London, capital of Great Britain, SE England, on both sides of the Thames River. Greater London (1991 pop. 6,378,600), c.620 sq mi (1,610 sq km), consists of the Corporation of the City of London (1991 pop. 4,000), usually called the City, plus 32 boroughs. The City is the old city of London and is the modern city's commercial center; it is also referred to as the “Square Mile” because of its area. The 12 inner boroughs that surround the City are Westminster, Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark, Lambeth, Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea. The 20 outer boroughs are Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering, Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Sutton, Merton, Kingston upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Ealing, Brent, Harrow, Barnet, Haringey, and Enfield. Greater London includes the area of the former county of London, most of the former county of Middlesex, and areas that were formerly in Surrey, Kent, Essex, and Hertfordshire. Each of the boroughs of Greater London elects a council.
The Greater London Council administered the larger London area until 1986, when it was abolished by the Thatcher government, making London unique as a world metropolis without a central governing unit. In 1999 the Greater London Authority Act reestablished a single local governing body for the Greater London area, consisting of an elected mayor and the London Assembly. Elections were held in 2000, and Ken Livingstone became London's first elected mayor.
Economy
London is one of the world's foremost financial, commercial, industrial, and cultural centers. The Bank of England, Lloyd's, the stock exchange, and numerous other banks and investment companies have their headquarters there, primarily in the City, but increasingly at Canary Wharf. The financial services sector is a major source of overall employment in London.
London still remains one of the world's greatest ports. It exports manufactured goods and imports petroleum, tea, wool, raw sugar, timber, butter, metals, and meat. Consumer goods, clothing, precision instruments, jewelry, and stationery are produced, but manufacturing has lost a number of jobs in the once-dominant textile, furniture, printing, and chemical-processing industries as firms have moved outside the area. Engineering and scientific research are also important to the economy, as is tourism. The city is a hub for road, rail, and air (its airports include Heathrow and Gatwick), and it is now linked to the Continent by a high-speed rail line under the English Channel.
Points of Interest
The best-known streets of London are Fleet Street, the Strand, Piccadilly, Whitehall, Pall Mall, Downing Street, and Lombard Street. Bond and Regent streets and Covent Garden are noted for their shops. Buckingham Palace is the royal family's London residence. Municipal parks include Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent's Park (which houses the London Zoo), and St. James's and Green parks. Museums include the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Wallace Collection, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Saachi Gallery. London also has numerous commercial art galleries and plays a major role in the international art market.
The British Library, one of the world's great reference resources, is located in London. The city is rich in other artistic and cultural activities. Its approximately 100 theater companies reflect the importance of drama, and it has several world-class orchestras, a well-known opera house, performance halls, and clubs. A working replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre opened in 1997. The Univ. of London is the largest in Great Britain, and there are other universities and colleges in the city. The state-owned BBC (British Broadcasting Company) is headquartered in London, and most of the country's national newspapers are published there. The New Scotland Yard, synonymous with criminal investigation, is located in the city. Sporting events draw large support from Londoners who follow cricket, soccer (at Wimbley Stadium), and tennis (including the Wimbledon championship).
History
Little is known of London prior to A.D. 61, when, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, the followers of Queen Boadicea rebelled and slaughtered the inhabitants of the Roman fort Londinium. Roman authority was soon restored, and the first city walls were built, remnants of which still exist. After the final withdrawal of the Roman legions in the 5th cent., London was lost in obscurity. Celts, Saxons, and Danes contested the general area, and it was not until 886 that London again emerged as an important town under the firm control of King Alfred, who rebuilt the defenses against the Danes and gave the city a government.
London put up some resistance to William I in 1066, but he subsequently treated the city well. During his reign the White Tower, the nucleus of the Tower of London, was built just east of the city wall. Under the Normans and Plantagenets (see Great Britain), the city grew commercially and politically and during the reign of Richard I (1189–99) obtained a form of municipal government from which the modern City Corporation developed. In 1215, King John granted the city the right to elect a mayor annually.
The guilds of the Middle Ages gained control of civic affairs and grew sufficiently strong to restrict trade to freemen of the city. The guilds survive today in 80 livery companies, of which members were once the voters in London's municipal elections. Medieval London saw the foundation of the Inns of Court and the construction of Westminster Abbey. By the 14th cent. London had become the political capital of England. It played no active role in the Wars of the Roses (15th cent.).
The reign of Elizabeth I brought London to a level of great wealth, power, and influence as the undisputed center of England's Renaissance culture. This was the time of Shakespeare (and the Globe Theatre) and the beginnings of overseas trading companies such as the Muscovy Company. With the advent (1603) of the Stuarts to the throne, the city became involved in struggles with the crown on behalf of its democratic privileges, culminating in the English civil war.
In 1665, the great plague took some 75,000 lives. A great fire in Sept., 1666, lasted five days and virtually destroyed the city. Sir Christopher Wren played a large role in rebuilding the city. He designed more than 51 churches, notably the rebuilt St. Paul's Cathedral. Other notable churches include the gothic Southwark Cathedral, St. Paul's Church (1633; designed by Inigo Jones), St. Martin-in-the-Fields (18th cent.), and Westminster Cathedral. Much of the business of London as well as literary and political discussion was transacted in coffeehouses, forerunners of the modern club. Until 1750, when Westminster Bridge was opened, London Bridge, first built in the 10th cent., was the only bridge to span the Thames. Since the 18th cent., several other bridges have been constructed; the Tower Bridge was completed in 1894.
In the 19th cent., London began a period of extraordinary growth. The area of present-day Greater London had about 1.1 million people in 1801; by 1851, the population had increased to 2.7 million, and by 1901 to 6.6 million. During the Victorian era, London acquired tremendous prestige as the capital of the British Empire and as a cultural and intellectual center. Britain's free political institutions and intellectual atmosphere made London a haven for persons unsafe in their own countries. The Italian Giuseppe Mazzini, the Russian Aleksandr Herzen, and the German Karl Marx were among many politically controversial figures who lived for long periods in London.
Many buildings of central London were destroyed or damaged in air raids during World War II. These include the Guildhall (scene of the lord mayor's banquets and other public functions); No. 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's residence; the Inns of Court; Westminster Hall and the Houses of Parliament; St. George's Cathedral; and many of the great halls of the ancient livery companies. Today there are numerous blocks of new office buildings and districts of apartment dwellings constructed by government authorities. The growth of London in the 20th cent. has been extensively planned. One notable feature has been the concept of a “Green Belt” to save certain areas from intensive urban development. In 1982, a tax-free zone in the Docklands in the East End's Tower Hamlets borough was created to stimulate development. Although the Canary Wharf financial center (with Lloyd's futuristic building, opened in 1986) was initially slow to fill, it now rivals the City.
London has an ethnically and culturally diverse population, with large groups of immigrants from Commonwealth nations. South Asian, West Indian, African, and Middle Eastern peoples account for much of the immigrant population. The city is the site of one of the largest Hindu temple complexes and the largest Sikh temple outside India; there also are many mosques, including one of the largest in Europe. With the reestablishment of the city's central government (2000), London built its egg-shaped City Hall (2002), on the south bank of the Thames opposite the Tower of London. The city was the site of the 1908 and 1948 summer Olympic games and will be the site of the 2012 summer games.
倫敦，首都大不列顛，東南英格蘭，雙方的泰晤士河。大倫敦（ 1991彈出。 6378600 ） ， c.620平方英裏（ 1610平方公裏） ，由該公司的倫敦金融城（ 1991彈出。 4000 ） ，通常被稱為城市，加上32個區。市是老城區的倫敦，是現代城市的商業中心，它也是被稱為“平方英裏” ，因為它的面積。 12個內城區包圍城市的威斯敏斯特大教堂，卡姆登，伊斯靈頓，哈克尼，倫敦塔橋，格林威治，劉易舍姆，南華，蘭貝斯，旺茲沃思，哈默史密斯和富勒姆，肯辛頓和切爾西隊。 20外區的沃爾瑟姆森林， Redbridge ， Havering ，門口和Dagenham ，紐漢，貝克斯利，布羅姆利，克羅伊登，薩頓，默頓，金士頓對泰晤士，裏士滿泰晤士河畔， Hounslow ， Hillingdon ，伊靈，布倫特，哈羅，巴尼特， Haringey ，和恩菲爾德。包括大倫敦地區的前縣倫敦，最前的米德爾塞克斯縣，和領域，以前在薩裏，肯特，埃塞克斯，以及赫特福德郡。每個區的大倫敦議會選舉產生。
大倫敦理事會管理的大倫敦地區，直到1986年，當時它被廢除的撒切爾政府，使倫敦作為壹個獨特的世界大都市沒有壹個中央理事單位。在1999年，大倫敦管理局法重新確立壹個單壹的地方的管治機構，大倫敦地區，組成壹個民選市長和倫敦大會。選舉是在2000年舉行，並肯利文斯通成為倫敦的第壹位民選市長。
經濟
倫敦是世界最重要的金融，商業，工業和文化中心。英格蘭銀行，勞埃德公司，證券交易所，以及眾多的其他銀行和投資公司的總部都設存在，主要是在城市，但在越來越多的加那利碼頭。金融服務業是壹個主要來源，總的就業在倫敦。
倫敦仍然是世界上最大的港口。它的出口制成品和進口石油，茶葉，羊毛，原糖，木材，黃油，金屬，和肉類。消費品，服裝，精密儀器，首飾，文具生產，但生產已經失去了壹些就業機會，曾經占主導地位的紡織，家具，印刷，化工等加工行業的公司都搬到以外的地區。工程和科研也很重要的經濟，這是旅遊業。城市是壹個樞紐的公路，鐵路和航空（其包括倫敦希思羅機場和蓋特威克） ，現在是與歐洲大陸的高速鐵路線下的英吉利海峽。
興趣點
最有名的街頭，倫敦的艦隊街，東街，皮卡迪利，白廳，波邁，唐寧街，和倫巴第街。 007和麗晶街上和科芬園是指出他們的商店。白金漢宮是王室在倫敦居住。市政公園包括海德公園，肯辛頓花園，攝政公園（該房屋的倫敦動物園） ，以及聖雅各福群和綠色公園。博物館包括大英博物館，維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館，國家美術館，泰特美術館的，收集的華萊士，該研究所的當代藝術，並Saachi畫廊。倫敦還擁有眾多的商業藝術畫廊和中起著重要作用的國際藝術品市場。
大英圖書館，壹個世界上最偉大的參考資源，設在倫敦。這座城市有著豐富的藝術和其他文化活動。它的大約100個劇團反映的重要性，戲劇，它有幾個世界壹流的樂團，壹個眾所周知的歌劇院，性能會堂，和俱樂部。壹個工作副本的莎士比亞環球劇場在1997年開放。該大學。倫敦是全球最大的大不列顛，還有其他高校的城市。國有英國廣播公司（英國廣播公司）是總部設在倫敦，大多數國家的報紙刊登有。新蘇格蘭場，同義詞，刑事調查，位於城市。體育賽事吸引大批來自倫敦支持誰的後續板球，足球（上Wimbley體育場）和網球（包括溫布爾登錦標賽） 。
歷史
目前還不知道倫敦之前，公元61時，根據羅馬史學家塔西圖，追隨者女王Boadicea反抗和屠殺居民的羅馬堡倫迪尼烏姆。羅馬當局盡快恢復，並第壹次城墻建成，殘余仍然存在。在最後撤離的羅馬軍團中的第5次以上。 ，倫敦是默默無聞的損失。凱爾特人，撒克遜人，和丹麥有爭議的壹般地區，但直到886 ，倫敦再次成為壹個重要城市的公司控制的國王阿爾弗雷德，誰重建的防禦丹麥人並給出了城市政府。
倫敦提出了壹些阻力威廉壹世在1066年，但他後來處理以及城市。在他統治的白塔，核心的倫敦塔，是建立以東的城墻。根據諾曼和金雀花（見英國） ，城市增長的商業和政治統治期間的理查壹世（ 1189年至1199年）獲得某種形式的市政府從城市的現代企業發展。在1215年，約翰國王授予城市的權利，選出壹個市長每年。
該行中世紀控制了公民事務和成長足夠強大的貿易限制，以自由人的城市。該行今天在生存80塗裝公司，其中成員壹旦選民在倫敦的市政選舉。倫敦看到中世紀的基礎，如法院和建設的威斯敏斯特教堂。到14日左右。倫敦已成為政治資本的英格蘭隊。它沒有發揮積極的作用，玫瑰戰爭（第15次以上。 ） 。
統治的伊麗莎白壹世倫敦帶來壹定程度的巨大財富，權力和影響力是無可爭議中心英格蘭的文藝復興時期的文化。這是莎士比亞的時間（與環球劇院） ，並開始了海外貿易公司，如公司的番鴨。隨著（ 1603 ）的斯圖亞特王朝的王位，成為該市參與鬥爭的皇冠代表其民主的特權，最終在英文的內戰。
在1665年，偉大的鼠疫采取了壹些75000的生命。偉大的火災9月， 1666年，歷時5天，並幾乎被摧毀的城市。克裏斯托弗爵士雷恩發揮了很大的作用在重建的城市。他設計了超過51個教堂，尤其是重建的聖保羅大教堂。其他值得註意的教會包括哥特式南華克大教堂，聖保羅教堂（ 1633 ;設計Inigo瓊斯） ，聖馬丁式場（第18次以上。 ）和威斯敏斯特大教堂。許多企業在倫敦以及文學和政治的討論是在咖啡館交易，先行者的現代俱樂部。直到1750年，當威斯敏斯特橋被打開時，倫敦橋，首先建立在10以上。是唯壹的橋梁，橫跨泰晤士河。自18以上。 ，其他壹些橋梁已建成的倫敦塔橋是在1894年完成。
在19以上。倫敦開始壹段非同尋常的增長。該地區目前的大倫敦大約有110萬人在1801年，由1851年，人口已增至270萬美元，和1901年以660萬美元。在維多利亞時代，倫敦獲得了巨大的威望和資本的大英帝國作為壹個文化和知識中心。英國的自由政治制度和智力的氣氛中取得倫敦避風港不安全的人在自己的國家。意大利朱塞佩馬誌尼，俄羅斯亞歷山大赫爾岑，德國人卡爾馬克思在許多政治上有爭議的人物誰住了很長時間在倫敦。
許多建築物的倫敦市中心被摧毀或損壞的空襲，在第二次世界大戰期間。這些措施包括市政廳（現場，市長的宴請和其他公***職能） ;唐寧街10號首相官邸;的律師學院;西敏寺大廳和議會兩院;聖喬治大教堂和許多偉大的大廳古老的塗裝公司。今天，有許多區塊的新辦公樓和公寓區的住宅建造的政府當局。生長在倫敦20以上。已被廣泛計劃。壹個顯著特點壹直是概念的“綠化地帶” ，以節省某些地區從密集的城市發展。在1982年，免稅區，在港區東端的倫敦塔橋區的設立是為了促進發展。雖然金絲雀碼頭金融中心（與勞合社的未來建設，於1986年開設）最初是緩慢的，以填補，但現在城市的競爭對手。
倫敦有壹個種族和多元文化的人口，大群體的移民英聯邦國家。南亞，西印度，非洲和中東地區人民帳戶的大量移民人口。城市是該網站的壹個最大的印度教廟宇的配合和最大的錫克廟印度之外;也有許多清真寺，其中包括歐洲最大的。隨著重建城市的中央政府（ 2000年） ，倫敦建立了自己的蛋型大會堂（ 2002年） ，南岸的泰晤士河對面的倫敦塔。城市是該網站的1908年和1948年夏季奧運會，將現場的2012年夏季奧運會。