Description for "London in Kanji"
The capital of England. The country’s largest city in southeastern England, straddling both banks of the Thames. The city is at the center, and 12 other wards such as Westminster formed the County of London, but from the standpoint of expanding the metropolitan area and wide-area administration, middlesex, parts of Kent and Essex, etc. Greater London (City and 32 wards) was formed in 1965, including the area from the London Bridge to an area approximately 24 km in radius. This wide-area administrative area was abolished by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher together with the city council in 1986, and administrative affairs were transferred to each district.
It is not only the center of British commerce, finance, culture and politics, but also the center of finance and insurance in the world. Citi, Holborn, Finsbury, etc. are commercial and financial districts, and stores of the Bank of England and financial institutions in each country are concentrated around Lombard Street. The West End to the west of the city consists of Westminster, Kensington, etc., and is home to downtown areas such as Buckingham Palace, the British Parliament Building, government offices, Piccadilly Circus, luxury shopping districts, and luxury residential areas. The eastern end to the east of the city was once a slum, but it was renewed after the war damage of World War II, and the south bank of the Thames and the eastern part became an industrial area, oil refining, flour milling, cement, machinery, printing. Industries such as publishing and textiles are well developed. The Thames coast downstream of the London Bridge forms a harbor area.
There are many educational and cultural facilities such as the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Gallery, Tate Modern, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London University, centering on the West End, Regent Park, Hyde Park, etc. There are parks such as Kensington Gardens and Green Park. Main railways are concentrated and the subway is developed in the city center. In July 2005, the subway was attacked by an al-Qaeda-affiliated organization during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Scotland, and in August 2011, a major riot centered on young people dissatisfied with the disparity society in London. However, the 2012 Summer Olympics were successfully held and impressed with the stability of security. This is the third time the Olympic Games have been held in London for the first time in 64 years.
It developed as Watatsu on the banks of the Thames in ancient Roman times, and was called Londinium. In the 7th century, it was the main capital of the Kingdom of Essex. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, it has become the main capital of England, and autonomy was recognized at the end of the 12th century. The entire city was destroyed by a great fire in 1666, but after the reconstruction, it became the center of international finance, and especially with the concentration of the population in the city after the Industrial Revolution, it rapidly expanded in scale and prospered as the largest center of the world’s economy and politics. In the turn of the century, New York lost its position.
