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Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a famous cemetery located in Highgate, London, England.
The cemetery in its original form (the older, Western part) was opened in 1839, part of an initiative to provide seven large, modern cemeteries (known as the "Magnificent Seven") in a ring round the outside of London. The inner-city cemeteries, mostly the graveyards attached to individual churches, had long been unable to cope with the number of burials and were seen as a hazard to health and an undignified way to treat the dead.
Highgate, like the others, soon became a fashionable place for burials and was much admired and visited. The Victorian attitude to death and its presentation led to the creation of a wealth of Gothic tombs and buildings. It occupies a spectacular south-facing hillside site slightly downhill from the top of the hill of Highgate itself, next to Waterlow Park, both of which were part of the former Dartmouth Park which covered the area.
In 1854, the area to the east of the original area across Swains Lane was purchased to form the eastern part of the cemetery. This part is still used today for burials.
The cemetery's grounds are full of old-growth trees, shrubbery and wildflowers that are a haven for birds and small animals like hedgehogs. The Egyptian Avenue and the Circle of Lebanon (topped by a huge Cedar of Lebanon) feature tombs, vaults and winding paths dug into hillsides. For its protection, the oldest section, which holds an impressive collection of Victorian mausoleums and gravestones, plus elaborately carved tombs, allows admission only in tour groups. The newer section, which contains most of the angel statuary, can be toured unescorted.
Although its most famous occupant in the east cemetery is probably Karl Marx (whose tomb's most recent bombing is still recalled by some Highgate residents), there are several prominent Victorians buried here. Interments include:
- Douglas Adams — author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and other novels, his grave is currently unmarked awaiting a decision about its proposed headstone in the shape of the number "42"
- Edward Hodges Baily — sculptor
- John Singleton Copley — artist
- George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) — novelist
- Michael Faraday — scientist
- Radclyffe Hall — author of The Well of Loneliness and other novels
- Karl Heinrich Marx — father of Marxist philosophy, the basis of Communism
- Henry Moore, (1841–-893) — marine painter
- Ralph Richardson — actor
- Elizabeth Siddall — wife and model of artist/poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- Christina Rossetti — poet
- Sir Donald Alexander Smith — Canadian railway financier and diplomat
- Herbert Spencer — creator of social Darwinism
- Arthur Waley — translator and oriental scholar
- Mrs Henry Wood — author
- Charles Lucy — artist
The nearest transport link to the cemetery is Archway.
Additionally, the Highgate Cemetery is well known for its occult past, being the site of the controversial Highgate Vampire (as written by Bishop Sean Manchester).
See also
- List of other famous cemeteries
External links
- [http://highgate-cemetery.org/ Friends of Highgate Cemetery]
- [http://www.tales.ndirect.co.uk/SEXTON_TALE.HTML Biographical tour of Highgate Cemetery]
- [http://www.gothicpress.freeserve.co.uk/Vampire%20Research%20Society.htm Vampire Research Society]
Category:Cemeteries in London
Category:Camden
List of famous cemeteriesThis is a list of famous cemeteries, mausoleums and other places people are buried, world-wide.
- La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires - burial site of Eva Perón, Juan Manuel Fangio
- La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina is the "National Cemetery" where Juan Peron, Carlos Gardel, Hans Langsdorff and other notables are interred.
- Rookwood Cemetery, (Sydney) - at over 2.8 km², reputedly the largest burial site in the Southern Hemisphere, first used in 1867.
- Karrakatta Cemetery, (Perth) - for people buried in Karrakatta Cemetery, see Category Buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.
- Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane - the oldest and largest Brisbane cemetery, was originally utilised by the earliest colonists. Resting place of author Steele Rudd.
- Waverley Cemetery, (Sydney) - picturesque coastal site, many local historical figures.
- Island of the dead - Port Arthur, Tasmania - early convict graves
- Zentralfriedhof, Vienna - Famous Austrian singer Wolfgang Ambros wrote "Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof" for its centennial in 1974.
- Kapuzinergruft, Vienna - Final resting place of over 140 members of the House of Habsburg
Belgium
- Schoonselhof Cemetery in Antwerp
- Ixelles Cemetery in Brussels
- Tyne Cot Cemetery near Ypres
Brazil
- Cemitério do Morumbi, Sao Paulo - singer Elis Regina, F1 racer Ayrton Senna,actor and comedian Ronald Golias
- Cemitério São João Batista, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro. Singer/Actress Carmen Miranda, composer Tom Jobim.
- Province of Nova Scotia:
- Camp Hill Cemetery, Halifax - burial site for Joseph Howe, Robert Stanfield, Abraham Gesner, amongst others.
- Fairview Cemetery, Halifax - many victims of the RMS Titanic cemetery.
- Mount Olivet Cemetery, Halifax
- Province of New Brunswick:
- Fernhill Cemetery, Saint John - final resting place of several early Canadian statesmen including Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley.
- Province of Quebec:
- Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont, Sainte-Foy - interred here are politicians Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Jean Lesage and others.
- Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, Montreal – some of the notables buried here include Maurice Richard, George-Étienne Cartier, Doug Harvey, Pierre Laporte.
- Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal – final resting place for Sui Sin Far, Anna Leonowens, John Abbott, Mordecai Richler, Sir Arthur Currie, Molson family members, and others.
- Province of Ontario:
- Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa. The burial site includes Sir Robert Borden, Tommy Douglas, Gen. Andrew McNaughton
- Notre Dame Cemetery, Ottawa. Interrments here include Yousuf Karsh, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Aurel Joliat.
- Cataraqui Cemetery, Kingston - final resting place of Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Alexander Campbell
- Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto - those interred here include Timothy Eaton, Frederick Banting, Glenn Gould, and others.
- Province of British Columbia
- Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria - final resting place of Sir James Douglas, Emily Carr, Billy Barker and Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie, the "Hanging Judge".
- Province of Alberta
- Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary - Final resting place of Owen Hart, a Professional wrestler and member of the prestigious Hart wrestling family, Dorothy Joudrie, Archibald Wilder, and Everett Johnson.
- Cementerio General de Chile in Santiago, Chile, is the burial place for all but one of Chile's deceased Presidents including Salvador Allende plus other notables such as singers Víctor Jara and Violeta Parra.
- Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain
- Mausoleum of Princess Zhenxiao
- Cemetery of Zhaojun, Inner Mongolia
- Mawangdui at Changsha, Hunan
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, Xi'an
- Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, Inner Mongolia
- Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, Beijing
- Thirteen Imperial Mausoleums of Ming Dynasty Emperors, Beijing
- Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, Nanjing
- Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Nanjing
- Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng near Wuhan in Hubei province - probably best preserved funeral architecture of the Warring States Period
- Tomb at Yinque at Linyi County, Shandong province
- Zhao Mausoleum, Jiuzong mountain, Shaanxi province
- Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum - earliest funeral architecture in Hong Kong
- Gallant Garden is the cemetery for civil and public servants who died in service
- Sedlec ossuary - Kutná Hora
- Old Jewish Cemetery - Prague
- Olsany Cemetery, Prague - the biggest graveyard in the Czech republic
- Vysehrad cemetery, Prague - the Czech Republic's most important cemetery, it is the burial site for Antonin Dvorak, Alfons Mucha and Bedrich Smetana, amongst others.
- Roskilde Cathedral in the city of Roskilde is the burial place for most Danish kings and queens
- Assistens Kirkegård in the Nørrebro section of Copenhagen is the burial site for Danish notables such as Hans Christian Andersen and Niels Bohr as well as for several African-American jazz musicians.
- Great Pyramid of Giza
- Saqqara
- Valley of the Kings
- Cairo City of the Dead
- Hietaniemi Cemetery, Helsinki
- Cimetière de Bagneux, Paris - burial place for Jean Vigo, Gribouille, Alfred Jarry and others.
- Catacombs of Paris, millions of remains in caves and tunnels under the city of Paris.
- Cimetière des Gonards, Versailles, burial place for Edith Wharton, Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte and others.
- Grand Jas Cemetery, Cannes - buried here are Lily Pons, Peter Carl Fabergé, Martine Carol and other celebrities
- Les Invalides, Paris - war heroes including Napoleon
- Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris - resting place of Emile Zola, Edgar Degas, Heinrich Heine, Georges Feydeau, other artists and writers.
- Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris - serves the great artistic quarter of Montparnasse, including the graves of Charles Baudelaire, Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Seberg, Serge Gainsbourg and Man Ray. Pierre Laval and Porfirio Diaz are also buried here.
- Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery
- Cimetière de Pantin in Paris is the burial site of the singer Damia, and the Cancan dancer, known as La Goulue, and other notables.
- Cimetière de Passy, Paris - Claude Debussy, Edouard Manet.
- The Panthéon, Paris - France's most honored, including Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
- Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Paris - resting place of famous persons such as Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison and Frederic Chopin. Many French Holocaust victims are buried there.
- Saint Denis Basilica, Paris - burial site for French Royalty.
- Cimetière de Saint-Ouen, Paris - where Joan of Arc was led for the public renunciation of her sins. Some of those buried here are the painters Suzanne Valadon, Jules Pascin, and tennis star, Suzanne Lenglen.
- Cimetière Saint-Vincent, a small cemetery in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris contains the graves of such notables as Arthur Honegger, Marcel Carné, Maurice Utrillo and others.
- Saint Remi Basilica, Reims, Champagne-Ardenne, France
- World War II Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
- Bayreuth, Bayreuth Friedhof
- Berlin, Städtischer Friedhof III, Schöneberg. Burial site of Marlene Dietrich and Helmut Newton.
- Berlin, Waldfriedhof, Zehlendorf. Burial site of Willy Brandt and Hildegard Knef.
- Berlin, Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde.
- Hamburg, Friedhof Ohlsdorf
- München, Nordfriedhof
- München, Ostfriedhof.
- München, Westfriedhof.
- Nuremberg, Johanniskirchhof
- Kerameikon - ancient cemetery in Athens
- Kerepesi Cemetery in Budapest
- List of cemeteries in Budapest
:See also :Category:Cemeteries in Hungary
- Imogiri the cemetery founded by Sultan Agung
- Astan-e Quds-e Razavi in Mashhad
- Bam cemetery in Bam
- Behesht-e Zahra in Tehran - largest Iranian cemetery
- Gurestan Bastani, Bushehr (the ancient cemetery, Bushehr)
- Maghbarat ol-Shoara (the Poets’ cemetery in Tabriz)
- Naksh-i Rustam (Achaemenid Royal Cemetery)
- Shah-Abdol-Azim Cemetery, Rayy, Tehran
- Shah Cheragh, Shiraz
- Wadi-us-Salaam in Najaf - largest Islamic cemetery
- Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin
- Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze, Florence - resting place of Donatello and many members of the Medici family.
- Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze, Florence - resting place of Galileo, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Gioacchino Rossini and many other notables
- 'English' Cemetery, Florence
- Porte Sante, Florence - resting place of Carlo Collodi and many others.
- Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice - resting place of Titian, Claudio Monteverdi and the heart of Antonio Canova.
- Campo di Verano cemetery, Rome - Largest cemetery in rome
- Cimitero Monumentale in Milan is a very large cemetery that includes the Famedio (Temple of Fame) where Giuseppe Verdi, Vladimir Horowitz, Alessandro Manzoni, Arturo Toscanini, and others are interred.
- Camposanto, Pisa
- Catacombs of Rome
- St. Peter's Basilica, Rome - resting place of Saint Peter, Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II, and many other popes.
- Mausoleum of Theodoric
- Protestant Cemetery, Rome - resting place of Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats
- San Michele, Venice - Venice's main cemetery and resting place of Ezra Pound, Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Diaghilev.
- [http://www.cimiterodistaglieno.it/ Cimitero Monumentale di Staglieno], Genoa--famous for its sepulchral sculpture and architecture.
- Mount Herzl, the official cemetery for the leaders of Israel, where many Prime Ministers of Israel and President of Israel are buried. Theodor Herzl, Zeev Jabotinsky, Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin are among those who are buried here.
- Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem - in almost continual use from First Temple times until today. Oskar Schindler and Menachem Begin buried here.
- Kinnereth Cemetery, a small cemetery on the Sea of Galilee shore. The poets Rachel and Neomi Shemer are buried here.
- Foreign cemeteries in Japan
- Rossa, Vilnius
- Bukit China in Malacca is the largest (250,000 m²) Chinese cemetery outside China, with graves that date back to the Ming dynasty.
- Panteón de Dolores, Mexico City
- Panteón de Belén, Guadalajara, Jalisco
- Westgaarde, Amsterdam
- Zorgvlied, Amsterdam
- Bródno Cemetery, Warsaw - Roman Catholic Cemetery
- Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw - Among those interred here are film director Krzysztof Kieślowski and Nobel Prize winning author Władysław Reymont.
- Old Jewish Cemetery, Wrocław (former Breslau). The most famous person buried here is Ferdinand Lassalle, the founder of German Socialist Party.
- Cimitirul Bellu, Bucharest
- Cimitirul Vesel, Sapanta (Maramures)
- Novodevichy Cemetery at the New Maidens' Convent, Moscow - many famous Russians and citizens of the former Soviet Union buried here including Nikita Khrushchev, the writers Nikolai Gogol and Anton Chekhov, and composers Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich.
- Vagankovskoye Cemetery, Moscow, Russia is the burial site for Inga Artamonova, Igor Talkov, Sergei Yesenin and others.
- Donskoe Cemetery in Moscow is an old necropolis next to the Donskoy Monastery.
- Rogozhskoye cemetery in Moscow is the center of Old Believer community in Russia and the world.
- Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, St. Petersburg, Russia. Among those interred here is author Fyodor Dostoevsky, scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, and composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
- Persian Shiite Cemetery, St. Petersburg
- Peter and Paul Fortress, Petersburg - all Russian Tsars since Peter the Great are buried in the cathedral.
- Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, St Petersburg - burial ground for the victims of the Siege of Leningrad and probably the largest cemetery in the world by the number of people interred.
- Žale, Ljubljana
- Novo Groblje in Belgrade - burial ground of many famous Serbs
- Cementerio de la Almudena - Madrid's largest cemetery
- El Escorial - burial place for the monarchs of Spain
- Riddarholmskyrkan, Stockholm
- Norra begravningsplatsen, established in 1827 in northern Stockholm, is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables including Alfred Nobel, Ingrid Bergman and Ulrich Salchow.
- Skogskyrkogården, a relatively new cemetery opened in 1920 in southern Stockholm, has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amongst others, the cemetery contains the graves of actress Greta Garbo.
Switzerland
- Basel
- Friedhof Hörnli
- Berne
- Bremgartenfriedhof: Michail Alexandrowitsch Bakunin.
- Schosshaldenfriedhof: Paul Klee.
- Friedhof Bümpliz] (with sculptures by [[Schang Hutter]])
- [[Jüdischer Friedhof Bern: Max Horkheimer.
- Geneva
- Cimetière des Rois
- Kilchberg, Zurich: burial site for Thomas Mann, Katia Mann, Erika Mann, Golo Mann, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer)
- Morcote
- Cemetery Morcote: burial site for Alexander Moissi (1879-1935), Georges Baklanoff (1882-1938), Georg Kaiser (1878-1945), Eugen d'Albert (1864-1932).
- Zurich
- Friedhof Fluntern: burial site for Elias Canetti, Kurt Früh, Therese Giehse, Fritz Hug, James Joyce, Karl Moser, Lavoslav Růžička, Paul Scherrer, Emil Oprecht
- Privatfriedhof Hohe Promenade: Grabstädte Arnold Escher von der Linth.
- Friedhof Manegg: Walter Matthias Diggelmann, Alfred Escher, Friedrich Glauser, Kurt Gloor, Othmar Schoeck.
- Friedhof Nordheim: Albin Zollinger.
- Friedhof Rehalp: Heinrich Federer.
- Friedhof Sihlfeld: Alfred Friedrich Bluntschli, Karl Culmann, Gustav Gull, Rudolf Koller, Johanna Spyri, August Bebel, Henri Dunant, Gottfried Keller.
- Chin-Pao Mountain
- Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery
- Lychakivskiy Cemetery, Lviv - The burial site for Polish and Ukrainian notables including writer Maria Konopnicka and the poet, Ivan Franko.
- Abney Park, Stoke Newington, London - Opened in 1840, it is one of London's Magnificent Seven cemeteries and was the first fully designed non-denominational cemetery in Europe; architecture by William Hosking, arboretum by Loddiges
- Brompton Cemetery- Opened in 1840, it is one of London's Magnificent Seven cemeteries and is the final resting place for a number of prominent persons including Samuel Cunard, Emmeline Pankhurst, Sir Charles Fremantle amongst others.
- Brookwood Cemetery - Brookwood, Woking, Surrey - resting place for over 240,000 people.
- Bunhill Fields, London, England - nonconformist resting place of William Blake, Daniel Defoe.
- Ford Park Cemetery, Plymouth, England
- Golders Green Crematorium, Golders Green, London, England
- Highgate Cemetery, London - the tomb of Karl Marx, topped with a huge bronze bust, is here; Highgate is notable for its "Egyptian catacombs", where John Galsworthy, George Eliot, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti were buried.
- Kensal Green Cemetery, London, oldest English cemetery of its type still in operation, many elaborate Victorian mausoleums, including those of William Makepeace Thackeray and Anthony Trollope.
- St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery at Kensal Green in London is the final resting place for a number of notables including Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte, Sax Rohmer and Krystyna Skarbek.
- St Botolph Aldersgate, London
- St Margarets, London
- St Paul's Cathedral, London
- Victoria Gate, Hyde Park
- Westminster Abbey, London
See : List of cemeteries in the United States
- Maidich National Cemetery - cemetery established after French occupation ended in 1954 as a place of worship for heroes of the people. Those buried here include statesmen, writers, poets, and others who have close ties to Vietnam's current government.
See also:
- List of Memorials
- List of mausoleums
- War memorial with a list of noted war memorials
Cemeteries
Category:Cemeteries
Highgate
.]]
Highgate is a village in north London. It is the highest point in London, and is noteworthy for its Georgian architecture. It is one of the more expensive suburbs to live in, and has an active conservation society, The Highgate Society, to protect its character. It is on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath, one of London's largest open spaces.
It is divided between three London boroughs: Haringey to the north, Camden to the south and west, and Islington to the south and east. The postal district for Highgate is N6.
Historically it was part of the Bishop of London's hunting estate. The Bishop kept a toll-house on one of the main northward roads out of London. A number of pubs sprung up along the route, one of which, the Gatehouse, commemorates the toll-house. In later centuries Highgate was associated with the highwayman Dick Turpin.
Highgate Hill, between Archway and Highgate village, was the route of the first cable car to be built in Europe. It operated between 1884 and 1909.
In recent years famous inhabitants have included Samuel Taylor Coleridge, J. B. Priestley, Yehudi Menuhin (and later Sting who bought Menuhin's old house), Sir Jacob Bronowski, Stanley Baxter, Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Pryce, and Victoria Wood. Highgate Cemetery is the burial place of Karl Marx, Faraday, Charles Lucy and Radclyffe Hall. Adjacent to the cemetery is the Holly Lodge Estate, one of only two housing estates built in the UK for single women and formerly the home and grounds of Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts.
The MP for the Hampstead and Highgate constituency since 1992 has been Labour's Glenda Jackson. Lynne Featherstone is the Liberal Democrat MP for the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency, which covers the northern half of Highgate Village. The Boundary Commission report of 2003 recommended separating the Camden part of Highgate from the remainder of its present constituency and joining it with Kentish Town and Holborn to the south.
Nearest places:
- Finchley
- Hampstead
- Muswell Hill
- Dartmouth Park
- Tufnell Park
- Kentish Town
- Holloway
Nearest tube stations:
- Highgate tube station
- Archway tube station
Places of interest:
- Highgate Cemetery
- Highgate School
External links
- [http://www.highgatesociety.com/ The Highgate Society]
- [http://highgate-cemetery.org/index.asp Highgate Cemetery]
Category:Districts of London
Category:Camden
Category:Haringey
Category:Islington
London
London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. As Europe's richest city, London produces 17% of the UK's GDP, and is one of the world's major business and financial centres. The capital of the former global empire, London is a leader in culture, communications, politics, finance, entertainment and the arts and has considerable influence worldwide.
arts]]
arts]
London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,500,000 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. London's population includes an extremely diverse range of peoples, cultures, and religions, making it one of the most cosmopolitan, vibrant and energetic cities on earth. A resident of London is referred to as a Londoner. Over 300 languages are spoken in London, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Initially it was a Roman city and known as Londinium and then as Lunnainn, Llundain and Londain in the Scottish, Welsh and Irish languages respectively. London is known by these names in other languages.
London is the home of many global organisations, institutions and companies, and as such retains its leading role in global affairs. A city where cutting-edge meets tradition, London is a major tourist destination and transport hub. It has a great number of important buildings and iconic landmarks, including world-famous museums, theatres, concert halls, galleries, airports, sports stadia and palaces. London is one of the world's major global cities (along with New York City, Tokyo and Paris).
Defining London
Today, "London" usually refers to the conurbation known as Greater London, which is divided into thirty-two London Boroughs and the City of London and forms the London region of England. Historically, "London" referred to the square mile of the City of London at the conurbation's heart, from which the city grew. Between 1889 and 1965 it referred to the former County of London which covered the area now known as Inner London.
There are other definitions of "London" which cover varying areas, such as the London postal district; the area covered by the telephone area code 020; the area accessible by public transport using a Transport for London Travelcard; the area delimited by the M25 orbital motorway; the Metropolitan Police district; and the London commuter belt.
The coordinates of the centre of London (traditionally considered to be Charing Cross, near the junction of Trafalgar Square, the Strand, Whitehall and the Mall) are approximately . The Romans marked the centre of Londinium with the London Stone in the City.
Geography and climate
London Stone, with Green Park and St. James's Park to its right]]
Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 km²). London is a port on the Thames, a navigable river. The river has had a major influence on the development of the city. London was founded on the north bank of the Thames and there was only a single bridge, London Bridge, for many centuries. As a result, the main focus of the city was on the north side of the Thames. When more bridges were built in the 18th century, the city expanded in all directions as the mostly flat or gently rolling countryside around the Thames floodplain presented no obstacle to growth. There are some hills in London, examples being Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill, but these provided fine prospects of the city centre without significantly affecting the directions of the spread of the city and London is therefore roughly circular.
The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river than it is today. It 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 and the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound. The Thames Barrier was constructed across the Thames at Woolwich in the 1970s to deal with this threat, but in early-2005 it was suggested that a ten-mile-long barrier further downstream might be required to deal with the flood risk in the future [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4162905.stm].
London has a temperate climate, with warm but seldom hot summers, cool but rarely severe winters, and regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. Summer temperatures rarely rise much above 33°C (91°F), though higher temperatures have become more common recently. The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 38.1°C (100.6°F), measured at Kew Gardens during the European Heat Wave of 2003. Heavy snowfalls are almost unknown. In recent winters, snow has rarely settled to more than an inch (25 mm). London's average annual precipitation of less than 24 inches (600 mm) is lower than that of Rome or Sydney. London's large built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings: sometimes temperatures are 5°C (9°F) warmer in the city than in the surrounding areas.
History
microclimate bombings of London]]
The name London is commonly thought to have come from the Latin name Londinium, as London was founded by the Romans during their reign over the land, around 43AD – although there is some slight evidence of pre-Roman settlement. The [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/england/rom_roman_invasion.shtml BBC History website], however, claims that the name Londinium is actually "Celtic, not Latin, and may originally have referred to a previous farmstead on the site"; the root is 'Lond' meaning 'wild' (i.e. overgrown or forested) place. This fortified Roman settlement was the capital of the province of Britannia. According to findings displayed in London Museum, the initial language of London was Latin with much Greek spoken due to the presence of Greek speaking Roman soldiers and businessmen. Another suggestion for where the name of the city comes from could be that of the mythical leader, King Lud. It was said that Lud laid out the first set of roads in the city. His statue can be seen hidden at the church of St Dunstan's In The West, Fleet Street.
Around AD 61 the Iceni tribe of Celts lead by Queen Boudica stormed London and took the city from the Romans. The Celts burnt the relatively new Roman town to the ground, and archaeological digs have revealed a layer of red ash beneath the City of London, which is believed to be the burnt remains of the old Roman town.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Londinium was abandoned and a Saxon town named Lundenwic was established approximately one mile to the west in what is now Aldwych, in the 7th century. The old Roman city was then reoccupied during the late-9th or early-10th century.
Westminster was once a distinct town, and has been the seat of the English royal court and government since the mediæval era. Eventually, Westminster and London grew together and formed the basis of London, becoming England's largest – though not capital – city (Winchester was the capital city of England until the 12th century).
London has grown steadily over centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of neighbouring villages and towns, farmland, countryside, meadows and woodlands, spreading in every direction. From the 16th to the early-20th century, London flourished as the capital of the British Empire.
In 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through and destroyed a large part of the City of London. Rebuilding took over 10 years, but London's growth accelerated in the 18th century, and, by the early-19th century, it was the largest city in the world.
London's local government system struggled to cope with this rapid growth, especially in providing the city with adequate infrastructure. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to provide London with infrastructure to cope with its growth. In 1889 the MBW was abolished, and the County of London was created which was administered by the London County Council, the first elected London-wide administrative body.
Probably the most significant changes to London in the last 100 years were as a result of the Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe that took place during World War II. The bombing killed over 30,000 Londoners and flattened large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. The rebuilding during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was characterised by a wide range of architectural styles and has resulted in a lack of unity in architecture that has become part of London's character.
Until their 1997 ceasefire, London was regularly a target for IRA bombers seeking to pressurise the British government into negotiations with Sinn Féin on Northern Ireland.
On 7 July 2005, there was a series of coordinated bomb attacks by Islamic extremist suicide bombers on three underground stations and a bus. The explosions came less than 24 hours after London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics and as the G-8 summit was underway in Gleneagles, Scotland. A series of explosions also took place on 21 July 2005; however, in the latter incident, there were no fatalities.
Modern London
2005
Today Greater London comprises the City of London and the 32 London boroughs (including the City of Westminster). 12 of these boroughs are defined as Inner London, the remaining 20 defined as Outer London. The dominant centre of activity in London is the City of Westminster (including the West End) which is the main cultural, entertainment and shopping district, the location of most of London's major corporate headquarters outside of the financial services sector, and the centre of the UK's national government. The City of London (also known as the "Square Mile") is at the centre of international finance, and is Europe’s main business centre. The headquarters of more than 100 of Europe’s 500 largest companies are all in London. The London foreign exchange market is the largest in the world, with an average daily turnover of $504 billion, more than the New York and Tokyo exchanges combined. While very busy during the working week, most parts of the City tend to be quiet at weekends, since it is primarily a non-residential area.
London is one of the most visited cities on earth. Tourist attractions are located mainly in Central London, comprising the historic City of London; the West End with its many cinemas, bars, clubs, theatres, shops and restaurants; the City of Westminster with Westminster Abbey, the Royal palaces of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House etc., the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with its museums (the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum) and Hyde Park. Other important tourist attractions include St Paul's Cathedral, the National Gallery; the South Bank and Bankside areas of Southwark with the Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern; London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and the Tate Britain on the Embankment; and the British Museum in Bloomsbury. There are many other places of interest across the city.
Culture
:Main article: Culture of London.
London is an international centre of culture in all its forms - music, theatre, arts, museums, festivals and much more.
London Districts
See also: Inner London, Outer London.
Central London
City of London
Outer London]]
The City of London is the principal financial district of the United Kingdom, and is one of the most important in the world. It is governed by the Corporation of London, an ancient body headed by the Lord Mayor of London. The City also has its own police force, the City of London police. Once dominated by the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, it is now home to many skyscrapers, including Tower 42 (formerly, and popularly still, known as the NatWest Tower) and 30 St Mary Axe (popularly known as the "Gherkin", built in 2003).
The City has only a small (c. 7,000) resident population, but a daytime working population of more than 300,000. Its primacy as the chief financial district has been directly challenged in recent years by Canary Wharf in East London.
The West End
Canary Wharf.]]
The West End is the most popular shopping and entertainment district in London. Trafalgar Square is the most prominent landmark. Oxford Street is one of the best-known shopping streets in the world. Running from Charing Cross Road in the east to Marble Arch in the west, via Oxford Circus where it crosses Regent Street, it is home to many large department stores and shops (Selfridges, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer). Tottenham Court Road runs north from the eastern end of Oxford Street towards the north of the city centre, and is best known for its plethora of hi-fi, computer and electronics stores. West of the City, Covent Garden is home to the Avenue of Stars, London's version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
South of Oxford Street's eastern end is Soho, a network of small streets crowded with restaurants, pubs, clubs, smaller shops and boutiques, and theatres and cinemas, as well as media companies and film, advertising and post-production companies. Soho is also well known for its very lively club and bar scene, the notorious sex industry and as the major "gay quarter" of the city. Piccadilly is an elegant thoroughfare running from Piccadilly Circus in the east to Hyde Park Corner in the west. It is adjacent to Mayfair, and Green Park. Regent Street and Bond Street are important thoroughfares.
East London
East London saw much of London's early industrial development and much of it now is being extensively redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway. It was also key to London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics, and is now scheduled to undergo extensive regeneration in the run-up to the games. This is the second time in modern history that East London has seen large-scale rebuilding: it took the full force of the Blitz in World War Two, with post-war reconstruction leaving a legacy of bleak housing estates and tower blocks in several areas.
The East End
tower block
The East End of London is closest to the original Port of London, and tended for that reason to be the area of the city where immigrants arriving into the port would settle first. Successive waves of immigrants include the French, the Huguenots, Belgians, Jews, Gujaratis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and many other groups.
The East End extends from the eastern side of the City of London and includes areas such as Whitechapel, Mile End, Bethnal Green, Hackney, Bow, Millwall and Poplar. The area has many places of interest including many of London's markets, (for example Columbia Road Flower Market, Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market, Petticoat Lane Market), and several museums, including the Geffrye Museum and the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.
Docklands
Bethnal Green]]
The London Docklands, on the Isle of Dogs along the Thames in the East End, has developed enormously since the early-1980s. For a period in the early-1980s, many warehouse buildings in Wapping had been occupied and used as artists studios and low-cost loft living spaces. This inevitably drew the attention of property developers who gradually (and then not so gradually) moved in to take over. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up in 1981 to accelerate the process, and the first phases of major development started to reshape the area, culminating in Canary Wharf, whose best-known feature is the 1 Canada Square office tower (which is often incorrectly called "Canary Wharf"), which has been the UK's tallest skyscraper since 1991.
A massive-scale development within the last three or four years has added a great many more skyscrapers, and many large businesses (investment banks, law firms, etc.) have moved in. A new headquarters for HSBC and Barclays as well as the European headquarters of Citigroup, have now been completed, and are in use.
Attracted by this growth, restaurants, bars and nightclubs have opened, there are three interconnected shopping malls beneath the Canary Wharf structure, and a cinema complex has opened in the area. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) serves the area, connecting to the London Underground at Bank, Shadwell, Canning Town and Stratford stations.
There has also been a great deal of gentrification and residential development in the area: North of the Thames around Limehouse Basin and toward Wapping, as well as south of the Thames in Rotherhithe where former wharfs and the old docks have been converted into high-priced loft apartments for a community of bankers, software developers and others working in the financial service industries in and around Docklands.
Further east in the London Borough of Newham are London City Airport and the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.
West London
West London includes many of the traditionally fashionable and expensive residential areas such as Notting Hill, made better known in 1999 by a film of the same name starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Within the district is the famous antique market at Portobello Road. Kensington and Chelsea are the most expensive places to live in the country. The area is also famous for the Kings Road, a distinguished and attractive shopping street and thoroughfare.
Further to the west, at White City, near Shepherd's Bush, is the principal operating centre for the BBC, while in the extreme west, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, lies Heathrow Airport.
Considered more south-west than West London on account of its being the only London borough to straddle the River Thames, Richmond upon Thames includes the attractive riverside districts of Richmond and Twickenham. This corner of London is home to Richmond Park, London's largest, and Twickenham, the home of English rugby union.
North London
North London includes suburbs such as Hampstead and Highgate, which retain a village atmosphere. North London is more hilly than the south, and many of the hills give excellent views across the city. Large parks include Hampstead Heath, which includes Parliament Hill, noted for its fine views over the city, and the Hampstead bathing ponds; and Alexandra Park, site of Alexandra Palace. Many areas have significant minority populations including Stamford Hill, home to a significant community of Orthodox Jews, the Green Lanes area of Harringay and the Finsbury Park area have large Turkish and Greek communities. Islington is considered one of the more affluent areas in London, due to large scale gentrification, although it is in fact one of the most deprived boroughs in the country; it is also home to Arsenal football club. North London's other world-famous football team, Tottenham Hotspur, play in nearby Tottenham.
South London
South London contains such diverse districts as Wimbledon (famous as the home of the major tennis Wimbledon Championships), Bermondsey, and Dulwich. Redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle, a road intersection and district close to the centre, is due to start in 2006.
Greenwich is on the banks of the Thames where the river broadens into a wide meandering reach of muddy water. It is an historic neighbourhood and boasts a fine park and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. It is also has a popular market.
Brixton, Camberwell and Peckham are home to many families (and their descendants) who immigrated to London from the West Indies during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, sometimes known as Afro-Caribbeans.
Demographics
Afro-Caribbeans
London had about 860,000 people in 1801 (in comparison, Paris had about 670,000 in 1802), and the population of Edo (modern-day Tokyo, Japan), at the time the largest city in the world, has been estimated at 1 million to 1.25 million people. London was the most populous city in the world from 1825 until 1925, when it was overtaken by New York.
Residents of London are known as Londoners. The city and the 32 boroughs (some 1,579 km² or 610 square miles) had an estimated 7,421,228 inhabitants in 2004, making London the most populous city in Europe alongside Moscow. Subsequent reviews suggested that the returns were understated, and that the population on Census Day was closer to 7.29 million. The official estimate of London's population in mid-2003 is 7,387,900 [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8561.xls]
In the 2001 census, 76% of these seven million people classed their ethnic group as white (classified as British White, Irish White or "Other White" in the 2001 census), 10% as Indian, Bangladeshi or Pakistani, 5% as black African, 5% as black Caribbean, 3% as mixed race and 1% as Chinese. The largest religious groupings are Christian (58.2%) and No Religion (15.8%). 21.8% of inhabitants were born outside the European Union. The Irish are the largest foreign-born group in London (numbering approximately 200,000).
European Union]
Unlike many other countries, the UK does not provide national metropolitan area population figures based on commuter percentages and economic influence. This is left up to each individual city to define. This has created much confusion when comparing London's true metropolitan area region with others around the world. It is helped even less by confusion of the term "Greater London" with the political entity of the City of London, which is often confused with the metropolitan area.
Without a specific national reference to London's metropolitan area, many different sources provide alternate definitions. One widely regarded definition describes the London metropolitan area (6,267 square miles, 16,043 km²) with a population of 13,945,000 — larger than the combined populations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. (External references: [http://www.demographia.com/dm-lonarea.htm], [http://www.lbwf.gov.uk/demography/census/london/london_boroughs_census2001.pdf]) If this definition is followed, then London is the largest metropolitan area of Europe, along with Moscow (whose metropolitan area has somewhere around 14 million people), and above Paris (11.5 million people in the metropolitan area in 2004).
In 2004, the Greater London Authority defined a metropolitan region centred on London with a population of 18 million. This region extends to cover the commuter belt, and much of South East England and East of England, for example including the cities of Brighton and Oxford. (External references:[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_all.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_1.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/draft_london_plan/dlp_ch1.pdf])
Government
Greater London Authority meets here]]
Greater London is divided into the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. The boroughs are the most important unit of local government in London, and are responsible for running most local services in their respective areas. The City of London is run not by a conventional local authority, but by the historical Corporation of London.
The Greater London Authority (GLA) is the London-wide body responsible for co-ordinating the boroughs, strategic planning, and running some London-wide services such as policing, the fire service and transport. The GLA consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The mayor is elected by the Supplementary Vote system while the assembly is elected by the Additional Member System.
The incumbent Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was elected as an independent candidate in the 2000 election. Despite opposition from all the main political parties and the press, his popularity with Londoners has remained high. Livingstone was expelled from the Labour Party when he opposed the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson in the 2000 Mayoral election. Readmitted by that party in 2004, he was re-elected as Mayor as an official Labour candidate in the election later that year.
The GLA was created in 2000 as a replacement body for the former Greater London Council (GLC) which was created in 1965 and abolished in 1986 after political disputes between the GLC (then led by Ken Livingstone) and the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.
Previous London wide administrative bodies were the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) from 1855 to 1889; the London County Council (LCC) from 1889 to 1965; and the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1965 to 1986. When the GLC was abolished, most of its functions were devolved to the London boroughs, while others were taken over by joint-boards or other unelected bodies. The boroughs thus enjoyed "unitary status" and a degree of autonomy when the GLC was abolished, and although losing some powers which have been repatriated to the GLA they still retain many areas they did not control under the GLC.
London is represented in Parliament by 74 MPs. For a list of London constituencies see List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London.
The territorial police force for the 32 London boroughs is the Metropolitan Police Service, more commonly referred to as the Metropolitan Police, or simply "the Met". The City of London has its own police force, the City of London Police.
Health services in London are managed by the national government via the National Health Service (NHS). Greater London is divided into five Strategic Health Authorities [http://www.nhs.uk/england/authoritiestrusts/sha/MapSearch.aspx?rg=Y21].
Transport and infrastructure
For main article see Transport and infrastructure in London
Transport and infrastructure in London
Transport is one of the four areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, but the mayor's financial control is limited. The executive agency which runs London's transport system is Transport for London (TfL). The public transport network is one of the most extensive in the world, but faces congestion and reliability issues. The network is one of the most complex transit systems in the world with just over 1 billion journeys used every year on the underground alone. London is most famous for its AEC Routemaster buses which have been in service in the capital since 1956. Routemasters will be phased out of service from TfL's main bus routes, with the last routemaster service being operated on the 9 December 2005 on Route 159. Two 'heritage' routes are planned for service to maintain Routemasters on London's streets.
2005]]
The networks for transport in London include:
Underground (commonly known as the tube);
Bus;
River Services;
Docklands Light Railway (DLR);
Croydon Tramlink;
National Rail;
Thameslink.
As of mid-2005, in preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games a total of £7 billion ($12 billion) will be spent on refurbishment and expansion of city links, mainly on the London Underground. Although the main reason for this is because of the increased traffic flow that will be caused by the 2012 Olympics, the work would still be completed if London had not won the games. By 2013 a new service called Crossrail is due to be opened. Also in planning is the Cross River Tram (CRT). It will depart in the south suburbs, cross the River Thames, through to the City of London (the financial district), and continue its journey to the northern suburbs. It is speculated that it will be the world's longest tram.
The main Olympic arenas will be sited close to Stratford International station, which is currently being constructed as part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The new high-speed line, due to open in 2007, will be used by the regular 'Olympic Javelin' service with a journey time of 7 minutes between Stratford and St Pancras. This service was a key part of the Olympic bid and will provide access from northern areas of the UK via King's Cross and Euston.
Education
Main Article: Education in London
London is home to a diverse number of universities, colleges and schools, and is a leading centre of research and development.
This includes prominemnt universities such as Imperial College, London and the London School of Economics
Media
The British media is concentrated in London and is sometimes accused of having a "London bias". All the major television networks are headquartered in London including the BBC, which remains one of the world's most influential media organisations. Partly to counter complaints about London bias, the BBC announced in June 2004 that some departments (BBC Sport, CBBC, Cbeebies, BBC Three and BBC Radio Five Live) are to be relocated to Manchester. Other major networks include ITV, Channel 4, Five and BSkyB - all based in London. Like the BBC, these produce some programmes elsewhere in the UK, but London is their main production centre.
There is a huge choice of radio stations available in London. Local city-wide stations include music-based stations such as Capital FM, Heart 106.2 and Kiss 100 and popular news/talk stations include BBC London, LBC 97.3 and LBC News 1152.
The London newspaper market is dominated by national newspapers, all of which are edited in London. Until the 1970s, most of the national newspapers were concentrated in Fleet Street, but in the 1980s they relocated to new premises with automated printing works. Most of these are in East London, most famously the News International plant at Wapping. The move was resisted strongly by the printing trade union SOGAT 82, and strike action at Wapping in 1986 led to violent skirmishes. The last major news agency in Fleet Street, Reuters, moved to Canary Wharf in 2005, but Fleet Street is still commonly used as a collective term for the national press. Regional Editions of most national newspapers are available, including editions for northern England, Scotland and Wales.
London has three daily newspaper titles - the popular Evening Standard, plus two free titles, Metro and Standard Lite (published by the Evening Standard) which are distributed every morning at London tube and railway stations. The independent weekly listings guide Time Out Magazine has been providing concert, film, theatre and arts information since 1968.
London is at the centre of British film and television production industries, with major studio facilities on the western fringes of the conurbation and a large post-production industry centred in Soho. London is one of the two leading centres of English-language publishing alongside New York. Globally important media companies based in London range from publishing group Pearson, to the information agency Reuters, to the world's number two advertising business WPP Group.
There are a vast number of local newspapers in the London area, often covering a small section of the vast city.
Religion
local newspapers
When Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine to bring England into the Catholic fold in 597, it was intended that the envoy should become "Archbishop of London", as the city was remembered as the capital of Roman Britain. In the event, the saint received his most hospitable reception in the Kingdom of Kent, and the archiepiscopal see was founded at Canterbury. Nonetheless London has been at the centre of England's religious life for much of its history, and each Archbishop of Canterbury has traditionally spent much of his time in London, where he has an official residence at Lambeth Palace. London's two Anglican bishops are the Bishop of London, whose see is London north of the Thames, and whose throne is in London's grandest church, the baroque St Paul's Cathedral (designed by Sir Christopher Wren), and the Bishop of Southwark, who tends to Anglicans south of the river. Important national and royal ceremonies are divided between St Paul's and Westminster Abbey, a gothic church on the scale of a cathedral. As in the rest of the UK, religious attendance in London is low, and the Church of England has borne the brunt of this decline.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster is generally regarded as the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Other traditional Protestant denominations whose headquarters are in London include the United Reformed Church and the Quakers. Many of London's immigrant groups have established denominations in the city, for example Greek Orthodoxy. In addition various evangelical churches exist.
London is the most important centre of Islam in the United Kingdom. Two London boroughs contain the highest proportion of Muslims in the UK: Tower Hamlets and Newham. The London Central Mosque is a well-known landmark on the edge of Regent's Park, and there are many other mosques in the city. London also has the largest Hindu population outside of India. Southall, in West London is home to many Hindus. The Hindu temple at Neasden, Neasden Temple is the largest Hindu temple outside of India and a remarkable example of a modern building in a traditional style. Much of the enormously elaborate and intricate marble sculpture used in the building was carved in India. Over two-thirds of British Jews live in London, which ranks thirteenth in the world as a Jewish population centre [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/concepts/demography/demtables.html#10].
Sport
British Jews
London hosts one of the world's largest mass-participation marathons, the London Marathon, and has hosted the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948. In July 2005 London was chosen to host the Games in 2012. London will be the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times.
The most popular spectator sport in London is football, and London has several of England's leading football clubs. Historically the London clubs have not accumulated as many trophies as those from the North West of England, such as Liverpool and Manchester United, but at present Arsenal (founded at Woolwich Arsenal but moved to Highbury in 1913), and Chelsea (who play in Fulham) are regarded as two of the Premier League's "Big three" alongside Manchester United. In 2003-04 they became the first pair of London clubs to finish first and second in the top flight, with Arsenal winning. In 2004-05 they did so again, this time with Chelsea winning.
London clubs are able to charge higher ticket prices than clubs in other parts of the country (particularly for corporate facilities), and this has swung English football's balance of power towards London. Before Chelsea's recent rise in fortunes the two highest profile London clubs were Arsenal and their long-standing North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, both of whom were considered to be members of English football's "Big five" for most of the post-war period. In 2005-06 there are six London clubs in the Premier League: Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea, plus Charlton Athletic, Fulham and West Ham United.
There are also five London clubs in the fully professional Football League (the level below the Premiership), namely Brentford, Crystal Palace (who play in South Norwood), Leyton Orient, Millwall and Queens Park Rangers (QPR)—all of whom have previously played in the top division. In a controversial move, Wimbledon left London in 2003 to play in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, changing their name to Milton Keynes Dons; the newly formed AFC Wimbledon inherited most of their support, despite playing at a much lower level in the football pyramid. There are also numerous London clubs playing outside the top four divisions of English football, one or two of which are fully professional and many of which are part-time professional.
Wembley Stadium in north-west London is the national football stadium, traditionally the home of the FA Cup Final as well as England national side's home matches. Currently, Wembley is being completely rebuilt, so Cardiff's Millennium Stadium has been the venue for recent FA Cup finals, while England play at various venues around the country. Wembley was one of the venues for the , and the 1996 European Championship, and hosted the final of both tournaments. It also was the venue for the European Cup final in 1968, 1978 and 1992. As well as football matches, Wembley has hosted many other sporting events, including the Rugby League Challenge Cup final.
Rugby Union is also well established in London, especially in the middle-class suburbs to the north and west of the city. The Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology).
England is a nation and the largest and most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom accounting for more than 83% of the total UK population. It occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with fellow home nations Scotland, to the north, and Wales, to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the sea.
England is named after the Angles, one of a number of | | |
