London, England London is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. It was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km2) medieval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, which now forms the county of Greater London, governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly, an area historically split between Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire.
London is a leading global city, in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism, and transport. It is one of the world's leading financial centres and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world. London is a world cultural capital. It is the world's most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the world's largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic.
