...ughs are Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenich, Harro, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslo, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, and altham Forest.Government and Administration London is the seat of central government in Britain. The Houses of Parliamentthe House of Commons the loer house and the House of Lords the upper houseare located at estminster. Doning Street home to the Prime Minister at No 10, and traditionally the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at No 11, the Foreign and Commonealth Office, the Treasury, and the Ministry of Defence are concentrated around hitehall. Various other government departments and public bodies are also sited in central London. ithin the Government, the Secretary of State for the Environment has responsibility for the capital as Minister for London. The administrative structure of the legal system, and the central offices of the main political parties, are also based in London.Over 70 out of 659 Members of Parliament are returned to estminster from constituencies in the Greater London metropolitan area, and the capital returns 10 of Englands 71 representatives to the European Parliament. Unlike other major cities, there is no single body governing Greater London. Prior to the late 1880s, hen the London County Council LCC as established, the four counties of Essex, Kent, Middlesex, and Surrey administered the area, together ith the ancient City of London and many smaller local authorities. In 1965 Greater London as created under the jurisdiction of the Greater London Council. This council as abolished in 1986, and today each inner and outer borough and the City of London itself has its on governing council. The borough councils consist of councillors elected every four years, ho in turn annually elect their presiding official. Councils are responsible for the provision of most local services including education, housing, social services, local planning, roads, refuse collection, recreation, and culture. They do not control the police except in the case of the City of London, fire service, or public transport. Londons Metropolitan Police Service is the responsibility of the Home Secretary a senior government minister. London Transport is a statutory corporation hose remit is to provide transport for the capital.The City of London, the ancient heart of the city, has only about 5,000 residents although ell over 300,000 people ork there each day. It is governed by the Corporation of the City of London. Among local authorities, the Corporation is unique it is the oldest in the country and operates on a non-party-political basis. The ruling body is the Court of Common Council, and this consists of the Lord Mayor, 24 aldermen, and 130 common councilmen. The Lord Mayor and to sheriffs are nominated annually by the City guilds livery companies representing trades and professions and dating back to medieval times and elected by the Court of Aldermen. Aldermen and councilmen are elected by businesses in the Citys 25 ards. The Corporation fulfils the same functions as the borough councils but has, for historical reasons, retained some other poers it is responsible for the City of London Police is the health authority for the Port of London is responsible for health control of animal imports throughout Greater London including Heathro Airport and is responsible for the Central Criminal Court the Old Bailey.Population Patterns and Trends In mid-1994 the population of Greater London as estimated at 6,967,500 representing about 12 per cent of Britains overall population, ith to thirds resident in outer London. Although the population is no longer as large as in mid-century peaking at about 8,346,000 in the 1951 census, it has recently been increasing, rising at an average of 20,000 per year since 1984. Londons population is heavily concentrated at about 4,409 people per sq km11,238 per sq mi relative to other metropolitan areas in the country.The arrival of immigrants has contributed considerably to the variations in population figures, and the capital is the most ethnically diverse region in the United Kingdom. Ethnic minority communities account for over a third of the population in the boroughs of Brent, Hackney, Neham, and Toer Hamlets.The Urban Landscape London straddles the River Thames, 80 km 50 mi upriver from its mouth at the Nore, here the English Channel joins the North Sea. Most of London, including its central districts and the majority of its famous landmarks, lies to the north of the river. The original settlement that gave London its name as the Roman fort of Londinium, founded in the first century AD. The City of London is on the site here this stood, and the description of the Roman ton as a busy emporium for trade and traders by the Roman historian Tacitus seems equally apt today. St Pauls Cathedral stands on the estern edge of the City, and the Toer of London, the Norman fortress built by illiam the Conqueror to defend his ne lands late in the 11th century and no listed as a conservation site in the orld Heritage List, lies to the south-east. Spanning the river to Southark est of Toer Bridge is London Bridge, a modern replacement of the only bridge over the Thames in London until the 18th century.To the east and north-east of the City are the predominantly orking-class districts of the East End, home to successive aves of immigrants from Ireland, continental Europe, and the former British Empire. Lively and industrious, the East End continues to have many thriving small businesses. The area knon as Docklands comprises on the north bank of the Thames the districts of apping and Poplar, the Isle of Dogs, the Royal Docks, and to the south of the Thames Surrey Docks. Docklands is the site of a massive inner city regeneration project. est of the City lie the ancient Inns of Court Lincolns Inn, Middle Temple, Inner Temple, and Grays Inn, the legal district occupied by barristers and firms of solicitors and Fleet Street, once the home of Britains national press hich has no relocated to other parts of the capital. Further to the north-est is Bloomsbury, the haunt in the 1920s of a renoned group of literary intellectuals the Bloomsbury Group, thanks to its proximity to London University and the British Museum.The est End is a large area of central London to the est of the City, containing most of the best-knon theatres and shopping districts. To the south, folloing the river as it takes a southard bend, is the administrative core of London and the centre of government hitehall, the Houses of Parliament officially called the Palace of estminster, St Jamess Palace London home of the Prince of ales, and Buckingham Palace the London residence of Queen Elizabeth II. The est End also contains Hyde Park, Londons largest open space, hich leads est to the districts of Knightsbridge and Kensington, both fashionable residential areas ith such attractions as Harrods department...
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