The City of London , also known as the City , is a city , ceremonial county and local government district [ note 1 ] that contains the ancient centre, and constitutes, along with Canary Wharf , the primary central business district CBD of London and one of the leading financial centres of the world.
The City of London is not one of the London boroughs , a status reserved for the other 32 districts including Greater London's only other city, the City of Westminster. It is also a separate ceremonial county, being an enclave surrounded by the ceremonial county of Greater London , and is the smallest ceremonial county in England. The City of London is known colloquially as the Square Mile , as it is 1. Both the terms the City and the Square Mile are often used as metonyms for the UK's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being largely based in the City.
London most often denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 Greater London boroughs, in addition to the City of London itself. The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation , is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council, such as being the police authority. It is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries, e. Hampstead Heath. The current Lord Mayor is Alastair King. Although not within the City, the adjacent Tower of London , built to dominate the City, is part of its old defensive perimeter.
The City is a major business and financial centre, [ 9 ] with both the Bank of England and the London Stock Exchange based in the City. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the world's primary business centre, and it continues to be a major meeting point for businesses. The insurance industry is concentrated in the eastern side of the city, around Lloyd's building. Since about the s, a secondary financial district has existed outside the city, at Canary Wharf, 2.
The legal profession has a major presence in the northern and western sides of the City, especially in the Temple and Chancery Lane areas where the Inns of Court are located, two of which Inner Temple and Middle Temple fall within the City of London boundary. Primarily a business district, the City has a small resident population of 8, based on census figures, [ 11 ] [ 12 ] but over , are employed there as of [ 13 ] and some estimates put the number of workers in the City to be over 1 million.
