UK - Birmingham (GB-55983)

This postcard shows the Victoria Square, International Convention Centre, St. Philip's Cathedral and the Civic Centre in Birmingham, England. Names of most English cities seem familiar to me, maybe because of history or literature... But in fact I don't know much about England(even about London, although I've been there).

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the most populous of England's core cities, and is the second most populated British city after London, with an urban area population of 970,892 (2001 census). Often considered to be the second city of the United Kingdom, the City of Birmingham forms part of the larger West Midlands conurbation, which has a population of 2,284,093 (2001 census)and includes several neighbouring towns and cities, such as Solihull, Wolverhampton and the towns of the Black Country.

The city's reputation was forged as a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution in England, a fact which led to Birmingham being known as "the workshop of the world" or the "city of a thousand trades". Although Birmingham's industrial importance has declined, it has developed into a national commercial centre, being named as the third best place in the United Kingdom to locate a business, and the 21st best in Europe by Cushman & Wakefield in 2007. It is also the fourth most visited city by foreign visitors in the UK. In 1998, Birmingham hosted the G8 summit at the International Convention Centre, on the site of Bingley Hall, the UK's first purpose-built exhibition hall, and remains a popular location for conventions today. In 2007, Birmingham was ranked as the 55th most livable city in the world, according to the Mercer Index of worldwide standards of living.

GB-55983