London

• 1. Origins And Roman Foundations

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  In 1993, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a Bronze Age bridge on the south River Thames foreshore, upstream from Vauxhall Bridge. Two timbers from this structure were radiocarbon dated to between 1750 and 1285 BC. A second discovery in 2010 revealed foundations of a large timber structure dating back to 4800, 4500 BC, located downstream from Vauxhall Bridge. These finds prove that human activity in the area predates the city itself by thousands of years. The first major settlement was founded by the Romans around AD 47, just four years after their invasion of Britain in AD 43. This early settlement lasted only until about AD 61, when the Iceni tribe led by Queen Boudica stormed it and burnt it to the ground. The next planned incarnation of Londinium prospered, eventually superseding Colchester as the principal city of the Roman province of Britannia in 100. At its height in the 2nd century, Roman London had a population of about 60,000 people.

• 2. Medieval Growth And Plague

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  William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England as William I in the newly completed Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. He subsequently built the Tower of London, the first of many such castles in England rebuilt in stone, in the south-eastern corner of the city to intimidate the inhabitants. In 1097, William II began building Westminster Hall near the abbey, which became the basis for a new Palace of Westminster. By 1100, the population of the City of London was some 18,000; by 1300 it had grown to nearly 100,000. With the Black Death in the mid-14th century, London lost nearly a third of its population. The city was also the focus of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. Before their expulsion by Edward I in 1290, London was a centre of England's Jewish population. Violence against Jews occurred in 1190 when it was rumoured that the new king ordered their massacre after they presented themselves at his coronation. In 1264, during the Second Barons' War, Simon de Montfort's rebels killed 500 Jews while attempting to seize records of debts.

• 3. Fire And Industrial Expansion

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  The Great Fire of London broke out in 1666 in Pudding Lane and quickly swept through the wooden buildings. Rebuilding took over 10 years and was supervised by the polymath Robert Hooke. In 1710, Christopher Wren's masterpiece St Paul's Cathedral was completed, replacing its medieval predecessor which had burnt down in the fire. The dome of St Paul's dominated the London skyline for centuries, inspiring artworks and writing such as William Blake's 1789 poem Holy Thursday. During the Georgian era, new districts like Mayfair were formed in the west, and new bridges encouraged development in South London. In the east, the Port of London expanded downstream. Epidemics during the 1720s and 30s saw most children born in the city die before reaching their fifth birthday. Coffeehouses became a popular place to debate ideas, with Fleet Street becoming the centre of the British press. Following a fire in 1838, the Royal Exchange was redesigned by William Tite and rebuilt in 1844. The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 was specifically aimed at weakening Dutch economic power.

• 4. Warfare And Modern Resilience

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  London was bombed by the Germans in both World Wars, and during the Second World War, the Blitz and other bombings by the Luftwaffe killed over 30,000 Londoners. The tomb of the Unknown Warrior, an unidentified member of the British armed forces killed during the First World War, was buried in Westminster Abbey on the 11th of November 1920. The Cenotaph, located in Whitehall, was unveiled on the same day and is the focal point for the National Service of Remembrance held annually on Remembrance Sunday. From the 1940s, London became home to many immigrants, primarily from Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. 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. Starting mainly in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London sub-culture associated with the King's Road, Chelsea and Carnaby Street. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, London was hit from 1973 by bomb attacks by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

• 5. Administrative Structure And Governance

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  The administration of London is formed of two tiers: a citywide strategic tier and a local tier. Citywide administration is coordinated by the Greater London Authority (GLA), while local administration is carried out by 33 smaller authorities. The GLA consists of two elected components: the mayor of London, who has executive powers, and the London Assembly, which scrutinises the mayor's decisions. The headquarters of the GLA is City Hall, Newham. The mayor since 2016 has been Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital. The local authorities are the councils of the 32 London boroughs and the City of London Corporation. They are responsible for most local services such as planning, schools, libraries, leisure and recreation, social services, local roads and refuse collection. In 2009, 2010, the combined revenue expenditure by London councils and the GLA amounted to just over £22 billion. Policing in Greater London, with the exception of the City of London, is provided by the Metropolitan Police, overseen by the mayor through the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime.

• 6. Demographic Diversity And Culture

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  The 2021 census recorded that 3,575,739 people, or 40.6% of London's population, were foreign-born. About 56.8 per cent of children born in London in 2021 were born to a mother who was born abroad. According to the Office for National Statistics, based on the 2021 census, 53.8% of the 8,173,941 inhabitants of London were White, while 22.2% were of Asian or mixed-Asian descent. Indians accounted for 7.5% of the population, followed by Bangladeshis and Pakistanis at 3.7% and 3.3% respectively. Black Africans accounted for 7.9% of the population, and 3.9% identified as Black Caribbean. In January 2005, a survey claimed that more than 300 languages were spoken in London. At the 2021 census, 78.4% of Londoners spoke English as their first language. The five biggest languages outside English were Romanian, Spanish, Polish, Bengali and Portuguese. London has traditionally been Christian, with Christians making up 40.66% of the population according to the 2021 Census.

• 7. Economic Power And Global Finance

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  London's gross regional product in 2019 was £503 billion, around a quarter of UK GDP. London has five major business districts: the City, Westminster, Canary Wharf, Camden & Islington, and Lambeth & Southwark. 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. Over half the UK's top 100 listed companies have their headquarters in central London. Over 70% of the FTSE 100 are within London's metropolitan area, and 75% of Fortune 500 companies have offices in London. Founded in 1690, Barclays installed the first cash machine in 1967 at its branch in Enfield, north London. Media companies are concentrated in London, and the media distribution industry is London's second most competitive sector. The BBC, the world's oldest national broadcaster, is a significant employer. In 2014, the city was among the first to receive a geoTLD. Tourism is one of London's prime industries, employing 700,000 full-time workers in 2016.