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London (Metropolis of the British)

the metropolis of the British empire, and the most populous, wealthy, and commercial city of the world. It is situated partly and principally on the N. bank of the Thames, in the county of Middlesex, and partly on its S. bank in the county of Surrey, its suburbs extending into several other counties, and is about 45 miles above the river's mouth. The site on the N. side is high and dry, but on the S. it is so low as to be under the level of the highest tides, though, by a well-constructed system of drainage, it is kept perfectly free from wet. The sub-soil is a hard clay, known to geologists by the name of "London clay," lying in the middle of the great chalk basin, extending E. from Berks. London comprises, besides the City of London and the city of Westminster, the parliamentary boroughs of Battersea, Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Camberwell, Chelsea, 1, Chelsea, Deptford, Finsbury, Fulham, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith, Hampstead, Holborn, Islington, Kensington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Paddington, Poplar, Marylebone, St. Pancras, Shoreditch, Southwark, Stepney, Stoke Newington, Wandsworth, and Woolwich. These, formerly distinct, combine to form the huge agglomeration called London. Its length E. from Plumstead, in Essex, to its W. boundary Hammersmith, in Middlesex, on the N. bank of the Thames, may be estimated at 19 miles; its breadth, N. to S., or from Hampstead, in Middlesex, to Camberwell, Surrey county, at 14 miles; while its circumference is not less than 40 miles. The municipal and parliamentary city of London which coincides with the registration city of London has an area of 675 acres, with a population in 1911 of 364,061, compared with 301,384 in 1891. The registration county of London coinciding with the administrative county has an area of 74,816 acres and it coincides very nearly with the collective area of the London parliamentary boroughs. The population of registration London for 1911 was 4,521,685. The estimated population in 1917 was 4,026,- 911. Included within the limits of London is also the so-called outer ring, comprising a large area of the surrounding country. This had a population in 1911 of 2,729,673 and an estimated population in 1917 of 2,699,852. Including both these areas the population in 1911 was estimated at 7,251,358 and in 1917 at 6,726,763. The N. and S. portions of London are connected by bridges, viz., those of London, Southwark, Blackfriars, Waterloo, Hungerford, Westminster, Vauxhall, Chelsea, Wandsworth, Putney, and Hammersmith, be- LONDON LONDON sides several railway bridges. Communi- other palaces, the many parks, club cation is also maintained subterraneously houses, picture galleries; the British by the Thames Tunnel and subways.

Museum, Westminster The city is divided into several hundred ton Gardens, etc. Farther north, the parishes, and contains about 500 churches Regent's Park, Zoological Gardens, Lonbelonging to the Anglican communion, don University, Royal College of Surirrespective of several hundred others belonging to various denominations. This, the E. central division of the metropolis, may be termed the center of commerce not only of the British empire, but of the world at large. What is legally termed the port of London extends about 7 miles below London Bridge beyond Blackwall; though the actual port, consisting of of the upper, middle, and lower pools, does not reach beyond Limehouse.

Independent of the river accommodation thus afforded for shipping, a series of vast inland docks extends from the Tower to nearly opposite Greenwich. The port of London comprises that part of the Thames river below Teddington Lock. More than one-third the commerce of the United Kingdom is carried on in the port of London. There is an elaborate system of docks, the chief of which are the Surrey Commercial Docks with an area of 380 acres, the West India Docks, 332 acres, the Royal Victoria and Albert Docks, 1,100 acres and the Tilbury Docks, 596 acres.

The city proper was formerly walled, with large entrances or gates, one only of which-Temple Bar, dividing the cities of London and Westminster-remained till 1877. The noticeable public buildings of the city are the Tower of London; the Royal Mint; St. Paul's Cathedral; the General Postoffice; the Guildhall; Mansion House; the halls of the various livery companies, or trade guilds; the Bank of England (covering 8 acres); Royal Exchange; Stock Exchange; Corn Exchange; Coal Exchange, Custom House; East India House, etc. The city is intersected with railroads both above and below ground.

In a radius of one mile round the Bank of England is found, perhaps, the busiest, and certainly, during business hours, the most densely crowded spot on the globe.

Proceeding W., and arrived at Temple Bar at the E. extremity of the great thoroughfare, the Strand, we find on the right the Temple, with its beautiful gardens extending to the river's edge, and on the left the other great Inns of Court, Lincoln's Inn Fields, etc. Further on, into Westminster, is the grand division of the metropolis known as the West End, the court, fashionable, and literary quarter-the London of polite society. Here are the Houses of Parliament, the various government offices. National Gallery, theaters, royal and geons, and literary institutions and public edifices greet the eye in numbers.

Markets, hospitals, asylums, etc., are spread over this metropolis in great profusion; and it is estimated that not less than 4,000 churches, chapels, and places devoted to divine worship, flourish within its precincts. A magnificent roadway of granite, called the Thames Embankment, from 100 to 200 feet wide, extends on both sides of the river from Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge. The city proper is under the jurisdiction of a lord-mayor and courts of aldermen and common council, together forming the richest municipal corporation in the world, exercising jurisdiction within the liberties. London ranks higher as a literary even than as a commercial center. It is, essentially, the focus of British science and civilization-the world's metropolis.

Nothing is known of London previous to the invasion of the Romans; but we learn from Tacitus that so early as the reign of Nero it was an important emporium. After the establishment of the Saxon dominion, London is supposed to have become the capital of the East Saxon kingdom. Eventually it became the capital of the entire kingdom, and, after the Norman conquest, received a charter, the original of which is still preserved as the palladium of the city's The history of London thenceforward is one of continual progression, though at different periods severely visited by fires, pestilence, etc. In 1381, Wat Tyler's rebellion was suppressed by the citizens, commanded by Sir William Walworth, then lord-mayor. In the 15th walworth, velous strides, and in the 16th, it vied century, London began to make marwith Venice, Genoa, and Amsterdam, both in extensive foreign commerce and in the opulence of its citizens. During the reign of Charles II., the city was partly desolated, first by the ravages of the Great Plague, and in 1666, by what is known in history as the "Great Fire of London." After this calamity, ancient London, being a thing of the past, the modern city arose upon its ruins.

During the World War London was subjected to many aerial bombardments by German Zeppelins and aeroplanes.

Hundreds of people were killed and there was considerable loss of property, although this was small in comparison with the frequency of the raids and the power of the projectiles dropped.

LONDON The city is provided with a system of underground railways which brings the surrounding country into quick communication with the center of the city.