Birmingham , City and metropolitan borough (pop., 2001: 977,091), central England. Birmingham lies 100 mi (160 km) northwest of London. Its first charter was granted in 1166. It was a small manufacturing town until the 18th century, when it became a centre of the Industrial Revolution, counting among its citizens James Watt, Joseph Priestley, and John Baskerville. It suffered heavy bombing during World War II but was subsequently rebuilt. It remains the chief centre of Britain’s light and medium industry, and it is also the cultural centre for a wide area. Birmingham is the site of two universities and of a grammar school founded by King Edward VI in 1552.
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England, predominant constituent unit of the United Kingdom, occupying more than half of the island of Great Britain. Outside the British Isles, England is often erroneously considered synonymous with the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and even with the entire United
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United Kingdom, island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe. The United Kingdom comprises the whole of the island of Great Britain—which contains England, Wales, and Scotland—as well as the northern portion of the island of Ireland. The name Britain is sometimes used to