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LONDON IN A NUTSHELL
Population 8,777,000
Urban aggl. 10,803,000
Area 1,572 Km²
Altitude 24 m
Urban aggl. 10,803,000
Area 1,572 Km²
Altitude 24 m
London is the largest city and the capital of the United Kingdom as well as the capital of England, and has a population of over 8.7 million, which rises to more than 10.8 million when the entire urban agglomeration is taken into account.
Nearly one-sixth of the UK’s population lives in the urban area of the city, located in the southeastern part of the Country, on the banks of the River Thames, which is navigable from its mouth to this point.
London is almost two thousand years old, with the first settlement dating back to 47 AD, established by the Romans. In the following centuries, the city reached a population of around 60,000. In the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxons founded another settlement a couple of kilometers from the original one, named Lundenwic. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Anglo-Saxons repopulated the old city, calling it Lundenburgh (City of London), and merged it with the other settlement.
In the following centuries, the population remained low; around 1100, it was about 18,000 inhabitants. However, by two centuries later, London had already established itself as England’s main center, with nearly 100,000 people. Although struck by the Black Death in the mid-14th century, the city continued to grow in the following decades, also becoming the main port of the North Sea, thanks to the discovery of the Americas and the expansion of trade with the East Indies.
Having reached one million inhabitants in the early 1800s, London remained, for nearly a century, the most populous city on the planet, from 1831 (1,655,000 inhabitants) until 1925, when it was overtaken by New York, with both cities having more than 7.5 million residents.
London lies at an average elevation of 24 meters above sea level, though there are some higher hilly areas, such as Primrose Hill (78 m), from which there is a magnificent view of the city center.
Thanks to its history and that of the huge British Empire, London is considered one of the most cosmopolitan and multiethnic cities in the world. It is also one of the most visited, and with as many as six international airports, it is the major hub of global air traffic.
It is impossible to mention all the city’s landmarks and buildings, among which Buckingham Palace, the residence of the British monarchy, Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster stand out, along with Tower Bridge, a movable bridge over the Thames. The most famous square is Trafalgar Square, which is home to the National Gallery.
Since 1994, it has also been possible to reach London quickly by land, thanks to the Channel Tunnel, with high-speed trains that allow travel from the French capital Paris in under two and a half hours, or from Brussels, Belgian capital, in two hours.