- For London as a whole, see the main
article 'London
.
Greater London is the
top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England
.
The
administrative area was officially created in 1965 and covers the
City of
London
, including Middle Temple
and Inner
Temple
, and thirty two London
boroughs. Its area also forms the London
region of England and the
London European
Parliament constituency.
The region
has by far the highest
GDP per capita in the United Kingdom
. It covers 1572 km
2 (607
square miles) and had a 2006 mid-year estimated population of
7,512,400.
It is bounded by the Home Counties of Essex and Hertfordshire
in the East of
England region and Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey
and Kent
in South East England.
The
highest point in
Greater London is Westerham Heights, in the North Downs
and on the boundary with Kent, at 245 metres
(804 ft). The term
Greater London was in use
before 1965 to refer to a variously defined area, larger than the
County of London and often similar
to the
Metropolitan Police
District.
Status
Greater London is not a city in the proper sense that the word
applies in the United Kingdom, that of being a
status granted by the
Crown.
In
addition, one of the London boroughs,
Westminster, is already a city, as well as the City of London itself which would make such a status
anomalous. Despite this, Greater London is commonly regarded
as a city in the general sense of a municipality. A
Lord Lieutenant of Greater
London is appointed for its area, less the City of London, an
area identical to the
Metropolitan Police District,
and for the purposes of the
Lieutenancies Act 1997, this area is
defined as a
county.
The term "London" is normally used in reference to Greater London
or to the overall conurbation, but not often to the ancient, tiny
City of London. Instead, this small area is often referred to
simply as "the City" or "the Square Mile" and it forms the main
financial district. Archaically the urbanised area of London was
known as the
Metropolis. In common usage,
the terms "London" and "Greater London" are usually used
interchangeably. It is officially divided for some purposes, with
varying definitions, into
Inner London
and
Outer London. For strategic
planning purposes the region is divided into five
sub regions.
Politics
Regional government
Logo of the Greater London
Authority
London is the only English region with directly elected local
governance. The
Greater London
Authority (GLA) comprises a regional assembly called the
London Assembly and an executive
head known as the
Mayor of
London.Arden Chambers Barristers,
A Guide to the Greater
London Authority Act, (2000)
The current Mayor of London (not to be confused with the
Lord Mayor of the City of
London) is
Boris Johnson. He is
scrutinised by an elected
London
Assembly, which may amend his annual budget (by two-thirds
majority) but otherwise lacks the power to block his directives.
The
headquarters of the GLA is at City Hall
in Southwark
. The Mayor is responsible for Greater
London's strategic planning and is required to produce a
London Plan document.
Local government
Greater London is divided into 32 London boroughs, each governed by
a London borough council; and the City of London, which has a
unique government dating back to the 12th century. These various
authorities are all often considered as equivalent to
unitary authorities, but not legally
defined as such.
All London borough councils belong to the
London Councils association.
Two London boroughs,
Kensington and Chelsea
, and Kingston
, carry the purely honorific title of Royal
borough. Within the City of London boundary are the
liberties of Middle Temple and Inner
Temple.
Twinning
The Greater London Authority has twin and sister city agreements
with the following cities.
For Borough twinning see
List of London Borough twinnings.
Demographics
With increasing industrialisation, London's population grew rapidly
throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, and was the most
populated city in the world until overtaken by New York in 1925.
Its population peaked at 8,615,245 in 1939. There were an estimated
7,512,400 official residents in Greater London as of
mid-2006.
However, London's continuous urban area extends beyond the borders
of Greater London and was home to an estimated 9,332,000 people in
2005, while its wider metropolitan area has a population of between
12 and 14 million depending on the definition of that area.
According to Eurostat, London is the most populous city and
metropolitan area of the European Union.
The region covers an area of 1,579 square kilometres. The
population density is 4,761 people per square kilometre, more than
ten times that of any other British region. In terms of population,
London is the 25th largest city and the 17th largest metropolitan
region in the world. It is also ranked 4th in the world in number
of billionaires (United States dollars) residing in the city.
London ranks as one of the most expensive cities in the world,
alongside Tokyo and Moscow.
Ethnic groups
In the 2001 census, 71.15% of these seven and a half million people
classed their ethnic group as white, including the White British
(59.79%), White Irish (3.07%) or "Other White" (8.29%, mostly Greek
Cypriot, Italian and French). 12.09% classed themselves as British
Asian, including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and "Other Asian"
(mostly Sri Lankan, Arab and other Southern Asian
ethnicities).
10.91% classed themselves as Black British (around 7% as Black
African, 1.79% as Black Caribbean, 0.84% as "Other Black"). 3.15%
were of mixed race; 1.12% as Chinese; and 1.58% as other (mostly
Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and other "British
Orientals"). 21.8% of inhabitants were born outside the European
Union. The Irish, from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern
Ireland, number about 200,000, as do the Scots and Welsh
combined.
In January 2005, a survey of London's ethnic and religious
diversity claimed that there were more than 300 languages spoken
and more than 50 non-indigenous communities which have a population
of more than 10,000 in London. Figures from the Office for National
Statistics show that, as of 2006, London's foreign-born population
is 2,288,000 (31%), up from 1,630,000 in 1997. The 2001 census
showed that 27.1% of Greater London's population were born outside
the UK, and a slightly higher proportion were classed as
non-white.
The table shows the top 21 countries of birth of London residents
in 2001, the date of the last UK Census. Note that a portion of the
German-born population are likely to be British nationals born to
parents serving in the British armed forces in Germany. Note also
that these figures do not give a fair indication of the total
population of the specific ethnic groups associated with each
country.
For example, Londoners of Greek origin (from both Greece and
Cyprus) who reside in Greater London number 300,000, since an
organised Greek community has been established for nearly two
centuries. The same can be said for Italian and French Londoners
whose communities have been here for centuries. By contrast, while
a Polish community has existed in London since the late Middle
Ages, only in the 21st century did this community grow
significantly (its approximate size was 50,000 in 2008).
London has been a focus for immigration for centuries, whether as a
place of safety or for economic reasons. Huguenots, eastern
European Jews and Cypriots are examples of the former; Irish,
Bangladeshis and West Indians came for new lives.
The East End
district around Spitalfields has been first home
for several ethnic groups, which have subsequently moved elsewhere
in London as they gained prosperity.
The
largest ethnic-minority communities are the Jamaican in Brixton
, Hackney and Tottenham
, West African in Southwark
and Lewisham, Pakistani and Bangladeshi in Newham,
Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Barking & Dagenham, Tamil in
Wembley and East African and Caribbean in Harlesden
, and Stonebridge
.
Religion
The largest religious groupings in London are
Christian (58.2%), those of
no religion (15.8%),
Muslim
(8.2%),
Hindu (4.1%),
Jewish (2.1%), and
Sikh (1.5%).
London has traditionally been Christian, and has a large number of
churches, particularly in the
City.
The
famous St Paul's
Cathedral
in the City and Southwark Cathedral
south of the river are Anglican administrative centres, while the head of
the Church of England and worldwide Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury has his
main residence at Lambeth
Palace
in the London Borough of Lambeth
.
Important
national and royal ceremonies are shared between St Paul's and
Westminster
Abbey
. The Abbey is not to be confused with nearby
Westminster
Cathedral
, the largest Roman
Catholic cathedral in England and
Wales. Religious practice in London is lower than in any
other part of the UK or
Western
Europe and is around seven times lower than American averages.
Despite the prevalence of Anglican churches, weekly observance is
low within that
denomination,
although in recent years church attendance, particularly at
evangelical Anglican churches in
London, has started to increase.
London is also home to sizeable Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish
communities.
Many Muslims live in Tower Hamlets
and Newham
; the most important Muslim buildings are the
East London
Mosque
in Whitechapel and the London
Central Mosque
on the edge of Regent's Park
. London's large Hindu community is found in
the north-western boroughs of Harrow and Brent, the latter of which
contains one of Europe's largest Hindu temples, Neasden
Temple.
Sikh communities are located in East and West London, which is also
home to the largest Sikh Temples in the world, outside India.
The
majority of British Jews live in London, with significant Jewish
communities in Stamford
Hill
(the most Orthodox
Jewish area outside New York City and Israel) and St. John's
Wood
, Golders
Green
, and Edgware
in North London.
See also
List
of churches and cathedrals of London
London Assembly
For elections to the London Assembly, London is divided into
fourteen constituencies. The constituencies are formed from the
area of two or three boroughs combined. The City of London forms
part of the
City and East
constituency.
UK Parliament
London is divided into 74 Parliamentary constituencies, which are
all small
borough
constituencies. They are formed from the combined area of
several
ward from one or more London
Boroughs. Typically a single borough is covered by two or three
constituencies. Their number will be reduced to 73 before the next
general election, scheduled for 2010.
History
Early incarnations
The term
Greater London had been used well before 1965,
particularly to refer to the area covered by the
Metropolitan Police District
(such as in the 1901 census), the area of the
Metropolitan Water Board
(favoured by the London County Council for statistics),Young, K.
& Garside, P.,
Metropolitan London: Politics and Urban
Change, (1982) the
London Passenger Transport
Area and the area defined by the
Registrar General as the
Greater
London Conurbation.
The
Greater
London Arterial Road Programme was devised between 1913 and
1916. One of the larger early forms was the
Greater London Planning
Region, devised in 1927, which occupied and included 9 million
people.
Arms of Greater London Council
Royal Commission on London Government
Although
the London County Council had
been created as a London-wide authority covering the County of London in 1889, the County did
not even cover all the built-up area of London then, particularly
West
Ham
and East
Ham
; furthermore many of the LCC housing projects,
including the vast Becontree
Estate
, were constructed outside its formal
boundaries.
London County Council pressed for an alteration in its boundaries
soon after the end of the
First World
War, noting that within the Metropolitan and City Police
Districts there were 122 housing authorities. A
Royal Commission on London
Government was set up to consider the issue. London County
Council proposed a vast new Greater London, somewhere between the
Metropolitan Police District and the entire
Home Counties.
Protests were made at the possibility of
including Windsor
, Slough
and
Eton
in the
authority.
The Commission made its report in 1923, rejecting the LCC's scheme.
Two minority reports favoured change beyond the amalgamation of
smaller urban districts, including both smaller borough councils
and a Central Authority for strategic functions. The
London Traffic Act 1924 was a result
of the Commission.
Creation of administrative area
Reform of the local government arrangements in the County of London
and its environs was again considered by the
Royal
Commission on Local Government in Greater London.
Greater London was
formally created by the London Government Act 1963, which
took force on 1 April 1965, replacing the former administrative counties
of Middlesex
and London, adding
the City of
London, which was not under the London County Council, and
absorbing parts of Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire.
Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local
government, with the
Greater
London Council (GLC) sharing power with the
City of London Corporation
(governing the small City of London) and the 32 London borough
councils. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 by the
Local Government Act 1985.
Its functions were devolved to the Corporation and the London
boroughs with some functions transferred to central government and
joint boards.
For more detailed information on this see: 'The Government of
London: the struggle for reform' by Gerald Rhodes (London:
Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1970 SBN 297 00031 4).
Greater London Authority
Greater London was used to form the London
region of England in 1994. A
referendum held in 1998, established
public will to create a regional authority. The
Greater London Authority,
London Assembly and the directly elected
Mayor of London were created in 2000
by the
Greater London
Authority Act 1999.
The
2000 and
2004 mayoral elections were
both won by
Ken Livingstone, who had
been the final leader of the GLC. The 2008 election was won by
Boris Johnson the
Conservative
Party candidate. In 2000 the outer boundary of the
Metropolitan Police District
was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary.
Statistics
Population
Population of Greater London
The population on the current territory of Greater London rose from
about 1.1 million in 1801 (back then only about 0.85 million people
were in the urban area of London, while 0.25 million were living in
villages and towns not yet part of London) to an estimated 8.6
million in 1939, but declined to 6.7 million in 1988, before
starting to rebound in the end of the 1980s.
As of 2006, the population in Greater London has only recovered the
level of 1970 (which was also the level of population in the
1920s). Some researchers expect the population of Greater London to
reach 8.15 million by 2016, which would still be 0.45 million short
of the 1939 peak.
Figures here are for Greater London in its 2001 limits. Figures
before 1971 have been reconstructed by the Office for National
Statistics based on past censuses in order to fit the 2001 limits.
Figures from 1981 onward are midyear estimates (revised as of
August 2007), which are more accurate than the censuses themselves,
known to underestimate the population of London.
| 1891 |
April 5/6 |
5,572,012 |
| 1901 |
31 March/April 1 |
6,506,954 |
| 1911 |
April 2/3 |
7,160,525 |
| 1921 |
June 19/20 |
7,386,848 |
| 1931 |
April 26/27 |
8,110,480 |
| 1939 |
Midyear estimate |
8,615,245 |
| 1951 |
April 8/9 |
8,196,978 |
| 1961 |
April 23/24 |
7,992,616 |
| 1965 |
Greater
London formally created |
| 1971 |
April 25/26 |
7,452,520 |
| 1981 |
Midyear estimate |
6,805,000 |
| 1988 |
Midyear estimate |
6,729,300 |
| 1991 |
Midyear estimate |
6,829,300 |
| 2001 |
Midyear estimate |
7,322,400 |
| 2002 |
Midyear estimate |
7,361,600 |
| 2003 |
Midyear estimate |
7,364,100 |
| 2004 |
Midyear estimate |
7,389,100 |
| 2005 |
Midyear estimate |
7,456,100 |
| 2006 |
Midyear estimate |
7,512,400 |
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional
gross value added (GVA) of Inner London at
current basic prices
published (pp. 240-253) by
Office for
National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds
Sterling.
| Year |
Regional Gross Value Added |
Agriculture |
Industry |
Services |
| 1995 |
64,616 |
7 |
8,147 |
56,461 |
| 2000 |
92,330 |
6 |
10,094 |
82,229 |
| 2003 |
112,090 |
12 |
10,154 |
101,924 |
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Outer
London at current basic prices
published (pp. 240–253) by
Office for
National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds
Sterling.
| Year |
Regional Gross Value Added |
Agriculture |
Industry |
Services |
| 1995 |
44,160 |
51 |
10,801 |
33,307 |
| 2000 |
60,304 |
43 |
12,529 |
47,732 |
| 2003 |
67,582 |
39 |
13,081 |
54,462 |
Area
The area of Greater London has not changed significantly since its
creation. There have been a
considerable number of
small boundary changes.
The most significant of these were the 1969
transfers of Knockholt
to Kent and Farleigh
to Surrey and a series of minor adjustments during
the 1990s which realigned the boundary to the M25 motorway
in some places.
Environment
The majority of Greater London forms the
London low emission zone from 4
February 2008.
Education
The education system has been split into the thirty three separate
LEA, which correspond to
the City of London, the City of Westminster and the 32 London
boroughs, since the 1990 enactment of the
Education Reform Act 1988. From
1965 to 1990, twelve Inner London boroughs and the City of London
had been served by an
Inner London Education
Authority.
The introduction of comprehensive schools, directed by
Circular 10/65 in 1965, was mostly followed
in Greater London, however 19 grammar schools have been retained in
some
Outer London boroughs, with Sutton
having the most with five, followed by Bexley with four and others
in five other boroughs. In these boroughs the state schools
outperform the (relatively few) independent schools. In inner
London, private schools always get the best results and are larger
in number. At
GCSE and
A level, Outer London boroughs have
broadly better results than
Inner
London boroughs.
Top twenty state schools in Greater London (2007 A level
results)
These schools are from the boroughs of Sutton, Barnet, Kingston
upon Thames, Bromley, Bexley, Enfield, Havering, Harrow, Waltham
Forest and Redbridge. The three comprehensives in the list are from
Waltham Forest and Havering.
- 1. Wilson's School
, Wallington
(1126)
- 2. Wallington County Grammar
School
- 3. Queen
Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys
, Barnet
- 4. St.
Michael's Catholic Grammar School
, North
Finchley
- 5. Nonsuch High School for Girls
, Cheam
- 6. The Tiffin Girls' School
, Kingston upon Thames
- 7. Sutton Grammar School for
Boys
- 8. St. Olave's and St. Saviour's Grammar
School
, Orpington
- 9. Townley Grammar School for
Girls
, Bexleyheath
- 10. Newstead Wood School for
Girls
, Orpington
- 11. Tiffin School
, Kingston upon Thames
- 12. The Latymer School
. Edmonton
- 13. Coopers'
Company and Coborn School
, Upminster
- 14. Sacred Heart
of Mary Girls' School, Upminster
- 15. Beths Grammar School
, Bexley
- 16. The Henrietta Barnett School
, Hampstead Garden Suburb
- 17. St Dominic's Sixth Form
College
, Harrow on the Hill
- 18. Chingford Foundation School
- 19. Bullers Wood School
, Chislehurst
- 20. Ilford County High School
, Barkingside
(885)
Wider population
Greater
London is not exactly coterminous with London's built up area and a
somewhat wider Greater London Urban Area
has been defined and is used for mainly statistical
purposes. London's wider metropolitan area is known as the
London commuter belt and is
delimited by a variety of definitions.
See also
References
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