Friday, May 2, 2008

Metropolitan of London , The city of Westminster and City of London

London Tower Bridge crossover Thames

Houses of Parliament by night
The City of Westminster is a borough of London with city status. It is located west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, and forms part of Inner London and the bulk of London's central area. The city contains most of London's West End and is the seat of the United Kingdom's government, with the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Whitehall, and the Royal Courts of Justice.
In 1965 the London borough was created from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone, the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington and the smaller City of Westminster. It covers a far greater area than the original settlement of Westminster.

The City of London is a geographically small city within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew. The City’s boundaries have remained almost constant since the Middle Ages, and hence it is now only a tiny part of the much larger London metropolis. It is often referred to as the City or the Square Mile, as it is almost one square mile (2.6 km²) in area. These terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's financial services industry, which is principally based there.

In the medieval period the City was the full extent of London, and distinct from the nearby but separate settlement of Westminster, which became the City of Westminster. The term London now refers to a much larger conurbation containing both cities. The City of London is still part of London's city centre, but most of London's metropolitan functions apart from financial services are centred on the West End. The City is today a major business and financial centre, ranking on a par with New York City as the leading centre of global finance. The City has a resident population of under 10,000, whilst it employs 340,000 professional workers, mainly in the financial sector, making the area's transport system extremely busy during peak times. It is known as the richest square mile in the world.


Dc in Westminster Abbey