London

London is the capital of the United Kingdom and one of the world’s most influential global cities, with a history stretching back nearly two millennia. The Romans established Londinium around 47 AD on the banks of the Thames, and by 100 AD it had become the capital of Roman Britain. Medieval London grew around two distinct poles — the commercial City, governed by its Lord Mayor since 1189, and the royal Westminster, where Edward the Confessor built his abbey and palace in the 11th century. By 1300 the city was home to roughly 80,000 people, making it one of the largest urban centres in Europe.

The Tudor and Stuart eras transformed London into England’s political and cultural powerhouse. The Reformation under Henry VIII reshaped its religious landscape, while Elizabethan London saw the rise of public theatres, including Shakespeare’s Globe, and the founding of the East India Company in 1600, which turned the capital into the world’s leading trading hub. The Great Fire of 1666 devastated four-fifths of the City, yet from the ashes rose a rebuilt metropolis crowned by Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral and the world’s first organised fire brigade.

The Industrial Revolution propelled London to the title of the world’s largest city — a position it held from 1825 to 1925. It became the birthplace of the first urban railway (1836) and the world’s first underground metro (1863), while landmarks like Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square defined its Victorian skyline. The 20th century brought two world wars, the Blitz, and post-war rebuilding, yet London endured and thrived. In 2012 it made history as the first city to host three Summer Olympic Games, and today its metropolitan area of over 15 million people speaks more than 300 languages, making it one of the most diverse cities on Earth.