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London

London, the capital of the U.K.1 is located at the first fordable point up the Thames river, in southeast England. It has a metropolitan population exceeding ten million. Landmarks include the 'Eye' (an amusement ride), the Palace of Westminster, the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, a city hall that is said to look like Darth Vader's helmet, the Shri Swaminarayan Temple, Lambeth Palace, where the Anglican Protestant religion is headquartered, and the O2, a spiked dome used for events. There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in London: Maritime Greenwich, honoring the Queen's House, the buildings formerly housing the Royal Naval College and the Old Royal Observatory; the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew, with its plants and the Palm House; the 11th century Tower, famed for the White Tower, the Crown Jewels and the "Traitors'" Gate; Westtminster Palace and Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church. The tallest building is the 46 story Heron Tower, which has a 70 thousand liter aquarium in its lobby.

The mathematician, Thomas Harriot, worked in London in the late 16th and early 17th century. Exactly when he did what is not established, but he is known today for contributions to exact interpolation, the logarithmic spiral and the areas of spherical triangles.

The city was founded by the Romans, who called it Londinivm (Londinium). In Old English it was called Lundenwic, Lundenburh, Lundenburgh, Lundenne and Lundres. In French it is Londres, and perhaps that was its name under the Norman French.

YearPopulation2Political entity
100 CE30,000Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs
1000 CE15,000Regnvm Anglorvm Saxonvm (Kingdom of England)
1200 CE40,000Regnvm Anglorvm (Kingdom of England)
1300 CE45,000Regnvm Anglorvm (Kingdom of England)3
1400 CE50,000Regnvm Anglorvm (Kingdom of England)
1500 CE50,000Regnvm Anglorvm (Kingdom of England)
1600 CE187,000Kingdom of England
1700 CE550,000Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden (United Provinces) and the Kingdom of England
1800 CE861,000Kingdom of Great Britain
1900 CE6,480,000United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
2001 CE11,962,000United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

rectangular brick tower with attached side building, flanking buildings, foreground wall with monkey statues
Part of the Tower of London

foreground tourist boat, left back green bridge, right back side of Westminster Palace and Clock Tower
Part of Westminster Palace, with the Clock Tower

Historical maps

map of Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs, part, 100 and 361 CE

map of East Seaxe, 500 - 800 CE

map of Westseaxna Rīce, part, 900 CE

map of Regnvm Anglorvm Saxonvm, part, 1000 CE

map of Regnvm Anglorvm, part, 1100 to 1400 CE

map of Regnvm Anglorvm, part, 1500 CE

map of the Kingdom of England, part, 1600 CE

map of the Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden / Kingdom of England, part, 1700 CE

map of the Kingdom of Great Britain, part, 1800 CE

map of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, part, 1900 CE

map of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, part, 2000 CE

Footnotes

1. Full name: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
2. Estimates for all but 2000 in Tables of the World's Largest Cities, in Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987). In 100, 1000, and from 1200 to the present it was the largest city in the British Isles. In 1700 it was the fourth, in 1800 the second, and in 1900 the first ranking city in the world.
3. Formally subordinate to Sancta Sedes (the Holy See).