Glasgow

Glasgow ( Glesga ; Glaschu ) is the largest city in Scotland, and third-largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, the city is now located within the boundaries of Glasgow City Council – one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It is situated on the River Clyde in the country's West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as "Glaswegians" or "Weegies". Glasgow is the fourth most visited city in the UK.

Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. Expanding from the medieval bishopric and royal burgh, and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow in the fifteenth century, it became a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. From the eighteenth century onwards, the city also grew as one of Great Britain's main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America and the West Indies.

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the population and economy of Glasgow and the surrounding region expanded rapidly to become one of the world's pre-eminent centres of chemicals, textiles and engineering; most notably in the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry, which produced many innovative and famous vessels. Glasgow was the "Second City of the British Empire" for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, although many cities argue the title was theirs.

In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Glasgow's population grew rapidly, reaching a peak of 1,127,825 people in 1938. Comprehensive urban renewal projects in the 1960s, resulting in large-scale relocation of people to designated new towns; such as Cumbernauld, Livingston, East Kilbride and peripheral suburbs, followed by successive boundary changes, reduced the population of the City of Glasgow council area to an estimated 615,070, with 1,209,143 people living in the Greater Glasgow urban area. The wider metropolitan area is home to over 1,800,000 people, equating to around 33% of Scotland's population. The city has one of the highest densities of any locality in Scotland at 4,023/km2

Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is also well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry referred to as the Old Firm, between Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow is also known for the Glasgow patter, a distinct dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city.