Greater London

Comprising most of the built-up area of London, the capital of the United Kingdom, the administrative area of Greater London covers the 1579 km² of the 32 London boroughs and the small City of London.

With a population of 7,172,000 (2002), Greater London is administered since 2000 by the Greater London Authority, and has a directly elected mayor, Ken Livingstone. The former Greater London Council, created in 1965 to replace the area's five counties and three county borough authorities, was abolished in 1986.

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 extend over a far larger region with up to ten million inhabitants, but generally include districts distinct from London proper.