Greater London

Greater London is an administrative area[3] in England governed by the Greater London Authority. It is organised into 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. Greater London is one of the regions of England, also known as the London Region. The Greater London Authority, based in Newham as of the start of 2022,[4] is responsible for strategic local government across the area and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

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Greater London London Region (wider) Greater London County (smaller)
Ceremonial county and region
Greater London ceremonial county (red) City of London (red & white stripes) Greater London administrative area (London Region) (both)
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Established	1 April 1965
Established by	London Government Act 1963
Time zone	UTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Members of Parliament	73 MPs
Police	City of London Police and Metropolitan Police
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Ken Olisa
High Sheriff	Heather Phillips (2022–23)
Area	1,569 km2 (606 sq mi)
• Ranked	25th of 48
Population (2021)	8,899,375
• Ranked	1st of 48
Density	5,671/km2 (14,690/sq mi)
Ethnicity	53.8% White (of which 36.8% White British) 20.8% Asian 13.5% Black 5.7% mixed 6.3% other
Region
Government	Greater London Authority • Mayor Sadiq Khan • London Assembly
Admin HQ	Newham[1]
Area	1,572 km2 (607 sq mi)
Population	9,002,488[2]
Density	5,701/km2 (14,770/sq mi)
ONS code	H
GSS code	E12000007
ITL	UKI
Website	greaterlondonlieutenancy.com london.gov.uk
Ceremonial counties of the London Region
Counties	City of London Greater London
Districts
Districts of Greater London
Districts	33 districts City of London City of Westminster Kensington and Chelsea Hammersmith and Fulham Wandsworth Lambeth Southwark Tower Hamlets Hackney Islington Camden Brent Ealing Hounslow Richmond upon Thames Kingston upon Thames Merton Sutton Croydon Bromley Lewisham Greenwich Bexley Havering Barking and Dagenham Redbridge Newham Waltham Forest Haringey Enfield Barnet Harrow Hillingdon

Greater London can also refer to a ceremonial county formed by the 32 London boroughs. It excludes the City of London (the original walled "square mile"), which forms a separate ceremonial county.[5]

Greater London was first established in 1965 as a sui generis council area and ceremonial county under the Greater London Council on 1 April 1965 through the London Government Act 1963.[3] The GLC was abolished in 1986. In 1994, the area was established as a government office region called "London". The Greater London Authority was formed in 2000.[6][7][8]

The region covers 1,572 km² (607 sq mi) and has a population of over 9 million.[9][10][11][12][13] Other areas, such as the London metropolitan area and Greater London Urban Area, are used in some national statistics for London, including areas outside this administrative region.

Greater London lacks any formal recognised city status in the UK, though the local authorities of the City of Westminster and the City of London have official city status.[14]

As a ceremonial county, Greater London has a Lord-Lieutenant[15] and a High Sheriff,[16] both appointed by the British monarch, but Greater London is not one of England's historic counties. Greater London is split between parts of the historic counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire.

Before the UK withdrew from the European Union in 2020 after Brexit, Greater London was a regional constituency of the European Parliament, known generally as "London".