LONDON is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom. It is the largest city in Europe and one of the largest cities in the world (together with Tokyo and New York). Historical and geographical circumstances have made London one of the world's most important commercial and cultural centres, while its range of historical connections and its buildings attract millions of tourists from overseas each year.
London dominates Britain. It is home for the headquarters of all government departments, Parliament, the major legal institutions and the monarch. It is the country's business and banking centre and the centre of its transport network. It contains the headquarters of the national television networks and of all the national newspapers.
The city is at least two thousand years old and was settled long before the first Roman invasion. The original walled city of London was quite small. (Today it is known colloquially as «the square mile»). It did not contain Parliament or the royal court, since this would have interfered with the autonomy of the merchants and traders who lived and worked there. It was in Westminster, another «city» outside London's walls, that these national institutions met. Today both «cities» are just two areas of central London. The square mile is home to the country's main financial organizations, the territory of the stereotypical English «city gent» (*infml or humour: a gentleman).
Two other well-known areas of London are the West End and the East End. The former is known for its many theatres, cinemas and expensive shops. The latter is known as the poorest residential area of central London. It is the home of the Cockney and in this century large number of immigrants have settled there.
There are many other parts of central London, which have their own distinctive characters, and central London itself makes up only a very small part of Greater London (*a local government area including the whole of London and parts of other areas surrounding London, whose length and breadth extends over an area of 700 square miles).
WESTMINSTER is another central and important part of London. It is synonymous with government. Its major buildings house the main departments of state: the Treasury, the Ministry of Defense, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It also contains Buckingham Palace, the crowning place of kings and queens, and the Houses of Parliament, stretching for nearly 100 feet along the north bank of the Thames and famous for its clock tower, known as «Big Ben». Buckingham Palace is now the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II.
The name Westminster was first used in the 8th century, when it referred to the Minster (*a large or important church, esp. one that formed a part of an abbey) that stood to the west of the City of London. Today this site is occupied by Westminster Abbey. It is the place where coronation of nearly all kings and queens has taken place. Many of them are buried there, as well as some other famous people of the country. The south sanctuary of Westminster Abbey leads back to the south transept, which is called «Poets' Corner». Since the 16th century it has been the place where great poets and writers are honored with memorials (though not all of them are buried there).
Another famous institution situated in Westminster is Scotland Yard. To most people this name immediately brings to mind the picture of a cool and efficient detective, ready to track down any criminal and bring him to justice. Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London. It was founded in 1829 when the wave of crime overwhelmed the British capital. It is situated on the Thames close to the Houses of Parliament. An interesting branch of Scotland Yard is the branch of Police Dogs, first used as an experiment in 1938. Now it's an important part of the Force.
