Life In London Introduction to London

An Introduction to London


London dates back to the Roman town Londinium and the medieval boundaries of the city, now known as The Square Mile or The City.

London’s multi-cultural dynamics compromise of more than 7,556,900 people (over 12% of Britain’s total population July 2007), speaking over 300 languages from more than 270 nationalities.

Occupying over 1065.8 square km of land it is Britain’s and Europe’s largest city, the world’s nineth. London has a large and influential financial and business centre, seen as the powerhouse of the UK economy as well as being its capital city. It has over 30,000 shops, 6000 restaurants, 200 museums, 1200 hotels, 100 theatres, 3500 pubs, 300 markets and even 18 wildlife attractions.

We became an Olympic City on 24th August 2008, and the opening ceremony for 2012 will by that year on the 27th July. According to LondonCouncils Londoners will contribute £625 million to the 2012 games and paralympics games.

London has some impressive transport links. It has a channel tunnel link to Paris from Kings Cross St Pancreas International Eurostar, train connections across Britain, its tube line, our very own subway, and 5 city airports:

• Heathrow (the world's busiest international airport).
• Stanstead
• Luton
• Gatwick
• The City

London was the first city in the world to have an underground railway. There are 287 tube stations, on 12 different lines (tube map). The oldest line is the Metropolitan Line opening on 10th January 1863 and there is plenty of history in our underground.