SafekipediaCity of Westminster
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The City of Westminster is a London borough with city status in Greater London, England. It is very important because it is where the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government are located.
This area includes a large part of central London, such as the famous shopping places around Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly, and Bond Street, as well as the entertainment area known as Soho.
Many famous places are in the City of Westminster, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, Westminster Cathedral, 10 Downing Street, and Trafalgar Square. It also has beautiful parks like Hyde Park and most of Regent's Park. The borough has many neighborhoods, such as St John's Wood, Maida Vale, Bayswater, Belgravia, and Pimlico.
Westminster started as a separate place west of London, growing around the important minster church of Westminster Abbey. It became a city in 1540 and was later included in the larger area of Greater London. Today, the modern borough was created in 1965 and is led by the Westminster City Council. It shares borders with several other areas, including the City of London to the east and Camden, Brent, Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, and Lambeth. Charing Cross in Westminster is considered the center of London, where distances from the city are measured.
History
After people left Roman London in the 5th century, a new village grew up nearby, called Lundenwic. Later, the old Roman town, Lundenburh, became busy again.
The City of Westminster has a long history, starting before the year 1066. In the 11th century, King Edward the Confessor built an abbey and a palace there. This made Westminster the center of government. Over time, Westminster grew, joining with nearby areas to become part of today’s Greater London.
Administrative history
Westminster was part of Middlesex and became important for kings and queens. It became a city in 1540. In 1900, Westminster became an official borough, and in 1965 it merged with nearby areas to form the modern borough we know today.
Governance
Main article: Westminster City Council
The local authority is Westminster City Council, which meets at Westminster Council House (also known as Marylebone Town Hall) and has its main offices at Westminster City Hall on Victoria Street.
Since 2000, for elections to the London Assembly, the borough forms part of the West Central constituency.
Demographics
The City of Westminster is a busy part of London where many different people live. It has lots of homes that people can rent privately, more than other places in England.
A study in 2017 showed that Westminster has some of the biggest differences in how much money people earn. It also has some of the least affordable rents for people with lower incomes.
Most adults and many young people in Westminster have good qualifications.
Ethnicity
The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the censuses from 1991 to 2021 in Westminster.
Religion
Housing
The borough ranks highest on one standard for looking at housing supply and demand. This is the share of private rented homes compared to other types of housing in England.
Income inequality
A study in 2017 by the Trust for London and the New Policy Institute found that Westminster has the third-highest pay inequality of the 32 London boroughs. It also has the second-least affordable private rent for low earners in London, behind only Kensington and Chelsea.
Education
In education, 82% of adults and 69% of 19-year-olds have Level 3 qualifications.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 220,188 | — |
| 1811 | 245,254 | +11.4% |
| 1821 | 288,851 | +17.8% |
| 1831 | 344,200 | +19.2% |
| 1841 | 368,910 | +7.2% |
| 1851 | 422,850 | +14.6% |
| 1861 | 446,263 | +5.5% |
| 1871 | 469,677 | +5.2% |
| 1881 | 493,090 | +5.0% |
| 1891 | 462,837 | −6.1% |
| 1901 | 441,857 | −4.5% |
| 1911 | 421,865 | −4.5% |
| 1921 | 396,406 | −6.0% |
| 1931 | 372,566 | −6.0% |
| 1941 | 334,448 | −10.2% |
| 1951 | 300,461 | −10.2% |
| 1961 | 267,126 | −11.1% |
| 1971 | 237,614 | −11.0% |
| 1981 | 163,893 | −31.0% |
| 1991 | 187,526 | +14.4% |
| 2001 | 181,279 | −3.3% |
| 2011 | 219,396 | +21.0% |
| 2021 | 204,236 | −6.9% |
| 2024 estimate | 209,996 | +2.8% |
| Source:2024 estimate | ||
| Ethnic group | Year | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 estimations | 1981 estimations | 1991 census | 2001 census | 2011 census | 2021 census | |||||||
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| White: Total | – | 93.1% | 163,612 | 85.6% | 148,461 | 79.1% | 132,715 | 73.12% | 135,330 | 61.68% | 112,732 | 55.1% |
| White: British | – | – | – | – | – | – | 87,938 | 48.51% | 77,334 | 35.25% | 57,162 | 28.0% |
| White: Irish | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6,574 | 3.63% | 4,960 | 2.26% | 3,742 | 1.8% |
| White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 76 | 0.03% | 49 | 0.0% |
| White: Roma | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,503 | 0.7% |
| White: Other | – | – | – | – | – | – | 38,203 | 21.07% | 52,960 | 24.14% | 50,276 | 24.6% |
| Asian or Asian British: Total | – | – | 10,624 | 5.5% | 17,198 | 9.2% | 20,184 | 11.13% | 31,862 | 14.52% | 34,242 | 16.7% |
| Asian or Asian British: Indian | – | – | 2,604 | 3,710 | 5,665 | 3.12% | 7,213 | 3.29% | 7,965 | 3.9% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Pakistani | – | – | 841 | 1,240 | 1,828 | 1.01% | 2,328 | 1.06% | 2,461 | 1.2% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi | – | – | 1,768 | 3,991 | 5,000 | 2.76% | 6,299 | 2.87% | 7,533 | 3.7% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Chinese | – | – | 2,270 | 2,910 | 4,077 | 2.25% | 5,917 | 2.70% | 6,625 | 3.2% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Other Asian | – | – | 3,141 | 5,347 | 3,614 | 1.99% | 10,105 | 4.61% | 9,658 | 4.7% | ||
| Black or Black British: Total | – | – | 11,503 | 6% | 13,862 | 7.4% | 13,481 | 7.44% | 16,472 | 7.51% | 16,456 | 8% |
| Black or Black British: African | – | – | 3,295 | 4,535 | 5,613 | 3.10% | 9,141 | 4.17% | 10,451 | 5.1% | ||
| Black or Black British: Caribbean | – | – | 6,519 | 7,163 | 6,678 | 3.68% | 4,449 | 2.03% | 4,307 | 2.1% | ||
| Black or Black British: Other Black | – | – | 1,689 | 2,164 | 1,190 | 0.66% | 2,882 | 1.31% | 1,698 | 0.8% | ||
| Mixed or British Mixed: Total | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7,480 | 4.13% | 11,395 | 5.19% | 13,335 | 6.5% |
| Mixed: White and Black Caribbean | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,382 | 0.76% | 1,869 | 0.85% | 2,061 | 1.0% |
| Mixed: White and Black African | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,204 | 0.66% | 1,927 | 0.89% | 2,089 | 1.0% |
| Mixed: White and Asian | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,436 | 1.34% | 3,584 | 1.63% | 3,718 | 1.8% |
| Mixed: Other Mixed | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,458 | 1.36% | 4,015 | 1.83% | 5,467 | 2.7% |
| Other: Total | – | – | 5,284 | 8,239 | 7,426 | 4.10% | 24,337 | 11.09% | 27,471 | 13.5% | ||
| Other: Arab | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15,724 | 7.17% | 15439 | 7.6% |
| Other: Any other ethnic group | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7,426 | 4.1% | 8,613 | 3.93% | 12032 | 5.9% |
| Ethnic minority: Total | – | 6.9% | 27,411 | 14.4% | 39,299 | 20.9% | 48,571 | 26.79% | 84,066 | 38.32% | 91,504 | 44.9% |
| Total | – | 100% | 191,024 | 100% | 187,700 | 100% | 181,286 | 100.00% | 219,396 | 100.00% | 204,236 | 100% |
| Religion | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Of total | Number | Of total | Number | Of total | |
| Christian | 99,797 | 55.05% | 97,877 | 44.61% | 76,245 | 37.3% |
| No religion | 29,300 | 16.16% | 44,542 | 20.30% | 52,936 | 25.9% |
| Muslim | 21,346 | 11.77% | 40,073 | 18.27% | 40,873 | 20.0% |
| Religion not stated | 15,877 | 8.76% | 20,519 | 9.35% | 19,179 | 9.4% |
| Jewish | 7,732 | 4.27% | 7,237 | 3.30% | 5,628 | 2.8% |
| Hindu | 3,497 | 1.93% | 4,178 | 1.90% | 4,457 | 2.2% |
| Buddhist | 2,392 | 1.32% | 3,194 | 1.46% | 2,603 | 1.3% |
| Other religion | 945 | 0.52% | 1,280 | 0.58% | 1,741 | 0.9% |
| Sikh | 400 | 0.22% | 496 | 0.23% | 573 | 0.3% |
| Total | 181,286 | 100.00% | 219,396 | 100.00% | 204,300 | 100.0% |
Districts
The City of Westminster has many famous parts of London. Some areas are shared with nearby boroughs, such as Albertopolis with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Covent Garden with the London Borough of Camden.
Other well-known areas in Westminster include Bayswater, Belgravia, Fitzrovia, Harrow Road, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, Lisson Grove, Maida Vale, Mayfair, Marylebone, Millbank, Paddington, Pimlico, Queen's Park, St James's, St John's Wood, Soho (which includes Chinatown), Theatreland, Victoria, Westbourne Green, West End, and Westminster City Centre.
Economy
Many big companies have their main offices in the City of Westminster. Areas like Mayfair and St James's are home to many important money businesses. The West End, known as the Theatre District, has many famous performing arts places. Soho and nearby areas have lots of media and creative companies. Oxford Street is a popular place for shopping.
Landmarks
Main article: List of tourist attractions in the City of Westminster
The City of Westminster has some of the most famous places in London. You can visit Buckingham Palace, where the queen lives, Westminster Abbey where kings and queens are buried, the Palace of Westminster where lawmakers meet, and Big Ben, a big clock tower.
Centre of London
Charing Cross is considered the center of London. Distances from London are measured from here. This tradition started with the 12 Eleanor crosses built to Lincoln, England.
Parks and open spaces
Main article: Westminster parks and open spaces
The area has many beautiful parks such as Green Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Regent's Park, and St James's Park. The City of Westminster also takes care of East Finchley Cemetery and a crematorium in the London Borough of Barnet.
Transport
The City of Westminster has many ways to get around. There are four main train stations and 27 places to get on the London Underground. The Underground has 10 different lines that pass through the area.
There are also special spots where people can charge their electric cars. In 2009, there were 15 of these spots, and by 2018, that number grew to 60. When people in Westminster go to work, many of them use the Underground, walk, take a bus, or drive a car. Some even work from home or ride bicycles.
Education
Main article: List of schools in the City of Westminster
Westminster Children's Services runs many primary and secondary schools. There are also schools supported by religions, mainly the Church of England and the Roman Catholic church. Some schools are non-religious Christian schools, and there are independent schools that do not aim to make money.
Universities and colleges
The University of Westminster has three campuses in the area. The Strand campus of King's College London is also here. Other schools and colleges include the London Business School, the London School of Economics, the Royal Academy of Music, and the University of the Arts London. There are many other colleges and schools across the city.
Public libraries
The city has two reference libraries: Westminster Reference Library and Marylebone Information Service. The Westminster Reference Library has special collections, including one about Sherlock Holmes. There are many public libraries across the city, such as Charing Cross Library and Marylebone Library. The London Library is a special library that people pay to use, located at 14 St James's Square.
Embassies and High Commissions
Many countries have important offices called embassies or High Commissions in Westminster. These buildings are where countries talk and work together peacefully.
Notable people
Main article: List of people from the City of Westminster
The City of Westminster has been home to many famous people throughout history. It is a special place where important leaders and creative minds have lived and worked.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms for Westminster was given on September 2, 1964.
Before this, Westminster had different arms. The top part was the same. The lower part showed areas that are now part of the city, called Paddington and St Marylebone. The old arms had a special symbol called a portcullis, which is now the top part of the current coat of arms.
Freedom of the City
Some important people and military units have been given a special honor called the Freedom of the City of Westminster.
Individuals
- Sir Winston Churchill: 1946.
- Sir Robert Mark: 22 June 1977.
- Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher: 12 December 1990.
Military units
- HMS Westminster, RN: 11 December 2005.
Images
Related articles
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