Coordinates	13°31′22″N73°43′42″N
name	London
map caption	London region in the United Kingdom
coordinates display	inline, title
coordinates region	GB
subdivision type	Sovereign state
subdivision name	:United Kingdom
subdivision type1	Country
subdivision name1	:England
subdivision type2	Region
subdivision name2	London
subdivision type3	Ceremonial counties
subdivision name3	City and Greater London
subdivision type4	Districts
subdivision name4	City and 32 boroughs
seat type	Headquarters
seat	City Hall
leader title	Regional authority
leader name	Greater London Authority
leader title1	Regional assembly
leader name1	London Assembly
leader title2	Mayor of London
leader name2	Boris Johnson
leader title3	UK Parliament - London Assembly - European Parliament
leader name3	74 constituencies14 constituenciesLondon constituency
established title	Settled by Romans
established date	as Londinium, c. AD 43
area total sq mi	607
population as of	July 2010 est.
total type	London
population total	7,825,200
population density km2	4,978
population density sq mi	12,892
population metro	13,945,000
population urban	8,278,251
population blank1 title	Demonym
population blank1	Londoner
population blank2 title	Ethnicity(June 2009 estimates)
population blank2
timezone	GMT
utc offset	±0
timezone dst	BST
utc offset dst	+1
elevation footnotes
elevation m	24
postal code type	Postcode areas
postal code	, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
area code	020, 01322, 01689, 01708, 01737, 01895, 01923, 01959, 01992
website	london.gov.uk }}

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who called it ''Londinium''. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It has the most international visitors of any city in the world and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.

London has a diverse range of peoples, cultures, and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken within its boundaries. In July 2010 Greater London had an official population of 7,825,200, making it the most populous municipality in the European Union, and accounting for 12.5% of the UK population. The Greater London Urban Area is the second-largest in the EU with a population of 8,278,251, while London's metropolitan area is the largest in the EU with an estimated total population of between 12 million and 14 million. London had the largest population of any city in the world from around 1831 to 1925.

London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement of Greenwich (in which the Royal Observatory marks the Prime Meridian (0° longitude) and GMT). Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and Wembley Stadium. London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events and other cultural institutions, including the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, British Library, Wimbledon and 40 theatres. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world and the second-most extensive (after the Shanghai Metro).

History

Toponymy

The etymology of ''London'' is uncertain. It is an ancient name and can be found in sources from the 2nd century. It is recorded c. 121 as ''Londinium'', which points to Romano-British origin. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. This had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it ''Kaerlud''.

From 1899 it was commonly accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant ''place belonging to a man called *Londinos''; this explanation has since been rejected. Richard Coates put forward an explanation in 1998 that it is derived from the pre-Celtic Old European ''*(p)lowonida'', meaning 'river too wide to ford', and suggested that this was a name given to the part of the River Thames which flows through London; from this, the settlement gained the Celtic form of its name, ''*Lowonidonjon''.

Until 1889 the name "London" officially only applied to the City of London but since then it has also referred to the County of London and now Greater London.

Prehistory and antiquity

Although there is evidence of scattered Brythonic settlements in the area, the first major settlement was founded by the Romans in 43 AD. This lasted for just seventeen years and around 61, the Iceni tribe led by Queen Boudica stormed it, burning it to the ground. The next, heavily planned incarnation of the city prospered and superseded Colchester as the capital of the Roman province of Britannia in 100. At its height during the 2nd century, Roman London had a population of around 60,000. By the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxons had created a new settlement called Lundenwic over a mile (2 km) upstream from the old Roman city, around what is now Covent Garden.

It is likely that there was a harbour at the mouth of the River Fleet for fishing and trading, and this trading grew, until the city was overcome by the Vikings and forced to move east, back to the location of the Roman ''Londinium'', in order to use its walls for protection. Viking attacks continued to increase, until 886 when Alfred the Great recaptured London and made peace with the Danish leader, Guthrum. The original Saxon city of Lundenwic became ''Ealdwic'' ("old city"), a name surviving to the present day as Aldwych, which is in the modern City of Westminster.

Two recent discoveries indicate that London could be much older than previously thought. In 1999 the remains of a Bronze Age bridge were found on the foreshore north of Vauxhall Bridge. This bridge either crossed the Thames, or went to a (lost) island in the river. Dendrology dated the timbers to 1500BC.

In 2010 the foundations of a large timber structure, dated to 4500BC, were found on the Thames foreshore, South of Vauxhall Bridge. The function of the mesolithic structure is not known, but it covers at least 50m x 10m, and numerous 30 cm posts are visible at low tides. Both structures are on South Bank, at a natural crossing point where the River Effra flows into the River Thames, and 4 km upstream from the Roman City of London. The effort required to construct these structures implies trade, stability, and a community size of several hundred people at least.

Middle Ages

With the collapse of Roman rule in the early 5th century, London was effectively abandoned. However, from the 6th century an Anglo-Saxon settlement known as Lundenwic developed slightly to the west of the old Roman city, around what is now Covent Garden and the Strand, rising to a likely population of 10–12,000. In the 9th century London was repeatedly attacked by Vikings, leading to a relocation of the city back to the location of Roman ''Londinium'', in order to use its walls for protection. Following the unification of England in the 10th century London, already the country's largest city and most important trading centre, became increasingly important as a political centre, although it still faced competition from Winchester, the traditional centre of the kingdom of Wessex.

In the 11th century King Edward the Confessor re-founded and rebuilt Westminster Abbey and Westminster, a short distance upstream from London became a favoured royal residence. From this point onward Westminster steadily supplanted the City of London itself as a venue for the business of national government.

Following his victory in the Battle of Hastings, William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England in the newly finished Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. William constructed the Tower of London, the first of the many Norman castles in England to be rebuilt in stone, in the southeastern corner of the city to intimidate the native inhabitants. In 1097, William II began the building of Westminster Hall, close by the abbey of the same name. The hall became the basis of a new Palace of Westminster.

During the 12th century the institutions of central government, which had hitherto accompanied the royal court as it moved around the country, grew in size and sophistication and became increasingly fixed in one place. In most cases this was Westminster, although the royal treasury, having been moved from Winchester, came to rest in the Tower. While the City of Westminster developed into a true capital in governmental terms, its distinct neighbour, the City of London, remained England's largest city and principal commercial centre and flourished under its own unique administration, the Corporation of London. In 1100 its population was around 18,000; by 1300 it had grown to nearly 100,000.

Disaster struck during the Black Death in the mid-14th century, when London lost nearly a third of its population. London was the focus of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.

Early modern

During the Tudor period the Reformation produced a gradual shift to Protestantism, with much of London passing from church to private ownership. Mercantilism grew and monopoly trading companies such as the East India Company were established, with trade expanding to the New World. London became the principal North Sea port, with migrants arriving from England and abroad. The population rose from an estimated 50,000 in 1530 to about 225,000 in 1605.

In the 16th century William Shakespeare and his contemporaries lived in London at a time of hostility to the development of the theatre. By the end of the Tudor period in 1603, London was still very compact. There was an assassination attempt on James I in Westminster, through the Gunpowder Plot on 5 November 1605. London was plagued by disease in the early 17th/ref century, culminating in the Great Plague of 1665–1666, which killed up to 100,000 people, or a fifth of the population.

The Great Fire of London broke out in 1666 in Pudding Lane in the city and quickly swept through the wooden buildings. Rebuilding took over ten years and was supervised by Robert Hooke as Surveyor of London. In 1708 Christopher Wren's masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral was completed. During the Georgian era new districts such as Mayfair were formed in the west; and new bridges over the Thames encouraged development in South London. In the east, the Port of London expanded downstream.

In 1762 George III acquired Buckingham House and it was enlarged over the next 75 years. During the 18th century, London was dogged by crime and the Bow Street Runners were established in 1750 as a professional police force. In total, more than 200 offences were punishable by death, and women and children were hanged for petty theft. Over 74 per cent of children born in London died before they were five. The coffeehouse became a popular place to debate ideas, with growing literacy and the development of the printing press making news widely available; and Fleet Street became the centre of the British press.

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Late modern and contemporary

London was the world's largest city from about 1831 to 1925. London's overcrowded conditions led to cholera epidemics, claiming 14,000 lives in 1848, and 6,000 in 1866. Rising traffic congestion led to the creation of the world's first local urban rail network. The Metropolitan Board of Works oversaw infrastructure expansion. It was replaced in 1889 by the London County Council, London's first elected city-wide administration. The Blitz and other bombing by the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II killed over 30,000 Londoners and destroyed large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. Immediately after the war, the 1948 Summer Olympics were held at the original Wembley Stadium, at a time when the city had barely recovered from the war.

In 1951 the Festival of Britain was held on the South Bank. The Great Smog of 1952 led to the Clean Air Act 1956, which ended the "pea-souper" fogs for which London had been notorious. From the 1940s onwards, London became home to a large number of immigrants, largely from Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, making London one of the most diverse cities in Europe.

Primarily starting in the mid-1960s, London became a centre for the worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London subculture associated with The King's Road, Chelsea and Carnaby Street. The role of trendsetter was revived during the punk era. In 1965 London's political boundaries were expanded to take into account the growth of the urban area and a new Greater London Council was created. During The Troubles in Northern Ireland, London was subjected to bombing attacks by the Provisional IRA. Racial inequality was highlighted by the 1981 Brixton riot. Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after World War II, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s. The principal ports for London moved downstream to Felixstowe and Tilbury, with the London Docklands area becoming a focus for regeneration as the Canary Wharf development. This was borne out of London's ever-increasing role as a major international financial centre during the 1980s.

The Thames Barrier was completed in the 1980s to protect London against tidal surges from the North Sea. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986, which left London as the only large metropolis in the world without a central administration. In 2000, London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the Greater London Authority. To celebrate the start of the 21st century, the Millennium Dome, London Eye and Millennium Bridge were constructed. On 7 July 2005, three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus were bombed in a series of terrorist attacks.

Government

Local government

The administration of London is formed of two tiers—a city-wide, strategic tier and a local tier. City-wide administration is coordinated by the Greater London Authority (GLA), while local administration is carried out by 33 smaller authorities. The GLA consists of two elected components; the Mayor of London, who has executive powers, and the London Assembly, who scrutinise the mayor's decisions and can accept or reject his budget proposals each year. The headquarters of the GLA is City Hall, Southwark; the current mayor is Boris Johnson. The mayor's statutory planning strategy is published as the London Plan, which is being revised, for final publication in 2011. The local authorities are the councils of the 32 London boroughs and the City of London Corporation. They are responsible for most local services, such as local planning, schools, social services, local roads and refuse collection. Certain functions, such as waste management, are provided through joint arrangements. In 2009–2010 the combined revenue expenditure by London councils and the GLA amounted to just over 22 billion ₤ (14.7 billion ₤ for the boroughs and 7.4 billion ₤ for the GLA)

Policing in Greater London, with the exception of the City of London, is provided by the Metropolitan Police Force, overseen by the Metropolitan Police Authority. The City of London has its own police force – the City of London Police. The British Transport Police are responsible for police services on National Rail and London Underground services in the capital.

The London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for Greater London. It is run by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and is the third-largest fire service in the world. National Health Service ambulance services are provided by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) NHS Trust, the largest free at the point of use emergency ambulance service in the world. The London Air Ambulance charity operates in conjunction with the LAS where required. Her Majesty's Coastguard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution operate on the River Thames.

National government

London is the seat of the Government of the United Kingdom, which is located around the Palace of Westminster. Many government departments are located close to Parliament, particularly along Whitehall, including the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street. The British Parliament is often referred to as the "Mother of Parliaments" (although this ''sobriquet'' was first applied to England itself by John Bright) because it has been the model for most other parliamentary systems, and its Acts have created many other parliaments.

Geography

Scope

Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London. The small, ancient City of London at its core once contained the whole settlement, but as the urban area grew the City Corporation resisted attempts to amalgamate it with its suburbs, causing "London" to be defined in a number ways for different purposes; and the situation was once open to legal debate. Forty per cent of Greater London is covered by the London post town, within which 'LONDON' forms part of postal addresses.

The London telephone area code (020) covers a larger area, similar in size to Greater London, although some outer districts are omitted and some places just outside are included. The area within the orbital M25 motorway is normally what is referred to as 'London'. and the Greater London boundary has been aligned to it in places.

Outward urban expansion is now prevented by the Metropolitan Green Belt, although the built-up area extends beyond the boundary in places, resulting in a separately defined Greater London Urban Area. Beyond this is the vast London commuter belt. Greater London is split for some purposes into Inner London and Outer London. The city is split by the River Thames into North and South, with an informal central London area in its interior. The coordinates of the nominal centre of London, traditionally considered to be the original Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross near the junction of Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, are approximately .

Status

Within London, both the City of London and the City of Westminster have city status and both the City of London and the remainder of Greater London are the ceremonial counties. The current area of Greater London has incorporated areas that were once part of the counties of Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire. London's status as the capital of England, and later the United Kingdom, has never been granted or confirmed officially—by statute or in written form.

Its position was formed through constitutional convention, making its status as ''de facto'' capital a part of the UK's unwritten constitution. The capital of England was moved to London from Winchester as the Palace of Westminster developed in the 12th and 13th centuries to become the permanent location of the royal court, and thus the political capital of the nation. More recently, Greater London has been defined as a region of England and in this context known as ''London''.

Topography

Greater London covers an area of , an area which had a population of 7,172,036 in 2001 and a population density of . A larger area, referred to as the London Metropolitan Region or the London Metropolitan Agglomeration covers an area of has a population of 12,653,500 and a population density of . Modern London stands on the Thames, its primary geographical feature, a navigable river which crosses the city from the south-west to the east. The Thames Valley is a floodplain surrounded by gently rolling hills including Parliament Hill, Addington Hills, and Primrose Hill. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river with extensive marshlands; at high tide, its shores reached five times their present width.

Since the Victorian era the Thames has been extensively embanked, and many of its London tributaries now flow underground. The Thames is a tidal river, and London is vulnerable to flooding. The threat has increased over time due to a slow but continuous rise in high water level by the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound.

In 1974, a decade of work began on the construction of the Thames Barrier across the Thames at Woolwich to deal with this threat. While the barrier is expected to function as designed until roughly 2070, concepts for its future enlargement or redesign are already being discussed.

Climate

London has a temperate oceanic climate, similar to much of southern Britain. Despite its reputation as being a rainy city, London interestingly receives less precipitation in a year than Rome at , or Bordeaux at , do. Winters are generally chilly to cold with frost usually occurring in the suburbs on average twice a week from November to March. Snow usually occurs about 4 or 5 times a year mostly from December to February. Snowfall during March and April is rare but does occur every 2–3 years. Winter temperatures seldom fall below or rise above . During the winter of 2010, London experienced its lowest temperature on record () in Northolt and the heaviest snow seen for almost two decades, a huge strain on London's transport infrastructure. Summers are generally warm and sometimes hot, the heat being boosted by the Urban heat island effect making the centre of London at times 5°C (9°F) warmer than the suburbs and outskirts. London's summer average is . On average there are 7 days a year above and 2 days a year above . Temperatures of 26°C (80°F) usually occur on a weekly basis from mid- June to late August. During the 2003 European heat wave there were 14 consecutive days above and 2 consecutive days where temperatures soared up to , leading to hundreds of heat related deaths. Rain generally occurs on around 2 out of 10 summer days. Spring and Autumn are mixed seasons and can be pleasant. In 2011, October 1st reached and in April 2011 it reached . However in recent years both of these months have also had snowfall. Temperature extremes range from to .

Districts

London's vast urban area is often described using a set of district names, such as Bloomsbury, Mayfair, Wembley and Whitechapel. These are either informal designations, reflect the names of villages that have been absorbed by sprawl, or are superseded administrative units such as parishes or former boroughs.

Such names have remained in use through tradition, each referring to a local area with its own distinctive character, but without current official boundaries. Since 1965 Greater London has been divided into 32 London boroughs in addition to the ancient City of London. The City of London is the main financial district and Canary Wharf has recently developed into a new financial and commercial hub, in the Docklands to the east.

The West End is London's main entertainment and shopping district, attracting tourists. West London includes expensive residential areas where properties can sell for tens of millions of pounds. The average price for properties in Kensington and Chelsea is £894,000 with similar average outlay in most of central London.

The East End is the area closest to the original Port of London, known for its high immigrant population, as well as for being one of the poorest areas in London. The surrounding East London area saw much of London's early industrial development; now, brownfield sites throughout the area are being redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway including the London Riverside and Lower Lea Valley, which is being developed into the Olympic Park for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

Architecture

London's buildings are too diverse to be characterised by any particular architectural style, partly due to their varying ages. Many grand houses and public buildings, such as the National Gallery, are constructed from Portland stone. Some areas of the city, particularly those just west of the centre, are characterised by white stucco or whitewashed buildings. Few structures in Central London pre-date the Great Fire of 1666, these being a few trace Roman remains, the Tower of London and a scattered Tudor survivors in the City. Further out is, for example, the Tudor period Hampton Court Palace, England's oldest surviving Tudor palace, built by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey circa 1515. Wren's late 17th century churches and the financial institutions of the 18th and 19th centuries such as the Royal Exchange and the Bank of England, to the early 20th century Old Bailey and the 1960s Barbican Estate form part of the varied architectural heritage.

The disused, but soon to be rejuvenated, 1939 Battersea Power Station by the river in the southwest is a local landmark, while some railway termini are excellent examples of Victorian architecture, most notably St. Pancras and Paddington. The density of London varies, with high employment density in the central area, high residential densities in inner London and lower densities in the suburbs.

The Monument in the City of London provides views of the surrounding area while commemorating the Great Fire of London, which originated nearby. Marble Arch and Wellington Arch, at the north and south ends of Park Lane respectively, have royal connections, as do the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall in Kensington. Nelson's Column is a nationally recognised monument in Trafalgar Square, one of the focal points of the city centre.

High-rise development is restricted at certain sites if it would obstruct protected views of St Paul's Cathedral. Nevertheless, there are plans for more skyscrapers in central London ''(see Tall buildings in London)'', including the 72-storey Shard London Bridge which is currently under construction. Development temporarily stalled as a result of the recent financial crisis, but is reported to be recovering. Older buildings are mainly brick built, most commonly the yellow London stock brick or a warm orange-red variety, often decorated with carvings and white plaster mouldings.

In the dense areas, most of the concentration is achieved with medium- and high-rise buildings. London's skyscrapers such as 30 St Mary Axe, Tower 42, the Broadgate Tower and One Canada Square are usually found in the two financial districts, the City of London and Canary Wharf. Other notable modern buildings include City Hall in Southwark with its distinctive oval shape, and the British Library in Somers Town/Kings Cross. What was formerly the Millennium Dome, located by the Thames to the east of Canary Wharf, is now used as an entertainment venue called The O2 Arena.

Parks and gardens

The largest parks in the central area of London are the Royal Parks of Hyde Park, its neighbour Kensington Gardens at the western edge of central London and Regent's Park on the northern edge. Regent's Park contains London Zoo, the world's oldest scientific zoo, and is located near the tourist attraction of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.

Closer to central London are the smaller Royal Parks of Green Park and St. James's Park. Hyde Park in particular is popular for sports and sometimes hosts open-air concerts. A number of large parks lie outside the city centre, including the remaining Royal Parks of Greenwich Park to the south-east and Bushy Park and Richmond Park to the south-west, as well as Victoria Park, East London to the east. Primrose Hill to the north of Regent's Park is a popular spot to view the city skyline.

Some more informal, semi-natural open spaces also exist, including the Hampstead Heath of North London. This incorporates Kenwood House, the former stately home and a popular location in the summer months where classical musical concerts are held by the lake, attracting thousands of people every weekend to enjoy the music, scenery and fireworks.

Demography

With increasing industrialisation, London's population grew rapidly throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was for some time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the most populous city in the world until overtaken by New York in 1925. Its population peaked at 8,615,245 in 1939 immediately before the outbreak of the Second World War. There were an estimated 7,556,900 official residents in Greater London .

However, London's continuous urban area extends beyond the borders of Greater London and was home to 8,278,251 people in 2001, while its wider metropolitan area has a population of between 12 and 14 million depending on the definition used. According to Eurostat, London is the most populous city and metropolitan area of the European Union and the second most populous in Europe (or third if Istanbul is included). During the period 1991–2001 a net 726,000 immigrants arrived in London.

The region covers an area of . The population density is , more than ten times that of any other British region. In terms of population, London is the 25th largest city and the 18th largest metropolitan region in the world. It is also ranked 4th in the world in number of billionaires (United States Dollars) residing in the city. London ranks as one of the most expensive cities in the world, alongside Tokyo and Moscow.

Ethnic groups

According to the Office for National Statistics, based on 2009 estimates, 69.7 per cent of the 7,753,600 inhabitants of London were White, with 59.5 per cent White British, 2.2 per cent White Irish and 8.0 per cent classified as Other White. Some 13.2 per cent are of South Asian descent, with Indians making up 6.2 per cent of London's population, followed by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis at 2.8 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively. 2.0 per cent are categorised as "Other Asian". 10.1 per cent of London's population are Black, with around 5.3 per cent being Black African, 4.0 per cent as Black Caribbean and 0.8 per cent as "Other Black". 3.5 per cent of Londoners are of mixed race; 1.8 per cent are Chinese; and 1.7 per cent belong to another ethnic group.

Across London, Black and Asian children outnumber White British children by about six to four in state schools. However, White children represent 62 per cent of London's 1,498,700 population aged 0 to 15 as of 2009 estimates from the Office for National Statistics, with 55.7 per cent of the population aged 0 to 15 being White British, 0.7 per cent being White Irish and 5.6 per cent being from other EU White backgrounds. In January 2005, a survey of London's ethnic and religious diversity claimed that there were more than 300 languages spoken and more than 50 non-indigenous communities which have a population of more than 10,000 in London. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that, , London's foreign-born population is 2,650,000 (33 per cent), up from 1,630,000 in 1997.

The 2001 census showed that 27.1 per cent of Greater London's population were born outside the UK. The table to the right shows the 20 most common foreign countries of birth of London residents in 2001, the date of the last published UK Census. A portion of the German-born population are likely to be British nationals born to parents serving in the British Armed Forces in Germany. Estimates produced by the Office for National Statistics indicate that the five largest foreign-born groups living in London in the period July 2009 to June 2010 were those born in India, Poland, the Republic of Ireland, Bangladesh and Nigeria.

Religion

{{bar box |title=Religion in London |titlebar=#ddd |left1=Religion |right1=Percent |float=left |bars= }}

The majority of Londoners – 58.2 per cent – identify themselves as Christians. This is followed by those of no religion (15.8 per cent), Muslims (8.5 per cent), Hindus (4.1 per cent), Jews (2.1 per cent), Sikhs (1.5 per cent), Buddhists (0.8 per cent) and other (0.2 per cent), though 8.7 per cent of people did not answer this question in the 2001 Census.

London has traditionally been Christian, and has a large number of churches, particularly in the City of London. The well-known St Paul's Cathedral in the City and Southwark Cathedral south of the river are Anglican administrative centres, while the Archbishop of Canterbury, principal bishop of the Church of England and worldwide Anglican Communion, has his main residence at Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth.

Important national and royal ceremonies are shared between St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. The Abbey is not to be confused with nearby Westminster Cathedral, which is the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in England and Wales. Despite the prevalence of Anglican churches, observance is very low within the Anglican denomination. Church attendance continues on a long, slow, steady decline, according to Church of England statistics.

London is also home to sizeable Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish communities. Many Muslims live in Tower Hamlets and Newham; the most important Muslim edifice is London Central Mosque on the edge of Regent's Park. Following the oil boom, increasing numbers of wealthy Middle-Eastern Muslims have based themselves around Mayfair and Knightsbridge in west London. London is home to the largest mosque in western Europe, the Baitul Futuh Mosque, of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community London's large Hindu community is found in the north-western boroughs of Harrow and Brent, the latter of which is home to one of Europe's largest Hindu temples, Neasden Temple. Sikh communities are located in East and West London, which is also home to the largest Sikh temple in the world outside India.

The majority of British Jews live in London, with significant Jewish communities in Stamford Hill, Stanmore, Golders Green, Hampstead, Hendon and Edgware in North London. Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue has the largest membership of any single Orthodox synagogue in the whole of Europe, overtaking Ilford synagogue (also in London) in 1998. The community set up the London Jewish Forum in 2006 in response to the growing significance of devolved London Government.

Economy

London generates approximately 20 per cent of the UK's GDP (or $446 billion in 2005); while the economy of the London metropolitan area—the largest in Europe—generates approximately 30 per cent of the UK's GDP (or an estimated $669 billion in 2005). London is one of the pre-eminent financial centres of the world and vies with New York City as the most important location for international finance.

London's largest industry is finance, and its financial exports make it a large contributor to the UK's balance of payments. Around 325,000 people were employed in financial services in London until mid-2007. London has over 480 overseas banks, more than any other city in the world. Currently, over 85% (3.2 million) of the employed population of greater London works in the services industries. Due to its prominent global role, London's economy has been affected by the late-2000s financial crisis. The City of London estimates that 70,000 jobs in finance will be cut within a year. The City of London is home to the Bank of England, London Stock Exchange, and Lloyd's of London insurance market.

Over half of the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and over 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies have their headquarters in central London. Over 70 per cent of the FTSE 100 are located within London's metropolitan area, and 75 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have offices in London.

Along with professional services, media companies are concentrated in London and the media distribution industry is London's second most competitive sector. The BBC is a significant employer, while other broadcasters also have headquarters around the City. Many national newspapers are edited in London. London is a major retail centre and in 2010 had the highest non-food retail sales of any city in the world, with a total spend of around £64.2 billion. The Port of London is the second-largest in the United Kingdom, handling 45 million tonnes of cargo each year.

London has five major business districts: the City, Westminster, Canary Wharf, Camden & Islington and Lambeth & Southwark. One way to get an idea of their relative importance is to look at relative amounts of office space: Greater London had 27 million m² of office space in 2001, and the City contains the most space, with 8 million m² of office space. London has some of the highest real estate prices in the world.

Tourism

Tourism is one of London's prime industries and employs the equivalent of 350,000 full-time workers in London in 2003, while annual expenditure by tourists is around £15 billion. London attracts over 14 million international visitors per year, making it the world's most visited city. London attracts 27 million overnight-stay visitors every year.

In 2009 the ten most-visited attractions in London were: # British Museum # National Gallery # Tate Modern # Natural History Museum # London Eye # Science Museum # Tower of London # National Maritime Museum # Victoria and Albert Museum # Madame Tussauds

Transport

Transport is one of the four main areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, however the mayor's financial control does not extend to the longer distance rail network that enters London. In 2007 he assumed responsibility for some local lines, which now form the London Overground network, adding to the existing responsibility for the London Underground, trams and buses. The public transport network is administered by Transport for London (TfL) and is one of the most extensive in the world. Cycling is an increasingly popular way to get around London. The London Cycling Campaign lobbies for better provision.

The lines that formed the London Underground, as well as trams and buses, became part of an integrated transport system in 1933 when the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) or ''London Transport'' was created. Transport for London (TfL), is now the statutory corporation responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London, and is run by a board and a commissioner appointed by the Mayor of London.

Air

thumb|left|[[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow (terminal 5 pictured) is the busiest airport in the world for international traffic.|alt=]] London is a major international air transport hub with the largest city airspace in the world. Eight airports use the word ''London'' in their name, but most traffic passes through six of these. London Heathrow Airport, in Hillingdon, West London, is the busiest airport in the world for international traffic, and is the major hub of the nation's flag carrier, British Airways. In March 2008 its fifth terminal was opened. There were plans for a third runway and a sixth terminal however these were cancelled by the Coalition Government on 12 May 2010. In September 2011 a personal rapid transit system was opened at Heathrow to connect to a nearby car park.

Similar traffic, with the addition of some low-cost short-haul flights, is also handled at London Gatwick Airport, located south of London in West Sussex.

Stansted Airport, situated north east of London in Essex, is the main UK hub for Ryanair and Luton Airport to the north of London in Bedfordshire, caters mostly for low-cost short-haul flights. London City Airport, the smallest and most central airport, is focused on business travellers, with a mixture of full service short-haul scheduled flights and considerable business jet traffic.

London Southend Airport, east of London in Essex, is a smaller, regional airport that mainly caters for low-cost short-haul flights. It recently went through a large redevelopment project including a brand new terminal, extended runway and a new train station offering fast links into the capital. EasyJet currently have a base at the airport.

Buses and trams

London's bus network is one of the largest in the world, running 24 hours a day, with 8,000 buses, 700 bus routes, and over 6 million passenger journeys made every weekday. In 2003, the network had an estimated 1.5 billion commuter trips per annum, more than the Underground. Around £850 million is taken in revenue each year. London has the largest wheelchair accessible network in the world and, from the 3rd quarter of 2007, became more accessible to hearing and visually impaired passengers as audio-visual announcements were introduced. The distinctive red double-decker buses are internationally recognised, and are a trademark of London transport along with black cabs and the Tube.

London has a modern tram network, known as Tramlink, based in Croydon in South London. The network has 39 stops, three routes and carried 26.5 million people in 2008. Since June 2008 Transport for London has completely owned Tramlink and plans to spend £54m by 2015 on maintenance, renewals, upgrades and capacity enhancements. Since April 2009 all trams have been refurbished.

Cycling

Cycling in London has enjoyed a renaissance since the turn of the Millennium. Cyclists enjoy a cheaper, and often quicker, way around town than those by public transport or car, and the launch of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme in July 2010 has been successful and generally well-received.

Port

From being the largest port in the world, the Port of London is now only the second-largest in the United Kingdom, handling 45 million tonnes of cargo each year. Most of this actually passes through the Port of Tilbury, outside the boundary of Greater London.

Rail

The London Underground — all of which is now commonly referred to as the Tube, though originally this designation referred only to the deep-level lines, as distinct from the sub-surface lines — is the oldest, and second longest metro system in the world, dating from 1863. The system serves 270 stations and was formed from several private companies, including the world's first underground electric line, the City and South London Railway.

Over three million journeys are made every day on the Underground network, over 1 billion each year. An investment programme is attempting to address congestion and reliability problems, including £7 billion (€10 billion) of improvements planned for the 2012 Summer Olympics. London has been commended as the city with the best public transport. The Docklands Light Railway, which opened in 1987, is a second, more local metro system using smaller and lighter tram-type vehicles which serve Docklands and Greenwich.

There is an extensive above-ground suburban railway network, particularly in South London, which has fewer Underground lines. London houses Britain's busiest station – Waterloo with over 184 million people using the interchange station complex (which includes Waterloo East station) each year. The stations have services to South East and South West London, and also parts of South East and South West England. Most rail lines terminate around the centre of London, running into eighteen terminal stations with the exception of the Thameslink trains connecting Bedford in the north and Brighton in the south via Luton and Gatwick airports.

Since 2007 high-speed Eurostar trains link St. Pancras International with Lille, Paris, and Brussels. Journey times to Paris and Brussels of two-and-a-quarter hours and one hour 50 minutes respectively make London closer to continental Europe than the rest of Britain by virtue of the High Speed 1 rail link to the Channel Tunnel while the first high speed domestic trains started in June 2009 linking Kent to London.

Roads

Although the majority of journeys involving central London are made by public transport, car travel is common in the suburbs. The inner ring road (around the city centre), the North and South Circular roads (in the suburbs), and the outer orbital motorway (the M25, outside the built-up area) encircle the city and are intersected by a number of busy radial routes—but very few motorways penetrate into inner London. The M25 is the longest ring-road motorway in the world at long. The A1 and M1 connect London to Edinburgh, Leeds and Newcastle.

A plan for a comprehensive network of motorways throughout the city (the Ringways Plan) was prepared in the 1960s but was mostly cancelled in the early 1970s. In 2003, a congestion charge was introduced to reduce traffic volumes in the city centre. With a few exceptions, motorists are required to pay £10 per day to drive within a defined zone encompassing much of congested central London. Motorists who are residents of the defined zone can buy a vastly reduced season pass which is renewed monthly and is cheaper than a corresponding bus fare. London is notorious for its traffic congestion, with the M25 motorway the busiest stretch in the country. The average speed of a car in the rush hour is . London government initially anticipated the Congestion Charge Zone to increase daily peak period Underground and bus users by 20,000 people, reduce traffic by 10 to 15 percent, increase traffic speeds by 10 to 15 percent, and reduce queues by 20 to 30 percent. Over the course of several years, the average number of cars entering the centre of London on a weekday was reduced from 195,000 to 125,000 cars – this is a 35-percent reduction of vehicles driven per day.

Education

Tertiary education

London is a major centre of higher education teaching and research and its 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2008/09 it had a higher education student population of around 412,000 (approximately 17 per cent of the UK total), of whom around 287,000 were registered for undergraduate degrees and 118,000 were studying at postgraduate level. In 2008/09 there were around 97,150 international students in London, approximately 25 per cent of all international students in the UK.

A number of world-leading education institutions are based in London. In the 2011 ''QS World University Rankings'' Imperial College London is ranked 6th, University College London (UCL) 7th and King's College London 27th in the world. The London School of Economics has been described as the world's leading social science institution for both teaching and research. The London Business School is considered one of the world's leading business schools and in 2010 its MBA programme was ranked best in the world by the ''Financial Times''.

With 125,000 students, the federal University of London is the largest contact teaching university in Europe. It includes four large multi-faculty universities – King's College London, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway and UCL – and a number of smaller and more specialised institutions including Birkbeck, the Courtauld Institute of Art, Goldsmiths, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Institute of Education, the London Business School, the London School of Economics, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Royal Academy of Music, the Central School of Speech and Drama, the Royal Veterinary College and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Members of the University of London have their own admissions procedures, and some award their own degrees.

There are a number of universities in London which are outside of the University of London system, including Brunel University, City University London, Imperial College London, Kingston University, London Metropolitan University (with over 34,000 students, the largest unitary university in London), London South Bank University, Middlesex University, University of the Arts London (the largest university of art, design, fashion, communication and the performing arts in Europe), University of East London, the University of West London and the University of Westminster. In addition there are three international universities in London – Regent's College, Richmond University and Schiller International University.

London is home to five major medical schools – Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry (part of Queen Mary), King's College London School of Medicine (the largest medical school in Europe), Imperial College School of Medicine, UCL Medical School and St George's, University of London – and has a large number of affiliated teaching hospitals. It is also a major centre for biomedical research, and three of the UK's five academic health science centres are based in the city – Imperial College Healthcare, King's Health Partners and UCL Partners (the largest such centre in Europe). There are a number of business schools in London, including Cass Business School (part of City University London), ESCP Europe, European Business School London, Imperial College Business School and the London Business School. London is also home to many specialist arts education institutions, including the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, the London Contemporary Dance School, RADA, the Royal College of Art, the Royal College of Music and Trinity Laban.

Primary and secondary education

The majority of primary and secondary schools in London are state schools and are controlled by the London boroughs, although there are also a number of private schools in London, including old and famous schools such as the City of London School, Harrow, St Paul's School, University College School, Highgate School and Westminster School.

Culture

Accent

The London accent long ago acquired the Cockney label, and was similar to many accents of the South East of England. The accent of a 21st century 'Londoner' varies widely; what is becoming more and more common amongst the under 30s however is some fusion of Cockney, Received Pronunciation, and a whole array of 'ethnic' accents, in particular Caribbean, which form an accent labelled Multicultural London English (MLE).

Leisure and entertainment

Within the City of Westminster, the entertainment district of the West End has its focus around Leicester Square, where London and world film premieres are held, and Piccadilly Circus, with its giant electronic advertisements. London's theatre district is here, as are many cinemas, bars, clubs and restaurants, including the city's Chinatown district (in Soho), and just to the east is Covent Garden, an area housing speciality shops. The United Kingdom's Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Royal Opera and English National Opera are based in London and perform at the Royal Opera House, the London Coliseum, Sadler's Wells Theatre and the Royal Albert Hall as well as touring the country.

Islington's long Upper Street, extending northwards from the Angel, has more bars and restaurants than any other street in the United Kingdom. Europe's busiest shopping area is Oxford Street, a shopping street nearly long, making it the longest shopping street in the United Kingdom. Oxford Street is home to vast numbers of retailers and department stores, including the world-famous Selfridges flagship store. Knightsbridge, home to the equally renowned Harrods department store, lies to the southwest.

London is home to designers Vivienne Westwood, Galliano, Stella McCartney, Manolo Blahnik, and Jimmy Choo among others; its renowned art and fashion schools make it an international centre of fashion alongside Paris, Milan and New York. London offers a great variety of cuisine as a result of its ethnically diverse population. Gastronomic centres include the Bangladeshi restaurants of Brick Lane and the Chinese food restaurants of Chinatown.

There is a variety of annual events, beginning with the relatively new New Year's Day Parade, fireworks display at the London Eye, the world's second largest street party, the Notting Hill Carnival is held during the late August Bank Holiday each year. Traditional parades include November's Lord Mayor's Show, a centuries-old event celebrating the annual appointment of a new Lord Mayor of the City of London with a procession along the streets of the City, and June's Trooping the Colour, a formal military pageant performed by regiments of the Commonwealth and British armies to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday.

Literature, film and television

London has been the setting for many works of literature. The literary centres of London have traditionally been hilly Hampstead and (since the early 20th century) Bloomsbury. Writers closely associated with the city are the diarist Samuel Pepys, noted for his eyewitness account of the Great Fire, Charles Dickens, whose representation of a foggy, snowy, grimy London of street sweepers and pickpockets has been a major influence on people's vision of early Victorian London, and Virginia Woolf, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the 20th century.

The pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer's late 14th-century Canterbury Tales set out for Canterbury from London – specifically, from the Tabard inn, Southwark. William Shakespeare spent a large part of his life living and working in London; his contemporary Ben Jonson was also based there, and some of his work—most notably his play ''The Alchemist''—was set in the city. ''A Journal of the Plague Year'' (1722) by Daniel Defoe is a fictionalisation of the events of the 1665 Great Plague. Later important depictions of London from the 19th and early 20th centuries are Dickens' novels, and Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Modern writers pervasively influenced by the city include Peter Ackroyd, author of a "biography" of London, and Iain Sinclair, who writes in the genre of psychogeography.

London was the setting for the films ''Oliver Twist'' (1948), ''Peter Pan'' (1953), ''The Ladykillers'' (1955), ''The 101 Dalmatians'' (1961), ''Mary Poppins'' (1964), ''Blowup'' (1966), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Secrets & Lies'' (1996), ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Match Point'' (2005), ''V For Vendetta'' (2005) and ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street'' (2008). The television soap opera ''EastEnders'', first broadcast in 1985, is also set in the city. London has played a significant role in the film industry, and has major studios at Ealing and a special effects and post-production community centred in Soho. Working Title Films has its headquarters in London.

Museums and art galleries

London is home to many museums, galleries, and other institutions, many of which are free of admission charges and are major tourist attractions as well as playing a research role. The first of these to be established was the British Museum in Bloomsbury, in 1753. Originally containing antiquities, natural history specimens and the national library, the museum now has 7 million artefacts from around the globe. In 1824 the National Gallery was founded to house the British national collection of Western paintings; this now occupies a prominent position in Trafalgar Square. In the latter half of the nineteenth century the locale of South Kensington was developed as "Albertopolis", a cultural and scientific quarter. Three major national museums are located there: the Victoria and Albert Museum (for the applied arts), the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. The national gallery of British art is at Tate Britain, originally established as an annexe of the National Gallery in 1897. The Tate Gallery, as it was formerly known, also became a major centre for modern art; in 2000 this collection moved to Tate Modern, a new gallery housed in the former Bankside Power Station.

Music

London is one of the major classical and popular music capitals of the world and is home to major music corporations, such as EMI, as well as countless bands, musicians and industry professionals. The city is also home to many orchestras and concert halls, such as the Barbican Arts Centre (principal base of the London Symphony Orchestra), Cadogan Hall (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) and the Royal Albert Hall (The Proms).

London was instrumental in the development of punk music, with figures such as the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Vivienne Westwood all based in the city. More recent artists to emerge from the London music scene include Bananarama, Wham!, The Escape Club, Bush, East 17, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Spice Girls, Jamiroquai,Blur, Supergrass, The Libertines, Babyshambles, Bloc Party, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Coldplay, and George Michael. London is also a centre for urban music. In particular the genres UK garage, drum and bass, dubstep and grime evolved in the city from the foreign genres of hip hop and reggae, alongside local drum and bass. Black music station BBC 1Xtra was set up to support the rise of home-grown urban music both in London and the rest of the UK.

Sports

London has hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in 1908 and 1948. In July 2005 London was chosen to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, which will make it the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times. London was also the host of the British Empire Games in 1934. London will host the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. London's most popular sport is football and it has fourteen League football clubs, including five in the Premier League: Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur.

London also has four rugby union teams in the Aviva Premiership (London Irish, Saracens, Wasps and Harlequins), although only the Harlequins play in London (all the other three now play outside Greater London, although Saracens still play within the M25). The other two professional rugby union teams in the city are second division clubs London Welsh and London Scottish, that play home matches in the city. The city has other very traditional rugby union clubs, famously Richmond F.C., Rosslyn Park F.C., Westcombe Park R.F.C. and Blackheath F.C..

There are currently three professional rugby league clubs in London – London Broncos who play in the European Super League at The Stoop and the Championship One side the London Skolars (based in Wood Green, London Borough of Haringey) Hemel Stags based in Hemel Hempstead, north of London will play in the Championship One from 2013.

From 1924, the original Wembley Stadium was the home of the English national football team, and served as the venue for the FA Cup final as well as rugby league's Challenge Cup final. The new Wembley Stadium serves exactly the same purposes and has a capacity of 90,000. Twickenham Stadium in south-west London is the national rugby union stadium, and has a capacity of 84,000 now that the new south stand has been completed.

Cricket in London is served by two Test cricket grounds Lord's (home of Middlesex C.C.C.) in St John's Wood and the Oval (home of Surrey C.C.C.) in Kennington. Lord's has hosted four finals of the Cricket World Cup. One of London's best-known annual sports competitions is the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, held at the All England Club in the south-western suburb of Wimbledon. Other key events are the annual mass-participation London Marathon which sees some 35,000 runners attempt a course around the city, and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on the River Thames between Putney and Mortlake.

Twin cities

There are 46 other places on six continents named after London. As well as London's twinning, the London boroughs have twinnings with parts of other cities across the world. Shown below is the list of cities that the Greater London Authority has twinning arrangements with: Bogotá La Paz Arequipa Berlin Delhi Johannesburg Kuala Lumpur Kuwait City Moscow New York City Oslo Sylhet Shanghai Seoul Tehran The following cities have a friendship agreement with London: Algiers Baku Beijing Bucharest Buenos Aires Delhi Dhaka Istanbul Los Angeles Mumbai (Bombay) Paris Podgorica Rome Sofia Tokyo Zagreb

See also

''Outline of England''

Notes

References

Bibliography

Porter, Roy. ''History of London'' (1995), by a leading historian

External links

British Pathé Digitalised archive containing hundreds of films of 20th century London

London in ''British History Online'', with links to numerous authoritative online sources

VisitLondon.com – Official London site

Office for National Statistics: Focus on London 2007 – compendium of official statistics

Museum of London Group Portal – Home

Transport for London (TfL) – city transport authority

Map of Early Modern London Historical Map & Encyclopaedia of Shakespeare's London. Scholarly

London.gov.uk – Official site for the government of London by the Greater London Authority covering the Office of Mayor of London and the London Assembly

The London Wiki

Category:Articles including recorded pronunciations (UK English) Category:Arthurian locations Category:British capitals Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Host cities of the Commonwealth Games Category:Host cities of the Summer Olympic Games Category:Populated places established in the 1st century Category:Port cities and towns in the United Kingdom Category:Robin Hood locations Category:Staple ports

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Outer London is the name for the group of London Boroughs that form a ring around Inner London.

These were areas that were not part of the County of London and became formally part of Greater London in 1965. An exception is North Woolwich, which was in the County of London but was transferred to Newham in 1965.

London Government Act 1963

Outer London - Primary Definition

Image:LondonOuter.png

ONS's Outer London

Image:LondonOuterCensus.png

The outer London boroughs were defined by the London Government Act 1963.

Barking and Dagenham

Barnet

Bexley

Brent

Bromley

Croydon

Ealing

Enfield

Haringey

Harrow

Havering

Hillingdon

Hounslow

Kingston upon Thames

Merton

Newham

Redbridge

Richmond upon Thames

Sutton

Waltham Forest

ONS definition (statistics)

The Office for National Statistics and the Census define Outer London differently, excluding Haringey and Newham (which are defined as Inner London), and including Greenwich. This is reflected in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) classification. Under this classification, Outer London consists of Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, and Waltham Forest.

Historical population

Please note: Figures here are for the Office for National Statistics defined Outer London (in its 2001 limits), whose land area is 1,254 km² (484 sq. miles). 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, with those for 2002 to 2009 having been revised during 2010. These mid-year estimates are more accurate than the censuses themselves, which are known to underestimate the population of London.

Date	Population
1891, April 5/6	1,083,770
1901, March 31/April 1	1,647,396
1911, April 2/3	2,162,288
1921, June 19/20	2,413,978
1931, April 26/27	3,217,219
1939, Mid-year estimate	4,250,788
1951, April 8/9	4,517,588
1961, April 23/24	4,499,737
1971, April 25/26	4,420,585
1981, Midyear estimate	4,254,900
1991, Midyear estimate	4,230,000
2001, Midyear estimate	4,463,100
2002, Midyear estimate	4,480,300
2003, Midyear estimate	4,485,000
2004, Midyear estimate	4,501,200
2005, Midyear estimate	4,537,000
2006, Midyear estimate	4,570,700
2007, Midyear estimate	4,598,800
2008, Midyear estimate	4,638,400
2009, Midyear estimate	4,692,200

Other definitions

From 1990 to 2000 London used two telephone area codes with a separate code for 'Outer London', however the area covered by this code was widely different from all of the above definitions.

References

Category:London sub regions London Outer

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Coordinates	13°31′22″N73°43′42″N
name	London Gatwick Airport
nativename	Gatwick Airport
image-width	250
image2	Gatwick_South_Terminal.jpg
image2-width	280px
iata	LGW
icao	EGKK
type	Public
owner	Global Infrastructure Partners
operator	Gatwick Airport Limited
city-served	London
location	Crawley, West Sussex
hub	British Airways
gates	115 (in terminal)
elevation-f	203
elevation-m	62
coordinates region	GB-WSX
pushpin map	United Kingdom West Sussex
pushpin label	LGW
pushpin map caption	Location within West Sussex
website	www.gatwickairport.com
metric-rwy	yes
r1-number	08L/26R
r1-length-f	8,415
r1-length-m	2,565
r1-surface	Asphalt/Concrete
r2-number	08R/26L
r2-length-f	10,879
r2-length-m	3,316
r2-surface	Asphalt/Concrete
stat-year	2010
stat1-header	Passengers
stat1-data	31,375,290
stat2-header	Passenger change 09-10
stat2-data	3.1%
stat3-header	Aircraft Movements
stat3-data	240,500
stat4-header	Movements change 09-10
stat4-data	4.5%
footnotes	Sources: UK AIP at NATSStatistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority }}

Gatwick Airport is located north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick, it is London's second largest international airport and second busiest by total passenger traffic in the United Kingdom after Heathrow. Gatwick furthermore is Europe's leading airport for point-to-point flights and has the world's busiest single-use runway averaging 52 aircraft movements an hour.

In 2010, over 31.3 million passengers passed through Gatwick, making it the 9th largest in Europe by passenger traffic and the 12th busiest in terms of international passengers.

Charter airlines generally prefer Gatwick over Heathrow as a base for London and the South East. From 1978 to 2008, many flights to and from the United States used Gatwick because of restrictions on the use of Heathrow implemented in the Bermuda II agreement between the UK and the US. (As of 2010, Delta Air Lines and US Airways are the only US carriers to continue serving Gatwick from the US.) The airport is a base for scheduled operators Aer Lingus, British Airways (BA), EasyJet, Flybe and Virgin Atlantic, as well as charter airlines including Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways. Gatwick is unique amongst London's airports in having a significant airline presence representing each of the three main airline business models: full service, low/no frills and charter.

BAA Limited and its predecessors, the British Airports Authority and BAA plc, owned and operated Gatwick continuously from 1 April 1966 until 2 December 2009. On 17 September 2008, BAA announced it would sell Gatwick following a report by the Competition Commission into BAA's market dominance in London and South East England. On 21 October 2009, it was announced that agreement had been reached to sell Gatwick to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the owners of London City Airport, for £1.51 billion. Of this amount, £55 million will depend on the airport's future traffic development and its owners' future capital structure (£10 million and £45 million respectively). The sale was formally completed on 3 December 2009. On this day, Gatwick's ownership passed from BAA to GIP. In early 2010, GIP reportedly sold minority stakes in Gatwick to South Korean National Pension Service and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). On 18 June 2010, it was reported that CalPERS, California's and the US's biggest state pension fund, had bought a 12.7% equity stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP. An announcement made in the ''Financial Times'' on 21 December 2010 stated that the Future Fund, a sovereign wealth fund set up by the Australian government, planned to buy a 17.2% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP.

History

1241: The name "Gatwick" is first recorded, as ''Gatwik'', the name of a manor on the site of today's airport. Until the 19th century it was owned by the De Gatwick family. Its name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words ''gāt'', 'goat', and ''wīc'', 'dairy farm', i.e. 'goat farm'. (''On the adjacent map, Gatwick Manor is at the northwest end of the racecourse; its name is somewhat obscured by the map's paper being eroded over an old crease. The site of the modern runway runs roughly from the racecourse to the lane junction at Hydefield farm southeast of Charlwood.'')

1890: The descendants of the original owners sold the area to the newly established Gatwick Race Course Company.

1891: The new owners opened a racecourse beside the London–Brighton railway, and a dedicated station including sidings for horse boxes. The course held steeplechase and flat races. During World War I the course hosted the Grand National.

Airport infrastructure and airline operations

1920–45

Late 1920s: Land adjacent to the racecourse at Hunts Green Farm along Tinsley Green Lane was used as an aerodrome.

August 1930: Following a change in land ownership, the aerodrome was licensed. Later in 1930: The Surrey Aero Club was formed at the aerodrome by a Mr Waters, who had been the manager of Home Counties Aircraft Service Ltd based at Penshurst Airfield in Kent. Surrey Aero Club used the old Hunts Green farmhouse as club house.

1932: Redwing Aircraft Company bought the aerodrome and operated a flying school. The aerodrome was also used for pilots flying in to races.

1933: The Air Ministry approved commercial flights from Gatwick. The aerodrome was sold for £13,500 to Morris Jackaman, an investor.

1934: Morris Jackaman formed a new airport company named ''Airports Limited''. Hillman's Airways became Gatwick's first commercial airline operator as a result of starting scheduled services from the airport to Belfast and Paris.

September 1935: A new railway station called ''Gatwick'' served by two trains an hour on the Victoria–Brighton line opened. (''The present Gatwick station is on the same site.'')

1935: A new airline named ''Allied British Airways'' was formed, by a merger between Hillman's Airways, United Airways and Spartan Airways. The newly formed carrier, which subsequently shortened its name to ''British Airways'', became Gatwick's principal operator. 30 September 1935: Tinsley Green railway station opened south of the present Gatwick station. 17 May 1936: The first scheduled flight to depart ''The Beehive'' was bound for Paris. The applicable air fare was £4 5s, including a first class rail ticket from London Victoria. June 1936: The world's first circular airport terminal, called ''The Beehive'', opened at Gatwick. It was designed by Frank Hoar and included a subway to Gatwick Airport railway station that enabled passengers to travel from London Victoria Station to the aircraft without stepping outside. Tinsley Green railway station was renamed ''Gatwick Airport''. September and November 1936: Two fatal accidents questioned the airport's safety. Moreover, the area was prone to fog and waterlogging as a result of poor drainage due to heavy clay soils. This in turn caused the new subway to flood after rain. 1937: As a result and because longer landing strips were needed, the pre-war British Airways moved to Croydon Airport. Gatwick went back to private flying and was contracted as a Royal Air Force (RAF) flying school. The airport also attracted repair companies. September 1939: The Air Ministry requisitioned Gatwick. World War II: Although the airfield became a base for RAF night-fighters and an army co-operation squadron, it was mainly a repair and maintenance facility.

1940: Horse racing at Gatwick stopped and never restarted.

1945–1957

1946: Gatwick Airport was officially decommissioned, but the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation continued to operate it as a civil airfield, initially for a six-month trial period. During that period, the airport provided maintenance facilities and charter companies flying war-surplus aircraft started to use it; however, persistent drainage issues affected the airport's usage. Most commercial air services were cargo flights. The original Gatwick railway station was renamed ''Gatwick Racecourse''.

November 1948: The owners warned that the airport could be de-requisitioned by November 1949 and revert to private use. Stansted was favoured as London's second airport and Gatwick's future was in doubt.

1950: Despite opposition from local authorities, the Cabinet decided that Gatwick was to be an alternative to Heathrow.

July 1952: The Government said that the airport was to be developed, primarily to cater to aircraft diverted from Heathrow in bad weather.

1956–1958: Temporary closure for a £7.8 million renovation. During that period, British European Airways (BEA) continued using Gatwick for its helicopter operations. The redevelopment was carried out by Alfred McAlpine. It entailed diverting the A23 London—Brighton trunk road and the River Mole, and building the runway across the erstwhile racecourse site and rebuilding the former racecourse railway station alongside the new terminal. The main pier of what is now the South Terminal was built during this construction work.

1958–1970

27 May 1958: The original Gatwick railway station, which had been rebuilt, reopened as ''Gatwick Airport''. The railway station at Tinsley Green shut and never reopened.

30 May 1958: Before the official opening, Transair operated the first commercial air service from the new Gatwick.; a Jersey Airlines de Havilland Heron was the first scheduled aircraft to arrive at the newly reconstructed airport. 9 June 1958: Queen Elizabeth II flew into the new airport in a de Havilland Heron of the Queen's Flight to perform the opening. The first "official" flight to depart Gatwick following the reopening ceremony was a BEA DC-3 operating a charter for Surrey County Council to Jersey and Guernsey. Gatwick was the world's first airport with a direct railway link and the first to combine mainline rail travel, trunk road facilities and an air terminal building in one unit. It was also one of the first to have an enclosed pier-based terminal, which allowed passengers to walk under cover to waiting areas close to aircraft with only a short walk outdoors. Another novel feature of Gatwick's new air terminal was its modular design. This permitted subsequent, phased expansion. 8 June 1959: BEA started using Gatwick. It was followed by BEA Helicopters and BEA Airtours, which made the airport their base. Sudan Airways and BWIA West Indies Airways were among Gatwick's first scheduled overseas airlines. The former's ''Blue Nile'' services were the first scheduled flights from Gatwick by a foreign airline. These services operated between Khartoum and London Gatwick via Cairo, Athens and Rome, initially using Airwork Vickers Viscount aircraft. British United Airways (BUA) assumed this operation the following year, as a result of the Airwork – Hunting-Clan merger. (BUA were also acting as Sudan Airways's technical advisers.) US supplemental carriers Seven Seas Airlines, Capitol International, President Airlines and Transocean Airlines, as well as various South European and Scandinavian charter operators, figured prominently among Gatwick's early overseas users. Late 1950s: From here on, a number of Britain's private airlines established themselves at Gatwick. The first was Transair. It was followed by Airwork, Hunting-Clan and Morton Air Services. In July 1960, these merged to form British United Airways. Throughout the 1960s, BUA was Britain's largest independent airline. During that decade, it became Gatwick's largest resident airline. By the end of the decade, it also became the airport's leading scheduled operator, with a network of short, medium and long-haul routes across Europe, Africa and South America. These were served with contemporary BAC One-Eleven and Vickers VC10 jet aircraft. Early 1960s: Despite rapid expansion of BUA's and other airlines' scheduled activities at Gatwick, the airport was dominated by non-scheduled services well into the 1980s. The bulk of these were inclusive tour (IT) passenger services provided by a growing number of British independent operators and their overseas counterparts. During the 1960s, IT services accounted for between two-thirds and three-quarters of Gatwick's annual passengers, earning the airport its ''bucket and spade'' tag. 1962: Two additional piers were added. 1 May 1963: Non-scheduled operators began implementing the Ministry of Aviation's instruction to transfer all regular charter flights from Heathrow to Gatwick, restricting the former's use for non-scheduled operations to "occasional" charter flights only. 1964: Gatwick's original, relatively short 7,000 feet (2,134 metres) 1950s runway was extended by 1,200 ft (365 m) to 8,200 ft (2,499 m) due to new noise rules governing the operation of jet aircraft at airports close to or surrounded by densely populated urban areas. 1965: By now, each of the three piers was nearly long and the entire terminal complex had a floor area of . Fully extendible jet bridges were added when the piers were rebuilt and extended in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

1970–1999

1970: Second extension of Gatwick's runway by 875 ft (267 m) to 9,075 ft (2,766 m) to permit non-stop jet operations to the US east coast with a full payload and full-range/payload operations by British United and Caledonian BAC One-Eleven 500s.

Late November 1970: BUA was acquired by the Scottish charter airline Caledonian Airways. The new airline was known as Caledonian//BUA. BUA's takeover by Caledonian enabled the latter to transform itself into a scheduled airline. In addition to scheduled routes inherited from BUA, it launched scheduled services to Europe, North and West Africa, North America as well as the Middle and Far East during the 1970s and '80s.

September 1971: Caledonian//BUA became British Caledonian (BCal).

November 1971: BCal commenced the first scheduled service by a wholly private UK airline since the 1930s between London and Paris from Gatwick to Le Bourget. November 1972: Laker Airways became the first operator of widebody aircraft at Gatwick, following the introduction of two McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 aircraft. Laker's DC-10 fleet expanded throughout the 1970s and early '80s with longer-range variants. 1973: Third extension of Gatwick's runway to 10,165 ft (3,098 m) to allow non-stop narrowbody operations to the US west coast with a full payload and commercially viable, long-range widebody operations. April 1973: BCal inaugurated the first transatlantic scheduled services by a private UK airline to New York and Los Angeles. March and May 1977: BCal introduced its first two DC-10s at Gatwick. 26 September 1977: Laker Airways launched ''Skytrain'', Gatwick's first daily long-haul, no frills flights to John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport. 1 April 1978: As passenger numbers had grown steadily since the late 1970s, as a result of several Government initiatives in support of Gatwick's development, new policies came into effect to transfer all scheduled services between London and the Iberian peninsula from Heathrow to Gatwick, and compelling all airlines that were planning to operate a scheduled service to or from London for the first time to use Gatwick instead of Heathrow. The latter policy was officially known as the "London Air Traffic Distribution Rules". It was applied retroactively from the beginning of April 1977. These rules were designed to achieve a fairer distribution of traffic between London Heathrow and London Gatwick, the UK's two main international gateway airports. The policy was aimed at increasing Gatwick's utilisation to help the airport make a profit. Another pro-active measure the Government took to aid Gatwick's development at the time was to grant permission for a high-frequency helicopter shuttle service linking both of London's main airports. 9 June 1978: BCal, British Airways Helicopters and the BAA jointly inaugurated the new helicopter shuttle service linking London Heathrow and London Gatwick. August 1980: BCal launched the UK's first private scheduled air service to Hong Kong (via Dubai). 1982: BCal started to operate a small fleet of Boeing 747–200s at Gatwick. 1983: As passenger numbers grew, a circular satellite pier was added to the terminal building, connected to the main terminal by the UK's first automated people mover system (now replaced with a walkway and travelators). Construction began on the North Terminal, which was the largest construction project south of London in the 1980s. It cost £200 million. 1984: The new air traffic control tower opened. The non-stop Gatwick Express rail service to London Victoria station was launched. There was a need for more capacity and a second terminal was planned. July 1985: A British Airways Concorde operated the type's first-ever commercial flight from Gatwick. Year ending April 1987: Gatwick overtook New York JFK as the world's second-busiest international airport, handling 15.86 million international passengers – 100,000 more than JFK. 18 March 1988: Queen Elizabeth II opened the North Terminal. End of the 1989/90 financial year: Scheduled passengers outnumbered holidaymakers travelling on non-scheduled services for the first time in Gatwick's post-war history. The latter had accounted for more than half the airport's passengers during the 1970s and most of the 1980s.

1991: The North Terminal was expanded with a second aircraft pier.

1991–1992: Dan-Air replaced Air Europe as Gatwick's principal short-haul scheduled operator following the latter's demise at the beginning of that period. Dan-Air and Air Europe had played an important role in the development of Gatwick and its short-haul scheduled route network. 1994: The North Terminal international departures lounge and phase 1 of the South Terminal international departures lounge opened. Both developments cost £30 million. The North Terminal has an area of 75,000m². Gatwick's two terminals are connected by an automated rapid track transit system. 1998: Fourth extension of Gatwick's runway to 10,879 ft (3,316 m) to enable longer-range operations with fully-laden widebody aircraft.

2000–2009

2000 and 2001: Gatwick's two terminals were further expanded to add more seating, retail space and catering outlets, at a total cost of £60 million. This included an extension to the North Terminal departure lounge completed in 2001.

2005: A £110 million additional aircraft pier (Pier 6) opened, adding an extra 11 pier-served aircraft stands. Linked by the world's largest air passenger bridge to the North Terminal's main building, it spans a taxiway, giving arriving and departing passengers views of the airport and taxiing aircraft. The same year, an extension and refurbishment to the South Terminal's baggage reclaim hall was completed, doubling it in size.

May 2008: Another extension was completed to the South Terminal departure lounge. In addition, a second-floor security search area opened. The South Terminal now covers an area of 120,000m². The terminal is mainly used by low-cost airlines. Many former users have moved to the newer North Terminal.

12 October 2009: Qatar Airways's daily QR076 Gatwick–Doha scheduled service became the first commercial flight powered by fuel made from natural gas. The Airbus A340-600HGW operating the six-hour flight ran on a 50–50 blend of synthetic gas-to-liquids (GTL) and conventional oil-based kerosene developed by Shell instead of traditional, purely oil-based aviation turbine fuel. 3 December 2009: The transfer of Gatwick's ownership from BAA Limited to Global Infrastructure Partners became effective.

2009–present

Following the sale of the airport to GIP, Gatwick's new owners announced their intention to proceed with a previously agreed £1 billion investment programme to upgrade and expand the airport's existing infrastructure to transform the passenger experience. It is hoped that this will firmly establish Gatwick as the airport of choice for air travellers whose journey begins and/or ends in London and other parts of South East England. According to Virgin Atlantic communications director Paul Charles, the prospect of offering much better facilities to Gatwick's airlines and passengers as a result of the change in ownership presents a long-term opportunity to leapfrog Heathrow in terms of airport infrastructure and passenger amenities. It is expected that GIP will use its relationships to persuade new and existing airlines to consider launching additional routes from Gatwick, reinstating services suspended as a result of the global recession in the wake of the financial crisis that began in 2007 and Open Skies and/or expanding their existing flying programme from the airport in the near future.

February 2010: It was reported that GIP sold minority stakes of 12% and 15% to South Korean National Pension Service and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), for £100 million and £125 million, respectively. These were sold in Gatwick's – rather than GIP's – name. The sale of these stakes is part of GIP's strategy to syndicate the equity portion of the original acquisition by issuing bonds to refinance bank debt. Although this entails bringing in additional investors in the airport, GIP aims to retain management control. 18 June 2010: It was announced that Californian state pension fund CalPERS had spent approximately US$155 million (£104.8 million) on acquiring a 12.7% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP, marking the US$200 billion fund's first direct infrastructure investment. 22 June 2010: Gatwick Airport Limited launched a new competitive brand featuring the tagline "YOUR LONDON AIRPORT – ''Gatwick''" alongside a rename from "London Gatwick Airport" to "Gatwick Airport". Created by advertising agency Lewis Moberly, the new blue-and-white corporate identity is intended as a challenger brand to BAA and aims to differentiate Gatwick from rival Heathrow in support of majority owner GIP's corporate goal to establish Gatwick as London's airport of choice for passengers and airlines. 16 November 2010: Gatwick Airport Limited announced the appointment of Guy Stephenson as its new commercial director, with responsibility for the airport's airline route development and car parking strategies. 21 December 2010: The ''Financial Times'' reported that the A$69 billion (£44 billion) Future Fund, a sovereign wealth fund set up by the Australian government in 2006, intended to buy a 17.2% stake in Gatwick Airport from GIP for £145 million. This transaction will complete GIP's equity syndication process for Gatwick. Although this will reduce GIP's stake to 42%, the private equity firm's extra voting rights will enable it to retain control of the airport's board.

Traffic

1958–2000

Gatwick handled 186,172 passengers during its first seven months of operation following the 1956–58 reconstruction. By 1959, the number of passengers passing through the airport each year had grown to 368,000.

In 1968, annual passenger numbers at Gatwick hit the two million mark for the first time.

By the early 1970s, five million passengers used Gatwick each year. Within a decade, this figure doubled to ten million. It doubled again to over 20 million by the late 1980s.

By the turn of the millennium, Gatwick handled more than 30 million passengers annually.

2000 onwards

2.8% 5.0% 1.3% 4.9% 4.2% 4.2% 3.1% 2.9% 5.3% 3.1%

+	style="width:75px"	Number of Passengers !! style="width:100px">Percentage Change !! style="width:100px"| Number of Movements !! style="width:75px"| Freight (tonnes)
!2000	32,068,540	–	260,859
!2001	31,181,770	|	252,543	280,098
!2002	29,627,420	|	242,379	242,519
!2003	30,005,260	|	242,731	222,916
!2004	31,466,770	|	251,195	218,204
!2005	32,775,695	|	261,292	222,778
!2006	34,163,579	|	263,363	211,857
!2007	35,216,113	|	266,550	171,078
!2008	34,205,887	|	263,653	107,702
!2009	32,392,520	|	251,879	74,680
!2010	31,375,290	|	240,500	104,032
colspan="5" style="text-align:right;"

Passenger numbers peaked in 2007 when the airport handled over 35 million for the first time. However, this total had reduced to 31.4 million by 2010, a 3.1% reduction on 2009's 32.4 million. The airport recorded 240,500 aircraft movements during 2010, 4.5% less than in 2009 and the lowest total in eleven years.

The steepest decline in passenger traffic during 2010 related to Irish and North Atlantic traffic, both of which showed double-digit declines of 14.8 and 13% on 2009, to 1.221 and 1.898 million respectively. European scheduled and charter as well as UK traffic showed smaller, single-digit annual declines (down by 0.7, 7.7 and 4.7% to 15.24, 4.8 and 3.5 million respectively). On the other hand, other long-haul traffic constituted the only passenger traffic component to record an annual increase of 3.4% to 4.69 million, while air freight was the only overall traffic component to record a double-digit annual increase of 39.3% to 104,143 metric tonnes. However, this was less than a third of the total amount of freight the airport handled a decade earlier.

July 2011 saw a further increase in Gatwick's passenger numbers – the seventh consecutive monthly gain for the year – and air transport movements. Compared with July 2010, the total number of passengers passing through the airport rose by 5.9% to 3.632 million. Other long-haul was the only passenger traffic component to show a double-digit decline of 10.2% to 360,100 passengers. European charter traffic saw a smaller, single-digit reduction of 3.7% to 667,700 passengers. All other passenger traffic components recorded increases. Amongst these, European scheduled traffic saw a double-digit increase of 14.1% to 1.899 million passengers while UK, Irish and North Atlantic traffic registered smaller, single-digit gains of 5.4, 4.7 and 4.4% to 359,100, 130,800 and 216,200 passengers respectively. Air transport movements grew by 2.7% to 23,938. Average monthly passenger load factors rose by 2.3% to 86.8%, a July record high. The double-digit growth in European scheduled traffic and the rise in air transport movements were the result of increased low-cost carrier activity in short-haul markets compared with the same period the year before. In contrast to the growth in passenger traffic and air transport movements, cargo volume recorded another steep, double-digit decline of 24.1% to 7,260 metric tonnes.

Busiest routes

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 90%" width= align= |+ '''Busiest routes to and from Gatwick Airport (2010) |- style="background:lightgrey;" ! Rank|| Airport || Passengers handled || % Change2009 / 10 |- |1|| 20px Malaga||909,237|| 18.6 |- |2|| 20px Dublin||842,093|| 20.4 |- |3|| Orlando International||676,265|| 8.2 |- |4|| 20px Alicante||672,228|| 13.7 |- |5|| 20px Faro||669,007|| 17.8 |- |6|| 20px Dubai||629,810|| 10.5 |- |7|| 20px Geneva||624,130|| 3.6 |- |8|| 20px Edinburgh||604,073|| 6.8 |- |9|| 20px Madrid||602,267|| 5.0 |- |10|| 20px Sharm el-Sheikh||579,268|| 5.4 |- |11|| 20px Dalaman||572,882|| 1.4 |- |12|| 20px Amsterdam||548,352|| 1.1 |- |13|| 20px Tenerife South||535,685|| 1.6 |- |14|| 20px Jersey||534,303|| 3.9 |- |15|| 20px Palma de Mallorca||503,286|| 12.9 |- |16|| 20px Glasgow International||488,774|| 5.0 |- |17|| 20px Bridgetown||429,262|| 5.8 |- |18|| 20px Venice Marco Polo||422,295|| 4.5 |- |19|| 20px Rome Fiumicino||376,745|| 12.0 |- |20|| 20px Barcelona||375,944|| 18.8 |}

Gatwick today

Facilities

Gatwick Airport has two terminals, ''North'' and ''South''. Both have shops and restaurants, landside and airside. Disabled passengers can travel through all areas. There are facilities for baby changing and feeding, and play areas and video games for children. Business travellers have lounges offering business facilities. On 31 May 2008, Virgin Holidays opened ''V Room'', Gatwick's first dedicated lounge for leisure travellers. Use of this lounge is exclusive to Virgin Holidays customers flying from the airport to Orlando, Las Vegas and the Caribbean with sister airline Virgin Atlantic. On 9 April 2009, a new independent pay-for-access lounge called No.1 Traveller opened in the South Terminal. It also serves US Airways ''Envoy'' passengers. There is also a conference and business centre. Furthermore, the airport has several on- and off-site hotels. These range from executive to a capsule hotel. The airport has Anglican, Catholic and Free Church Chaplains. In addition, there is a multi-faith prayer room and counselling room in each terminal. A daily service is led by one of the chaplains. The prayer room is open to all faiths.

The Civil Aviation Authority Safety Regulation Group is in Aviation House. WesternGeco, a geophysical services company, has its head office and its Europe/African offices in the Schlumberger House, a building on the grounds of Gatwick Airport, near the south terminal. WesternGeco had a 15-year lease on the building which was scheduled to expire in June 2008. In 2007, WesternGeco reached an agreement with its landlord, BAA Lynton, and extended its lease at Schlumberger House until 2016. Its initial rent was £2.1 million.

In 1968, British United Airways relocated its head office to Gatwick from Portland House in London. After Caledonian Airways acquired British United Airways, the resulting airline, British Caledonian, had its head office at Gatwick. When CityFlyer Express operated, the airline's head office was in the Iain Stewart Centre. When Laker Airways operated, they had their head offices on the airport property.

City Place Gatwick

Gatwick Airport has an office complex on the airport property, called City Place Gatwick. The complex includes four buildings: The Beehive, a former terminal building; the BT building, 2 City Place, and 3 City Place. City Place was developed by BAA Lynton. BT Wholesale and BDO International currently occupy offices in the complex. Companies that once had their head offices in buildings in the complex include GB Airways and CP Ships.

Major airlines

In 2010, EasyJet, British Airways (BA), Thomson Airways, Monarch Airlines and Thomas Cook Airlines were Gatwick's five biggest airlines, in terms of passengers carried. Amongst these, BA and EasyJet were its two dominant resident airlines. In late 2007, BA and easyJet accounted for 25% and 17% of Gatwick's slots. The latter's share of slots subsequently rose to 24% as a result of its takeover of BA franchise carrier GB Airways, which accounted for 7% of slots (late 2007). The acquisition of GB Airways in March 2008 resulted in easyJet becoming Gatwick's biggest short-haul operator accounting for 29% of short-haul passengers (ahead of BA's 23%) and Gatwick's largest airline overall, with flights to 62 domestic and European destinations (at April 2008). By summer 2011, EasyJet had further reinforced its position as Gatwick's leading airline by increasing the number of destinations served from the airport to 92, using a fleet of 46 aircraft. Gatwick is the airline's largest base, where its 11 million passengers per annum account for 35% of the airport's yearly total.

On 30 March 2008, airlines began down-sizing transatlantic operations due to the new EU-US Open Skies Agreement. Continental Airlines is the second transatlantic carrier – after American Airlines – to pull out of Gatwick altogether, following its decision to transfer the seasonal Cleveland service to Heathrow from 3 May 2009. The slots vacated by these moves as well as by the collapse of Zoom, XL Airways UK and Sterling were taken by EasyJet, Flybe, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Ryanair.

By late 2008, easyJet's share of Gatwick slots had grown to about 26%, while Flybe had become Gatwick's third-largest slot-holder accounting for 9% of the airport's slots, as well as its fastest-growing airline. The latter airline has also become Gatwick's largest domestic operator, whose eight routes serving the airport from other destinations in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man carried 1.2 million passengers in its 2010/11 financial year. From a peak of 40% in 2001, BA's share of Gatwick slots declined by 50% to 20% by summer 2009.

Changing character of airport

According to the evidence Flybe submitted at a Competition Commission hearing into BAA Limited's market dominance at the beginning of 2008, Gatwick's dynamics were changing rapidly as a result of recent changes in its traffic pattern. These were likely to transform the airport from a secondary intercontinental airline hub into a predominantly European and domestic operation feeding London and specifically the south London market.

Operations

Gatwick operates as a single runway airport. Strictly speaking it has two runways; however, the northern runway (08L/26R) can only be used when the main runway (08R/26L) is out of use, for example because of maintenance or an accident. The runways cannot be used at the same time because there is not enough separation between them, and during normal operation the northern runway is used as a taxiway. It can take 15 minutes to change from one runway to the other.

The main runway operates with a Category III Instrument Landing System. The northern runway does not have an Instrument Landing System and, when it is in use, arriving aircraft use a combination of Distance Measuring Equipment and assistance from the approach controller using surveillance radar, or where equipped and subject to operator approval, an RNAV (GNSS) Approach, which is also available for the main runway. On all runways, considerable use is made of continuous descent approach to minimise environmental effects of incoming aircraft, particularly at night.

Night flights are subject to restrictions. Between 11 pm and 7 am the noisiest aircraft (rated QC/8 and QC/16) may not operate. In addition, between 11.30 pm and 6 am (the night quota period) there are three limits:

An overall limit on the number of flights;

A Quota Count system which limits the total of noise permitted, but allows operators to choose to operate fewer noisy aircraft or a greater number of quieter planes;

QC/4 aircraft may not operate at night.

Security

The airport is policed by the Gatwick District of Sussex Police. The district is responsible for policing the whole airport, including aircraft, and in certain circumstances, aircraft in flight. The 150 officers attached to this district include armed and unarmed officers, and community support officers for minor offences. The airport district counter man-portable surface-to-air missiles (MANPADS) by patrolling in and around the airport. A separate sub-unit has vehicle checks around the airport.

Brook House, an immigration removal centre of the UK Border Agency was opened on 18 March 2009 by the then Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith.

The airport is one of three UK airports to feature body scanners; as of yet they are stationed only in the north terminal.

Airlines and destinations

Gatwick has two terminals: North and South. The South Terminal is Gatwick's older and busier terminal, and is also where the airport railway station is located. In March 2008, EasyJet split its Gatwick services between both terminals, with many routes taken over from GB Airways now departing from the North Terminal. The following list includes all scheduled services to and from Gatwick Airport, as well as seasonal charter flights.

Ground transport

Gatwick has set the objective that 40% of passengers should be using public transport by the time the annual throughput reaches 40 million (estimated in 2015), from the 2006 figure of 35.3%.

Road

The airport is accessed by a motorway spur road at junction 9A of the M23, which links to the main M23 motorway east at junction 9. The M23 connects with London's orbital motorway, the M25, north. This gives access to much of Greater London, the South East and beyond. The M23 is the main route for traffic to the airport. Gatwick can also be accessed by the A23, which serves Horley and Redhill to the north and Crawley and Brighton to the south. The A217 provides access northwards to the local town of Reigate.

The airport has long and short-stay car parks – at the airport and off-site – although these are often full in summer. Local planning restrictions limit car parking at and around Gatwick.

Rail

The Gatwick Airport railway station is next to South Terminal and provides connections along the Brighton Main Line to London Victoria and London Bridge stations, as well as Brighton and Worthing to the south. The Gatwick Express to Victoria, operated by Southern, is the best-known service from the station, but other companies, including First Capital Connect and First Great Western, use the station as well, and Southern provides services to Victoria and London Bridge under its own brand. First Capital Connect provide direct trains to Luton Airport and First Great Western trains provide a direct rail link with Reading and connections with Oxford and the West.

Foot passengers can reach Heathrow by a X26 Express Bus from outside East Croydon station.

Bus and coach

National Express Coaches operates coaches to Heathrow Airport and Stansted Airport, as well as cities and towns throughout the region and country. Oxford Bus Company operate direct services to Oxford. EasyBus operates minicoaches from both terminals to Earls Court/West Brompton. (National Express Dot2Dot used to operate a service to central London, but this ceased in 2008.)

Local buses connect North and South terminals with Crawley, Horley, Redhill, Horsham and other destinations. Services are offered by Metrobus and Fastway, a guided bus rapid transit system which was the first of its kind to be constructed outside a major city.

There are at least two sets of stairs for foot-passengers to leave South Terminal to ground-level (near the cycle route) from Zone L and the train-station area (steps are labelled Exit Q and Exit P on the ground). These allow access to bus stops for local services.

Cycle

Route 21 of the National Cycle Network passes under South Terminal, allowing virtually traffic-free cycling northwards to Horley and southwards to Three Bridges and Crawley. A goods-style lift runs between the terminal and ground level (signed "Lift to Cycle Route"), near Zone L.

Terminal transfer

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Gatwick Airport's North and South terminals are connected by a elevated two-way automated people mover track. The shuttle system is normally operated by two automatic, three-car driverless train vehicles. Although colloquially referred to widely as a "monorail", the shuttle system runs on a dual concrete track with rubber tyres and is not technically a monorail.

The original Gatwick transit system opened in 1983 when the circular satellite pier was built, connecting the pier to the main terminal building, and was the UK's first automated people mover system. A second transit track was constructed in 1987 to link to the new North terminal. The original satellite transit line was later replaced with a walkway and travelator link, but the inter-terminal shuttle remains in operation.

The original Adtranz C-100 people mover cars remained in continuous operation until 2009, in which time they travelled a total of . In September 2009 the vehicles were withdrawn from service to allow the transit system to be upgraded. Meanwhile, the two terminals were connected by a temporary free bus service. A new operating system and shuttle cars consisting of six Bombardier CX-100 vehicles was installed and the guideway and transit stations were refurbished at a cost of £45 million. The new system opened for use again on 1 July 2010, two months ahead of schedule.

Development

In 1979, an agreement was reached with West Sussex County Council not to build a second runway before 2019.

In its original consultation document published on 23 July 2002 the Government decided to expand Stansted and Heathrow, but not Gatwick. However, Medway Council, Kent County Council and Essex County Council sought a judicial review of this decision. The judge reviewing the lawfulness of the Government's decision ruled that excluding Gatwick from the original consultation was irrational and/or unfair. Following the judge's ruling and the Secretary of State for Transport's decision not to appeal, BAA published new consultation documents. These included an option of a possible second runway at Gatwick to the south of the existing airport boundary, leaving the villages Charlwood and Hookwood to the north of the airport intact. This led to protests about increased noise and pollution, demolition of houses and destruction of villages.

Prior to the change of ownership, BAA planned an £874 million investment at Gatwick over five years, including increased capacity for both terminals, improvements to the transport interchange and a new baggage system for the South Terminal.

On 2 December 2009, the House of Commons Transport Select Committee published a report entitled ''The future of aviation''. With regard to Gatwick, it calls on the Government to reconsider its decision to build a second runway at Stansted, in the light of growing evidence that the business case is unconvincing and that Gatwick is a better location.

In April 2008, Gatwick began work on a new inter-terminal shuttle which signalled the first major development in a £1 billion programme aimed at modernising the airport. The project included the installation of a completely new shuttle system, new shuttle cars, refurbishment of the rubber track and transformation of the terminal stations. The launch took place in July 2010 and attendees included James van Hofton, from the board of directors. The shuttle cost £43million and features included live journey information and the use of sensory technology to count the number of passengers at stations.

Passengers passing through the airport are being made aware of the redevelopment programme in a number of different ways, including through the use of giant mobile barcodes on top of construction hoardings. Scanning these results in content about the construction work being transferred to the user's smartphone.

Plans

Several options to expand Gatwick have been considered, including a third terminal and a second runway to the south of the existing runway. This would allow Gatwick to handle more passengers than Heathrow does today. If a second, wide-spaced (as opposed to close parallel) runway is approved, a new terminal could be sited between the two runways. This could either complement or replace the current South Terminal, depending on expected future traffic developments.

A less ambitious alternative would extend the North Terminal further south, with another passenger bridge to an area currently occupied by aircraft stands without jet bridges (Pier 7). There are also plans to expand the capacity of the North Terminal and to extend Pier 6.

In October 2009, BAA submitted planning applications for Gatwick to handle an extra six million passengers a year by 2018 and for an extension to the North Terminal to provide new check-in facilities and additional baggage reclaim hall capacity, along with a 900 space short-stay car park. Crawley Borough Council's decision to approve these plans was upheld in November 2009 by the Government's refusal to hold a public inquiry despite objections from local environmental protesters.

Speaking at the first Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee (Gatcom) meeting since GIP's takeover of the airport (held on 28 January 2010 at Crawley's Arora Hotel), Gatwick's recently appointed chairman Sir David Rowlands ruled out building a second runway for the foreseeable future, citing the high cost of the associated planning application – estimated to be between £100 million and £200 million – as the main reason for the new owners' lack of interest. At that meeting, Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate stressed GIP's preference for increasing the existing runway's capacity and confirmed GIP's plans to request an increase in the current limit on the permitted number of take-offs and landings.

In October 2010, Gatwick Airport Limited received planning permission from Crawley Borough Council to adapt both terminals to handle the Airbus A380 on a regular, commercial basis.

Incidents and accidents

15 September 1936 – a British Airways Ltd de Havilland DH 86 operating a night mail flight to Germany crashed on takeoff, killing the airline's chief pilot and two members of the aircraft's crew.

November 1936 – a British Airways Ltd Fokker F 12 crashed in a wood south of Gatwick whilst executing its final approach to the airport under a low ceiling in poor visibility, killing both pilots and severely injuring the engineer.

17 February 1959 – a Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount 794D (registration: TC-SEV) on an international charter flight crashed in heavy fog at Newdigate, Surrey, whilst approaching to land at Gatwick. The plane hit some trees. Fourteen of 24 on board died. Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was amongst the survivors.

2 September 1963 – an Iberia Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation (registration: EC-AMQ) leased by Aviaco and operating a charter flight from Barcelona, Spain, brushed trees on Russ Hill while on final approach to London Gatwick. Although the aircraft sustained minor damage as a result of this incident, which occurred during the descent, ca. above and from the runway threshold, it landed safely and none of the 75 passengers on board were injured.

5 January 1969 – a Boeing 727-113C (registration: YA-FAR) operating flight 701 of Ariana Afghan Airlines arriving from Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport, Germany, crashed into a house in Fernhill near Horley, Surrey, in low visibility. The flaps were not extended to maintain flight at final approach speed. Forty-eight of the 62 on board died as well as two on the ground.

28 January 1972 – a British Caledonian Vickers VC10-1109 (registration: G-ARTA) sustained severe structural damage as a result of an exceptionally hard landing at Gatwick at the end of a short ferry flight from Heathrow, where the aircraft had been diverted due to Gatwick being fog-bound and where all passengers had disembarked. A survey of the aircraft's damage revealed that its airframe had been bent out of shape and that it required extensive repairs to be restored to an airworthy condition. The airline's senior management decided that these repairs were not cost-effective. The aircraft was written off and a decision taken to have it scrapped. It was eventually broken up at Gatwick in 1975.

20 July 1975 – a British Island Airways (BIA) Handley Page Dart Herald (registration: G-APWF) was involved in a runway accident while departing on a scheduled flight to Guernsey. The aircraft lifted off from runway 26 after a ground run of 760m and appeared airborne for 125m with its landing gear retracting before the rear underside of the fuselage settled back on to the runway. None of the 45 occupants were hurt.

See also

List of airports in the United Kingdom

World's busiest airports by passenger traffic

Busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic

Notes and Citations

;Notes ;Citations

References

Gwynne, Peter. (1990) ''A History of Crawley'' (2nd Edition) Philmore. ISBN 0-85033-718-6

King, John, with Tait, Geoff, (1980) ''Golden Gatwick – 50 Years of Aviation'', British Airports Authority.

King, John, (1986) ''Gatwick – The Evolution of an Airport'', Gatwick Airport Ltd. and Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society. ISBN 0-9512036-0-6

Bain, Gordon, (1994), ''Gatwick Airport'', Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85310-468-x

External links

Category:Royal Air Force stations in West Sussex Category:Airports in England Category:Airports in the London region Category:Transport in West Sussex Category:Innovia people movers Category:Crawley

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Mark Trevorrow (b. 4 February 1959, Melbourne, Victoria), is an Australian comedian, television host and media personality.

He has developed the flamboyant alter ego "Bob Downe" - a cheesy, safari-suit-wearing lounge singer with dazzling teeth, and host of the fictional regional daytime TV show Good Morning Murwillumbah. The distinction between the two personae is often blurred: Trevorrow and the "Prince of Polyester" both appear at events and host television programs.

Trevorrow has appeared on the Australian series of ''Good News Week'', often joining with host Paul McDermott in a sing-along of an Australian song at the end of the episode. He has collaborated several times with the Doug Anthony All Stars (which included McDermott), appearing in their TV series, ''DAAS Kapital'', and their film ''The Edinburgh Years''. He has also featured in episodes of the sitcom ''Kath & Kim'', as well as hosting the series ''The Way We Were''.

Earlier in his career Trevorrow briefly worked as a reporter on the ''Sun-News Pictorial'' newspaper in his native Melbourne. , Trevorrow is a regular fill-in presenter on the Evening Show on ''702 ABC Sydney''. He has also been a contestant on the special ''Australia's Brainiest Comedian''.

Trevorrow was raised in the Melbourne suburb of Murrumbeena, the third son of a builder-turned-teacher and his wife. He has a younger sister and two older brothers. He came out to his family as gay at the age of 13.

References

Category:1959 births Category:Australian comedians Category:Australian television personalities Category:LGBT comedians Category:LGBT people from Australia Category:Living people Category:Comedians from Melbourne