Greater London
Greater London is the administrative area of London, England,[2] which covers exactly the same area as the London region. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a ceremonial county also called Greater London, and the City of London. The Greater London Authority is responsible for strategic local government across the region, and regular local government is the responsibility of the borough councils and the City of London Corporation. Greater London is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Hertfordshire to the north, Essex to the north-east, Kent to the south-east, Surrey to the south, and Berkshire and Buckinghamshire to the west.
Greater London has a geographic area of 1,572 km2 (607 sq mi) and a population of 9,002,488. The ceremonial county of Greater London is only slightly smaller, with an area of 1,569 km2 (606 sq mi) and a population of 8,889,375. The area is almost entirely urbanised and contains the majority of the Greater London Built-up Area, which extends into Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Berkshire and has a population of 9,787,426. None of the administrative area, region, or ceremonial county hold city status, but the boroughs of the City of London and City of Westminster do. The area was historically part of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire.
The River Thames is the defining geographic feature of the area, entering it near Hampton in the west and flowing east before exiting downstream of Dagenham. Several tributaries of the Thames flow through the area, but are now mostly culverted and form part of London's sewerage system. The land immediately north and south of the river is flat, but rises to low hills further away, notably Hampstead Heath, Shooter's Hill, and Sydenham Hill. The area's highest point is Westerham Heights (245 m (804 ft)), part of the North Downs. In the north-east the area contains part of Epping Forest, an ancient woodland.
The City of London has had its own government since the Anglo-Saxon period. The first London-wide directly elected local government was the London County Council, established for the County of London in 1889, which covered the core of the urban area. In 1965 the county was abolished and replaced by Greater London, a two-tier administrative area governed by the Greater London Council, thirty-two London boroughs, and the City of London Corporation.[3] The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986, and its responsibilities largely taken over by the boroughs. The Greater London Authority was formed in 2000.
The term "Greater London" was used before it was established by statute in 1965. It referred to the Metropolitan Police District, the area served by the Metropolitan Water Board, the London Passenger Transport Area, and the area defined by the Registrar General as the "Greater London Conurbation".[4][5][6] The term was also used for the Greater London Arterial Road Programme, devised between 1913 and 1916, and the Greater London Planning Region, devised in 1927, which occupied 1,856 square miles (4,810 km2) and included 9 million people.[7][5]
