Factbox on London's [Images] bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games:

Population: seven million

Average temperature over proposed Games period (July 27 to August 12): 14 to 21 degrees Celsius

Games bid chairman: Sebastian Coe, former double Olympic athletics champion.

CONCEPT

London's bid is centred on a run-down area in the east of the city, where the Olympic village would be built. Organisers have stressed the importance of "legacy", saying the Olympics [Images] would help to rejuvenate one of Europe's most deprived areas.

• London to host 2012 Games

London is Europe's most cosmopolitan city. More than one-quarter of the inhabitants are born abroad and the city is home to more than 200 ethnic communities who between them speak more than 300 languages.

A city that prides itself on its culture, London has more than 200 museums, 500 cinemas and five symphony orchestras.

Thirty-nine percent of London's total area is made up of parks and green spaces, more than any other comparable city.

VENUES

Five facilities -- the Olympic stadium, the aquatics centre, the velopark, the hockey centre and the indoor arena -- would remain after the Games.

The athletes' village would be converted into 3,600 apartments, many for low-paid workers such as teachers and nurses who struggle to pay London's astronomical property prices.

London would use 31 venues for the Games. These include Lord's Cricket ground (Archery), Wimbledon (Tennis), Horse Guards' Parade (Beach Volleyball), Regent's Park (Softball and Baseball) and a new 80,000-seat Olympic stadium.

The city has pledged to complete all its venues 18 months before the Games start.

FINANCE

London has an operating budget of $2.79 billion (1.59 billion pounds). The government has put in place a public funding package to the tune of $4.41 billion to cover the cost of building new venues, improving transport infrastructure, security and other contingencies.

TRANSPORT

Organisers say 80 percent of athletes would be housed within 20 minutes' travel of their events.

Ten railway lines would serve the Olympic Park. Nine already exist and the 10th, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link from Kings Cross station in central London, will be finished by 2007.

The Games would be staged in late July and early August, when the city's traffic demand typically falls by 20 percent. Mayor Ken Livingstone and the government have pledged $30 billion to improve the city's transport infrastructure, long seen as the Achilles' heel of London's bid.

PREVIOUS GAMES/BIDS

This is the first time London has bid for an Olympic Games. It was awarded the Games in 1908, after Rome backed out, and in 1948, after World War Two.

Britain has struggled with its image in world sport after being forced to pull out of staging the 2005 world athletics championships because of problems building a stadium in London. However it went some way to repairing the damage by hosting a successful Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002.

SUPPORT

Backers of the bid include Nelson Mandela, England [Images] soccer captain David Beckham [Images], Australian Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman and former India cricket captain Kapil Dev [Images].

The IOC evaluation committee report earlier this month said only 68 percent of Londoners supported the city's bid. A poll for the Guardian newspaper in February said 74 percent of Britons backed the bid but only 39 percent thought London would win.

SECURITY

Police chiefs says Britain's unrivalled experience in fighting terrorism combined with its unarmed, unobtrusive police service would make London a safe and welcoming city. They say London's experience in dealing with terrorism, such as the 30-year campaign waged by the IRA and more recently the threat from Islamic militants, put London's Metropolitan Police in good stead to cope with the Games.

Police have advised the IOC on security matters since the Los Angeles Games in 1984, the government says.

IOC INTERIM VERDICT

This month's IOC evaluation report said London's bid is of "very high quality". The budget is "well-supported and achievable" and its bid "indicated a high level of planning". There was a cautionary note regarding London's transport system, however, and the size of the Olympic Park project. The report said transport demands would be met in London providing "the substantial programme of public transport improvements is fully delivered before 2012".