Looking At The Long History Of London Cultural Studies Essay

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London includes the City of London, and the 32 boroughs, 13 of which are in Inner London and 19 of which are in Outer London. London is a massive city that is constantly expanding comprising many villages and towns that are located in the south east of England. London the capital of England has a vast area of over 620 square miles, and is the most populous city in Europe, with an astonishing population of 7,172,000; almost 14% of the overall population of Britain. On October 2, 2001 Prime Minister Tony Blair said "We celebrate the diversity in our country, get strength from the cultures and the races that go to make up Britain today." London is considered to be one of the most ethnically diverse cities. With over 300 languages spoken in it and more than 50 non-indigenous communities. Observing London you can find many different races and ethnicities that include; Bangladeshi, Black African, Black Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Irish, Pakistani and White British. Almost one third (32 per cent) of Londoners were born outside the UK - around 2.3m Londoners. Ethnic diversity also known as multiculturalism is the acceptance of different ethnic cultures, for sensible reasons and for the sake of range. Racial diversity is known to be a place where people join together from different racial backgrounds and live together. Because London in one of the most diverse cities and has an astonishing number of languages spoken, top of them are, Bengali & Silheti, Panjabi, Gujerati, Hindi/Urdu, Turkish, Arabic, and many more.

The geographical characteristics of London and its geographical position have attracted different ethnic backgrounds to arrive and settle in London and around it. The River Thames played a major role in London gaining prominence as a trading centre as far back as the first days it was founded. London's position has made it a crossing point of many civilizations and cultures hailing from the United Kingdom itself, and Europe. Recent history has seen an influx of migration from old British colonies to the United Kingdom as a hole and London in particular. The extensive migration of many ethnic groups has made London to be a cosmopolitan city. London's status as a prime financial center has lead people to seek settling in it, the diversity of cultures and freedom in London has encouraged people from different backgrounds to want to live in London. The freedom in London allowed people from all sides of the world live and worship in the manner which suited their culture and origin or even their aspiration, London served as hub of freedom for many immigrants due to the security it offers them and hope it builds in them. The cultural tolerance, security, health, education, and social respect London offers played a major role in encouraging people from all sides of the world to seek asylum or immigrate to London and its surrounding area.

London's history spans back as far as the Roman Empire 43AD , the Romans ruled London for a number of centuries followed by the Normans who rule London during the middle ages lead by William the conqueror who was crowned the King of England on 25th December 1066, William gave London a charter confirming certain rights . Over a number of centuries developed in a lively place until riots broke during the 13th century and during the 14th century (1381) a peasant revolt against the king broke out and he was nearly killed .The 14th century was time when nearly a third of London's population died of the Black Death. The 16th and 17th saw the dissolving of the monasteries by King Henry Vlll , the growth and development of London along with the expansion of trade with different parts of Europe , 1642 saw the conflict between the king and the parliament which lead to the civil war between them. The 17th century also saw the two major disasters, first of which were the last plaque in 1665 and the great fire of London in 1666 , the king commanded that all houses should be of stone and brick not wood to prevent any future similar disaster.

Due to the fact that London is considered to be one of the most diverse cities around the world, it wouldn't sound right if it only had English-only schools. The vast city of London has many different choices for parents to pick from. London has different schools to attend. International schools, French schools, Italian schools, Pakistani and Indian schools etc. Examples of the schools are, LONDON MONTESSORI NURSERY SCHOOL (Pakistani), Roberta Sabatini (Italian), Institut français du Royaume-Uni (French), Goethe-Institut (German), and hundreds more. London consists of 32 London boroughs, and other suburbs. Thus, the citizens are mixed however in some areas you might see where one ethnic group is more dominant in that area, such as in Ealing, Greater London, The English culture is most dominant in London with their regular British food, music, dance, media and entertainment. The traditional cultural food of London would be the, 'Cod &Chip'. However if you go strolling down a road in London, due to the influence of new commonwealth immigration which is visible in the large number of Indian restaurants and Chinese fast-food restaurants. When it comes to the Media and Entertainment industry, the English culture is most dominant. With its wide range of TV broadcasting companies, like The British Broadcasting Company, the BBC which is the principal television and radio company in the UK. This exists by the royal charter, and its board of directors which are appointed by the state, whilst it receives its funding from the government. And its main competition is the Independent Television (ITV), which pay their way by selling advertising slots. The most famous newspaper in London is the Times. For the French population you can find French newspapers around stations and stores like Le monde, Le parisien, Le figaro, La libération. For the Indian population you can find Asian Times and Eastern Eye, Sunrise radio is the Indian radio channel. Nevertheless you will always find a larger amount of English in the media. With its numerous number of radio stations such as 'Kiss Fm' 'XFM' 'Magic' 'Chill' 'Choice FM' and many moreâ€¦ London's traditional old music is most commonly known as folk music. Which leads to the morris dance a type of English folk dance, usually accompanied by music, and based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers.

London is one of the best cities to have a cultural research about, because of its English dominance yet the effect of commonwealth immigration is very evident in almost every aspect of daily life and traditional life of London. The variation of the traditional English food, yet the numerous number of Indian, Chinese restaurants around the area is outstanding. Never will you walk around a city in the world and see so many different cultures mixed into one big city. London the capital of England, located in the south-east, is home to many different ethnicities and races. Once home of the Romans, and now home of Elizabeth II. A population of over 7 million located in one city with diverse language of over 300. Its multiple rivers attracted traders to settle. London has now emerged into becoming a cosmopolitan city. London's great cultural tolerance acted as a welcome mat to many immigrants. The different ethnicities are scattered around the city, with some areas of a denser population. The evident multiculturalism is aver good positive thing to all of the different races. Because, with multiculturalism grows new perspectives. People accept others for who they are and even learn from them. In an increasingly globalized world, it is easy to misunderstand people from other countries, but with multiculturism one learns to be tolerant open-minded to different things. People can walk down the street and be proud of who they are. A Muslim woman can walk down the street with hijab, without getting weird stares. An Indian woman can walk down an alley with a sari, and not get weird stares. We have multiculturalism tolerance to thank. If we were without it , we would not accept one another, not understand others beliefs, and would be living in our own world, without any knowledge of anyone or anything in the outside word. Keep sharp, have an open mind.