Portal:London

The London Portal

Panorama of modern London, taken from the Golden Gallery of St Paul's Cathedral. See Panorama of London for more panoramic images.

St Paul's Cathedral

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of 9.1 million people in 2024. Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 15.1 million. London stands on the River Thames in southeast England, at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) tidal estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for nearly 2,000 years. Its ancient core and financial centre, the City of London, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and has retained its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has been the site of the national government and parliament for centuries. London grew rapidly in the 19th century, becoming the world's largest city at the time. Since the 19th century the name "London" has referred to the metropolis around the City of London, historically split among the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire. Since 1965 it has largely comprised the administrative area of Greater London, governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

As one of the world's major global cities, London exerts a strong influence on world art, architecture, culture, cinema, entertainment, fashion, commerce, finance, education, healthcare, media, science, technology, tourism, transport and communications. London is Europe's largest city economy and one of the world's major financial centres. London is home to several of the world's leading academic institutions and hosts Europe's largest concentration of higher education institutions, comprising over 50 universities and colleges collectively enrolling more than 500,000 students in 2023. It is the most-visited city in Europe and has the world's busiest city airport system. The London Underground is the world's oldest rapid transit system.

London's diverse cultures encompass over 300 languages. The 2025 population of Greater London of just over 9.8 million made it Europe's third-most populous city, accounting for 13.1 per cent of the United Kingdom's population and 15.5 per cent of England's population. The Greater London Built-up Area is the fourth-most populous in Europe, with about 9.8 million inhabitants as of 2011. The London metropolitan area is the third-most-populous in Europe, with about 15 million inhabitants as of 2025, making London a megacity. (Full article...)

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The London Beer Flood was an accident at Meux & Co's Horse Shoe Brewery, London, on 17 October 1814. It took place when one of the 22-foot-tall (6.7 m) wooden vats of fermenting porter burst. The escaping liquid dislodged the valve of another vessel and destroyed several large barrels: between 128,000 and 323,000 imperial gallons (580,000–1,470,000 L; 154,000–388,000 US gal) of beer were released in total.

The resulting wave of porter destroyed the back wall of the brewery and swept into an area of slum dwellings known as the St Giles rookery. Eight people were killed, five of them mourners at the wake being held by an Irish family for a two-year-old boy. The coroner's inquest returned a verdict that the eight had lost their lives "casually, accidentally and by misfortune". The brewery was nearly bankrupted by the event; it avoided collapse after a rebate from HM Excise on the lost beer. The brewing industry gradually stopped using large wooden vats after the accident. The brewery moved in 1921, and the Dominion Theatre is now where the brewery used to stand. Meux & Co went into liquidation in 1961. (Full article...)

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Photo credit: Colin

The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station. Designed by John McAslan, it opened in 2012. The architect claims that the roof is the longest single-span station structure in Europe.

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Sir Edgar Speyer by Sir William Orpen, 1914

Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet (7 September 1862 – 16 February 1932) was an American-born financier and philanthropist. He became a British subject in 1892 and was chairman of Speyer Brothers, the British branch of the Speyer family's international finance house, and a partner in the German and American branches. He was chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL, a forerunner of the London Underground) from 1906 to 1915, a period during which the company opened three underground railway lines, electrified a fourth and took over two more.

Speyer was a supporter of the musical arts and a friend of several leading composers, including Edward Elgar, Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy. He was chairman of the Classical Music Society for ten years, and he largely funded the Promenade Concerts between 1902 and 1914. His non-musical charitable activities included being honorary treasurer of the fund for Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition. For his philanthropy he was made a baronet in 1906 and a Privy Counsellor in 1909. (Full article...)

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Selected quotation

“

I've been walking about London for the last thirty years, and I find something fresh in it every day.

”

Walter Besant, on his deathbed, June 1901

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Did you know...

...that the Dulwich Picture Gallery opened in 1817 with a collection assembled for a never-realised Polish national gallery, and that it was first purpose-built public art gallery in England?

...that the Petrie Museum ranks behind only the collections of the Cairo Museum, the British Museum and the Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin, by quantity of ancient Egyptian artefacts?

...that the remains of London's Roman amphitheatre can be found in the basement of the Guildhall Art Gallery?

...that the Bethnal Green Museum, now the V&A Museum of Childhood (pictured), is housed in a pre-fabricated building moved from South Kensington in 1872?

...that the Secretum was the name given to a cupboard in the British Museum containing a collection of supposed ancient erotica, which in fact largely consisted of Victorian fakes?

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General images

The following are images from various London-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Brixton Academy (from Culture of London)
Image 2Young people in Carnaby Street in 1966 (from History of London)
Image 3Richard Blome's map of London (1673). The development of the West End had recently begun to accelerate. (from History of London)
Image 4Cheapside pictured in 1909, with the church of St Mary-le-Bow in the background (from History of London)
Image 5The Clock Tower of Wren's St Paul's Cathedral (from History of London)
Image 6A tourist stall selling various London and United Kingdom related souvenirs on the edge of Trafalgar Square on the Strand (from Tourism in London)
Image 7A Carausius coin from Londinium mint (from History of London)
Image 8The Houses of Parliament from Westminster Bridge in the early 1890s (from History of London)
Image 9A medal of Constantius I capturing London (inscribed as lon) in 296 after defeating Allectus. From Beaurains treasure. (from History of London)
Image 10Three cultural icons of London: a K2 red telephone box, Big Ben and a red double-decker bus (from Culture of London)
Image 11A plaque in the City of London noting the re-establishment of the Roman walled city (from History of London)
Image 12Amy Winehouse was a singer-songwriter from Southgate, north London. (from Culture of London)
Image 13Shaftesbury Avenue, c. 1949 (from History of London)
Image 14John Norden's map of London in 1593. There is only one bridge across the Thames, but parts of Southwark on the south bank of the river have been developed. (from History of London)
Image 15London c. 1300 (from History of London)
Image 16Map of Roman London, c. 400AD (from History of London)
Image 17Floral Hall of the Royal Opera House (from Culture of London)
Image 18London as engraved by J. & C. Walker in 1845 from a map by R Creighton. Many districts in the West End were fully developed, and the East End also extended well beyond the eastern fringe of the City of London. There were now several bridges over the Thames, allowing the rapid development of South London. (from History of London)
Image 19A silver coin of Alfred, with the legend ÆLFRED REX (from History of London)
Image 20Samuel Pepys, chronicler of Stuart London (from History of London)
Image 21A depiction of the imprisonment of Charles, Duke of Orléans in the Tower of London, from a 15th-century manuscript. Old London Bridge is in the background (from History of London)
Image 22People gathered in Whitehall to hear Winston Churchill's victory speech, 8 May 1945. (from History of London)
Image 23In spite of heavy traffic, several companies operate tour buses in London. (from Tourism in London)
Image 24Tourists at Buckingham Palace (from Tourism in London)
Image 25Outline of the London region (from Geography of London)
Image 26Tourists consulting a map near St Paul's Cathedral (from Tourism in London)
Image 27The statue of Alfred the Great at Winchester, erected 1899 (from History of London)
Image 28John Evelyn's plan for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire (from History of London)
Image 29Satellite image by Sentinel-2 satellite (from Geography of London)
Image 30Firefighters putting out flames after an air raid during The Blitz, 1941 (from History of London)
Image 31The National Gallery from Trafalgar Square (from Culture of London)
Image 32Buckingham Palace in 1837, enlarged by John Nash (from History of London)
Image 33Girl in costume at the Notting Hill Carnival (from Culture of London)
Image 34A signpost on Parliament Square with directions for nearby attractions (from Tourism in London)
Image 35The Shard (left), an icon of 21st-century London (from History of London)
Image 36The "Woodcut" map of London, formally titled Civitas Londinum (c. 1561) (from History of London)
Image 37Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre (from Culture of London)
Image 38A detailed copy of John Rocque's Map of London, 1741–5 (from History of London)
Image 39Tourism in London 2013 (from Tourism in London)
Image 40Maughan Library, King's College London (from Culture of London)
Image 41Main entrance to the British Museum (from Culture of London)
Image 42A view of London from the east in 1751 (from History of London)
Image 43Ogilby & Morgan's map of the City of London (1673). "A Large and Accurate Map of the City of London. Ichnographically describing all the Streets, Lanes, Alleys, Courts, Yards, Churches, Halls, & Houses &c. Actually Surveyed and Delineated by John Ogilby, His Majesties Cosmographer." (from History of London)
Image 44Buckingham Palace as it appeared in the 17th century (from History of London)

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London Boroughs

City of London † City of Westminster Kensington and Chelsea Hammersmith and Fulham Wandsworth Lambeth Southwark Tower Hamlets Hackney Islington Camden Brent Ealing Hounslow Richmond Kingston upon Thames		Merton Sutton Croydon Bromley Lewisham Greenwich Bexley Havering Barking and Dagenham Redbridge Newham Waltham Forest Haringey Enfield Barnet Harrow Hillingdon
† sui generis – not a London borough

More about London Boroughs
Category: London boroughs

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London Topics

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Transport

London has one of the oldest and largest public transport systems in the world. Many components of its transport system, such as the double-decker bus, the Hackney Carriage black taxi and the Tube, are internationally recognised symbols of London. London has a comprehensive rail network with several major railway stations, including two international train stations at St Pancras railway station and Stratford International, which connect London to mainland Europe through the Eurostar service. London also has six international airports. In addition to public transport, London is the start point for a number of motorway routes. The M25 is an orbital motorway which enables vehicles to avoid travelling through central London, and is one of the busiest motorways in Europe.