Difference in London & Greater London ?

Question

Hi there,

Can someone let me know please in detail?

As far as i know, London is imaginary divided in 6 Zones. 5th & 6th Zones includes Heathrow Airport & extreme boundaries of the city. While Zone 1 is called "Central London".

Now what does "Greater London" stands for ?

Kind regards,

mma

Answer 1

The zones that you are talking about are nothing to do with boundaries of the city.  They are a classification used by the transport authorities for the purpose of pricing tickets, nothing more.

Greater London is the term that is used to describe the boundaries of the city.  As the other answer pointed out, London is split into many boroughs and these collectively form the county of Greater London.  Therefore anything that is in Greater London is officially (for political purposes as least) in London.  

Just to make things more confusing, you also get the 'City of London' in the centre of the city.  It is almost like another borough but politically is not a part of Greater London and is instead a county in itself.  However, in practice, Londoners don't make much of this distinction.

Answer 2

zones 1-6 are transport classifications.

Greater London is an administrative area (councils) taking in 32 London boroughs plus the city of London (which is a 1 mile square area).

Answer 3

London is made up of 31 or 32 (can't remember which sorry) boroughs inc the City of Westminster and the City of London.  When people refer to London in general tourism terms they often mean the two cities.  Greater London is the name given to all the boroughs collectively.