London is the capital city of the United Kingdom. It is the 9th largest city in world - its population is about 10 000 000 (with suburbs) of whose are 1.2 mil. Foreigners. It’s total area is over 4 000 square kilometers. London is situated on the river Thames in south-east England. From about 1800 until World War Two, London was the biggest city in the world.
To London we can get by various means of transport - aeroplane, bus (Victoria Coach Station), train, car or ship. This city is famous for its red double-deckers
and old-fashioned black taxis. For fast transport you can
go by the Underground. Now it operates 11 lines and 418
km long. It’s the oldest underground in the world. Over
1,000,000 people a day use the London Underground, but
there are still too many cars on the streets. The air isn’t
clear, but it’s cleaner than it was 100 years ago. There are also 3 airports in London- Heathrow, Gatwick and Stanstead. The most important are Heathrow and Gatwick; Heathrow is the largest in Europe.
London is one of the largest ports. The river Thames flows through the city and divides it into two parts ( the left blank and right blank) but the central London (without the suburbs) can be divided into 4 main areas:
THE CITY Is the oldest part. It is a small area of about 2.5 square kilometers and with only around 10,000 permanent residents. But on weekdays it’s a very busy place as it houses a great number of banks, offices, headquarters of firms, the world’s most advanced stock exchange, foreign exchange market and other important institutions. Thousands of people residing in other parts of the city come to work here every day. At weekends the City is crowded with tourists coming to see historic attractions like the Tower of London (started about 900 years ago by William the Conqueror) and the Tower Bridge. Now the Tower is the museum of arms and the place where the royal jewels are kept. But it used to be a fortress, royal place, a royal treasury and also a notorious state prison where many famous people in English history were imprisoned or put to death. The Tower is guarded by Yeoman Warder’s populary called “beefeaters”. They wear the traditional black and red uniforms and every night they perform the ceremony of the Keys (the locking up the Tower for with. This tradition goes back to Middle Ages. Another well-known building in the city is St. Paul’s Cathedral famous for its whispering Gallery, which runs around the dome.