London is the capital of and largest city in England and the United Kingdom. It is divided into the City of London and 32 London boroughs, the result of amalgamation of earlier units of administration that can be traced back to ancient parishes. Each borough is made up of many smaller areas that are variously called districts, neighbourhoods, suburbs, towns or villages.

Background

John Strype's map of 1720 describes London as consisting of four parts: The City of London, Westminster, Southwark and the eastern 'That Part Beyond the Tower'. As London expanded, it absorbed many hundreds of existing towns and villages which continued to assert their local identities. Mark Twain described London in 1896 as "fifty villages massed solidly together over a vast stretch of territory". Steen Eiler Rasmussen observed in 1934 that "London became a greater and still greater accumulation of towns, an immense colony of dwellings where people still live in their own home in small communities with local government just as they had done in the Middle Ages." London boroughs are the result of amalgamations of hundreds of ancient parishes that date from at least the 12th century and are in some cases based on earlier manors.

Areas of London

These are the areas of London that are variously described as districts, neighbourhoods, suburbs, towns or villages.