London, England

London, England is the largest and capital city of the entire United Kingdom -which is characteristic of two islands containing Ireland, Scotland, England (Great Britain), and Wales. This city is the largest urbanized city by most standards in all of Europe. London has a strong artistic environment, with other emphases including entertainment, fashion, healthcare, research, and education. London (as well as New York City) is the largest financial center, which means that it contains a high number of banks and/or stock exchanges. London has the largest Gross Domestic Product of any European city, ranking 5th in the world. Next year, in 2012, London will hold the title of being the first city to hold the modern Summer Olympic Games more than twice.

The most widely spoken language in all of the UK is English, however, there are over 300 languages widely spoken within the boundaries of London. Its population totals roughly 13 million people, between 1831 and 1925, London had the largest population of any city in the world. The governing of London consists of two tiers. The first is the GLA (or Greater London Authority), and the smaller tier is made up of 33 smaller authorities. In 2010, the total government expenditure totaled over 22 billion dollars. The London Fire Brigade (a fire & rescue service for all of Greater London and its people) is the third-largest fire department in the entire world.