9.3 Museums, art galleries and libraries.
London's diverse cultures encompass over 300 languages. In 2012, London became the first city to host three Summer Olympic Games. The city is home to the most 5-star hotels of any city in the world. With Europe's largest concentration of higher education institutions, it includes Imperial College London in natural and applied sciences, the London School of Economics in social sciences, and the comprehensive University College London. As of 2021, London had the most millionaires of any city. Its GDP (€801.66 billion in 2017) makes it the biggest urban economy in Europe, and it is one of the major financial centres in the world. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries held the national government and parliament.Īs one of the world's major global cities, London exerts a strong influence on its arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, health care, media, science and technology, tourism, and communications. Since the 19th century, The name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.
The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains boundaries close to its medieval ones. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just over 9 million. Metropolitan (excluding the City of London square-mile)