Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, standing on the banks of the
River Lagan
The River Lagan (; Ulster Scots: ''Lagan Wattèr'') is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs 53.5 miles (86 km) from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The ...
on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the second-largest in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It had a population of 345,418 .
By the early 19th century, Belfast was a major
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
. It played an important role in the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
in Ireland, briefly becoming the biggest
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
-producer in the world, earning it the nickname "
Linenopolis
The economy of Belfast, Northern Ireland was initially built on trade through Belfast Harbour. Later, industry contributed to its growth, particularly shipbuilding and linen. At the beginning of the 20th century Belfast was both the largest produ ...
". By the time it was granted
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, city status ...
in 1888, it was a major centre of Irish linen production,
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
-processing and rope-making. Shipbuilding was also a key industry; the
Harland and Wolff
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...
shipyard, which built the , was the world's largest shipyard.
Industrialisation
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
, and the resulting
inward migration
Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...
, made Belfast one of Ireland's biggest cities. Following the
partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland ( ga, críochdheighilt na hÉireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. I ...
in 1921, Belfast became the seat of government for Northern Ireland. There was major
communal violence in the city during partition. Belfast saw further severe violence and numerous bombings during the thirty years of
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
, c.1969–1998, and parts of the city remain
segregated between
Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
.
Belfast is still a port with commercial and industrial docks, including the Harland and Wolff shipyard, dominating the
Belfast Lough
Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to th ...
shoreline. It also has a major aerospace industry. It is served by two airports:
George Best Belfast City Airport
George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Port of Belfast and is from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Spirit AeroSystems (form ...
, from the city centre, and
Belfast International Airport
Belfast International Airport is an airport northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as ''Aldergrove Airport'', after the nearby village of Aldergrove. In 2018, over 6.2 ...
west of the city. The
Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) listed Belfast as a Gamma +
global city in 2020.
Name
The name Belfast derives from the Irish , later spelt ().
The word means "mouth" or "river-mouth," while is the
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
singular of and refers to a
sandbar
In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body o ...
or tidal
ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
across a river's mouth.
The name therefore translates literally as "(river) mouth of the sandbar" or "(river) mouth of the ford".
The sandbar formed at the confluence (at present-day
Donegall Quay
Donegall Quay is a public park and Urban open space, greenspace located in Belfast. It borders with Obel Tower and the River Lagan.http://www.futurebelfast.com/property/donegall-quay/ FF
References
Parks in Belfast
{{Belfast-geo-stub ...
) of two rivers: the
Lagan, which flows into Belfast Lough, and the
Farset, a tributary of the Lagan. "Mouth of the Farset" might be an alternative interpretation. This area became the hub around which the original settlement developed.
The compilers of
Ulster-Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to:
* Ulster Scots people
The Ulster Scots ( Ulster-Scots: ''Ulstèr-Scotch''; ga, Albanaigh Ultach), also called Ulster Scots people (''Ulstèr-Scotch fowk'') or (in North America) Scotch-Irish (''Scotch-Airisch'') ...
use various transcriptions of local pronunciations of "Belfast" (with which they sometimes are also content) including ''Bilfawst'', ''Bilfaust'' or ''Baelfawst.''
History
The
county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...
of Belfast was created when it was granted city status by
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
in 1888, and the city continues to straddle
County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
on the left bank of the Lagan and
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
on the right.
Early settlements
The site of Belfast has been occupied since the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. The
Giant's Ring
The Giant's Ring is a henge monument at Ballynahatty, near Shaw's Bridge, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was originally preserved by Viscount Dungannon. The inscribed stone tablet on the wall surrounding the site which details Viscount Dungannon' ...
, a 5,000-year-old
henge
There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...
, is located near the city, and the remains of
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
hill fort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
s can still be seen in the surrounding hills. Belfast remained a small settlement of little importance during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. The
Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...
may have built a
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
on a site now bounded by Donegall Place, Castle Place, Cornmarket and Castle Lane in the late twelfth century or early thirteenth century, in what is now
Belfast City Centre.
[Raymond Gillespie and Stephen A. Royle, ''Irish Historic Towns Atlas Number 12: Belfast - Part I, to 1840'', p. 1. ]Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...
, Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, 2003. However, this original '
Belfast Castle
Belfast Castle (Irish: ''Caisleán Bhéal Feirste''Ireland Highlights: Belfast Castle. https://www.irelandhighlights.com/info/belfast-castle/ ) is a mansion located in Cave Hill Country Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a prominent position ...
' was much smaller and of far less strategic importance than nearby
Carrickfergus Castle
Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of B ...
, which was constructed at
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...
and was probably built in the late 1170s.
As lords of
Clandeboye
Clandeboye or Clannaboy (from Irish language, Irish ''Clann Aodha Buí'', "family of Hugh the Blond") was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising what is now south County Antrim, north County Down, and the barony of Loughinsholin, Northern Irelan ...
, the
O'Neill dynasty
The O'Neill dynasty (Irish: ''Ó Néill'') are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin, that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically the most prominent family of the Northern ...
were the local Irish power.
In 1616, after the
Nine Years' War
The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...
, the last of the local line, Conn O'Neill (remembered in Connswater River), was forced to sell their remaining stronghold, the Grey Castle or Castle Reagh (''An Caisleán Riabhach'' in Irish)
in the hills to the east of Belfast, together with surrounding lands, to English and Scottish adventurers.
Plantation town
![Ground Plan of Belfast (1685)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Ground_Plan_of_Belfast_%281685%29.png)
With the undertaking of
Plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
, Belfast was established as a town in 1613 by
Sir Arthur Chichester
Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester (May 1563 – 19 February 1625; known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester), of Carrickfergus in Ireland, was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 160 ...
. Chichester also had
Belfast Castle
Belfast Castle (Irish: ''Caisleán Bhéal Feirste''Ireland Highlights: Belfast Castle. https://www.irelandhighlights.com/info/belfast-castle/ ) is a mansion located in Cave Hill Country Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a prominent position ...
rebuilt at this time.
The mainly English and
Manx settlers took Anglican communion at Corporation Church on the quay-side end of High Street. But it was with Scottish Presbyterians that the town was to grow as an industrial port. Together with French
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
refugees, they introduced the production of
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
, an industry that carried Belfast trade to the Americas.
Reluctant to let valuable crop go to seed,
flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...
growers and linen merchants benefited from a three-way exchange. Fortunes were made carrying rough linen clothing and salted provisions to the slave plantations of the West Indies; sugar and rum to Baltimore and New York; and for the return to Belfast of flaxseed from
the colonies where the relative scarcity of labour made unprofitable the processing of the flax into linen fibre. Profits from the trade financed improvements in the town's commercial infrastructure, including the
Lagan Canal
The Lagan Canal was a canal built to connect Belfast to Lough Neagh. The first section, which is a river navigation, was opened in 1763, and linked Belfast to Lisburn. The second section from Lisburn to Lough Neagh includes a small amount o ...
, new docks and quays, and the construction of the White Linen Hall which together attracted to Belfast the linen trade that had formerly gone through
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. Public outrage, however, defeated the proposal of the greatest of the merchant houses,
Cunningham and Greg, to commission ships for the
Middle Passage
The Middle Passage was the stage of the Atlantic slave trade in which millions of enslaved Africans were transported to the Americas as part of the triangular slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods (first ...
.
As "Dissenters" from the
established Church
A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
, Presbyterians were conscious of sharing, if only in part, the
disabilities
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...
of Ireland's dispossessed
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
majority; and of being denied representation in the
Irish Parliament. Belfast's two MPs remained nominees of the Chichesters (
Marquesses of Donegall). With their American kinsmen, the region's Presbyterians were to share a growing disaffection from
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
.
When early in the
American War of Independence
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
,
Belfast Lough was raided by the
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...
, the townspeople assembled their own
Volunteer militia. Formed ostensibly for defence of
the Kingdom, the Volunteers were soon pressing their own protest against "taxation without representation". Further emboldened by the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, a more radical element in the town, the
United Irishmen
The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...
, called for
Catholic emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
and an independent representative government for the country.
In hopes of French assistance, in 1798 the Society organised a republican insurrection. The rebel tradesmen and tenant farmers were defeated north of the town at the
Battle of Antrim
The Battle of Antrim was fought on 7 June 1798, in County Antrim, Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 between British troops and Irish insurgents led by Henry Joy McCracken. The British won the battle, beating off a rebel attack on Antri ...
and to the south at the
Battle of Ballynahinch
The battle of Ballynahinch was a military engagement of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 between a force of roughly 4,000 United Irishmen rebels led by Henry Munro and approximately 2,000 government troops under the command of George Nugent. After ...
.
Among surviving elements of the early pre-Victorian town are the
Belfast Entries, 17th-century alleyways off High Street, including, in Winecellar's Entry, White's Tavern (rebuilt 1790); the First
Presbyterian (Non-Subscribing) Church (1781–83) in Rosemary Street (whose members led the abolitionist charge against Greg and Cunningham);
St George's Church of Ireland (1816) on the High Street site of the old Corporation Church; and the oldest public building in Belfast,
Clifton House (1771–74), the
Belfast Charitable Society
The Belfast Charitable Society, founded in 1752, is Belfast's oldest charitable organisation. It continues its philanthropic work from Clifton House which the Society opened, originally as the town's poor house and infirmary, in 1774.
History
...
poorhouse
A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy.
Workhouses
In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), ‘workhouse’ has been the ...
on North Queen Street.
Industrial expansion
![High Street, Belfast (5785358121)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/High_Street%2C_Belfast_%285785358121%29.jpg)
Rapid industrial growth in the nineteenth century drew in landless Catholics from outlying rural and western districts, most settling to the west of the town. The plentiful supply of cheap labour helped attract English and Scottish capital to Belfast, but it was also a cause of insecurity. Protestant workers who organised to secure their access to jobs and housing gave a new lease of life in the town to the once largely rural
Orange Order
The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...
. Sectarian tensions were heightened by movements to
repeal the Acts of Union (which followed the 1798 rebellion) and to
restore a Parliament in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. Given the progressive enlargement of the British electoral franchise, this would have had an overwhelming Catholic majority and, it was widely believed, interests inimical to the Protestant and industrial north. In 1864 and 1886 the issue had helped trigger deadly sectarian riots.
Sectarian tension was not in itself unique to Belfast: it was shared with Liverpool and Glasgow, cities that following the
Great Famine had also experienced large-scale Irish Catholic immigration. But also common to this "industrial triangle" were traditions of labour militancy. In 1919, workers in all three cities struck for a ten-hour reduction in the working week. In Belfast—notwithstanding the political friction caused by
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
's
electoral triumph in the south—this involved some 60,000 workers, Protestant and Catholic, in a four-week walk-out.
In a demonstration of their resolve not to submit to a Dublin parliament, in 1912
Belfast City Hall
Belfast City Hall ( ga, Halla na Cathrach Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: ''Bilfawst Citie Haw'') is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the comm ...
unionists presented the
Ulster Covenant
Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant, commonly known as the Ulster Covenant, was signed by nearly 500,000 people on and before 28 September 1912, in protest against the Third Home Rule Bill introduced by the British Government in the same year.
...
, which, with an associated Declaration for women, was to accumulate over 470,000 signatures. This was followed by the drilling and eventual arming of a 100,000-strong
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaig ...
. The crisis was abated by the onset of the
Great War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the sacrifices of the UVF in which continue to be commemorated in the city (
Somme Day) by unionist and loyalist organisations.
Northern capital
In 1921, as the greater part of Ireland seceded as the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...
, Belfast became the capital of the six counties remaining as
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
in the United Kingdom. In 1932, the devolved parliament for the region was housed in new buildings at
Stormont on the eastern edge of the city. In 1920–21, as the island of Ireland was
partitioned, up to 500 people were killed in disturbances in Belfast, the bloodiest period of strife in the city until
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
of the late 1960s onwards. This period of
communal violence
Communal violence is a form of violence that is perpetrated across ethnic or communal lines, the violent parties feel solidarity for their respective groups, and victims are chosen based upon group membership. The term includes conflicts, riots ...
(1920–22) was commonly referred to as the
Belfast Pogrom
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
.
Second World War
![AIR RAID DAMAGE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1939-1945 - H 9476](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/AIR_RAID_DAMAGE_IN_THE_UNITED_KINGDOM_1939-1945_-_H_9476.jpg)
Belfast was heavily bombed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Initial raids were a surprise as the city was believed to be outside of the range of German bomber planes. In one raid, in 1941, German bombers killed around one thousand people and left tens of thousands homeless. Apart from London, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the
Blitz
Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to:
Military uses
*Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign
*The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War
*, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
.
In the spring of 1942, the German
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
appeared twice over Belfast. In addition to the shipyards and the
Shorts Brothers
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
aircraft factory, the Belfast Blitz severely damaged or destroyed more than half the city's housing stock, devastated the old town centre around High Street, and killed over a thousand people.
Post-war redevelopment
At the end of World War II, the Unionist Government undertook programmes of "
slum clearance
Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
" (the Blitz had exposed the "uninhabitable" condition of much of the city's housing) which involved decanting populations out of mill and factory, and constructing terraced streets into new peripheral housing estates. Road construction schemes, including the terminus of the M1 and the
Westlink severed the streets linking north and west Belfast to the city centre, for example the dockland community of
Sailortown
A Sailortown is a district in seaports that catered to transient seafarers. These districts frequently contained boarding houses, public houses, brothels, tattoo parlours, print shops, shops selling nautical equipment, and religious institution ...
.
The cost was borne by the
British Exchequer
In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reve ...
. In what the
Unionist government understood as its reward for wartime service, London had agreed that parity in taxation between Northern Ireland and Great Britain should be matched by parity in the services delivered. In addition to the public construction, this provided for universal health care, comprehensive social security, and "revolutionised access" to secondary and further education. The new
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...
contributed, in turn, to rising expectations; in the 1960s, a possible factor in new and growing protest over the Unionist government's record on civil and political rights.
The Troubles
![Shankilltroubles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Shankilltroubles.jpg)
Belfast has been the scene of various episodes of sectarian conflict between its Catholic and Protestant populations. These opposing groups in this conflict are now often termed
republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and
loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
respectively, although they are also loosely referred to as '
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
' and '
unionist'. The most recent example of this conflict was known as the Troubles – a civil conflict that raged from the late 1960s to 1998.
Belfast saw some of the worst of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, particularly in the 1970s, with rival paramilitary groups formed on both sides. Bombing, assassination and street violence formed a backdrop to life throughout the Troubles. In December 1971, 15 people, including two children, were killed when the
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaig ...
(UVF)
bombed McGurk's Bar, the greatest loss of life in a single incident in Belfast. Loyalist paramilitaries including the UVF and the
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...
(UDA) said that the killings they carried out were in retaliation for the
IRA campaign. Most of their victims were Catholics with no links to the
Provisional IRA
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
. A particularly notorious group, based on the
Shankill Road
The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill.
The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast a ...
in the mid-1970s, became known as the
Shankill Butchers
The Shankill Butchers were an Ulster loyalist gang—many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)—that was active between 1975 and 1982 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was based in the Shankill area and was responsible for t ...
. The Provisional IRA detonated 22 bombs within the confines of Belfast city centre on 21 July 1972, on what is known as
Bloody Friday, killing nine people. The British Army, first deployed on the streets in August 1969, was also responsible for civilian deaths. In the deadliest event, known as the
Ballymurphy massacre
The Ballymurphy massacre was a series of incidents between 9 and 11 August 1971, in which the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army killed at least nine civilians in Ballymurphy, Belfast, Northern Ireland, as part of Operation ...
, between 9 and 11 August 1971 members of the
Parachute Regiment killed at least nine civilians. A 2021 coroner's report found that all those killed had been innocent and that the killings were "without justification".
During the 1970s and 1980s Belfast was one of the world's most dangerous cities. In all, over 1,600 people were killed in political violence in the city between 1969 and 2001.
During the Troubles the
Europa Hotel suffered 36 bomb attacks becoming known as "the most bombed hotel in the world".
Peace lines
An enduring physical legacy of the conflict are the extensive "
peace lines
The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly republican and nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly loyalist and unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. T ...
" (or "peace walls") that continue to separate loyalist from republican districts. Ranging in length from a few hundred metres to over 5 kilometres, the security barriers have increased both in number and in height and number since 1998. They divide communities that account for 14 of the 20 most deprived
wards
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
in Northern Ireland. In May 2013, the Northern Ireland Executive committed to the removal of all peace lines by mutual consent. As the target date of 2023 approaches, only a small number have been dismantled.
Governance
Belfast was granted
borough status
Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, s ...
by
James VI and I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
in 1613 and official
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, city status ...
by
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
in 1888. Since 1973 it has been a
local government district
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...
under local administration by
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the l ...
. Belfast is represented in both the
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
and in the
Northern Ireland Assembly
sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie
, legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly
, coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg
, coa_res = 250px
, house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral
, hou ...
. For elections to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
, Belfast was within the
Northern Ireland constituency.
Local government
Belfast City Council is the
local council with responsibility for the city. The city's elected officials are the
Lord Mayor of Belfast
The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the Un ...
, Deputy Lord Mayor and
High Sheriff who are elected from among 60
councillors
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
. The first Lord Mayor of Belfast was
Daniel Dixon, who was elected in 1892.
The current
Lord Mayor is Tina Black of
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
, while the Deputy Lord Mayor is Michelle Kelly of the
Alliance Party. The Lord Mayor's duties include presiding over meetings of the council, receiving distinguished visitors to the city, representing and promoting the city on the national and international stage.
![Belfast City Hall 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Belfast_City_Hall_2.jpg)
In 1997,
unionists lost overall control of Belfast City Council for the first time in its history, with the
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. As of the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it is the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, ...
gaining the balance of power between
nationalists
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
and unionists. This position was confirmed in five subsequent council elections, with mayors from Sinn Féin and the
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...
(SDLP), both of whom are nationalist parties, and the cross-community Alliance Party regularly elected since. The first nationalist Lord Mayor of Belfast was
Alban Maginness
Alban may refer to:
*Alban (surname)
*Alban (given name)
*Alban people, Latin people from the city of Alba Longa.
*Things or people from or related to Alba (Gaelic for 'Scotland')
*Alban wine, a wine of Ancient Rome from Colli Albani
* Alban Vine ...
of the SDLP, in 1997.
Northern Ireland Assembly and Westminster
As Northern Ireland's capital city, Belfast is host to the
Northern Ireland Assembly
sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie
, legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly
, coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg
, coa_res = 250px
, house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral
, hou ...
at
Stormont, the site of the
devolved
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...
legislature for Northern Ireland. Belfast is divided into four
Northern Ireland Assembly
sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie
, legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly
, coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg
, coa_res = 250px
, house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral
, hou ...
and
UK parliamentary constituencies:
Belfast North,
Belfast West,
Belfast South and
Belfast East. All four extend beyond the city boundaries to include parts of
Castlereagh,
Lisburn
Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...
and
Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of severa ...
districts. In the
Northern Ireland Assembly Elections in 2022, Belfast elected 20
Members of the Legislative Assembly
A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...
(MLAs), 5 from each
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
. Belfast elected 7
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
, 5
DUP, 5
Alliance Party, 1
SDLP
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Irelan ...
, 1
UUP and 1
PBPA MLAs. In the 2017 UK general election, Belfast elected one
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) from each constituency to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
at Westminster, London. This comprised 3 DUP and 1 Sinn Féin. In the
2019 UK general election, the DUP lost two of their seats in Belfast; to Sinn Féin in North Belfast and to the SDLP in South Belfast.
Geography
![Belfast with Lough by Sentinel-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Belfast_with_Lough_by_Sentinel-2.jpg)
Belfast is at the western end of Belfast Lough and at the mouth of the River Lagan giving it the ideal location for the shipbuilding industry that once made it famous. When the ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'' was built in Belfast in 1911–1912,
Harland and Wolff
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...
had the largest shipyard in the world.
Belfast is situated on Northern Ireland's eastern
coast
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...
at . A consequence of this northern latitude is that it both endures short winter days and enjoys long summer evenings. During the
winter solstice
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winte ...
, the shortest day of the year, local sunset is before 16:00 while sunrise is around 08:45. This is balanced by the
summer solstice
The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...
in June, when the sun sets after 22:00 and rises before 05:00.
In 1994, a
weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
was built across the river by the
Laganside Corporation
The Laganside Corporation was a non-departmental public body formed by the Laganside Development (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 with the goal of regenerating large sections of land in Belfast, Northern Ireland adjacent to the River Lagan. This ...
to raise the average water level so that it would cover the unseemly mud flats which gave Belfast its name ().
The area of Belfast Local Government District is .
The
River Farset
The River Farset (''An Fhearsaid'' or ''Abhainn na Feirste'' in Irish) is a river in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a late tributary of the River Lagan.
Course
Rising on Squire's Hill on the north-western edge of Belfast, the River Farset ...
is also named after this
silt
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...
deposit (from the Irish ''feirste'' meaning "sand spit"). Originally a more significant river than it is today, the Farset formed a dock on High Street until the mid 19th century. Bank Street in the
city centre
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
referred to the river bank and Bridge Street was named for the site of an early Farset bridge. Superseded by the River Lagan as the more important river in the city, the Farset now languishes in obscurity, under High Street. There are no less than twelve other minor rivers in and around Belfast, namely the Blackstaff, the Colin, the Connswater, the Cregagh, the Derriaghy, the Forth, the Knock, the Legoniel, the Loop, the Milewater, the Purdysburn and the Ravernet.
![Cavehill, Belfast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Cavehill%2C_Belfast.jpg)
The city is flanked on the north and northwest by a series of hills, including
Divis Mountain,
Black Mountain and
Cavehill
Cave Hill or Cavehill is a rocky hill overlooking the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, with a height of . It is marked by basalt cliffs and caves, and its distinguishing feature is 'Napoleon's Nose', a tall cliff which resembles the profile ...
, thought to be the inspiration for
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...
's ''
Gulliver's Travels
''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...
''. When Swift was living at Lilliput Cottage near the bottom of Belfast's Limestone Road, he imagined that the Cavehill resembled the shape of a sleeping giant safeguarding the city.
The shape of the giant's nose, known locally as ''Napoleon's Nose'', is officially called McArt's Fort probably named after Art O'Neill, a 17th-century chieftain who controlled the area at that time. The
Castlereagh Hills overlook the city on the southeast.
Climate
As with the vast majority of the rest of Ireland, Belfast has a
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(''Cfb'' in the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
), with a narrow range of temperatures and rainfall throughout the year. The climate of Belfast is significantly milder than most other locations in the world at a similar latitude, due to the warming influence of the
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...
. There are currently five weather observing stations in the Belfast area:
Helen's Bay
Helen's Bay is a village on the northern coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballygrot (), between Holywood, Crawfordsburn and Bangor. It is served by a railway station and had a population of 1,390 in the 2011 ...
, Stormont, Newforge, Castlereagh, and Ravenhill Road. Slightly further afield is Aldergrove Airport. The highest temperature recorded at any official weather station in the Belfast area was at
Shaw's Bridge
Shaw's Bridge is the name given to two adjacent bridges across the River Lagan in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The older of the bridges is a historic stone arched bridge, which is open to cyclists and pedestrians. The new bridge is a concrete br ...
on 12 July 1983.
The city gets significant precipitation (greater than 1 mm) on 157 days in an average year with an average annual rainfall of ,
less than areas of northern England or most of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
,
but higher than
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
or the south-east coast of Ireland. As an urban and coastal area, Belfast typically gets snow on fewer than 10 days per year.
The absolute maximum temperature at the weather station at Stormont is , set during July 1983. In an average year the warmest day will rise to a temperature of with a day of or above occurring roughly once every two in three years. The absolute minimum temperature at Stormont is , during January 1982, although in an average year the coldest night will fall no lower than with air frost being recorded on just 26 nights. The lowest temperature to occur in recent years was on 22 December 2010.
The nearest weather station for which sunshine data and longer term observations are available is
Belfast International Airport
Belfast International Airport is an airport northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as ''Aldergrove Airport'', after the nearby village of Aldergrove. In 2018, over 6.2 ...
(
Aldergrove). Temperature extremes here have slightly more variability due to the more inland location. The average warmest day at Aldergrove for example will reach a temperature of , ( higher than Stormont) and 2.1 days should attain a temperature of or above in total. Conversely the coldest night of the year averages (or lower than Stormont) and 39 nights should register an air frost. Some 13 more frosty nights than Stormont. The minimum temperature at Aldergrove was , during December 2010.
Areas and districts
![RoyalAvenueBelfast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/RoyalAvenueBelfast.jpg)
The
townlands of Belfast are its oldest surviving land divisions and most pre-date the city. Belfast expanded very rapidly from being a market town to becoming an industrial city during the course of the 19th century. Because of this, it is less an agglomeration of villages and towns which have expanded into each other, than other comparable cities, such as
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
or
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. The city expanded to the natural barrier of the hills that surround it, overwhelming other settlements. Consequently, the arterial roads along which this expansion took place (such as the
Falls Road or the
Newtownards Road
The A20 is a road in County Down in Northern Ireland. It runs from Belfast to Newtownards and on to Portaferry.
Beginning as the Newtownards Road at the junction of Bridge End close to Belfast city centre, the road runs in an easterly directio ...
) are more significant in defining the districts of the city than nucleated settlements.
Parts of Belfast are segregated by walls, commonly known as "
peace lines
The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly republican and nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly loyalist and unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. T ...
", erected by the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
after August 1969, and which still divide 14 districts in the inner city.
In 2008 a process was proposed for the removal of the 'peace walls'. In June 2007, a
£16 million programme was announced which will transform and redevelop streets and public spaces in the city centre. Major arterial roads (
quality bus corridor
Quality Bus Corridors (QBC, ga, Mórlána Bus) are an initiative to give bus priority, dedicated road space and traffic signal priority to buses in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in order to reduce journey times and improve service consi ...
) into the city include the
Antrim Road
The Antrim Road is a major arterial route and area of housing and commerce that runs from inner city north Belfast to Dunadry, passing through Newtownabbey and Templepatrick. It forms part of the A6 road, a traffic route which links Belfast to Der ...
,
Shore Road, Holywood Road, Newtownards Road, Castlereagh Road, Cregagh Road,
Ormeau Road
Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland.
Ormeau Park is adjacent to it. It forms part of the A24.
History
The road, as currently laid out, dates from the first decades of the 19th century when a bridge was built ...
,
Malone Road
The Malone Road () is a radial road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, leading from the university quarter southwards to the affluent suburbs of Malone and Upper Malone, each a separate electoral ward. The road runs parallel to the Lisburn Road and i ...
,
Lisburn Road
Lisburn Road is a main arterial route linking Belfast and Lisburn, Northern Ireland.
The Lisburn Road is now an extension of the "Golden Mile (Belfast), Golden Mile" with many shops, boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and coffee houses. The road ...
, Falls Road,
Springfield Road
The Springfield Road ( ga, Bóthar Chluanaí) is a residential area and road traffic thoroughfare adjacent to the Falls Road in west Belfast. The local population is predominantly Irish nationalist and republican. Parts of the road form an int ...
,
Shankill Road
The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill.
The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast a ...
, and Crumlin Road, Four Winds.
![Cathedral St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Cathedral_St._Anne_Belfast.jpg)
Belfast city centre is divided into two postcode districts, ''BT1'' for the area lying north of the City Hall, and ''BT2'' for the area to its south. The industrial estate and docklands ''BT3''. The rest of the Belfast
post town
A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...
is divided in a broadly
clockwise
Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...
system from ''BT3'' in the north-east round to ''BT15'', with ''BT16'' and ''BT17'' further out to the east and west respectively. Although ''BT'' derives from ''Belfast'', the
BT postcode area
The BT postcode area, also known as the Belfast postcode area,Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) covers all of Northern Ireland and was the last part of the United Kingdom to be coded, between 1970 and 1974. This area is a group of ...
extends across the whole of Northern Ireland.
Since 2001, boosted by increasing numbers of tourists, the city council has developed a number of cultural
quarters. The
Cathedral Quarter takes its name from
St Anne's Cathedral (
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
) and has taken on the mantle of the city's key cultural locality.
It hosts a yearly
visual and performing arts festival.
Custom House Square is one of the city's main outdoor venues for free concerts and street entertainment. The
Gaeltacht Quarter
The Gaeltacht Quarter ( ga, An Cheathrú Ghaeltachta ) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom is an area surrounding the Falls Road in the west of the city. A Gaeltacht is an area where the Irish language is spoken. The Quarter aims to pr ...
is an area around the Falls Road in west Belfast which promotes and encourages the use of the
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
. The
Queen's Quarter
Queen's Quarter (also known as the University Quarter) is the southernmost quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland and named after Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland's largest university. The Quarter is centred on the Lanyon Building, the ...
in south Belfast is named after
Queen's University. The area has a large student population and hosts the annual
Belfast International Arts Festival
Belfast International Arts Festival, formerly known as Belfast Festival at Queen’s, claims to be the city’s longest running international arts event.
Originally established in 1962, it was hosted by Queen’s University until 2015, after whi ...
each autumn. It is home to
Botanic Gardens
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
and the
Ulster Museum
The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...
, which was reopened in 2009 after major redevelopment.
The Golden Mile is the name given to the mile between Belfast City Hall and Queen's University. Taking in Dublin Road,
Great Victoria Street,
Shaftesbury Square
Shaftesbury Square is in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the southern end of Great Victoria Street and Dublin road, with the adjoining streets of Lisburn Road and the Donegall Road converging at this junction. It is in the area commonly known as ...
and Bradbury Place, it contains some of the best bars and restaurants in the city. Since the
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
in 1998, the nearby Lisburn Road has developed into the city's most exclusive shopping strip. Finally, the
Titanic Quarter
Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a large-scale waterfront regeneration, comprising historic maritime landmarks, film studios, education facilities, apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and the world's largest Titanic ...
covers of reclaimed land adjacent to
Belfast Harbour
Belfast Harbour is a major maritime hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, handling 67% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and about 25% of the maritime trade of the entire island of Ireland. It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and c ...
, formerly known as ''Queen's Island''. Named after ''
RMS Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'', which was built here in 1912,
work has begun which promises to transform some former shipyard land into "one of the largest waterfront developments in Europe".
Plans include apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and a major Titanic-themed museum.
In its 2018 report on Best Places to Live in Britain, ''The Sunday Times'' named Ballyhackamore, "the brunch capital of Belfast", as the best place in Northern Ireland. The district of Ballyhackamore has even acquired the name "Ballysnackamore" due to the preponderance of dining establishments in the area.
Cityscape
Architecture
![Obel Tower completed](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Obel_Tower_completed.jpg)
The architectural style of Belfast's public buildings range from a small set of
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
buildings, many examples of
Victorian, including the main ''Lanyon Building'' at
Queen's University Belfast
, mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back?
, top_free_label =
, top_free =
, top_free_label1 =
, top_free1 =
, top_free_label2 =
, top_free2 =
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public research university
, parent = ...
and the
Linenhall Library
The Linen Hall Library is located at 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the oldest library in Belfast and the last Subscription library, subscribing library in Northern Ireland. The Library is physically in the centre o ...
, (both designed by
Sir Charles Lanyon). There are also many examples of
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
, such as the City Hall, to modern, such as the
Waterfront Hall
Belfast Waterfront is a multi-purpose conference and entertainment centre, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. The hall is located in Lanyon Place, the flagship development of the Laganside Corpo ...
.
The City Hall was finished in 1906 and was built to reflect Belfast's city status, granted by
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
in 1888. The
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
architectural style of Belfast City Hall influenced the
Victoria Memorial
The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building on the Maidan in Central Kolkata, built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, Empress of India from 1876 to 1901.
The largest monument to a monarch anywhere ...
in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, India, and
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
City Hall in South Africa. The dome is high and figures above the door state "
Hibernia
''Hibernia'' () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (c. 320 BC), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). ...
encouraging and promoting the Commerce and Arts of the City".
Among the city's grandest buildings are two former banks:
Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank ( ga, Banc Uladh) is a large retail bank, and one of the traditional Big Four Irish clearing banks. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities: National Westminster Bank, trading as Ulster Bank (registere ...
in Waring Street (built in 1860) and
Northern Bank
Northern Bank Limited T/A Danske Bank is a retail bank in Northern Ireland. Northern Bank is one of the oldest banks in Ireland having been formed in 1809, and forms part of one of the Big Four banks in Ireland. Northern Bank took on the name ...
, in nearby Donegall Street (built in 1769). The
Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by Ge ...
in Chichester Street are home to Northern Ireland's
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. Many of Belfast's oldest buildings are found in the
Cathedral Quarter area, which is currently undergoing redevelopment as the city's main cultural and tourist area.
Windsor House, high, has 23 floors and is the second tallest building (as distinct from structure) in Ireland. Work has started on the taller
Obel Tower
The Obel Tower is a highrise building in Belfast, Northern Ireland, located on Donegall Quay on the River Lagan beside the Lagan Weir. Measuring in height, the tower is the tallest storeyed building in Ireland, dominating the Belfast skyline. ...
, which already surpasses the height of Windsor House in its unfinished state.
![Scottish Provident Institution, Belfast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Scottish_Provident_Institution%2C_Belfast.jpg)
The ornately decorated
Crown Liquor Saloon
The Crown Liquor Saloon, also known as the Crown Bar, is a pub in Great Victoria Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Refurbished in 1885, and at least twice since, it is an outstanding example of a Victorian gin palace, and one of Northern Ire ...
, designed by Joseph Anderson in 1876, in Great Victoria Street is one of only two pubs in the UK that are owned by the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
(the other is
the George Inn, Southwark
The George Inn, or The George, is a public house established in the medieval period on Borough High Street in Southwark, London, owned and leased by the National Trust. It is located about from the south side of the River Thames near London Br ...
in London). It was made internationally famous as the setting for the classic film, ''
Odd Man Out
''Odd Man Out'' is a 1947 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, and starring James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, and Kathleen Ryan. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it follows a wounded Nationalist leader who attempts to evade polic ...
'', starring
James Mason
James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...
. The restaurant panels in the Crown Bar were originally made for ''Britannic'', the sister ship of the ''Titanic'',
built in Belfast.
The Harland and Wolff shipyard has two of the largest
dry dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
s in Europe, where the giant cranes,
Samson and Goliath stand out against Belfast's skyline.
Including the Waterfront Hall and the
Odyssey Arena
The Odyssey Complex, formerly Odyssey Centre, is a sports and entertainment complex located within the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The complex originated in 1992 and came into fruition in June 1998. It opened in December 20 ...
, Belfast has several other venues for performing arts. The architecture of the
Grand Opera House has an oriental theme and was completed in 1895. It was bombed several times during the Troubles but has now been restored to its former glory.
The Lyric Theatre, which re-opened on 1 May 2011 after undergoing a rebuilding programme and is the only full-time producing theatre in Northern Ireland, is where film star
Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
began his career. The
Ulster Hall
The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade A listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated on Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, classical recitals, craft fairs and political party conferences.
History ...
(1859–1862) was originally designed for grand dances but is now used primarily as a concert and sporting venue.
Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...
,
Parnell and
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ga, Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who ...
all attended political rallies there.
A legacy of
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
are the many '
peace lines
The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly republican and nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly loyalist and unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. T ...
' or '
peace walls
The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly republican and nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly loyalist and unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. Th ...
' that still act as barriers to reinforce ethno-sectarian residential segregation in the city. In 2017, the Belfast Interface Project published a study entitled "Interface Barriers, Peacelines & Defensive Architecture" that identified 97 separate walls, barriers and interfaces in Belfast. A history of the development of these structures can be found at the Peacewall Archive.
Parks and gardens
![Flower bed, Botanic Gardens, Belfast - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Flower_bed%2C_Botanic_Gardens%2C_Belfast_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1454550.jpg)
Sitting at the mouth of the River Lagan where it becomes a deep and sheltered lough, Belfast is surrounded by mountains that create a micro-climate conducive to horticulture. From the Victorian Botanic Gardens in the heart of the city to the heights of Cave Hill Country Park, the great expanse of
Lagan Valley
The Lagan Valley (, Ulster Scots: ''Glen Lagan'') is an area of Northern Ireland between Belfast and Lisburn. The River Lagan rises on Slieve Croob in County Down and flows generally northward discharging into Belfast Lough. For a section, the ...
Regional Park to Colin Glen, Belfast contains an abundance of parkland and forest parks.
Parks and gardens are an integral part of Belfast's heritage, and home to an abundance of local wildlife and popular places for a picnic, a stroll or a jog. Numerous events take place throughout including festivals such as Rose Week and special activities such as bird watching evenings and great beast hunts.
Belfast has over forty public parks. The Forest of Belfast is a partnership between government and local groups, set up in 1992 to manage and conserve the city's parks and open spaces. They have commissioned more than 30 public sculptures since 1993. In 2006, the
City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
set aside £8 million to continue this work. The
Belfast Naturalists' Field Club
The Belfast Naturalists' Field Club is a club of naturalists based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1863, the club was an important part of the education system for Victorian naturalists and worked largely through first-hand field studies ...
was founded in 1863 and is administered by National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland.
![City Quays Rec](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/City_Quays_Rec.jpg)
With an average of 670,000 visitors per year between 2007 and 2011, one of the most popular parks is
Botanic Gardens
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
in the
Queen's Quarter
Queen's Quarter (also known as the University Quarter) is the southernmost quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland and named after Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland's largest university. The Quarter is centred on the Lanyon Building, the ...
. Built in the 1830s and designed by
Sir Charles Lanyon, Botanic Gardens Palm House is one of the earliest examples of a curvilinear and cast iron
glasshouse. Other attractions in the park include the Tropical Ravine, a humid jungle glen built in 1889, rose gardens and public events ranging from live opera broadcasts to pop concerts.
U2 played here in 1997.
Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park
The Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park is a park in South Belfast, Northern Ireland, covering almost and is accessible from the Upper Malone Road. It includes meadows, woodland, riverside fields, formal rose gardens, a walled garden and a Japanese ...
, to the south of the city centre, attracts thousands of visitors each year to its International Rose Garden.
Rose Week in July each year features over 20,000 blooms. It has an area of of meadows, woodland and gardens and features a
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
Memorial Garden, a
Japanese garden
are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...
, a
walled garden
A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...
, and the Golden Crown Fountain commissioned in 2002 as part of the
Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations.
In 2008, Belfast was named a finalist in the Large City (200,001 and over) category of the
RHS Britain in Bloom
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
competition along with
London Borough of Croydon
The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...
and
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
.
Belfast Zoo
Belfast Zoological Gardens (also known as ''Bellevue Zoo'') is a zoo in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is in a relatively secluded location on the northeastern slope of Cavehill, overlooking Belfast's Antrim Road.
Belfast Zoo is one of the top ...
is owned by Belfast City Council. The council spends £1.5 million every year on running and promoting the zoo, which is one of the few local government-funded zoos in the UK and Ireland. The zoo is one of the top visitor attractions in Northern Ireland, receiving more than 295,000 visitors a year. The majority of the animals are in danger in their natural habitat. The zoo houses more than 1,200 animals of 140 species including
Asian elephant
The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...
s,
Barbary lion
The Barbary lion, also called the North African lion, Berber lion, Atlas lion, and Egyptian lion, is an extinct population of the lion subspecies ''Panthera leo leo''. It lived in the mountains and deserts of the Barbary Coast of North Africa, f ...
s,
Malayan sun bear
The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a species in the Family (biology), family Ursidae (the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'') occurring in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the smallest bear, standing nearly at the sho ...
s (one of the few in the United Kingdom), two species of penguin, a family of
western lowland gorilla
The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...
s, a troop of
common chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close r ...
s, a pair of
red panda
The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle ...
s, a pair of
Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo
Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo (''Dendrolagus goodfellowi''), also called the ornate tree-kangaroo, is an endangered, long-tailed, bear-like mammal native to rainforests of New Guinea. Like most tree-kangaroos (genus ''Dendrolagus''), it lives in th ...
s and
Francois' langurs. The zoo also carries out important conservation work and takes part in European and international breeding programmes which help to ensure the survival of many species under threat.
Demography
At the
2001 census, the population was 276,459,
while 579,554 people lived in the wider
Belfast Metropolitan Area.
This made it the
fifteenth-largest city in the United Kingdom, but the
eleventh-largest conurbation.
Belfast experienced a huge growth in population in the first half of the 20th century. This rise slowed and peaked around the start of the Troubles with the 1971 census showing almost 600,000 people in the Belfast Urban Area.
Since then, the inner city numbers have dropped dramatically as people have moved to swell the
Greater Belfast suburb population. The 2001 census population in the same Urban Area had fallen to 277,391
people, with 579,554 people living in the wider
Belfast Metropolitan Area.
The 2001 census recorded 81,650 people from Catholic backgrounds and 79,650 people from Protestant backgrounds of working age living in Belfast. The population density in 2011 was 24.88 people/hectare (compared to 1.34 for the rest of Northern Ireland).
As with many cities, Belfast's inner city is currently characterised by the elderly, students and single young people, while families tend to live on the periphery. Socio-economic areas radiate out from the
Central Business District
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
, with a pronounced wedge of affluence extending out the Malone Road and Upper Malone Road to the south.
An area of deprivation is found in the inner parts of the north and west of the city. The areas around the
Falls Road,
Ardoyne
Ardoyne () is a working class and mainly Catholic and Irish republican district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during The Troubles.
Foundation
The village of Ardoyne was founded in ...
and
New Lodge New Lodge may refer to:
*New Lodge, Winkfield near Windsor, Berkshire, England
*New Lodge, South Yorkshire, England
*New Lodge, Belfast, an area of North Belfast, Northern Ireland
*New Lodge, Billericay, association football ground in Billericay, E ...
(Catholic nationalist) and the
Shankill Road
The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill.
The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast a ...
(Protestant loyalist) are among the ten most deprived wards in Northern Ireland.
![Belfast murals Ac](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Belfast_murals_Ac.jpg)
Despite a period of relative peace, most areas and districts of Belfast still reflect the divided nature of Northern Ireland as a whole. Many areas are still highly segregated along ethnic, political and religious lines, especially in working-class neighbourhoods.
These zones –
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
/
republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
on one side and
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
/
loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
on the other – are invariably marked by
flags
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employ ...
,
graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
and
murals
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...
. Segregation has been present throughout the history of Belfast but has been maintained and increased by each outbreak of violence in the city. This escalation in segregation, described as a "ratchet effect", has shown little sign of decreasing.
The highest levels of segregation in the city are in west Belfast with many areas greater than 90% Catholic. Opposite but comparatively high levels are seen in the predominantly Protestant east Belfast.
Areas where segregated working-class areas meet are known as
interface area
Interface area is the name given in Northern Ireland to areas where segregated nationalist and unionist residential areas meet. They have been defined as "the intersection of segregated and polarised working class residential zones, in areas w ...
s and sometimes marked by
peace lines
The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly republican and nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly loyalist and unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. T ...
.
Ethnic minority
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
communities have been in Belfast since the 1930s.
The largest groups are Poles, Chinese and Indians.
Since the expansion of the European Union, numbers have been boosted by an influx of Eastern European
immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
. Census figures (2011) showed that Belfast has a total non-white population of 10,219 or 3.3%,
while 18,420 or 6.6%
of the population were born outside the UK and Ireland.
Almost half of those born outside the UK and Ireland live in
south Belfast, where they comprise 9.5% of the population.
The majority of the estimated 5,000 Muslims and 200
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
families living in Northern Ireland live in the
Greater Belfast area.
2011 Census
On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Belfast Local Government District was 333,871 accounting for 18.44% of the NI total. This represents a 1.60% increase since the 2001 Census.
On Census Day 27 March 2011, in Belfast Local Government District (2014), considering the resident population:
* 96.77% were white (including Irish Traveller) while 3.23% were from an ethnic minority population;
* 48.82% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic faith and 42.47% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' denomination; and
* 43.32% indicated that they had a British national identity, 35.10% had an Irish national identity and 26.92% had a Northern Irish national identity.
Respondents could indicate more than one national identity
On Census Day 27 March 2011, in Belfast Local Government District (2014), considering the population aged 3 years old and over:
* 13.45% had some knowledge of Irish;
* 5.23% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots; and
* 4.34% did not have English as their first language.
On Census Day 27 March 2011, considering the population aged 16 years old and over:
* 25.56% had a degree or higher qualification; while
* 41.21% had no or low (Level 1*) qualifications.
Level 1 is 1–4 O Levels/CSE/GCSE (any grades) or equivalent
On Census Day 27 March 2011, considering the population aged 16 to 74 years old:
* 63.84% were economically active, 36.16% were economically inactive;
* 52.90% were in paid employment; and
* 5.59% were unemployed, of these 43.56% were long-term unemployed.
Long-term unemployed are those who stated that they have not worked since 2009 or earlier
File:Population Density Belfast City Council 2011 Census.png, Population density
File:Religion Belfast City Council 2011 Census.png, Percentage Catholic or brought up Catholic
File:National Identity Belfast City Council 2011 Census.png, Most commonly stated national identity
File:Born Outside UK And Ireland Belfast City Council 2011 Census.png, Percentage born outside the UK and Ireland
Economy
![Belfast's Harland and Wolff Shipyard (RMS Adriatic), 1907](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Belfast%27s_Harland_and_Wolff_Shipyard_%28RMS_Adriatic%29%2C_1907.jpg)
When the population of Belfast town began to grow in the 17th century, its economy was built on commerce.
It provided a market for the surrounding countryside and the natural inlet of
Belfast Lough
Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to th ...
gave the city its own port. The port supplied an avenue for trade with Great Britain and later Europe and North America. In the mid-17th century, Belfast exported beef, butter, hides, tallow and corn and it imported coal, cloth, wine, brandy, paper, timber and tobacco.
Around this time, the linen trade in Northern Ireland blossomed and by the middle of the 18th century, one fifth of all the linen exported from Ireland was shipped from Belfast.
The present city however is a product of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. It was not until industry transformed the linen and shipbuilding trades that the economy and the population boomed. By the turn of the 19th century, Belfast had transformed into the largest linen producing centre in the world,
earning the city and its hinterlands the nickname "
Linenopolis
The economy of Belfast, Northern Ireland was initially built on trade through Belfast Harbour. Later, industry contributed to its growth, particularly shipbuilding and linen. At the beginning of the 20th century Belfast was both the largest produ ...
" during the Victorian Era and into the early part of the 20th century.
Belfast harbour was dredged in 1845 to provide deeper berths for larger ships. Donegall Quay was built out into the river as the harbour was developed further and trade flourished.
The
Harland and Wolff
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...
shipbuilding firm was created in 1861, and by the time the ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'' was built, in 1912, it had become the largest shipyard in the world.
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
plc is a British aerospace company based in Belfast. It was the first aircraft manufacturing company in the world. The company began its association with Belfast in 1936, with Short & Harland Ltd, a venture jointly owned by Shorts and Harland and Wolff. Now known as Shorts Bombardier it works as an international aircraft manufacturer located near the Port of Belfast.
The rise of mass-produced and cotton clothing following
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
were some of the factors which led to the decline of Belfast's international linen trade.
Like many British cities dependent on traditional heavy industry, Belfast suffered serious decline since the 1960s, exacerbated greatly in the 1970s and 1980s by the Troubles. More than 100,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since the 1970s.
For several decades, Northern Ireland's fragile economy required significant public support from the
British exchequer
In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reve ...
of up to £4 billion per year.
After the Troubles
The
IRA ceasefire in 1994 and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 have given investors increased confidence to invest in Belfast. This has led to a period of sustained economic growth and large-scale redevelopment of the city centre. Developments include
Victoria Square, the
Cathedral Quarter, and the
Laganside
The Laganside Corporation was a non-departmental public body formed by the Laganside Development (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 with the goal of regenerating large sections of land in Belfast, Northern Ireland adjacent to the River Lagan. This d ...
with the
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...
complex and the landmark
Waterfront Hall
Belfast Waterfront is a multi-purpose conference and entertainment centre, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. The hall is located in Lanyon Place, the flagship development of the Laganside Corpo ...
.
![Waterfront Hall, Belfast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Waterfront_Hall%2C_Belfast.jpg)
Other major developments include the regeneration of the
Titanic Quarter
Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a large-scale waterfront regeneration, comprising historic maritime landmarks, film studios, education facilities, apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and the world's largest Titanic ...
, and the erection of the
Obel Tower
The Obel Tower is a highrise building in Belfast, Northern Ireland, located on Donegall Quay on the River Lagan beside the Lagan Weir. Measuring in height, the tower is the tallest storeyed building in Ireland, dominating the Belfast skyline. ...
, a skyscraper set to be the tallest tower on the island.
Today, Belfast is Northern Ireland's educational and commercial hub. In February 2006, Belfast's unemployment rate stood at 4.2%, lower than both the Northern Ireland and the UK average of 5.5%. Over the past 10 years employment has grown by 16.4%, compared with 9.2% for the UK as a whole.
Northern Ireland's
peace dividend
''Peace dividend'' was a political slogan popularized by US President George H. W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the light of the 1988–1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, that described the economic benefit of a decrease in de ...
has led to soaring property prices in the city. In 2007, Belfast saw house prices grow by 50%, the fastest rate of growth in the UK. In March 2007, the average house in Belfast cost £91,819, with the average in south Belfast being £141,000. In 2004, Belfast had the lowest owner occupation rate in Northern Ireland at 54%.
Peace has boosted the numbers of tourists coming to Belfast. There were 6.4 million visitors in 2005, which was a growth of 8.5% from 2004. The visitors spent £285.2 million, supporting more than 15,600 jobs. Visitor numbers rose by 6% to reach 6.8 million in 2006, with tourists spending £324 million, an increase of 15% on 2005. The city's two airports have helped make the city one of the most visited weekend destinations in Europe.
Belfast has been the fastest-growing economy of the thirty largest cities in the UK over the past decade, a new economy report by Howard Spencer has found. ''"That's because
fthe fundamentals of the UK economy and
ecausepeople actually want to invest in the UK,"'' he commented on that report.
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
Radio 4's World reported furthermore that despite higher levels of corporation tax in the UK than in the Republic. There are "huge amounts" of foreign investment coming into the country.
''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' wrote about Belfast's growing economy: "According to the region's development agency, throughout the 1990s Northern Ireland had the fastest-growing regional economy in the UK, with GDP increasing 1 per cent per annum faster than the rest of the country. As with any modern economy, the service sector is vital to Northern Ireland's development and is enjoying excellent growth. In particular, the region has a booming tourist industry with record levels of visitors and tourist revenues and has established itself as a significant location for call centres."
Since the ending of the region's conflict tourism has boomed in Northern Ireland, greatly aided by low cost.
''
Der Spiegel
''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'', a German weekly magazine for politics and economy, titled Belfast as ''The New Celtic Tiger'' which is "open for business".
Infrastructure
![Belfast-University-of-Ulster](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Belfast-University-of-Ulster.jpg)
Belfast saw the worst of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, with nearly half of the total deaths in the conflict occurring in the city. However, since the
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
in 1998, there has been significant
urban regeneration
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
in the city centre including Victoria Square,
Queen's Island
Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a large-scale waterfront regeneration, comprising historic maritime landmarks, film studios, education facilities, apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and the world's largest Titanic ...
and
Laganside
The Laganside Corporation was a non-departmental public body formed by the Laganside Development (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 with the goal of regenerating large sections of land in Belfast, Northern Ireland adjacent to the River Lagan. This d ...
as well as the Odyssey complex and the landmark
Waterfront Hall
Belfast Waterfront is a multi-purpose conference and entertainment centre, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. The hall is located in Lanyon Place, the flagship development of the Laganside Corpo ...
. The city is served by two airports: The
George Best Belfast City Airport
George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Port of Belfast and is from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Spirit AeroSystems (form ...
adjacent to Belfast Lough and
Belfast International Airport
Belfast International Airport is an airport northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as ''Aldergrove Airport'', after the nearby village of Aldergrove. In 2018, over 6.2 ...
which is near
Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh ( ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows come ...
.
Queen's University of Belfast
, mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back?
, top_free_label =
, top_free =
, top_free_label1 =
, top_free1 =
, top_free_label2 =
, top_free2 =
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public research university
, parent = ...
is the main university in the city. The
Ulster University
sco, Ulstèr Universitie
, image = Ulster University coat of arms.png
, caption =
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng =
, latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae
, established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...
also maintains a campus in the city, which concentrates on fine art, design and architecture.
Belfast is one of the constituent cities that makes up the
Dublin-Belfast corridor region, which has a population of just under 3 million.
Utilities
![SilentValley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/SilentValley.jpg)
Most of Belfast's water is supplied via the
Aquarius pipeline from the
Silent Valley Reservoir
The Silent Valley Reservoir is a reservoir located in the Mourne Mountains near Kilkeel, County Down in Northern Ireland. It supplies most of the water for County Down, surrounding counties and most of Belfast. It is owned and maintained by Northe ...
in
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
, created to collect water from the
Mourne Mountains
The Mourne Mountains ( ; ga, Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the high ...
. The rest of the city's water is sourced from
Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh ( ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows come ...
, via ''Dunore Water Treatment Works'' in County Antrim.
The citizens of Belfast pay for their water in their
rates
Rate or rates may refer to:
Finance
* Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government
* Exchange rate, rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another
Mathematics and science
* Rate (mathema ...
bill. Plans to bring in additional water tariffs have been deferred by
devolution
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...
in May 2007. Belfast has approximately of
sewers, which are currently being replaced in a project costing over £100 million and due for completion in 2009.
Power is provided from a number of
power stations
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
via
NIE Networks Limited transmission lines.
Phoenix Natural Gas Ltd. started supplying customers in Larne and Greater Belfast with natural gas in 1996 via the newly constructed
Scotland-Northern Ireland pipeline.
Rates
Rate or rates may refer to:
Finance
* Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government
* Exchange rate, rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another
Mathematics and science
* Rate (mathema ...
in Belfast (and the rest of Northern Ireland) were reformed in April 2007. The discrete
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
value system means rates bills are determined by the capital value of each domestic property as assessed by the ''Valuation and Lands Agency''. The recent dramatic rise in house prices has made these reforms unpopular.
Health care
The
Belfast Health & Social Care Trust is one of five trusts that were created on 1 April 2007 by the
Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
. Belfast contains most of Northern Ireland's regional specialist centres. The
Royal Victoria Hospital is an internationally renowned centre of excellence in trauma care and provides specialist trauma care for all of Northern Ireland. It also provides the city's specialist
neurosurgical
Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...
,
ophthalmology
Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...
,
ENT
Ents are a species of beings in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for giant.
The Ents appear in ''The Lord of ...
, and
dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...
services. The
Belfast City Hospital
The Belfast City Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Chathair Bhéal Feirste) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive orange tower block d ...
is the regional specialist centre for haematology and is home to a cancer centre that rivals the best in the world. The Mary G McGeown Regional Nephrology Unit at the
City Hospital is the kidney transplant centre and provides regional renal services for Northern Ireland.
Musgrave Park Hospital
Musgrave Park Hospital is a specialist hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in orthopaedics, rheumatology, sports medicine and rehabilitation of patients of all ages. These specialties are spread out across a large site in the ...
in south Belfast specialises in
orthopaedics
Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...
,
rheumatology
Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...
,
sports medicine
Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...
and
rehabilitation
Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:
Health
* Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished
* Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...
. It is home to Northern Ireland's first Acquired Brain Injury Unit, costing £9 million and opened by
Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
and
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the acc ...
in May 2006. Other hospitals in Belfast include the
Mater Hospital in north Belfast and the
Children's Hospital
A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th ...
.
Transport
![George Best Belfast City Airport - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/George_Best_Belfast_City_Airport_-_geograph.org.uk_-_714574.jpg)
Belfast is a relatively
car-dependent city by European standards, with an extensive road network including the
M2 and
M22 motorway route. A 2005 survey of how people travel in Northern Ireland showed that people in Belfast made 77% of all journeys by car, 11% by public transport and 6% on foot.
It showed that Belfast has 0.70 cars per household compared to figures of 1.18 in the East and 1.14 in the West of Northern Ireland.
A road improvement-scheme in Belfast began early in 2006, with the upgrading of two junctions along the
Westlink dual-carriageway to
grade-separated
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...
standard. The improvement scheme was completed five months ahead of schedule in February 2009, with the official opening taking place on 4 March 2009.
On 25 October 2012 the stage 2 report for the York Street intersection was approved and in December 2012 the planned upgrade moved into stage 3 of the development process. If successfully completing the necessary statutory procedures, work on a grade separated junction to connect the Westlink to the M2/M3 motorways is scheduled to take place between 2014 and 2018, creating a continuous link between the M1 and M2, the two main motorways in Northern Ireland.
Black taxis are common in the city, operating on a
share basis in some areas. These are outnumbered by
private hire taxis. Bus and rail public transport in Northern Ireland is operated by subsidiaries of
Translink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to:
* TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada
* Translink (Northern Ireland)
Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...
. Bus services in the city proper and the nearer suburbs are operated by
Translink Metro
Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a public corporation in Northern Ireland which provides the public transport in the region. NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are all part of Translink. It i ...
, with services focusing on linking residential districts with the city centre on 12
quality bus corridor
Quality Bus Corridors (QBC, ga, Mórlána Bus) are an initiative to give bus priority, dedicated road space and traffic signal priority to buses in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in order to reduce journey times and improve service consi ...
s running along main radial roads,
More distant suburbs are served by
Ulsterbus
Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, which also ...
.
Northern Ireland Railways
NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) ( ga, Iarnród Thuaisceart Éireann); and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent ...
provides
suburban services along three lines running through Belfast's northern suburbs to
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...
,
Larne
Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...
and
Larne Harbour, eastwards towards
Bangor and south-westwards towards
Lisburn
Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...
and
Portadown
Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...
. This service is known as the
Belfast Suburban Rail system. Belfast is linked
directly to
Coleraine
Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...
,
Portrush
Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway station as well as most hote ...
and
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
. Belfast has a direct rail connection with
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
called ''
Enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterprise ...
'' which is operated jointly by NIR and
Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and fr ...
, the state railway company of the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
. There are no rail services to cities in other countries of the United Kingdom, due to the
lack of a bridge or tunnel connecting
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
to the island of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. There is, however, a combined ferry and rail ticket between Belfast and cities in Great Britain, which is referred to as
SailRail
In Britain and Ireland, a SailRail ticket allows travel with a combination of train and ferry. The brand, which was in existence by 2005, is principally associated with rail tickets between National Rail stations in Great Britain and stations in ...
.
![Belfast-GliderBus-TitanicQuarter-P1510185](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Belfast-GliderBus-TitanicQuarter-P1510185.jpg)
In April 2008, the
Department for Regional Development
The Department for Infrastructure (DfI, ga, An Roinn Bonneagair; Ulster-Scots: ''Depairment fur Infrastructure'') is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive.
Up until May 2016, the department was ...
reported on a plan for a light-rail system, similar to
that in Dublin. The consultants said Belfast does not have the population to support a light rail system, suggesting that investment in bus-based rapid transit would be preferable. The study found that bus-based rapid transit produces positive economic results, but light rail does not. The report by Atkins & KPMG, however, said there would be the option of migrating to light rail in the future should the demand increase.
The city has two airports:
Belfast International Airport
Belfast International Airport is an airport northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as ''Aldergrove Airport'', after the nearby village of Aldergrove. In 2018, over 6.2 ...
offering, domestic, European and international flights such as Orlando operated seasonally by
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and w ...
. The airport is located northwest of the city, near Lough Neagh, while the
George Best Belfast City Airport
George Best Belfast City Airport is a single-runway airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Port of Belfast and is from Belfast City Centre. It shares the site with the Spirit AeroSystems (form ...
, which is closer to the city centre by train from
Sydenham Sydenham may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Sydenham railway station, Sydney
* Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...
on the
Bangor Line, adjacent to Belfast Lough, offers UK domestic flights and a few European flights. In 2005, Belfast International Airport was the 11th busiest commercial airport in the UK, accounting for just over 2% of all UK terminal passengers while the George Best Belfast City Airport was the 16th busiest and had 1% of UK terminal passengers. The Belfast – Liverpool route is the busiest domestic flight route in the UK excluding London with 555,224 passengers in 2009. Over 2.2 million passengers flew between Belfast and London in 2009.
Belfast has a large
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
used for exporting and importing goods, and for passenger ferry services.
Stena Line
Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...
runs regular routes to
Cairnryan
Cairnryan ( sco, The Cairn;
gd, Machair an Sgithich) is a vi ...
in Scotland using its conventional vessels—with a crossing time of around 2 hours 15 minutes. Until 2011 the route went to
Stranraer
Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...
and used inter alia a HSS (High Speed Service) vessel—with a crossing time of around 90 minutes. Stena Line also operates a route to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. A seasonal sailing to
Douglas, Isle of Man
Douglas ( gv, Doolish, ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and on a sweeping bay of . The River Douglas forms part of the town's harbour ...
is operated by the
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms.
Isle may refer to:
Geography
* Is ...
.
The
Glider
Glider may refer to:
Aircraft and transport Aircraft
* Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight
** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...
bus service is a new form of transport in Belfast. Introduced in 2018, it is a
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
system linking East Belfast, West Belfast and the Titanic Quarter from the City Centre. Using
articulated buses
An articulated bus, also referred to as a banana bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, wiggle wagon, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, (either a motor bus or trolleybus) is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usua ...
, the £90 million service saw a 17% increase in its first month in Belfast, with 30,000 more people using the Gliders every week. The service is being recognised as helping to modernise the city's public transport.
National Cycle Route 9
Route
The route will eventually connect Belfast and Dublin. The route is currently signposted between the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge in Belfast Newry. The portion south of Newry past Slieve Gullion was scrapped on safety grounds in 2020.
...
to
Newry
Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011.
Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...
, which will eventually connect with Dublin, starts in Belfast.
Culture
![ACDC-Hughes-long ago](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/ACDC-Hughes-long_ago.jpg)
Belfast's population is evenly split between its Protestant and Catholic residents.
These two distinct cultural communities have both contributed significantly to the city's culture. Throughout the Troubles, Belfast artists continued to express themselves through poetry, art and music. In the period since the
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
in 1998, Belfast has begun a social, economic and cultural transformation giving it a growing international cultural reputation. In 2003, Belfast had an unsuccessful bid for the 2008
European Capital of Culture. The bid was run by an independent company, ''Imagine Belfast'', who boasted that it would "make Belfast the meeting place of Europe's legends, where the meaning of history and belief find a home and a sanctuary from caricature, parody and oblivion." According to ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' the bid may have been undermined by the
city's history and volatile politics.
In 2004–05, art and cultural events in Belfast were attended by 1.8 million people (400,000 more than the previous year). The same year, 80,000 people participated in culture and other arts activities, twice as many as in 2003–04.
A combination of relative peace, international investment and an active promotion of arts and culture is attracting more tourists to Belfast than ever before. In 2004–05, 5.9 million people visited Belfast, a 10% increase from the previous year, and spent £262.5 million.
The
Ulster Orchestra
The Ulster Orchestra, based in Belfast, is the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Ki ...
, based in Belfast, is Northern Ireland's only full-time
symphony orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...
and is well renowned in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1966, it has existed in its present form since 1981, when the
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...
Orchestra was disbanded. The music school of Queen's University is responsible for arranging a notable series of lunchtime and evening concerts, often given by renowned musicians which are usually given in The Harty Room at the university (University Square).
![The Beatles emerging from the Ritz Cinema, Fisherwick Place, Belfast November 8, 1963](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/The_Beatles_emerging_from_the_Ritz_Cinema%2C_Fisherwick_Place%2C_Belfast_November_8%2C_1963.jpg)
Musicians and bands who have written songs about or dedicated to Belfast include
U2,
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
,
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...
,
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...
,
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
,
Rogue Male,
Katie Melua
Ketevan Katie Melua (; ka, ქეთევან "ქეთი" მელუა, ; born 16 September 1984) is a Georgian and British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of comp ...
,
Boney M
Boney M. was a German- Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group' ...
,
Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University Pr ...
,
Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...
,
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award fo ...
,
Glenn Patterson
Glenn Patterson (born 1961) is a writer from Belfast, best known as a novelist.
Biography
Patterson was born in Belfast where he attended Methodist College Belfast. He graduated from the University of East Anglia (BA, MA), where he was a produc ...
,
Orbital,
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
,
Fun Boy Three
Fun Boy Three were an English new wave pop Fun Boy Three Allmusic bio/ref> band, active from 1981 to 1983 and formed by singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding after they left the Specials. They released two albums and had seve ...
,
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids, playing "European Da ...
,
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...
,
Barnbrack
Barnbrack is a Northern Irish male vocal/instrumental folk/ pop group, with band members Alex Quinn, Jimmy McPeake and Eoin McMahon. The word 'barnbrack' is a play on the Anglicised Irish word "Barmbrack", a type of bread that contains fruit. Bar ...
,
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...
,
Neon Neon
Neon Neon is a collaborative project from producer Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys, the frontman for the Welsh rock band Super Furry Animals. They began work on the project in October 2006 originally under the moniker Delorean. In March 2008 the duo, by ...
,
Toxic Waste
Toxic waste is any unwanted material in all forms that can cause harm (e.g. by being inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin). Mostly generated by industry, consumer products like televisions, computers, and phones contain toxic chemi ...
,
Energy Orchard
Energy Orchard were a guitar-based rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s, from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Fronted by Bap Kennedy (brother of singer-songwriter Brian Kennedy), their style drew heavily on the influence of Van Morrison and othe ...
, and
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...
.
Belfast has a longstanding underground club scene which was established in the early 1980s.
Belfast has a high concentration of Irish-speakers. Like all areas of the island of Ireland outside of the
Gaeltacht
( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home.
The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...
, the Irish language in Belfast is not that of an unbroken intergenerational transmission. However, the establishment of the
Shaw's Road Gaeltacht community has inspired use of the language across Northern Ireland. The language is heavily promoted in the city and is particularly visible in the Falls Road area, where the signs on both the iconic black taxis and on the public buses are bilingual. Projects to promote the language in the city are funded by various sources, notably
Foras na Gaeilge
(, "Irish Institute"; ) is a public body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland, including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It was set up on 2 December 1999, assuming the roles ...
, an all-Ireland body funded by both the Irish and British governments. There are a number of Irish language Primary schools and one secondary school in Belfast. The provision of certain resources for these schools (for example, such as the provision of textbooks) is supported by the charitable organisation TACA.
In late August 2018, at least three groups were vying for the right to purchase the 5,500
RMS Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
relics that were an asset of the bankrupt
Premier Exhibitions
Premier Exhibitions Inc is an Atlanta, Georgia-based company that organizes travelling exhibitions. , the company owned 5,500 ''Titanic'' relics with approximately 1,300 on display in various countries.
Its two most prominent exhibits are artif ...
. One of the offers was by a group including the
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...
and
National Museums Northern Ireland
National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) (formerly ''National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland'') is a museum service in Northern Ireland, consisting of the Ulster American Folk Park, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and the Ulster M ...
, with assistance by
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
. Oceanographer
Robert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeology of ...
said he favored this bid since it would ensure that the memorabilia would be permanently displayed in Belfast (where the Titanic was built) and in
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
. A decision as to the outcome was to be made by a
United States district court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
judge.
Media
![BBC Northern Ireland Belfast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/BBC_Northern_Ireland_Belfast.jpg)
Belfast is the home of the ''
Belfast Telegraph
The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...
'', ''
Irish News
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
'', and ''The News Letter'', the oldest English language, English-language daily newspaper in the world still in publication. The Belfast Telegraph was bought by the Dublin-based Independent News & Media group in March 2000.
The city is the headquarters of
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...
, ITV (TV network), ITV station Ulster Television, UTV and commercial radio stations Q Radio Belfast, Q Radio and U105. Two community radio stations, Blast 106 and Irish-language station Raidió Fáilte, broadcast to the city from west Belfast, as does Queen's Radio, a student-run radio station which broadcasts from Queen's University Belfast Students' Union, Queen's University Students' Union.
One of Northern Ireland's two community TV stations, NvTv, is based in the
Cathedral Quarter of the city. There are two independent cinemas in Belfast: the Queen's Film Theatre and the Strand Cinema, which host screenings during the Belfast Film Festival and the Belfast Festival at Queen's. Broadcasting only over the Internet is Homely Planet, the Cultural Radio Station for Northern Ireland, supporting community relations.
The city has become a popular film location; The Paint Hall at Harland and Wolff has become one of the UK Film Council's main studios. The facility comprises four stages of . Shows filmed at The Paint Hall include the film ''City of Ember'' (2008) and HBO's ''Game of Thrones'' series (beginning in late 2009).
In November 2011, Belfast became the smallest city to host the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards. The event was hosted by Selena Gomez and celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Jessie J, Hayden Panettiere, and Lady Gaga travelled to Northern Ireland to attend the event, held in the
Odyssey Arena
The Odyssey Complex, formerly Odyssey Centre, is a sports and entertainment complex located within the Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The complex originated in 1992 and came into fruition in June 1998. It opened in December 20 ...
.
Sports
Belfast has several notable sports teams playing a diverse variety of sports such as association football, football, Gaelic games, Rugby football, rugby, cricket, and ice hockey. The Belfast Marathon is run annually on May Day, and attracted 20,000 participants in 2011.
The Northern Ireland national football team, ranked 59th as of October 2022 in the FIFA World Rankings, plays its home matches at Windsor Park. Football clubs active in Belfast include: Linfield F.C., Linfield, Glentoran F.C., Glentoran, Crusaders F.C., Crusaders, Cliftonville F.C., Cliftonville, Donegal Celtic, Harland & Wolff Welders F.C., Harland & Wolff Welders, Dundela F.C., Dundela, Knockbreda F.C., Knockbreda, PSNI F.C., PSNI, Queen's University A.F.C., Queen's University, Newington Youth F.C., Newington, Sport & Leisure Swifts F.C., Sport & Leisure and Brantwood F.C., Brantwood.
Belfast was the home town of former Manchester United F.C., Manchester United player George Best, the 1968 European Footballer of the Year, who died in November 2005. On the day he was buried in the city, 100,000 people lined the route from his home on the Cregagh Road to Roselawn cemetery. Since his death the George Best Belfast City Airport, City Airport was named after him and a trust has been set up to fund a memorial to him in the city centre.
Belfast is home to over twenty Gaelic football and hurling clubs. Casement Park in west Belfast, home to the Antrim GAA, Antrim county teams, has a capacity of 32,000 which makes it the second largest Gaelic Athletic Association ground in Ulster. In May 2020, the foundation of East Belfast GAA returned Gaelic Games to unionist East Belfast after decades of its absence in the area. The current club president is Irish-language enthusiast Linda Ervine who comes from a unionist background in the area. The team currently plays in the Down Senior County League.
The 1999 Heineken Cup champions Ulster Rugby play at Ravenhill Stadium in the south of the city. Belfast has four teams in rugby's All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League: Belfast Harlequins in Division 1B; and Instonians, Queen's University RFC, Queen's University and Malone RFC, Malone in Division 2A.
Belfast is home to the Stormont (cricket ground), Stormont cricket ground since 1949 and was the venue for the Irish cricket team's first ever One Day International against England cricket team, England in 2006.
Belfast is home to one of the biggest ice hockey clubs in the United Kingdom, the Belfast Giants. The Giants were founded in 2000 and play their games at the 9,500 capacity SSE Arena, Belfast, SSE Arena, where crowds normally range from 4,000 to 7,000. Many ex-NHL players have featured on the Giants roster, none more famous than world superstar Theo Fleury. The Giants play in the 10-team professional Elite Ice Hockey League which is the top league in the United Kingdom. The Giants have been British ice hockey league champions, league champions 6 times, most recently in the 2021–22 EIHL season, 2021–22 season. The Belfast Giants are a huge brand in Northern Ireland and their increasing stature in the game led to the Belfast Giants playing the Boston Bruins of the NHL on 2 October 2010 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, losing the game 5–1.
Other significant sportspeople from Belfast include double world snooker champion Alex Higgins, Alex "Hurricane" Higgins and world champion boxers Wayne McCullough, Rinty Monaghan and Carl Frampton.
Leander ASC is a well known swimming club in Belfast. Belfast produced the Formula One racing stars John Watson (racing driver), John Watson who raced for five different teams during his career in the 1970s and 1980s and Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine.
Notable people
Academia and science
* John Stewart Bell, physicist
* Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, astrophysicist
* John Boyd Dunlop, inventor
* William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Lord Kelvin, physicist and engineer
Arts and media
* Anthony Boyle, actor
* Sir Kenneth Branagh, actor
* Gordon Burns, journalist, gameshow host, best known for The Krypton Factor
* Ciaran Carson, writer
* Frank Carson, comedian
* Jamie Dornan, actor
* Barry Douglas (musician), Barry Douglas, musician
* Candida Doyle, musician
* James Galway, musician
* Ciarán Hinds, actor
* Eamonn Holmes, broadcaster
* Brian Desmond Hurst, film director
* Oliver Jeffers, artist
* C. S. Lewis, author
* Paula Malcomson, actress
* Gerry McAvoy, musician and long time bass guitarist with Rory Gallagher
* Brian Moore (novelist), Brian Moore, acclaimed novelist
*
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...
, guitarist
*
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
, singer-songwriter
* Doc Neeson, singer-songwriter
* Patricia Quinn (Northern Irish actress), Patricia Quinn, actress
* Roy Walker (comedian), gameshow host, best known for Catchphrase (British game show), Catchphrase
Politics
* Gerry Adams. politician
* James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, Lord Craigavon, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
*Abba Eban (1915–2002), Israeli diplomat and politician, and President of the Weizmann Institute of Science
* Chaim Herzog, former President of Israel
* Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland
* Peter Robinson (Northern Ireland politician), Peter Robinson, former First Minister of Northern Ireland
* David Trimble, Baron Trimble, Lord Trimble, former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Sports
* Paddy Barnes, boxer, Olympic Games Bronze Medalist
* George Best, football player, Ballon D'or winner
* Danny Blanchflower, football player and manager
* Jackie Blanchflower, football player
* Chris Brunt, football player
* Ryan Burnett, boxer
* Anthony Cacace, boxer
* Craig Cathcart, football player
* Michael Conlan (boxer), Michael Conlan, boxer
* P. J. Conlon, baseball player
* Killian Dain, professional wrestler
* Mal Donaghy, football player
* Corry Evans, football player
* Jonny Evans, football player
* Dave Finlay, professional wrestler
* Carl Frampton, boxer
* Craig Gilroy, rugby union player
* Alex Higgins, snooker player
* Paddy Jackson, rugby union player
* Wayne McCullough, World Boxing Council, WBC World Champion Boxer, Olympic Games Silver Medalist
* Alan McDonald (association football), Alan McDonald, football player
* Rory McIlroy, golfer
* Sammy McIlroy, football player and manager
* Eamon Magee, boxer
* Brian Magee, boxer
* Jim Magilton, football player and manager
* Rinty Monaghan, World Flyweight boxing champion
* Steve Morrow, football player and manager
* Owen Nolan, hockey player, Olympic gold medalist
* Mary Peters (athlete), Lady Mary Peters, Olympic gold medalist athlete
* Tommy Robb (motorcyclist), Tommy Robb, Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racer
* Anton Rogan, Football player
* Pat Rice, football player and coach
* Joe Swail, snooker player
* Gary Wilson (cricketer), Gary Wilson, cricketer
Other
* Patrick Carlin, Victoria Cross recipient
* Shaw Clifton, former General of The Salvation Army
* Rotha Johnston, Dame Rotha Johnston, entrepreneur
* James Joseph Magennis, Victoria Cross recipient
* Jonathan Simms, victim of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), noted for unprecedented survival rate of a decade with the disease
* Rosemary Church, newsanchor
Education
Belfast has two universities.
Queen's University Belfast
, mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back?
, top_free_label =
, top_free =
, top_free_label1 =
, top_free1 =
, top_free_label2 =
, top_free2 =
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public research university
, parent = ...
was founded in 1845 and is a member of the Russell Group, an association of 24 leading research-intensive universities in the UK. It is one of the largest universities in the UK with 25,231 undergraduate and postgraduate students spread over 250 buildings, 120 of which are listed as being of architectural merit.
Ulster University
sco, Ulstèr Universitie
, image = Ulster University coat of arms.png
, caption =
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng =
, latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae
, established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...
, created in its current form in 1984, is a multi-centre university with a campus in the
Cathedral Quarter of Belfast. The Belfast campus has a specific focus on Art and Design and Architecture, and is currently undergoing major redevelopment. The Jordanstown campus, just from Belfast city centre concentrates on engineering, health and social science. The Coleraine campus, about from Belfast city centre concentrates on a broad range of subjects. Course provision is broad – biomedical sciences, environmental science and geography, psychology, business, the humanities and languages, film and journalism, travel and tourism, teacher training and computing are among the campus strengths. The Magee College, Magee campus, about from Belfast city centre has many teaching strengths; including business, computing, creative technologies, nursing, Irish language and literature, social sciences, law, psychology, peace and conflict studies and the performing arts. The Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN) Web Service receives funding from both universities and is a rich source of information and source material on the Troubles as well as society and politics in Northern Ireland.
Belfast Metropolitan College is a large further education college with three main campuses around the city, including several smaller buildings. Formerly known as Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education, it specialises in vocational education. The college has over 53,000 students enrolled on full-time and part-time courses, making it one of the largest further education colleges in the UK and the largest in the island of Ireland.
The Belfast Education and Library Board was established in 1973 as the local council responsible for education, youth and library services within the city. In 2006, this board became part of the Education Authority for Northern Ireland. There are 184 primary, secondary and Grammar school, grammar schools in the city.
Tourism
![Titanic Belfast side view](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Titanic_Belfast_side_view.jpg)
Belfast is one of the most visited cities in the UK, and the second most visited on the island of Ireland. In 2008, 7.1 million tourists visited the city. Numerous tour bus companies and boat tours run there throughout the year, including tours based on the series Game of Thrones, which has had various filming locations around Northern Ireland.
Frommer's, the American travel guidebook series, listed Belfast as the only United Kingdom destination in its ''Top 12 Destinations to Visit'' in 2009. The other listed destinations were Berlin, Germany, Berlin (Germany), Cambodia, Cape Town (South Africa), Cartagena, Colombia, Cartagena (Colombia), Istanbul (Turkey), the Lassen Volcanic National Park (US), Saqqara (Egypt), the Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail (US), Waiheke Island (New Zealand), Washington, D.C. (US), and Waterton Lakes National Park (Canada).
Belfast City Council is currently investing into the complete redevelopment of the Titanic Quarter, which is planned to consist of apartments, hotels, and a riverside entertainment district. A major visitor attraction, Titanic Belfast is a monument to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard, opened on 31 March 2012. It features a criss-cross of escalators and suspended walkways and nine high-tech galleries. They also hope to invest in a new modern transport system (including high-speed rail and others) for Belfast, with a cost of £250 million.
In 2018, six hotels were opened, with the biggest in Northern Ireland, the £53 million Grand Central Hotel Belfast officially open to the public. The other hotels included AC Marriot, Hampton By Hilton, EasyHotel, Maldron Belfast City Centre and Flint. The new hotels have helped to increase a further 1,000 bedrooms in the city.
Belfast was successful in attracting many conferencing events, both national and international, to the city in 2018. Over 60 conferences took place that year with 30,000 people helping contribute to a record 45 million pounds for the local economy.
There is a tourist information centre located at Donegall Square, Donegall Square North.
Twin towns – sister cities
Belfast City Council takes part in the Twin towns and sister cities, twinning scheme,
and is twinned with the following sister cities:
* Nashville, Tennessee, United States (since 1994)
* Hefei, Anhui, Anhui Province, China (since 2005)
* Boston, Massachusetts, United States (since 2014)
* Shenyang, Liaoning, Liaoning Province, China (since 2016)
Freedom of the City
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Belfast.
Individuals
* Kenneth Branagh, Sir Kenneth Branagh: 30 January 2018.
*Andrew Carnegie: 28 September 1910.
*Winston Churchill, Rt Hon Sir Winston Churchill : 16 December 1955.
*Bill Clinton, 9 April 2018
* John Jordan (diplomat), Rt Hon Sir John Jordan : 28 September 1910.
* George J. Mitchell, 9 April 2018
* Mary Peters (athlete), Lady Mary Peters : 2 November 2012.
*William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie: 1898, the first person to be awarded Freedom Of The City of Belfast.
Military units
* The Royal Ulster Rifles: 6 February 1954.
* The Royal Sussex Regiment: 1961.
Notes
References
Further reading
* Beesley, S. and Wilde, J. 1997. ''Urban Flora of Belfast''. Institute of Irish Studies & The Queen's University of Belfast.
* Deane, C. Douglas. 1983. ''The Ulster Countryside.'' Century Books.
* Gillespie, R. 2007. ''Early Belfast.'' Belfast Natural History & Philosophical Society in Association with Ulster Historical Foundation. .
* Nesbitt, Noel. 1982. ''The Changing Face of Belfast.'' Ulster Museum, Belfast. Publication no. 183.
* Pollock, V. and Parkhill, T. 1997. ''Belfast''. National Museums of Northern Ireland.
* Scott, Robert. 2004. ''Wild Belfast: On Safari in the City.'' Blackstaff Press. .
* Walker, B.M. and Dixon, H. 1984. ''Early Photographs from the Lawrence Collection in Belfast Town 1864–1880.'' The Friar's Bush Press,
* Walker, B.M. and Dixon, H. 1983. ''No Mean City: Belfast 1880–1914.'' .
* Connolly, S.J. Ed. 2012. Belfast 400 People Places and History. Liverpool University Press.
* McCracken, E. 1971. ''The Palm House and Botanic Garden, Belfast''. Ulster Architectural Heritage Society.
* McMahon, Sean. 2011. ''A Brief History of Belfast.'' The Brehon Press. Belfast.
* Fulton, C. 2011. ''Coalbricks and Prefabs, Glimpses of Belfast in the 1950s.'' Thedoc Press.
* O'Reilly, D. 2010. " Rivers of Belfast". Colourpoint Books.
* Weatherall, Norman (text) and Evans, David (paintings) 2002 ''South Belfast Terrace and Villa.'' Cottage Publications
External links
Belfast City Council
{{Authority control
Belfast,
Capital cities in the United Kingdom
Cities in Northern Ireland
Districts of Northern Ireland, 1972–2015
Districts of Northern Ireland, 2015-present
Populated coastal places in the United Kingdom
Port cities and towns in Northern Ireland
Port cities and towns of the Irish Sea