City of London London borough, a status reserved for the other 32 districts (including London's only other city, the City of Westminster). It is also a separate county of England, being an enclave surrounded by Greater London. It is the smallest county in the United Kingdom. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City (differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalising "City") and is also colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is in area. Both of these terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which
City of London Viking occupied parts of England. The refortified Anglo-Saxon settlement was known as Lundenburh ("London Fort", a borough). The historian Asser said that "Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly ... and made it habitable once more." Alfred's "restoration" entailed reoccupying and refurbishing the nearly deserted Roman walled city, building quays along the Thames, and laying a new city street plan. Alfred's taking of London and the rebuilding of the old Roman city was a turning point in history, not only as the permanent establishment of the City of London, but also as part of a unifying