LONDON, the capital4f the British empire, stands on both banks of the Thames, about 60 at. from the sea. The dome of St. Paul's is in lat. 51° 30' 48" n., and in long. 5' 48" west. The river here varies from 900 to 1200 ft. in width.
London, under the names Londiniam, Londinitm, and Altgusta, was one of the chief stations of the Romans in Britain. They encircled a portion of what is now the city with a wall, which was rebuilt and extended in later ages. In Stow's time, the remains of the Norman or Anglo-Norman w-all were about 2 m. in extent, from the Thames at the Tower to the Thames at Blackfriars. The great fire of 1666 and continual recon structions in later ages have nearly obliterated all traces of the old wall. The seven gates which pierced it are entirely gone, Temple Bar being merely one of the outer bars or suburban gates.
It is ahnost impossible to say what is the size of London, because there is no boundary wall, nor any definite number of surrounding villages and parishes included within it. "London within the walls," the original city, comprises only 370 acres; " London with out the walls" comprises 230 acres; then there are the city of Westminster and the borough of Southwark; the " Tower Hamlets," comprising Bethnal Green, Whiteehapel, Stepney, Mile End, Poplar, Blackwall, etc. ; the northern suburbs of Marylebone, Port land Town, Camden and Kentish Towns, St. Pancras, Hampstead, Islington, Dalston, Clanton, Hackney, etc.; the western suburbs of Kensington, Chelsea, Pimlico, Tyburnia, Notting Hill, Bayswater, Westbourne, Fulham, Paddington, etc. ; many parishes in the center, but westward of the city; Bermondsey. Lambeth, Newington, Wandsworth. Kennington, Stockwell, Brixton, Clapham, Camberwell, Peckham, Rotherhithe, etc., in Surrey; and Deptford, Greenwich, Penge, Hatcham, Blackheath, LewNham, Lee, etc., in Kent. The post-dice London is larger than the parliamentary London; and the police London is larger than either. It is initial, how ever, now to take, as the limit of London, the area under the operation of the " metropolis local government act," which is also adopted by the registrar-general for the census, and for the tables of mortality; ••• it is nearly identical with the area under the control of the metropolitan board of works, and with that under the control of the London school board (established by the educa tion act of 1870). The area of the metropolis, as thus defined, is about 78,200 acres,
equal to 122 sq. miles. This area contained, in 1801, 359,421 inhabited houses and 2,803,034 inhabitants; and in 1871, 417,348 houses and 3,251,804 inhabitants. On censua night, April, 1871, the exact population of the metropolis, under six different interpreta lions of that term, was as follows: In round numbers, the dimensions rnay be estimated at about 13 m. from e. to w., and .9,1 from n. to south. For parliamentary purposes, London constitutes ten boroughs— viz., city of London, Westminster, Southwark, Marylebone, Finsbury, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Chelsea, Lambeth, and Greenwich; the first sending four members, and the others two each. For poor-law purposes, London is divided into 40 unions, in some cases single parishes, in others groups of parishes. The "metropolitan buildings act" of 1855--which gives some kind of official control over the xanging of houses in streets, the removal of projections and sheds, the management of rebuilding and repairs, the com -pulsory repair of houses in a dangerous condition, etc., divides the metropolis into 56 districts, of which 4 are in the city of London, 5 in the city of Westminster, 30 in other parts of the metropolis n. of the Thames, and 17 s. of the Thames. The city of London, as it cannot increase in size, is rapidly decreasing in population, owing to the substitutioa of large commercial establishments fordwelling-houses. Little over 70,000 persons sleep in the city at night, whereas nearly 700,000 enter and quit it every day.