwych, in the 600s AD. The old Roman city was then reaffirmed in the late 800s or early 900s. Westminster was once a city of its own and has been the seat of the English court and government since the Middle Ages. Eventually Westminster and London grew together and formed the foundation for London, which became England's largest city, but not capital (Winchester was the capital of England until the 12th century).

London has steadily grown over the centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of nearby villages and towns, farmland, rural areas, meadows and forests and has spread in all directions. From the 16th century to the early 1900s, London flourished as the capital of the British Empire.

In 1666, the great fire swept through the city, destroying a third of the city center, only the Thames preventing the fire from reaching the southern part. The reconstruction took over a decade to complete. After the fire, Christopher Wren presented a new proposal to the city center of London. The proposal was inspired by Paris and had an open and spacious city solution, to the historically cramped London. But the lack of money hampered the project and the land was given back to the previous owners so that they could build the houses where they had once stood. Christopher Wren succeeded however, realize a part of the project, St. Paul's Cathedral.

London's growing accelerated in the 18th century and during the early 19th century it was the largest city in the world. London's local government system struggled to cope with this rapid growth, especially with providing enough infrastructure for the city. In 1855, The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was created to provide London with an infrastructure capable of sustaining the city's growth. MBW was abolished in 1889 and the County of London was created, which was administered by the London County Council, the first elected all-inclusive administrative unit in the city.

In the early 1900s, Londoners used coal to heat the homes, creating large amounts of smoke. Together with special climatic conditions this often caused a characteristic smog, and London became known for its typical London fog, also known as Pea Soupers. London is also sometimes called "The Smoke", probably because of this. In 1956, The Clean Air Act was introduced because of a five-day pea souper, from December 5 to December 9, 1952, requiring the establishment of special non-smoking zones where smoke-free fuel was required. The studies showed that 4000 people died prematurely due to the smog, known as the Great Smog, in 1952.

What has probably been the biggest change in London over the last 100 years has its origin in the Lightning and other bombing of the German Luftwaffe that took place during the Second World War. The bombings killed more than 30,000 Londoners and leveled large areas with residential buildings and other buildings across London with the ground. The reconstruction during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was characterized by many different architectural styles and has resulted in a lack of uniformity in architecture, which has become part of London's cityscape.

In 1965, the London County Council was replaced by the Greater London Council (GLC). Greater London included many more suburbs in the capital, including twenty of the current boroughs of London. The GLC was abolished in 1986 following conflicts between the government of Margaret Thatcher and its opposition group, led by Ken Livingstone. GLC's powers were transferred to the boroughs. In 2000, the commute swung the other way when creating the Greater London Authority (GLA) and electing a first mayor of the city, which Ken Livingstone won as an unborn candidate. However, the mayor and GLA have limited responsibility and very little financial independence.

Prior to the 1997 ceasefire, London was regularly a target of the IRA's bomb attacks that sought to pressure the UK government to negotiate with Sinn Fein about Northern Ireland.

On July 7, 2005, a number of coordinated bomb attacks occurred at three subway stations and one bus. The explosions came less than a day after London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics and while the G8 meeting was going on in Scotland. This is probably a aftermath of Britain's support for the Iraq war.

London has a maritime climate with little temperature difference between seasons. The summers are warm with normal summer temperatures of about 20–22 ° C during daytime and 12–14 ° C at night. In winters, temperatures are around 2–8 ° C. Snowfall in London is unusual, but light snowfall nevertheless occurs at some time each winter.

Greater London (Greater London) is an administrative metropolitan area, divided into 33 districts: 32 boroughs with extensive self-government as well as the central City of London, which is administered separately by the Corporation of the City of London. Twelve of the most central districts are usually subdivided into Inner London (Inner London), these also have increased cooperation in certain areas.

London is one of the world's largest financial centers in international business and international trade. Together with New York, London is regarded as the most important financial center in the world. In the city, 480 foreign banks are based, which is more than any other city in the world. London accounts for about 20% (446 billion in 2005) of the UK's total GDP, the London Metropolitan Area which is the largest in Europe, accounting for 30% (around 669 billion in 2005). The city's largest industry is financial operations and financial exports, which contribute to the UK's balance of payment. Up to 2007, 325,000 people were employed in the financial industry. Due to its central role in the international economy, 70,000 jobs are expected to disappear due to the financial crisis in 2008-09.

Over half of the UK's 100 largest companies are based in London and over 100 of the 500 largest companies in Europe have their headquarters in the city. In addition to companies, London is also the base for the UK's central bank (Bank of England), stock exchange (London Stock Exchange) and insurance market Lloyds of London. The Port of London is the UK's second largest and handles around 50 million tonnes of goods each year.

London's second most competitive sector is the media sector, whose main employer is the national broadcaster BBC together with other headquarters for Ether Media. Several national and international newspapers and magazines have their headquarters and editorial offices in London.

Tourism employs the equivalent of 350,000 full-time services (2003) and has a turnover of around £ 15 billion. After Paris, London is Europe's most visited city with 15 million international visitors per year and has 27 million night visitors per year.

The Battersea Brewery Co Ltd brewery is located in London.

Various forms of commuter trains service London with very frequent departures, including the London Overground which is currently being expanded. The London Overground was opened in 2007 and, among other things, a former metro line has been rebuilt to the Overground network. London Overground is an important addition to the London Underground (underground). Among other things, the former East London Line subway line (which went between Shoreditch and New Cross/New Cross Gate) has been incorporated into the London Overground.

London night time seen from the International Space Station ISS.

The London Underground (London Underground) was the first in the world. It was the world's largest subway network for a long time, but today it is the third largest after Shanghai and Beijing's subways. The total length of the subway network is 415 kilometers and the network has a total of 275 stations. The first line was opened in 1863. London's subway trains are maximally utilized every day and the congestion is many times great. On July 7, 2005, the subway was exposed to terrorist attacks when several bombs exploded. 52 people died in the attacks and hundreds were injured.

London has a new tram network that was opened for traffic in 2000. Today, the tram network consists of 3 lines but there are plans to build several different lines.

Bus traffic is very extensive in London. The most typical buses are so-called double decks which characterize the urban environment. The buses are also more or less a symbol of London. The best known type of double decker is the older type called Routemaster. However, these buses are less common today and have been replaced with more modern models that look more conventional. However, these are also double decks and usually red painted. Buses travel through virtually all of London and its suburbs. Bus traffic is very dense. The buses are wheelchair accessible with a ramp that folds out under the doors in the middle of the bus.

London is a very important railway hub, one of the most important in Europe. London does not have a station but many and many of these are very large. Each station handles train traffic in different directions. There are twelve start / end stations in central London, these are Marylebone, Paddington, Euston, St Pancras, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, London Bridge (partial through traffic), Waterloo (nearby "Waterloo East" has through traffic), Victoria and Fenchurch Street and Charing Cross and Cannon Street. However, all traffic from the two latter terminals also crosses the London Bridge (where additional lines are also based).

The biggest hub in addition to these terminals is Clapham Junction where Victoria traffic crosses traffic from Waterloo, making Clapham Junction the most frequented in the entire UK, measured in number of train departures. The trains from each terminal station have a main direction, which does not, however, prevent you from traveling to, for example, Birmingham from both Marylebone and Euston. However, for smaller cities or a few distant cities, trains usually start from only one of the twelve main stations. Eurostar to Paris and Brussels depart since Waterloo redevelopment was initiated from St Pancras International (located north of the Thames), if the original plans are completed, Eurostart traffic will return to Waterloo in 2015.

In recent years, a new metro, or city rail, the Overground has begun to use former local railways and the entire former subway line East London line (Shoreditch, New Cross / New Cross Gate).

In London itself there are two airports of which Heathrow is the largest. London City Airport is a Stol (Short Take Off and Landing) airport which means that it is operated by aircraft capable of taking off and landing on very short distances and with relatively steep approach. Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and London Southend Airport airports use the city name London in their official names, but they are located in areas outside the city.

From London, a large number of motorways extend over large parts of the UK. These are very important for both London and other parts of the UK and have very dense traffic. These are the busiest motorways in Europe. Around London there is a motorway in the form of a ring road and this highway is called the M25. This is the world's second largest ring road and traffic is very dense.

London is one of the largest music cities in the world and the seat of several major music companies, musicians and employees in the music industry. In London there are many orchestras and concert halls such as the Barbican Arts Center, Cadogan Hall and Royal Albert Hall and opera houses such as the Royal Opera House and the London Coliseum. There are institutions such as the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The city hosts music events such as the Wireless Festival, South West Four, Lovebox and Hyde Park's British Summer Time. In the city, artists like Elton John, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Queen, Kinks, Rolling Stones, Who, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Small Faces, Iron Maiden, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, Cat Stevens, The Police, The Cure, Madness, The Jam, Dusty Springfield, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Sade have been in and inspired by the city.

London has many museums, galleries and other free-entry institutions that are major tourist attractions and also play a major role in research. The British Museum was the first museum of this type and opened in 1753. In 1824 the National Gallery was founded. In the late 1800s, South Kensington became the center of cultural and scientific institutions, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. 1897 was founded Tate gallery which since 2000 can be found in Bankside Power Station as Tate Modern.

London has played a significant role in the film with several major film studios and has been the recording site for a number of films. Famous actors and filmmakers from London include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Caine, Helen Mirren, Gary Oldman, Christopher Nolan, Jude Law, Tom Hardy, Keira Knightley and Daniel Day-Lewis. In TV there are major production studios such as BBC Television Center, The Fountain Studios and The London Studios.

London is a major sporting city mainly associated with football but also with the other major British national sports (rugby and cricket). In addition, London organizes one of the world's largest marathon races, the London Marathon, and has national top teams in basketball, among others. London has also been home to three Olympic Games, the 1908 Summer Olympics, the 1948 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics. The city was also the organizer of the British Empire Games in 1934. In 2007, the entire Tour de France started with a prologue in the center of central London.

In London every year Wimbledon championships are playedn is one of the four major tennis tournaments in the world. Here is also the ATP playoffs since 2009 in November on the O2 arena and the ATP tournament Queen's Club Championships on the grass the week before the Wimbledon championship.

Rugby union is a great public sport, especially in the middle class suburbs north and west of the city. Twickenham is the home of the English national team and London has three of 12 clubs in the highest league. London also has a team in the highest Rugby league series (Super League), the London Broncos. However, this is largely for commercial reasons.

London has two well-known venues for cricket, Lords (home ground for Middlesex and Marylebone Cricket Club) and The Oval (home ground for Surrey County Cricket Club). Both are playgrounds for the recurring test series matches against other national teams.

Oxford University and Cambridge University compete in the classic The Boat Race on the Thames between Putney and Mortlake.

London Capital and London Leopards play in the highest league in the country and second highest plays London United.

London's Olympic Stadium, the World Championships in Athletics 2017 will be held.

Football is the most popular public sport in London, home to a number of leading football clubs, such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham United. Apart from Arsenal, the London clubs have not won as many trophies as the teams from north-west England, Liverpool and Manchester United, but in recent years Chelsea, in competition with mainly Manchester United, has established itself as the leading clubs. The classic London exchange is, despite Chelsea's success, a derby in north London between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

London was one of the seven organizer cities for the 1966 World Cup and one of the eight for the 1996 European Football Championship; the finals of these championships were played in London at Wembley. The European Champions Cup final was played in London at Wembley 1968, 1978 and 1992, UEFA Champions League Final 2011 and 2013.