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The administrative area of Greater London combines the City of London, the City of Westminster
and 31 other London boroughs, and includes most of what is commonly
known simply as London, capital of the United Kingdom. Covering 1579 km2 and with a population of 7,172,036 at the 2001 census, Greater London was created in 1965, replacing the former
administrative counties of
Middlesex and the County of London, adding the City, which was not under the London County Council, and absorbing parts of
Kent, Hertfordshire, Surrey, and Essex. Currently, Greater London is bounded
by the Home Counties of Essex,
Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Kent.
Greater London was originally governed by a two-tier system of local government, with a Greater London Council sharing power with the Corporation of London (governing the small City of London) and the 32 London borough councils. The
Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 under the government of Margaret Thatcher, and its functions devolved to the Corporation and the
boroughs.
Since 2000 Greater London has been administered by the Greater London Authority, and has a directly-elected
Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone who is scrutinised by an elected London Assembly. Greater London's population rose from 1.1 million in 1801 to an estimated 8.5 million in 1939, but declined to 6.5 million in the 1980s. Wider definitions of London's metropolitan area (the London commuter belt) extend over a far larger region with up to fourteen million inhabitants, but
generally include districts distinct from London proper.
The term 'Greater London' had been used before 1965, particularly to refer to the area
covered by the Metropolitan Police Service
(which did not coincide with Greater London until 2000), however the term 'Metropolitan
Police District' is preferred.
Map
See also
External links
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