Birmingham (/ˈbɜːrmɪŋəm/ (listen) BUR-ming-əm) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England.
It is the second-largest metropolitan area and city in the United Kingdom.
Birmingham | |
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Etymology: Old English Beormingahām (home or settlement of the Beormingas) | |
Nicknames:
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Motto: Forward | |
Coordinates: 52°28′59″N 1°53′37″W / 52.48306°N 1.89361°W | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | West Midlands |
Ceremonial county | West Midlands |
Historic county | Warwickshire |
Settlement | c. 600 |
Seigneurial borough | 1166 |
Municipal borough | 1838 |
City status | 14 January 1889 |
Metropolitan borough | 1 April 1974 |
Administrative HQ | The Council House, Victoria Square |
Government | |
• Type | Metropolitan borough |
• Body | Birmingham City Council |
• Leadership | Leader and cabinet |
• Executive | |
• Leader | Vacant (Deputy Leader Ian Ward, acting) |
• Lord Mayor | Anne Underwood |
• Chief Executive (Interim) | Stella Manzie CBE |
Area | |
• City | 103.4 sq mi (267.8 km2) |
• Urban | 231.2 sq mi (598.9 km2) |
• Rank | 151st |
Elevation | 460 ft (140 m) |
Population (2005 est.) | |
• City | 1,124,600 |
• Rank | 1st |
• Density | 10,880/sq mi (4,199/km2) |
• Urban | 2,440,986 (3rd) |
• Metro | 4,332,629 (List of metropolitan areas in Europe) |
Demonym | Brummie |
Time zone | UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (British Summer Time) |
Postcode | B |
Area code | 0121 |
ISO 3166 code | GB-BIR |
GSS code | E08000025 |
NUTS 3 code | UKG31 |
ONS code | 00CN |
OS grid reference | SP066868 |
Motorways | M6 M6 Toll M5 M42 A38(M) |
Ethnicity (2011 Census) |
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International airports | Birmingham (BHX) |
Major railway stations | Birmingham New Street (A) Birmingham Moor Street (B) Birmingham Snow Hill (C1) |
GDP | US$ 121.1 billion (2nd) |
– Per capita | US$ 31,572 |
Councillors | 120 |
MPs | List
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Website | www.birmingham.gov.uk |
About 1.1 million people live in Birmingham. Around 4.3 million people live in its metropolitan area. Many people call it the "second city" of the United Kingdom.
Birmingham began as a small town in 1166. Queen Victoria gave city status to Birmingham in 1889.
Many industries were developed in Birmingham during the 18th and 19th centuries. These included making weapons and food.
Birmingham manufacturing industry played a big role in the war effort in World War I and World War II. The WWII spitfire aeroplane was made in Birmingham. In 2000, a statue of stylised spitfires was erected next to the old factory site. The factory now makes Jaguar cars. Birmingham had a large car making industry. It has declined since the 1980s. It remains the home town for Jaguar and Land Rover cars.
In 1974, twenty-one people were killed in the Birmingham pub bombings.
Birmingham was an important stagine-post in the Victorian industrial canal system. Today it is the northern terminus of the Grand Union Canal to London. Heavy goods (as coal surely is) are most economically moved on water. No other form of transport is so efficient.
The M40 motorway connects to London via Oxford. The M6 motorway also connects Birmingham to London (via the M1) and to the north-west of England and Scotland. Junction 6 of the M6 is also one of Birmingham's landmarks, and probably the most notable motorway junction in the UK, Spaghetti Junction, officially called the Gravelly Hill Interchange. Other motorways are:
Birmingham, unlike London and Manchester, does not have a single orbital motorway. Instead, three motorways form a box which surrounds most of the city. These are:
Other major roads passing through Birmingham include:
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