Bristol

Bristol ( ) is a city and ceremonial county in South West England. It is on the River Avon, and bordered by Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south, with a short coastline on the Bristol Channel to the west. The county includes most of the Bristol conurbation, but the urban area extends into South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset, and North Somerset. The county is almost entirely urbanised and had an estimated population of 494,399 in 2024, making Bristol the most populous city in the region. For local government purposes the county is a unitary authority area governed by Bristol City Council. The council is a member of the West of England Combined Authority, which allows it to collaborate with South Gloucestershire Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council. Iron Age hillforts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon. Bristol received a royal charter in 1155, but was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until it became a county corporate in 1373. From the 13th to the 18th centuries, Bristol was among the top three English cities, after London, in tax receipts. A major port, Bristol was a starting place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. At the height of the Bristol slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slave ships carried an estimated 500,000 people from Africa to slavery in the Americas. The Port of Bristol has since moved from Bristol Harbour in the city centre to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock. The city's modern economy is built on the creative media, electronics, and aerospace industries; the city-centre docks have been redeveloped as cultural and heritage centres. There are a variety of artistic and sporting organisations and venues,...