Birmingham (/ˈbɜːmɪŋəm/ ( listen)[4][5][6] BUR-ming-əm) is a city and metropolitan borough in

the West Midlands, England. It is the second-largest city and metropolitan area in England and

the United Kingdom,[b] with roughly 1.1 million inhabitants within the city area and 4.3 million
inhabitants within the metropolitan area.[7][8][9][10][11][12] Birmingham is commonly referred to as the
second city of the United Kingdom.[13][14][15]
Located in the West Midlands county and region in England, approximately 100 miles (160 km)
from Central London, Birmingham, as one of the United Kingdom's major cities, is considered to
be the social, cultural, financial, and commercial centre of both the East and West Midlands.
Distinctively, Birmingham only has small rivers flowing through it, mainly the River Tame and its
tributaries River Rea and River Cole – one of the closest main rivers is the Severn, approximately
20 miles (32 km) west of the city centre. Birmingham's urban area is the second-largest in the
United Kingdom, with its most recently estimated population in 2017 being 2,897,303,[12][16] and it
also lies within the most populated English district.
A market town of Warwickshire in the medieval period, Birmingham grew in the 18th-
century Midlands Enlightenment and subsequent Industrial Revolution, which saw advances in
science, technology, and economic development, producing a series of innovations that laid
many of the foundations of modern industrial society.[17] By 1791, it was being hailed as "the first
manufacturing town in the world".[18] Birmingham's distinctive economic profile, with thousands of
small workshops practising a wide variety of specialised and highly skilled trades, encouraged
exceptional levels of creativity and innovation and provided an economic base for prosperity that
was to last into the final quarter of the 20th century. The Watt steam engine was invented in
Birmingham.[19]
The resulting high level of social mobility also fostered a culture of political radicalism which,
under leaders from Thomas Attwood to Joseph Chamberlain, was to give it a political influence
unparalleled in Britain outside London, and a pivotal role in the development of British
democracy.[20] From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1943, Birmingham was bombed heavily
by the German Luftwaffe in what is known as the Birmingham Blitz. The damage done to the
city's infrastructure, in addition to a deliberate policy of demolition and new building by planners,
led to extensive urban regeneration in subsequent decades.
Birmingham's economy is now dominated by the service sector.[21] The city is a major international
commercial centre, ranked as a beta − world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research
Network the joint highest ranking with Edinburgh and Manchester of all British cities outside of
London;[22] and an important transport, retail, events and conference hub. Its metropolitan
economy is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $121.1bn (2014),[3] and its
six universities make it the largest centre of higher education in the country outside London.
[23]
 Birmingham's major cultural institutions – the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,
the Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the Library of Birmingham and
the Barber Institute of Fine Arts – enjoy international reputations,[24] and the city has vibrant and
influential grassroots art, music, literary and culinary scenes.[25] The city will host the 2022
Commonwealth Games.[26] Birmingham is the fourth-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors.
[27]

People from Birmingham are called Brummies, a term derived from the city's nickname of "Brum",
which originates from the city's old name, Brummagem, which in turn is thought to have derived
from "Bromwich-ham".[28][29] The Brummie accent and dialect are particularly distinctive.