About Birmingham

Birmingham ( (listen) BUR-ming-əm) is a major city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. It is the UK's largest and most populated metropolitan borough, standing as the "Core City" within the second-largest metropolitan area and third-largest urban area in the United Kingdom, with roughly 1.2 million inhabitants within the borough (city-proper) area, 2.8 million inhabitants within the urban area and 4.3 million inhabitants within the larger metropolitan area. Birmingham is commonly referred to as the "second city of the United Kingdom".Located in the West Midlands region in England, approximately 100 miles (160 km) from London, Birmingham, as one of the United Kingdom's major cities, is considered to be the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands. Distinctively, Birmingham only has small rivers flowing through it, mainly the River Tame and its tributaries River Rea and River Cole – one of the closest main rivers is the Severn, approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of the city centre. Historically a market town in Warwickshire in the medieval period, Birmingham grew during the 18th century during the Midlands Enlightenment and during the Industrial Revolution, which saw advances in science, technology and economic development, producing a series of innovations that laid many of the foundations of modern industrial society.