Belfast

 city, capital city of state/province/region

Belfast (Gaelic: Béal Feirste, Ulster-Scots: Bilfawst) is the fourteenth largest city in the UK and also serves as the political capital and economic centre of Northern Ireland. Belfast City Council has a population of 281,000. The Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area is the UK's tenth largest (579,554). The Larger Urban Zone has a total population 641,638, making it the 102nd largest in the EU/EFTA.

The name comes from the Irish (Gaelic) "Béal Feirste" which means "sandy ford at river mouth". It is a picturesque city with a rich history. Belfast was granted by Queen Victoria city status in 1888. It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly.

In February 2006, Belfast's unemployment rate stood at 4.2%, lower than both the Northern Ireland and the UK average of 5.5%. From 1997 to 2007 employment grew by 16.4 per cent, compared with 9.2 per cent for the UK as a whole. In 2007 Belfast was one of the most visited weekend destinations in Europe. Compared with the national figure of GB£20,357 Northern Ireland has a lower GDP per capita of £15,795. This figure, however, is higher than Wales and Northeast England.

Northern Ireland with a GDP per head of more than 75% of the EU-25 average and Belfast’s GDP per capita is twice as high as that of any other area in the region. Belfast is one of only 6 core cities in the UK with a GDP per capita exceeding €48,000 (bringing the city in line with London, Edinburgh, Reading, Northampton and Swindon). The city has a high GVA per capita; higher than the UK, higher than the rest of Northern Ireland.

Belfast is gaining a reputation now as an IT hub and a key financial trading centre, hosting the New York Stock Exchange and the Chigago Mercantile Exchange. Belfast is now amongst the world's top ten cities for financial technology investments (ahead of Glasgow, Dublin and Toronto). Outside of London, Belfast is now the UK's most attractive city for foreign direct investment. The film production sector in the city is also growing; having 2 film worldclass studios and attracting HBO in recent years, and plans are underway to build a third.

Belfast is the home of the Belfast Telegraph, the Irish News, and The News Letter, the oldest English-language newspaper in the world still in publication. The city is the headquarters of BBC Northern Ireland and the ITV station UTV. All UK national BBC radio stations are universally available as well as BBC Radio Ulster. Commercial radio stations include CityBeat & U105 and two community radio stations, Blast 106 & Raidió Fáilte. CoolFM and Downtown Radio are broadcast throughout Northern Ireland from nearby Newtownards.

The city is served by two airports (Belfast International Airport and George Best Belfast City Airport), two main bus stations (Europa Buscentre and Laganside Buscentre), two main railway stations (Belfast Central and Great Victoria Street). It is the centre for NI Railways services throughout the region as well as the hub for Ulsterbus buses and coaches. From Belfast, Ulsterbus runs joint services with with National Express to Dumfries, Carlisle, Manchester, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and London, and with Citylink to Glasgow and Edinburgh, Bus Éireann for its direct express service to Dublin and Dublin Airport.

The Queen's University of Belfast and two campuses of the University of Ulster (City Centre and Jordanstown) are located in Belfast, as well as the Irish regional branch of the UK-wide Open University. Queen's is one of 24 members of the Russell Group of British public research universities. It ranks 35th nationaally and generally 250-275 globally. Queen's Physical Education Centre is one of the largest sports centres in the British Isles.

With almost 1.2 million passengers and half a million freight units annually, Belfast is Ireland's second largest maritime gateway. Around two thirds of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade, and a quarter of that for Ireland as a whole, is handled at the port, and it is Ireland's leading dry bulk port. Major freight routes to Cairnryan and Heysham on the UK mainland. Passenger ferry routes are to Cairnryan, Birkenhead and to Douglas in the Isle of Man. Over 95% of Northern Ireland's petroleum and oil products are also handled at the Port.

The RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. The visitor centre Titanic Belfast was opened in 2012 and also features her sister ships RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic.

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, ophthalmology, ENT, and dentistry services. The Belfast City Hospital is the regional specialist centre for haematology and is home to a cancer centre that rivals the best in the world.

Other hospitals include the Mater Hospital, the Ulster Hospital, the Children's Hospital and Musgrave Park Hospital which specialises in orthopaedics, rheumatology, sports medicine and rehabilitation. It is home to Northern Ireland's first Acquired Brain Injury Unit opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2006.

The Edwardian architectural style of Belfast City Hall influenced the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta, India, and Durban City Hall in South Africa. The dome is 173 ft (53 m) high and figures above the door state "Hibernia encouraging and promoting the Commerce and Arts of the City". Obel Tower is the tallest building in all Ireland. Amongst the city's grandest buildings are two former banks: Ulster Bank in Waring Street (built in 1860) and Northern Bank, in nearby Donegall Street (built in 1769). The Royal Courts of Justice in Chichester Street are home to Northern Ireland's Supreme Court. The Ormeau Park is Ireland's second largest park.

Belfast is home to two cathedrals (St. Anne's Church of Ireland and St. Peter's Roman Catholic) as well as Clonard Monastery, developed over the past century by the Redemptorists. The Ulster Museum, the Mac, and the Botanical Gardens are all popular attractions.