HOW BIG IS LONDON

Hokitika Guardian, 17 August 1929, Page 1

HOW BIG IS LONDON

The term “London” has various meanings. It may mean the administrative country of London over which the County Council rules, or it may mean what is known as Greater London, which is the area controlled by the metropolitan police The administrative country in the middle of 1928 had an estimated population of 4,502,000; the total population of Scotland at the same date was estimated 4,893,000 Greater London, which is in effect the real London —though epen this does not incude many of the suburbs —has approximately the same population as the whole of Belgium. It is perhaps more useful to compare London with the dominions. The population of Greater London in 1927 was estimated at 7,810,000; the population otf Australia in 1928 was estimated .'at 6,284,000."'

Thus London contains 1,500,000 more people than the whole of Australia. In the case of Canada the figures are slightly better, for Canada had an estimated population in 1927 of 9,519,000. On the other hand, in New Zealand the population is only 1,463,000, although the area of New Zealand is more than twice that of England (apart from Wales.)

One naturally asks (comments the London Sunday Times) why it is that millions of people should pack themselves into London in this manner when there is plenty of space in other parts of the world.