List of cities in the United Kingdom facts for kids

For a list of the largest urban areas in the UK, including conurbations, see List of urban areas in the United Kingdom.

This is a list of official cities in the United Kingdom as of 2015. It lists those places that have been granted city status by letters patent or royal charter. There are currently a total of 69 such cities in the United Kingdom: 51 in England, seven in Scotland, six in Wales, and five in Northern Ireland. Of these, 23 in England, two in Wales, and one in Northern Ireland possess Lord Mayors and four in Scotland have Lord Provosts. In some cases, the area holding city status does not coincide with the built up area or conurbation of which it forms part. In Greater London, for example, the City of London and that of Westminster each hold city status separately but no other neighbourhood has been granted city status, nor has Greater London as a whole. In other cases, such as the Cities of Canterbury and Lancaster, the status extends over a number of towns and rural areas outside the main settlement proper.

History

Main: City status in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The initial cities (Latin: civitas) of Britain were the fortified settlements organized by the Romans as the capitals of the Celtic tribes under Roman rule. The British clerics of the early Middle Ages later preserved a traditional list of the "28 Cities" (Old Welsh: cair) which was mentioned by Gildas and listed by Nennius.

The title of city was initially informal and, into the 20th century, royal charters were considered to recognize city status rather than to grant it. The usual criterion in early modern Britain was the presence of a cathedral, particularly after King Henry VIII granted letters patent establishing six new cities when he established a series of new dioceses in the 1540s as part of the English Reformation. No new cities were created between the 16th and 19th centuries, but following the Industrial Revolution and the accompanying population boom and growth in urbanisation, new sees were established at Ripon (1836) and Manchester (1847); their councils began to style them cities immediately. Inverness in Scotland was even refused a charter at the time of the Jubilee honours of 1897, in part because it would have drawn more attention to the other traditional "cities" still not formally chartered as such.

Beginning in the mid-19th century, however, the process became more formal. A visit by Queen Victoria in 1851 prompted Manchester to petition Parliament for recognition of its status. Ripon followed in the 1860s, and a series of hitherto informal "cities" were formally recognized in the 1880s and 1890s. On the basis of its size, importance, and regular government, Belfast was elevated in spite of its lack of a cathedral in 1888; other large municipalities followed, while smaller applicants began to be rejected. King Edward VII and the Home Office established three criteria for future applicants in 1907—a minimum population of 300 000, a good record of local government, and a "local metropolitan character"—but these criteria were not made public, and following Leicester's successful elevation in 1919 a series of exceptions were made. The 1972 Local Government Act effectively eliminated all authorities holding city status outside London on 1 April 1974; most of their replacements were confirmed in their predecessor's status—even in cases such as the City of Carlisle, where much of the local authority area is undeveloped countryside—but the Borough of Medway was not permitted to continue Rochester's title. In recent times there have been competitions for new grants of city status. Towns or councils that claim city status or add "city" to their name have been known to be rebuked by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The cities of Scotland and Ireland were treated separately. Scottish towns irregularly applied the description to themselves, but were formally organized as royal burghs; the special rights of these were preserved by Article XXI of the Treaty of Union which established the single state of Great Britain in 1707. Edinburgh and Glasgow were confirmed as cities "by ancient usage" in the 18th century, as was Aberdeen, and this was later reconfirmed in the Act enlarging the burgh in 1891. Dundee was granted letters patent in 1889 and Elgin and Perth were recognized as cities by the Home Office in 1972, before the privilege was removed by the Scottish Local Government Act of 1973.

In Ireland, only the seat of the primate at Armagh was accorded city status by ancient usage, and this status was abolished by the Irish Municipal Corporations Act of 1840. All other cities have been those explicitly recognized as such.

List of cities

City	Year granted or confirmed	Cathedral (pre-1888)	City council	Nation/Region	Image	Population
Aberdeen (Scots: Aiberdeen) (Scottish Gaelic: Obar Dheathain)	&10000000000001179000000 1891 (Burgh: 1179)	High Kirk of Aberdeen (St Machar's)	Local government district	Scotland		0.189,120
Armagh (Irish: Ard Mhacha) (Ulster-Scots: Airmagh)	&10000000000001994000000 1994	n/a	Local government district	Northern Ireland		0.59,340 (2011)
Bangor	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral Church of St Deiniol	Community	Wales		0.16,358 (2011)
Bath	&10000000000001090000000 1090	Abbey Church of SS Peter & Paul	Charter trustees	South West, England		0.88,859 (2011) 97,311 (urban area, 2010)
Belfast (Irish: Béal Feirste) (Ulster-Scots: Bilfawst)	&10000000000001888000000 1888	n/a	Local government district	Northern Ireland		0.333,871 (2011)
Birmingham	&10000000000001889000000 1889	n/a	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	West Midlands, England		0.1,092,330 (2013)
Bradford	&10000000000001897000000 1897	n/a	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	Yorkshire and the Humber, England		0.522,452 (2011)
Brighton & Hove	&10000000000002000000000 2000	n/a	Local government district (Unitary)	South East, England		0.273,369 (2011)
Bristol	&10000000000001542000000 1542	Cathedral Church of the Holy & Undivided Trinity	Local government district (Unitary and county)	South West, England		0.428,234 (2011)
Cambridge	&10000000000001951000000 1951	n/a	Local government district	East, England		0.123,867 (2011)
Canterbury	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral & Metropolitical Church of Christ	Local government district (Non-metropolitan borough)	South East, England		0.151,145 (2011)
Cardiff (Welsh: Caerdydd)	&10000000000001905000000 1905	n/a	Local government district	Wales		0.346,090 (2011)
Carlisle	&10000000000001133000000 1133	Cathedral Church of the Holy & Undivided Trinity	Local government district	North West, England		0.107,524 (2011)
Chelmsford	&10000000000002012000000 2012	n/a	Local government district (Non-metropolitan borough)	East, England		0.168,310 (2011)
Chester	&10000000000001541000000 1541	Cathedral Church of Christ & the Blessed Virgin Mary	Charter trustees	North West, England		0.91,733 (urban area, 2010)
Chichester	&10000000000001075000000 1075	Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity	Civil parish	South East, England		0.26,795 (2011)
Coventry	&10000000000001102000000 1102	St Michael's Cathedral	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	West Midlands, England		0.316,915 (2011)
Derby	&10000000000001977000000 1977	n/a	Local government district (Unitary)	East Midlands, England		0.248,752 (2011)
Derry (Irish: Doire) (Ulster-Scots: Derrie)	&10000000000001604000000 1604	n/a	Local government district	Northern Ireland		0.107,877 (2011)
Dundee (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Dèagh)	&10000000000001191000000 1889 (Burgh: 1191)	n/a	Local government district	Scotland		0.153,990
Durham	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral Church of Christ & St. Mary the Virgin	Charter trustees	North East, England		0.94,375 (2011)
Edinburgh (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann)	&10000000000001329000000 18th century (Burgh: 1329)	High Kirk of Edinburgh (St Giles's)	Local government district	Scotland		0.468,720
Ely	&10000000000001109000000 1109	Cathedral Church of the Holy & Undivided Trinity	Civil parish	East, England		0.20,256 (2011)
Exeter	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral Church of St Peter	Local government district	South West, England		0.117,773 (2011)
Glasgow (Scots: Glesga) (Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu)	&10000000000001492000000 18th century (Burgh: 1492)	High Kirk of Glasgow (St Mungo's)	Local government district	Scotland		0.589,900
Gloucester	&10000000000001541000000 1541	Cathedral Church of St Peter & the Holy and Indivisible Trinity	Local government district	South West, England		0.121,688 (2011)
Hereford	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral Church of SS Mary the Virgin & Ethelbert the King	Civil parish	West Midlands, England		0.58,896 (2011)
Inverness (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Nis)	&10000000000002000000000 2000	n/a	none	Scotland		0.57,960
Kingston upon Hull	&10000000000001897000000 1897	n/a	Local government district (Unitary)	Yorkshire and the Humber, England		0.256,406 (2011)
Lancaster	&10000000000001937000000 1937	n/a	Local government district	North West, England		0.138,375 (2011)
Leeds	&10000000000001893000000 1893	n/a	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	Yorkshire and the Humber, England		0.751,485 (2011)
Leicester	&10000000000001919000000 1919	n/a	Local government district (Unitary)	East Midlands, England		0.329,839 (2011)
Lichfield	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral Church of SS Mary & Chad	Civil parish	West Midlands, England		0.32,219 (2011)
Lincoln	&10000000000001072000000 1072	Cathedral Church of St Mary	Local government district (Non-metropolitan borough)	East Midlands, England		0.93,541 (2011)
Lisburn (Irish: Lios na gCearrbhach)	&10000000000002002000000 2002	n/a	Local government district	Northern Ireland		0.120,165 (2011)
Liverpool	&10000000000001880000000 1880	Cathedral Church of Christ	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	North West, England		0.466,415 (2011)
City of London	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral Church of St Paul	Local government district (sui generis and county)	London		0.7,375 (2011)
Manchester	&10000000000001853000000 1853	Cathedral & Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys, & St George	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	North West, England		0.503,127 (2011)
Newcastle upon Tyne	&10000000000001882000000 1882	Cathedral Church of St Nicholas	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	North East, England		0.280,177 (2011)
Newport (Casnewydd)	&10000000000002002000000 2002	n/a	Local government district	Wales		0.145,736 (2011)
Newry (Irish: Iúr Cinn Trá) (Ulster-Scots: Newrie)	&10000000000002002000000 2002	n/a	none	Northern Ireland		0.29,946 (2008, settlement population)
Norwich	&10000000000001094000000 1094	Cathedral Church of the Holy & Undivided Trinity	Local government district	East, England		0.132,512 (2011)
Nottingham	&10000000000001897000000 1897	n/a	Local government district (Unitary)	East Midlands, England		0.305,680 (2011)
Oxford	&10000000000001542000000 1542	Cathedral Church of Christ	Local government district	South East, England		0.151,906 (2011)
Perth (Scots: Pairth) (Scottish Gaelic: Peairt)	&10000000000002012000000 2012 (Burgh: 12th century)	n/a	none	Scotland		0.45,770
Peterborough	&10000000000001541000000 1541	Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul, & St Andrew	Local government district (Unitary)	East, England		0.183,631 (2011)
Plymouth	&10000000000001928000000 1928	n/a	Local government district (Unitary)	South West, England		0.256,384 (2011)
Portsmouth	&10000000000001926000000 1926	n/a	Local government district (Unitary)	South East, England		0.205,056 (2011)
Preston	&10000000000002002000000 2002	n/a	Local government district	North West, England		0.140,202 (2011)
Ripon	&10000000000001836000000 1836	Cathedral Church of SS Peter & Wilfrid	Civil parish	Yorkshire and the Humber, England		0.16,702 (2011)
St Albans	&10000000000001877000000 1877	Cathedral & Abbey Church of St Alban	Local government district (Non-metropolitan borough)	East, England		0.140,644 (2011)
St Asaph (Llanelwy)	&10000000000002012000000 2012	n/a	Community	Wales		0.3,355 (2011)
St David's (Tyddewi)	&10000000000001994000000 1994	n/a	Community	Wales		0.1,841 (2011)
Salford	&10000000000001926000000 1926	n/a	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	North West, England		0.233,933 (2011)
Salisbury	&10000000000001227000000 1227	Cathedral Church of St Mary	Civil parish	South West, England		0.40,302 (2011)
Sheffield	&10000000000001893000000 1893	n/a	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	Yorkshire and the Humber, England		0.552,698 (2011)
Southampton	&10000000000001964000000 1964	n/a	Local government district (Unitary)	South East, England		0.236,882 (2011)
Stirling (Scots: Stirlin) (Scottish Gaelic: Sruighlea)	&10000000000002002000000 2002	n/a	none	Scotland		0.34,790
Stoke-on-Trent	&10000000000001925000000 1925	n/a	Local government district (Unitary)	West Midlands, England		0.249,008 (2011)
Sunderland	&10000000000001992000000 1992	n/a	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	North East, England		0.275,506 (2011)
Swansea (Abertawe)	&10000000000001969000000 1969	n/a	Local government district	Wales		0.239,023 (2011)
Truro (Truru)	&10000000000001877000000 1877	Cathedral Church of St Mary	Civil parish	South West, England		0.18,766 (2011)
Wakefield	&10000000000001888000000 1888	Cathedral Church of All Saints	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	Yorkshire and the Humber, England		0.325,837 (2011)
Wells	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral Church of St Andrew	Civil parish	South West, England		0.10,536 (2011)
City of Westminster	&10000000000001540000000 1540	Collegiate Church of St Peter (Westminster Abbey)	Local government district (London borough)	London		0.219,396 (2011)
Winchester	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity	Local government district (Non-metropolitan borough)	South East, England		0.116,595 (2011)
Wolverhampton	&10000000000002000000000 2000	n/a	Local government district (Metropolitan borough)	West Midlands, England		0.249,470 (2011)
Worcester	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral Church of Christ & St Mary	Local government district	West Midlands, England		0.98,768 (2011)
York	&10000000000001066000000 time immemorial	Cathedral & Metropolitical Church of St Peter	Local government district (Unitary)	Yorkshire and the Humber, England		0.198,051 (2011)

See also: list of royal burghs of Scotland

British Overseas Territories

There are a number of cities in the British Overseas Territories, such as the City of James Town on Saint Helena. These are however not part of the United Kingdom.pl:Miasta ze statusem City w Wielkiej Brytanii