City of Westminster, London

Westminster Palace, City of Westminster
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palace_of_Westminster.jpg
Author: Tony Moorey


The City of Westminster is a major sightseeing area in London. It is one of the two boroughs within Greater London with city status, the other being the City of London. Westminster is located west of the City of London, and north of the River Thames.

Visitors to this area of London come to view the seat of the British Government, for here you can find the famous Palace of Westminster - also called the Houses of Parliament. At the Palace of Westminster, you will see the tower that houses Big Ben, the famous bell (although the tower itself is often mistakenly called Big Ben too).This is the most iconic and recognizable image of Britain throughout the world. Also within Westminster is Buckingham Palace, Whitehall, Downing Street and the Royal Courts of Justice.

The City of Westminster borough was formed in 1965 from the former Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone, the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington, and the then smaller City of Westminster, which was granted city status on 29 October 1900. There was originally a City of Westminster which was created in 1541 as the seat of the Diocese of Westminster. The diocese was suppressed in 1550, but the term "city" was still being used without official sanction.

Today, the City of Westminster covers the area south of Oxford Street and Bayswater Road. Among the places within it are Soho, Mayfair, St James's, The Strand, Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, and Hyde Park. The districts in the City of Westminster include Bayswater, Belgravia, Covent Garden, Holborn, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, Lisson Grove, Maida Vale, Mayfair, Marylebone, Milibank, Paddington, Queen's Park, St James's, St John's Wood, Soho including Chinatown, Theatreland, Westbourne Green, West End, and of course Westminster itself. The census of 2001 places the population of the City of Westminster as 181,279.

The railway stations in the City of Westminster are Charing Cross Station, Marylebone Station, Paddington Station and Victoria Station. In addition, the city is served by 27 tube stations and 10 of the 12 Underground lines.

Map of the City of Westminster

The City of Westminster is on the Map of cities in England

Map of London Boroughs

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Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.