Early Anglo-Saxon settlement in the London area was not on the site of the abandoned Roman city, although the Roman city walls remained intact.
Instead, by the 7th century a village and trading centre named Lundenwic, was established approximately one mile (1.6km) to the west of Londinium (named Lundenburh or "London Fort" by the Saxons), probably using the mouth of the River Fleet (near present day Fleet Street) as a trading ship and fishing boat harbour.

Lundenwick

Lundenwic in the early eighth century was described by the Venerable Bede as "a trading centre for many nations who visit it by land and sea". The word "wic" was an Old English word for 'trading town' ultimately derived from Latin 'vicus', so Lundenwic literally meant 'London trading town'. Archaeologists were for many years puzzled as to where early Anglo-Saxon London was located, as they could find little evidence of occupation within the Roman city walls from this period. However in the 1980s it was 'rediscovered' after extensive excavations were reinterpreted as exhibiting an urban character. Recent excavations in the Covent Garden area have uncovered the extensive Anglo-Saxon settlement dating back into the 7th century. The excavations show that the settlement covered about 600,000 square metres, stretching from the present-day National Gallery site in the west to Aldwych in the east.

The Victorian era in the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 to January 1901. This represented an extended period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements at home, allowed a large, educated middle class to develop. Some scholars would extend the beginning of the period—as defined by a variety of sensibilities and political games that have come to be associated with the Victorians—back five years to the passage of the Reform Act 1832. The era was preceded by the Georgian period and succeeded by the Edwardian period. The latter half of the Victorian era roughly coincided with the first portion of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe.

The era is also characterised as a long period of peace, known as the Pax Britannica, and economic, colonial, and industrial consolidation, temporarily disrupted by the Crimean War, although Britain was at war every year during this time. Towards the end of the century, the policies of New Imperialism led to increasing colonial conflicts and eventually the Anglo-Zanzibar War and the Boer War. Domestically, the agenda was increasingly liberal with a number of shifts in the direction of gradual political reform and the widening of the voting franchise.

London is one of the world's foremost global cities and the largest financial centre alongside New York City. Central London is home to the headquarters of more than half of the UK's top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. The city's influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, the arts and culture in general contributes to its global position. It is a major tourist destination for both domestic and overseas visitors. London hosted the 1908 and 1948 Summer Olympics and will host the 2012 Summer Olympics. It is the first city to host these moderrn Olympics for the third time.

London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; the historic settlement of Greenwich; the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; and the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church. London has a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken within the city. In July 2007, it had an official population of 7,556,900 within the boundaries of Greater London making it the most populous municipality in the European Union. The Greater London Urban Area (the second largest in the EU) has a population of 8,278,251. while the metropolitan area (the largest in the EU) has an estimated total population of between 12 million and 14 million. The public transport network, administered by Transport for London, is the most extensive in the world, London Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers and the airspace is the busiest of any city in the world. London was named by New York Magazine as the capital of the world for the 21st century.