Birmingham : Britain

Birmingham Travel Guide : Britain
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the second largest and second most ethnically diverse city in the UK and is regarded as Britain’s “second city�. The City of Birmingham has a population of 992,100 (2003 estimate), while the Birmingham metropolitan area (the West Midlands metropolitan county) has a population of 2,575,768. More than five million people live in the surrounding region.
The city is commonly known by its nickname Brum (from the local name Brummagem), and its people as Brummies. Birmingham is home to the distinctive Brummie accent and dialect.
Birmingham is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the UK. Along with large populations from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent, Birmingham is home to a large traditional Irish community. The city hosts the third largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world, after Dublin and New York, while Birmingham’s Balti restaurants produce some of the finest Indian cuisine in the UK
About 22 million people visit Birmingham every year and in 2004 the city was named the second best place to shop in England after the West End of London [1]. Its top attractions include Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Millennium Point, Bull Ring, Selfridges Building, Cadbury World, Tolkien Trail [2], Birmingham Royal Ballet, and the National Sea Life Centre.
Birmingham has 35 miles (60 km) of canals within the city boundaries, of which most are navigable; the canals were once the lifeblood of the city’s industries during the Industrial Revolution but are now used mainly for pleasure. It is often quoted that Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice. This is in fact true (Venice has 26 miles) although Birmingham is much larger than Venice.
Places of interest in Birmingham
Chamberlain Square
Gun Quarter – (Once the foremost gun manufacturing community in the UK)
The Back to Backs Living Museum (The National Trust).
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Brindleyplace – Canalside development
Centenary Square
Chamberlain Square
Chinese Quarter – home to many clubs, bars and restaurants
Convention Quarter
Jewellery Quarter – The largest concentration of dedicated jewellers in Europe
National Sealife Centre
Number 9 The Gallery
Birmingham Thinktank Science Museum
Victoria Square
Sutton Park