Greater London is often referred to as "the City" or "the Square Mile" and it forms the main financial district. Archaically, the urbanised area of London was known as the Metropolis. In common usage, the terms "London" and "Greater London" are usually used interchangeably. Greater London is officially divided for some purposes, with varying definitions, into Inner London and Outer London. For some strategic planning purposes it is divided into five sub-regions. Greater London is under the strategic local governance of the Greater London Authority (GLA). It consists of an elected assembly, the London Assembly, and an executive head, the Mayor of
Wards of the City of London Wards of the City of London The City of London (also known simply as "the City") is divided into 25 wards. The City is the historic core of the much wider metropolis of Greater London, with an ancient and "sui generis" form of local government, which avoided the many local government reforms elsewhere in the country in the 19th and 20th centuries. Unlike other modern-day English local authorities, the City of London Corporation has two council bodies: the now largely ceremonial Court of Aldermen and the Court of Common Council. The wards are a survival of the medieval governmental system