LONDON
Country: Great Britain
Coordinates: 51° 30' 25'' N
0° 07' 37'' W
Altitude: 115 m
Area: 1 577 km2
Population: 7 512 400
Density of Population: 4 761/km2
Website: www.london.gov.uk
Mayor: Boris Johnson
The first recorded name of the city, nowadays known as London, was Londinium. Thus named settlement was established by Roman legions of the Caesar Claudius in the year of 43 after Christ.
At the beginning of the 7th century, the first St. Paul`s Cathedral (a small wooden church then) was founded and the town began to regenerate as a commercial port. In 886, as per a legend, the King Alfred the Great seized London and rebuilt it to become the biggest city of the kingdom, even beating the previous capital of Winchester.
The year of 1066, the most famous date of the English history, is a year of the last invasion and occupation by allien troops. After several years of an exhausting civil war, the Tudor monarchs restored peace and strengthened national self-confidence.
They started to dispatch ships for overseas explorational voyages which resulted in conflicts with other European powers trying to take advantage of the New World.
In the 18th century, already recovered from the civil war, the Britain developed into a great power of trade and industry. London became a centre of banking and the class of merchants and of brain power started to strentghen its position. The permanently persisting marine predominance determined the bases of the British empire and steam engines, water ways and railway meant the very beginning of the industrial revolution. Growing confidence was reflected in spectacular constructions and elegant fashion.
Perhaps the greatest transformation of London in the past 100 years was caused by the German Luftwaffe that had bombarded London during the World War II. More than 30000 inhabitants of London were killed and many buildings were destroyed. The subsequent reconstruction of bombarded places in the 50s, 60s and 70s was very diverse and led to construction of houses whose modern architecture does not often go together with the style of original buildings.
The current Great London comprises of the City and 32 administrative districts, including the City of Westminster which is the centre of social life in London where there are most shops and amusement centres. There are also headquarters of the biggest British industrial enterprises (except for the financial sector) as well as of the government of the United Kingdom. The City of London (also known as Square Mile) is the biggest bank centre in the world and the main trade centre of Europe. Managements of more than 100 out of the 500 biggest European enterprises have their offices directly in London. The London Exchange Market is the biggest in the world, reaching a daily turnover of over 500 billion dollars which is more than if the exchange markets in New York and Tokyo were merged. Even if the streets of the City are very busy during the week, they are almost empty at weekends as there are almost no permanent residents.
London ranks among the most visited cities all around the world. Tourist attractions are mostly situated in Central London. These include the historical City; West End and its famous cinemas, pubs, clubs, shops and restaurants; Westminster with its Westminster Abbey; Buckingham Palace; Clarence House, etc.
It further includes Museum of Science, Museum of Nature, British Museum, National Gallery, galleries of Tate Britain and Tate Modern, bridges such as London Bridge, Tower Bridge, planetarium in Greenwich and other attractions which seem to be indefinite.
