London

London and the Thames were named after the English city and river in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe, who proposed the site for the capital city of Upper Canada. The first European settlement was established between 1801 and 1804 by Peter Hagerman. The village was founded in 1826 and incorporated in 1855. Since then, London has grown to be the largest southwestern Ontario municipality and Canada's 11th largest metropolitan area with a population of 543,551 according to the 2021 Canadian census, having annexed many of the smaller communities that surround it.

London is a regional centre of healthcare and education, being home to the University of Western Ontario (which brands itself "Western University"), Fanshawe College, and three major hospitals: Victoria Hospital, University Hospital, and St. Joseph's Hospital.