Greater London

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Greater London
Image:EnglandLondon.png
Geography
Status:	Region and (excluding the City of London) Ceremonial county
Area: - Total	9th in England 1,580 km²
NUTS 1:	UKI
Demographics
Population: - (2004 midyear estimate) (2001 census based midyear estimate) - Density	2nd in England 7,420,600 7,322,400 4,725/km² (in 2006)
Politics
Greater London Authority Image:London.gif http://www.london.gov.uk/
Mayor	Ken Livingstone (Labour)

Greater London is the top level administrative subdivision covering London and forms one of the nine regions of England.

1 Scope
2 Local government
3 Status
4 Divisions
5 History
- 5.1 Historical population
6 External links

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Scope

The administrative area of Greater London covers the large conurbation which comprises the City of London, the City of Westminster and 31 other London boroughs and encompasses what is commonly known simply as London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom.

It covers 1579 km² (609 sq. mi) and had a population of 7,172,036 at the April 2001 census. The results of the census were proved to be undercounted, and after careful research the UK Office for National Statistics published a 2001 midyear estimate of 7,322,400 which is more credible than the census itself.

Since 2000, the outer boundary of the Metropolitan Police District has coincided with Greater London.

The highest point of the region is Botley Hill in the North Downs, at 267 metres.

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Local government

Since 2000 the London region has been administered by the Greater London Authority (the "GLA"), and has a directly-elected Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who is scrutinised by an elected London Assembly. The headquarters of the GLA is at City Hall in Southwark.

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Status

The status of Greater London is somewhat unusual. It is officially classified as a ceremonial county (excluding the City of London, which is a ceremonial county itself) and as one of the nine official regions of England - in this context properly called London. It is the only English region with wide ranging devolved powers, an elected regional assembly or a directly elected leader position.

The term "London" is often used in reference to Greater London or to the urban conurbation, not to the tiny City of London at its centre (which is often styled as "the City" or "the Square Mile"). Greater London is not a "City" as it does not have official city status; in any case one London borough, Westminster, is officially a city, as well as the City of London itself which would make such a status anomalous.

In common parlance it is sometimes called a "town" (in the context of "going up to town", without specifying which one) and in terms of the Metropolitan Police Service, whose head is the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, it is a metropolis.

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Divisions

Greater London contains 32 London boroughs (including the City of Westminster), which are generally classed in legislation as unitary authorities (but not named as such) and the City of London, which has a unique government dating back to the 12th century.

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History

Image:GLCArms.jpg 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, 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.

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 6.8 million around 1980, before starting to rebound in the beginning of the 1980s. As of 2003, the population in Greater London has only recovered the level of the beginning of the 1970s (which was also the level of population in 1921). 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.

Wider definitions of London's metropolitan area (the London commuter belt) extend over a far larger region with about 12 million to 12.5 million in it, 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.

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Historical population

Please note: 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 2004), which are more accurate than the censuses themselves, known to underestimate the population of London.

1891, April 5/6           5,572,012 
1901, March 31/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
1971, April 25/26         7,452,520
1981, Midyear estimate    6,805,000 
1991, Midyear estimate    6,829,300
2001, Midyear estimate    7,322,400
2003, Midyear estimate    7,387,900
2006, Midyear estimate    7,511,989

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