Liverpool

Liverpool is a cathedral, port city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Merseyside, England. It had a population of 496,770 in 2022.[3] The city is located on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, adjacent to the Irish Sea, and is approximately 178 miles (286 km) from London. Liverpool is the fifth largest city in the United Kingdom, the largest settlement in Merseyside and part of the Liverpool City Region, a combined authority with a population of over 1.5 million.[5] Liverpool was established as a borough in 1207 in the county of Lancashire and became a significant town in the late seventeenth century, when the port at nearby Chester began to silt up. The Port of Liverpool became heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade, with the first slave ship departing from the town in 1699. The port also imported much of the cotton required by the neighbouring Lancashire textile mills, and became a major departure point for English and Irish emigrants to North America. In the 19th century, Liverpool rose to global economic importance at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and built the first intercity railway, the first non-combustible warehouse system (the Royal Albert Dock), and a pioneering elevated electrical railway; it was granted city status in 1880. In common with many British cities, the city entered a period of decline in the mid-20th century, though it experienced regeneration after its selection as the European Capital of Culture in 2008.[6][7]