Bristol | |
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City, county | |
City and County of Bristol | |
Top to bottom, left to right: Panorama of Bristol, Bristol Avon, Victoria Rooms, Wills Memorial Building, SS Great Britain, Bristol Cathedral, Cabot Tower and Clifton Suspension Bridge.
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Motto: Virtute et Industria (By Virtue and Industry) |
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Location of the county of Bristol in England |
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Coordinates: 51°27′N 2°35′W / 51.450°N 2.583°W | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Country | England |
Region | South West |
Royal Charter | 1155 |
County status | 1373 |
Status | City, county and unitary authority |
Government | |
• Type | Unitary authority |
• Governing body | Bristol City Council |
• Admin HQ | |
• Leadership | Mayor and Cabinet |
• Mayor | Marvin Rees (Lab) |
• MPs | |
Area | |
• City and county | 40 sq mi (110 km2) |
Elevation | 36 ft (11 m) |
Population (2015) | |
• City and county | 449,300 (Ranked 10th district and 43rd ceremonial county) |
• Density | 10,080/sq mi (3,892/km2) |
• Urban | 617,000 (2,011 ONS estimate) |
• Metro | 1,006,600 (LUZ 2,009) |
• Ethnicity |
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Demonym(s) | Bristolian |
Time zone | GMT (UTC) |
• Summer (DST) | BST (UTC+1) |
Postcode | BS |
Area code(s) | 0117, 01275 |
ISO 3166 code | GB-BST |
GVA | 2012 |
• Total | £11.7bn ($19.4bn) (8th) |
• Growth | 1.6% |
• Per capita | £27,100 ($44,900) (5th) |
• Growth | 0.6% |
Website | www.bristol.gov.uk |
Bristol (i/ˈbrɪstəl/) is a city, unitary authority area and county in South West England with an estimated population of 449,300 in 2016. It is England's sixth and the United Kingdom's eighth most populous city, and the most populous city in Southern England after London. The city borders the Unitary Authority areas of North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the historic cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively.
Iron Age hill forts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon, and around the beginning of the 11th century the settlement was known as Brycgstow (Old English "the place at the bridge"). Bristol received a royal charter in 1155 and was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until 1373, when it became a county of itself. From the 13th to the 18th century, Bristol was among the top three English cities after London (with York and Norwich) in tax receipts. Bristol was surpassed by the rapid rise of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham during the Industrial Revolution.