Greater London
Geography
Status:	Region and Ceremonial County
Area: - Total	9th in England 1,580 km²
NUTS 1:	UKI
Demographics
Population: - Total (2001 census) - Density	2nd in England 7,172,036 4539/km²
Politics
Greater London Authority http://www.london.gov.uk/
Mayor	Ken Livingstone (Labour)

The administrative area of Greater London combines the City of London, the City of Westminster and 31 other London boroughs, and encompasses what is commonly known simply as London, capital of the United Kingdom. It covers 1579 km² and had a population of 7,172,036 at the 2001 census.

Since 2000 Greater London has been administered by the Greater London Authority, and has a directly-elected Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who is scrutinised by an elected London Assembly.

The status of Greater London is somewhat unusual. It is officially classified as a Ceremonial county and as one of the nine official Regions of England. Oddly, however, it is not classified as an Administrative county despite having an administrative body.

Contents

1 History 2 Map 3 See also 4 External links

History

Greater London was created in 1965, replacing the former administrative counties of Middlesex and London, adding the City, which was not under the London County Council, and absorbing parts of Kent, Hertfordshire, Surrey, and Essex. Greater London is bounded by the Home Counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Kent.

Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the Greater London Council (GLC) sharing power with the Corporation of London (governing the small City of London) and the 32 London borough councils. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 under the government of Margaret Thatcher, with some of its functions devolved to the Corporation and the boroughs, and others reverting to central government. In 2000 the Labour government created a Greater London Authority consisting of a London Assembly and a Mayor of London to govern the entire area. The 2000 and 2004 Mayoral elections were both won by Ken Livingstone, the final leader of the GLC.

Greater London's population rose from 1.1 million in 1801 to an estimated 8.5 million in 1939, but declined to 6.5 million in the 1980s. The population is now rising again and is expected to reach 8.15 million by 2016. Wider definitions of London's metropolitan area (the London commuter belt) extend over a far larger region with up to fourteen million inhabitants, but generally include districts distinct from London proper.

The term 'Greater London' had been used before 1965, particularly to refer to the area covered by the Metropolitan Police Service (which did not coincide with Greater London until 2000), however the term 'Metropolitan Police District' is now preferred.

Map

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 Merton

Sutton Croydon Bromley Lewisham Greenwich Bexley Havering Barking and Dagenham Redbridge Newham Waltham Forest Haringey Enfield Barnet Harrow Hillingdon

See also

• UK topics

External links

• Greater London Authority (http://www.london.gov.uk/)

The United Kingdom (UK)
England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland
Regions of England
East of England | East Midlands | Greater London | North East | North West | South East | South West | West Midlands | Yorkshire and the Humber

United Kingdom | England | Ceremonial counties of England

Bedfordshire | Berkshire | City of Bristol | Buckinghamshire | Cambridgeshire | Cheshire | Cornwall | Cumbria | Derbyshire | Devon | Dorset | Durham | East Riding of Yorkshire | East Sussex | Essex | Gloucestershire | Greater London | Greater Manchester | Hampshire | Herefordshire | Hertfordshire | Isle of Wight | Kent | Lancashire | Leicestershire | Lincolnshire | City of London | Merseyside | Norfolk | Northamptonshire | Northumberland | North Yorkshire | Nottinghamshire | Oxfordshire | Rutland | Shropshire | Somerset | South Yorkshire | Staffordshire | Suffolk | Surrey | Tyne and Wear | Warwickshire | West Midlands | West Sussex | West Yorkshire | Wiltshire | Worcestershire

Greater London | London
London boroughs : Barking and Dagenham | Barnet | Bexley | Brent | Bromley | Camden | City of London | Croydon | Ealing | Enfield | Greenwich | Hackney | Hammersmith and Fulham | Haringey | Harrow | Havering | Hillingdon | Hounslow | Islington | Kensington and Chelsea | Kingston | Lambeth | Lewisham | Merton | Newham | Redbridge | Richmond | Southwark | Sutton | Tower Hamlets | Waltham Forest | Wandsworth | Westminster
Greater London Authority | London Assembly | Mayor of London

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