l institutions, including wealthy banks, dominated by the privately owned (Rothschild controlled) Bank of England, Lloyd's of London, the London Stock Exchange, and the offices of most of the leading international trading concerns. Fleet Street is also located in the City and is the heart and core of the newspaper and publishing worlds of Great Britain (Nicolas).
The Lord Mayor is elected for a one year stint and is the monarch in the City. When the Queen of England visits the City, she is met by the Lord Mayor at Temple Bar, the symbolic gate of the City, and she bows and asks for permission to enter his private, sovereign State. This is because the Lord Mayor is the monarch and the Queen is his subject in the City (Nicolas).
The City has a defined area for historic reasons. Early in the first century AD, a Roman settlement was established where the City is now located, and at that time, this area was about the furthest downstream that the Thames could reasonably easily be crossed. It was also about as far upstream as boats could navigate. In the third century, a substantial wall was built around Londinium, as it was then known, and this wall largely defined the area of the City and has to this day--parts of the original wall can still be seen in several places. Until the 17th Century, nearly all of the key parts of London were still to be found within the Square Mile, though by then, both the Church of England and Parliament had relocated upstream to Westminster. However, nearly all of London's trading was carried out within the City, and most Londoners lived in very crowded conditions within the walls. This changed with the Great Fire of London in 1666, when many of the wooden buildings were consumed by flames. After this, a substantial proportion of the population moved outside the City. This population shift was aided two centuries later when the introduction of public transport made it much easier for peopl...