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London Leasing

Did You Know?

The City of London is actually about 1.2 square miles in size, otherwise known as the "Square Mile" and it has a population of roughly 7,500 people. On the contrary hand, Greater London is a 606 square mile area of England that is home to around 8.7 million people.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that iconic London tower you’ve been calling Big Ben isn’t really called Big Ben. Actually, the clock in the Tower is the one that is called “Big Ben.” In honor of the Queen's diamond jubilee, the famed Tower's name was changed from Clock Tower to Elizabeth Tower in 2012.

London is home to more than 170 museums and most of them are free. Some of the best museums and art galleries in the world, including The British Museum, National Gallery London, Tate Modern, Science Museum, Royal Museums, and Imperial War Museum, are also located in the city.

There are almost as many trees in London as there are people. According to a UN definition, any area that has at least 20% trees is considered a forest. And trees cover around 21% of the land in London, making the city an urban forest. 

There are six resident guardian ravens of the Tower of London: Harris, Jubilee, Poppy, Gripp, Erin, Branwen, and Edgar. They are intelligent birds that only respond to the Ravenmaster, and people should avoid getting too close to them because they can bite if they feel that their area is being threatened.

According to research, there are more than 300 languages spoken in London, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. The top five non-English languages reportedly spoken are Polish, Turkish, Bengali, French, and Punjabi.

In World War II, London served as the governing capital for other European countries which were conquered by Germany. The leaders of Norway, Poland, Belgium, France, and The Netherlands stayed in London between 1939 and 1945.

The first public transportation system to use steam engines was the London Tube. On January 10, 1863, the Metropolitan line's first segment from Paddington to Farringdon opened. Five years later, a second underground line went into operation. Metropolitan number 23 is the oldest surviving steam locomotive and it is on display at the London Transport Museum.

Walk the streets of London and most of the people around you probably won’t be ‘true’ Londoners. The resident population of the city of Greater London is just over 8.5 million people. However, the city gets over 16 million visitors every year – a staggering number!

Even though technically every restaurant in Mumbai is an Indian restaurant, London has so many excellent eateries that it far outweighs its culinary rival. If you want a great curry, you’re better off going to London over India.

Black Cabs are very famous and part of the London culture, you can see them everywhere. But to become a Black Cab driver is not so easy. Typically, the training last for 2 to 4 years and candidates must memorize every single street in London.

What you think today of an amazing city has a long and not completely known history. Some standing theories state that London was first built from Romans around 50 AD. The origin of its name has also a puzzling history. During history, London used to have different names including Londonium, Ludenwic, Ludenberg.