London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom and one of the most beautiful cities. This is the largest city in the European Union and the 16th in the world. We have picked up some of the most interesting facts about this amazing city.
1. There are many cities in the world with the same name, so Canada, the USA, and other countries have their own London. It is unusual that the Canadian London is also located on a river called the Thames.
2. Oddly enough, a very prestigious profession here is a taxi driver. Not everyone can take the exam and become a taxi driver in London, as all London taxi drivers are required to know perfectly the city map and the location of every street. This is one of the reasons that London’s taxis are the most expensive in the world.
3. Despite its reputation as a rainy city, there is less rain in London than in Rome, Naples or even Australia’s Sydney, however, if it starts raining here, it will not end for several days.
4. According to the Worldwide Cost of Living 2019 survey, London was ranked sixth in the list of the most expensive cities in the world.
5. Today, the average traffic speeds in central London are now very similar to traffic speeds that London saw over a century ago when horses and carts were the main forms of transport.
6. The London subway is known all over the world and is called “Underground”, but despite its name, more than half of the underground network actually works on the ground. Also interesting is the fact that about half a million rats live in the London subway.
7. The Churchill Arms is a must-see place in London. It bedecked with 100 flower pots, 48 window boxes, and 42 hanging baskets. When the winter closes in, the pub whopping 97 trees and 21,500 lights, earning it the title of the “most festive pub” in the United Kingdom.
8. Routemaster (a double-decker bus) is the symbol of London and one of the most famous buses in the world. Two iconic Routemasters are still in use and running since December 9, 2005.
9. The House of Parliament in London or the Palace of Westminster has more than one hundred rooms and 4,8 kilometers of corridors.
10. If people decided to build Big Ben in 2016, it would have cost about $222,000.
11. On 17 October 1814, London was flooded with beer, which was the result of a huge vat containing over 135,000 imperial gallons (610,000 L) of beer ruptured. This day in the history of London is called “London Beer Flood”.
12. London is the only city in the world that has hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times. The first time was in 1908, the second in 1948, and the most recent in 2012.
13. The fastest way to travel the 212 miles (342 km) from central London to central Paris can be reached by high-speed train (Eurostar) in just 2 hours 16 minutes.
14. The number of women prostituting during the Victorian Age was staggeringly high. As many as one in five young women were prostitutes in 18th-century London, which is about 20% of all women.
15. London has the second-highest number of billionaires (63) of any city in Europe after Moscow.
16. The Cultural diversity of London society is evidenced by the fact that the locals collectively speak about 300 different languages, in fact, more than 40% of the ‘local’ population is foreign-born.
