Greater London is the top-level United Kingdom subdivision covering London.
The administrative area was created in 1965 and covers the City of London and 32 London boroughs. Its area also forms the London region of England and the London European Parliament constituency.

It covers 1579 km² (609 sq. mi) and had a 2004 mid-year estimated population of 7,420,600. It is bounded by the Home Counties of Essex and Hertfordshire in the East of England region and Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey and Kent in South East England. The highest point is Westerham Heights, in the North Downs and on the boundary with Kent, at 245 metres.

Regional government
It is the only English region with a directly elected mayor with wide ranging devolved powers and an elected regional assembly which together comprise the Greater London Authority (the "GLA"). The current Mayor of London is Ken Livingstone. He is scrutinised by an elected London Assembly, which may amend his annual budget (by two-thirds majority) but otherwise lacks the power to block his directives. The headquarters of the GLA is at City Hall in Southwark. The Mayor is responsible for London's strategic planning and is required to produce a London Plan document.

Status
Greater London is not a "City" as it does not have official city status; in any case one London borough, Westminster, is officially a city, as well as the City of London itself which would make such a status anomalous. A Lord Lieutenant of Greater London is appointed for its area, less the City of London; an area identical to the Metropolitan Police District; and for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 this area is defined as a county.

The term "London" is often used in reference to Greater London or to the urban conurbation, but not to the tiny City of London at its centre; which is often styled as "the City" or "the Square Mile" and forms the main financial district. Archaically the urbanized area of London was known as a metropolis. In common usage the terms 'London' and 'Greater London' are usually used interchangeably.

The Greater London Authority is based in City Hall Greater London is officially divided for some purposes, with varying definitions, into Inner London and Outer London. For strategic planning purposes the region is divided into five sub regions.

		1. City of London 2. City of Westminster 3. Kensington and Chelsea 4. Hammersmith and Fulham 5. Wandsworth 6. Lambeth 7. Southwark 8. Tower Hamlets 9. Hackney 10. Islington 11. Camden 12. Brent 13. Ealing 14. Hounslow 15. Richmond 16. Kingston 17. Merton	18. Sutton 19. Croydon 20. Bromley 21. Lewisham 22. Greenwich 23. Bexley 24. Havering 25. Barking and Dagenham 26. Redbridge 27. Newham 28. Waltham Forest 29. Haringey 30. Enfield 31. Barnet 32. Harrow 33. Hillingdon
Greater London Authority Logo		London Assembly Further information: London Assembly constituencies Greater London Authority logo For elections to the London Assembly, London is divided into fourteen constituencies. The constituencies are formed from the area of two or three boroughs combined. The City of London forms part of the City and East constituency.
UK Parliament Further information: List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London London is divided into 74 Parliamentary constituencies, which are all borough constituencies. They are formed from the combined area of several wards from one or more London Boroughs. Typically a single borough is covered by two or three constituencies. Their number will be reduced to 73 before the next general election.
		History Arms of Greater London Council Greater London was formally created by the London Government Act 1963, which took force on 1 April 1965, replacing the former administrative counties of Middlesex and London, adding the City of London, which was not under the London County Council, and absorbing parts of Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire. The term 'Greater London' had been used before 1965, particularly to refer to the area covered by the Metropolitan Police District or the London Passenger Transport Area.

Greater London Council
Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the Greater London Council (GLC) sharing power with the Corporation of London (governing the small City of London) and the 32 London borough councils. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985. Its functions were devolved to the Corporation and the London boroughs with some functions transferred to central government and joint boards.

Greater London Authority
Greater London was used to form the London region of England in 1994. A referendum held in 1998, established public will to create a regional authority. The Greater London Authority, London Assembly and the directly-elected Mayor of London were created in 2000 by the Greater London Authority Act 1999. The 2000 and 2004 mayoral elections were both won by Ken Livingstone, who had been the final leader of the GLC. In 2000 the outer boundary of the Metropolitan Police District was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary.




Population of Greater London
The population on the current territory of Greater London rose from about 1.1 million in 1801 (back then only about 0.85 million people were in the urban area of London, while 0.25 million were living in villages and towns not yet part of London) to an estimated 8.6 million in 1939, but declined to 6.8 million around 1980, before starting to rebound in the beginning of the 1980s. As of 2003, the population in Greater London has only recovered the level of the beginning of the 1970s (which was also the level of population in 1921). Some researchers expect the population of Greater London to reach 8.15 million by 2016, which would still be 0.45 million short of the 1939 peak.

Figures here are for Greater London in its 2001 limits. Figures before 1971 have been reconstructed by the Office for National Statistics based on past censuses in order to fit the 2001 limits. Figures from 1981 onward are midyear estimates (revised as of 2004), which are more accurate than the censuses themselves, known to underestimate the population of London.

 

1891	April 5/6	5,572,012
1901	March 31/April 1	6,506,954
1911	April 2/3	7,160,525
1921	June 19/20	7,386,848
1931	April 26/27	8,110,480
1939	Midyear estimate	8,615,245
1951	April 8/9	8,196,978
1961	April 23/24	7,992,616
1971	April 25/26	7,452,520
1981	Midyear estimate	6,805,000
1991	Midyear estimate	6,829,300
2001	Midyear estimate	7,322,400
2003	Midyear estimate	7,387,900
2006	Midyear estimate	7,511,989

Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Inner London at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
 

Year	Regional Gross Value Added4	Agriculture1	Industry2	Services3
1995	64,616	7	8,147	56,461
2000	92,330	6	10,094	82,229
2003	112,090	12	10,154	101,924

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Outer London at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
 

Year	Regional Gross Value Added4	Agriculture1	Industry2	Services3
1995	44,160	51	10,801	33,307
2000	60,304	43	12,529	47,732
2003	67,582	39	13,081	54,462

Note 1: includes hunting and forestry
Note 2: includes energy and construction
Note 3: includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Note 4: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Wider population
Greater London is not exactly coterminous with London's built up area and a somewhat wider Greater London Urban Area has been defined and is used for mainly statistical purposes. London's wider metropolitan area is known as the London commuter belt.