Birmingham is a city and metropolitan
borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the
largest of England's core cities, and is often considered to be the
second city of the United Kingdom. The City of Birmingham has a
population of 1,006,500 (2006 estimate). It 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 Britain, 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 and remains a
popular location for conventions.
People from Birmingham are known as 'Brummies', a term derived from the
city's nickname of Brum. This comes in turn from the city's dialect
name, Brummagem, which is derived from one of the city's earlier
names, 'Bromwicham'. There is a distinctive Brummie dialect (distinct
vocabulary and syntax) and accent, both of which differ from the
adjacent Black Country.