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
North London North London North London is an informally and inexactly defined part of London, England which covers "some" of the area of the capital lying north of the River Thames. North London extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The constituent districts were traditionally part of Middlesex with the exception of a small area around Barnet which was part of Hertfordshire. North London is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it