Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by

Outer London Outer London is the name for the group of London boroughs that form a ring around Inner London. Together, the inner and outer boroughs form London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. These were areas that were not part of the County of Londo ...

. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was used as an area of local government from 1855 to 1965 principally as the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

or earlier as the Metropolitan Board of Works Area (metropolis). It now has two common definitions. The first is the statutory definition delineated in the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

, coming into force on 1 April 1965, comprising twelve Inner London boroughs and almost identical to the

that was abolished at the same time. The second is the definition used by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

comprising eleven of the statutory Inner London boroughs and two of the statutory Outer London boroughs, and the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

.Newham London Borough Council
– Positively Inner London Inner London is smaller than Outer London both in terms of population and area, but the density of population is more than double that of Outer London. Inner London is officially the wealthiest area in Europe with the most expensive street in Europe: GDP per capita is more than €80,000 while the UK GDP per capita is around €27,000.

History

Background

The area that is now Inner London was defined by the

Registrar General General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital recor ...

as a collection of parishes called "London" and appeared in the 1851 Census. At the time the metropolitan area—commonly called the Metropolis—had its origins in the area of the Bills of mortality that had expanded from the tiny

into three surrounding counties over the previous several hundred years. The area become fixed in 1847 with the addition of Lewisham Poor Law Union and the parish of Hampstead. In 1855 the Registrar General area, with the addition of Penge, was used to define the district of the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Cou ...

.Davis, J., ''Reforming London: The London Government Problem, 1855–1900'', (1988) The Metropolis was also described as Inner London from the 1881 Census. In 1889 this area became the

. The area was adjusted in 1900 when Penge was transferred to Kent and South Hornsey was gained from Middlesex.

London Government Act 1963

The "Inner London boroughs" were defined by the

. The Inner London boroughs occupied the same area as the County of London that was abolished as they were created.

North Woolwich North Woolwich is an area in the London Borough of Newham in East London. It is located on the northern bank of the River Thames, across the river from Woolwich. It is connected to Woolwich by the Woolwich Ferry and Woolwich foot tunnel. De ...

was an anomaly as it was part of the County of London, but became part of an Outer London borough. The main difference between Inner and Outer London boroughs between 1965 and 1990 was that the councils of the inner boroughs were not local education authorities and there was a single

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

for the area, including the

. The inner borough councils became local education authorities on 1 April 1990. The statutory definition is used as part of the grant settlement used to finance local government.

Newham London Borough Council Newham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Newham. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a di ...

campaigns for recognition as an Inner London borough council for central government grants, as this would have financial benefits for the borough. It is heavily considered an Inner London borough although only north woolwich was part of the county of london, Newham did not form part of the County of London but it is considered inner london by the ONS(Office for national statistics) and Eurostar. The statutory Inner London boroughs are: *

Haringey The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of ...

Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the ...

* Camden *

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

* Hackney * Hammersmith and Fulham * Islington * Kensington and Chelsea * Lambeth * Lewisham * Southwark *

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

* Wandsworth *

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

The

was not designated as an Inner London borough, but the Corporation of London is usually classed as an inner London local authority.

Statistics

The

and Eurostat define Inner London differently, explicitly including the

, adding

and

, but excluding

. The land area is 319 km² (123 sq. miles) and the population in 2011 was 3,231,901. 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 ONS midyear estimates (revised as of 2010). After centuries of increase, the population of Inner London reached its peak of 4,998,237 in 1911. The area's population from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

began a steady decline as that of Outer London continued to increase. The census of 1951 showed the damage inflicted by the 1940s Blitz as the population of Greater London switched into decline which was reversed in Outer London with house building and territory expansion whereas in Inner London continued. The war damage and early 20th century slums had physical and psychological hence property price effects and focus on New Towns and suburban development reflected a drive among urban planners for greener, less dense settlements. Inner London reached a post-War nadir, a population not seen since the early 19th century in 1981 having 2,550,100 residents, after which an upward trend ensued and Inner London residents numbered 3,231,901 in 2011 — 1,766,336 short of the 1911 peak.

Strategic planning

For the purposes of the

London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. The regional planning document was first pu ...

planning document produced by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

, Inner London consists of the City of London, all the statutory Inner London boroughs, and Newham.

Other definitions

The area covered by the London postal district is sometimes referred to as 'Inner London'.HMSO, ''The Inner London Letter Post'', (1980) However it is not coterminous with other definitions of Inner London as its area is somewhat larger and covers 624 km² (241 sq. miles). The southern part of the London Borough of Lewisham as well as a small part of the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

fall outside its boundaries whilst 44 of its 119 districts are in Outer London and its irregular shape stretches to the Greater London boundary at Mill Hill and Scratch Wood and beyond it at Sewardstone. From 1990 to 2000 London used two separate telephone dialling codes with one code designated for ''Inner London'', however the area covered by this code was widely different from all of the above definitions and most of Greater London is now covered by a single ''

020 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...

'' dialling code.

Economy

There are approximately 200,000 businesses with around 2,000,000 employees in Inner London. 56% of all private sector jobs in Greater London are located in Inner London. There is significant commuting of workers from Outer London and from outside Greater London. Much of the commercial activity is focused on Central London and Canary Wharf. 10% of public sector employment is focused on

around the

Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

References

{{Coord, 51.508411, N, 0.125364, W, display=title, region:GB_type:adm3rd_scale:300000 London Inner London sub-regions Geography of the City of London Natural regions of England 1847 establishments in England