According to abbreviationfinder, London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. Located on the banks of the River Thames in the southeast of the island of Great Britain, its establishment dates back more than two millennia, it was founded around the year 43 by the Romans under the name of Londinium.
London’s population is made up of a wide number of ethnicities, cultures, and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the city. In 2007 the official population was 7,512,400 in the Greater London area. The Greater London Urban Area, the second largest in the European Union, has a population of 8,278,251 and the metropolitan area has an estimated population of 12 to 14 million people.
History
The first great settlement was founded by the Romans in AD 43 under the name of Londinium, after the Roman conquest of Britain. [1] This settlement lasted only seventeen years. Around the year 61, the Iceni tribe, led by Queen Boudica, stormed the settlement, completely destroying it. [10] The next plan to rebuild the city prospered, eventually replacing Colchester as the capital of the Roman province of Britain in AD 100. At its height in the second century, Roman London had a population of approximately 60,000.
In the medieval period, London established the importance of Westminster Abbey. In this abbey (not to be confused with Westminster Cathedral) all the kings of England come to be crowned. The residence of the English royalty was, until the end of the Norman period, the castle fortress of the Tower of London, where today the Crown Jewels are kept. Over the years, what is now the financial district (City) developed over Roman London.
London expanded in all directions, annexing steppes, forests, villages. From the 18th century to the first half of the 20th century it has been the capital of the British Empire.
In 1666 the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the city. The reconstruction lasted ten years and was the work of the great architect Christopher Wren, who rebuilt many of the destroyed churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral, where today the heroes of the British nation rest. The city sees a great acceleration in the 18th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, when London was the largest city in the world.
In the course of World War II, London was bombarded by the Luftwaffe, with the bombing raids during the Battle of Britain. The raids resulted in some 30,000 deaths and destroyed various areas of the city, rebuilt in various architectural styles in successive decades. The expansion of London was slowed down from the end of the Second World War with the annexation of different lands, together with the care of a green ring around the city (Green Belt).
The 6 of July of 2005, the International Olympic Committee selected London to host the XXX Olympic Games Modern in 2012. London will thus be the first city in the world to host three editions of games, after the IV edition in 1908 and the XIV in 1948, after the XIII edition, which was also to be held in London, was suspended due to the Second World War.
Riots and violence
In August 2011, riots broke out in the city of London causing destruction and disorder, first in Tottenham, where residents protested the death of young black Mark Duggan. Apparently, Duggan, 29, a black father of four, was approached by officers while riding in a taxi during an operation against arms trafficking in the city’s black community.
This person’s murder plus inhumane economic policies and severe cuts to government spending fueled a neighborhood where violence erupted in 1985 when a black woman died of a stroke during a police raid.
The British government, led by the Conservatives, implements severe austerity measures in an attempt to put the national finances in order. Prime Minister David Cameron promised spending cuts of 80 billion pounds ($ 129 billion), plus another 30 billion pounds in taxes to reduce Britain’s colossal deficit, which increased after the government He spent a lot of money to bail out troubled banks.
As unrest mounted, the British Prime Minister authorized unprecedented crackdowns, stating that “no action should be out of the question”, including increased powers to the police and the imposition of curfews. In addition, he proposed to remove social assistance from those who have participated in the riots and announced that it is being analyzed “whether it would be appropriate to prevent people from communicating via Twitter and Facebook.” [2] Two young men who incited disorder through Facebook have already been sentenced to four years in prison. [3]
Given these measures, young people have opted for the use of BlackBerry cell phones, which use an encryption system that makes it very difficult to know from “outside” what is being discussed. [4]
Another of the measures taken by Cameron was the hiring as a police adviser of the American William Bratton, former chief of the police in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, who currently heads an international private security company. The decision by Cameron, who has maintained that Scotland Yard’s tactics have not worked to stop the violence and protests of the outraged, has sparked doubts and criticism in Britain. [5]
Until August 13, 2011, 1210 people were arrested in the riots in London, of which 698 had been prosecuted, mainly for theft crimes, according to data from the metropolitan police. Almost 1,700 people were arrested in the whole of the United Kingdom for the wave of violence that lasted four days in London and other cities. [6]
Demography
In 1939, London was a small city that comprised what is now called the City of London or, more simply, the city. However, today it is one of the largest urban agglomerations or megalopolises in the world, having spread over kilometers, encompassing a multitude of ancient towns and adjoining villages.
The London metropolitan area has a population of 14,945,000, larger than the populations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined. It is the second largest metropolitan area in Europe, only surpassed by Moscow, and one of the 20 largest in the world, with a life and economic flow that place it in second place in the world shared with the city of Paris (France), only by behind New York City (United States). See population of United Kingdom.
Geography and climate
The Thames, a navigable river, crosses the present city and divides it into two halves. The river had a great influence on the development of the city. London was founded on the north bank of the Thames and, for many centuries, there was only one bridge in the city, the London Bridge. As a consequence, the main and most historic area of London is that of the north bank of the river, where most of the tourist attractions, cinemas, theaters, concert halls and galleries are also located. When more bridges were built in the 18th century, the city expanded in all directions.
London has a temperate oceanic climate, with rarely hot summers (average July temperature: 18 ° C), as well as very severe winter (average January temperature: 6º). In summer, temperatures rarely rise above 33 ° C, although high temperatures have become recurrent. The highest temperature recorded in London was 38.1 ° C in the 2003 heat wave. London is the most polluted city in Europe, despite having a large area and large green areas, industries and cars emit much of the polluting gases of the British Isles.
Economy
London is one of the main international business centers, and is considered one of the four “commanding centers” of the world economy (below New York, Tokyo and Paris). The London metropolitan area generated close to 30% of the UK’s GDP in 2005.
Tourism is a major source of income and employees in this industry reached 35,000 full-time employees in London in 2003, making it a very popular destination for tourists, attracting 27 million each year, second only to Paris in Europe.
Sightseeing
Among the main attractions of London, it is worth highlighting the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament with its Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Abbey Road, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, Tower Bridge, Hyde Park, Regent’s Park, The Mall, the Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Piccadilly Circus, or Windsor Castle.
