Bradford

This article is about the city itself. For the metropolitan borough (division of West Yorkshire county), and the local authority, see City of Bradford. For other uses, see Bradford (disambiguation).

Bradford
City
Coat of arms of Bradford
Bradford is located in West Yorkshire
Bradford
Bradford
Location within West Yorkshire
Area141.313 sq mi (366.00 km2)
Population546,976 [1]
• Density3,871/sq mi (1,495/km2)
DemonymBradfordian[2]
OS grid referenceSE163329
• London174 mi (280 km) S
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Areas of the city
(2011 census BUASD)
List
Post townBRADFORD
Postcode districtBD1–BD24
Dialling code01274/ 01535
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
Websitebradford.gov.uk
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°48′N 1°45′W / 53.800°N 1.750°W / 53.800; -1.750

Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the 1974 reform, the city status has belonged to the larger City of Bradford metropolitan borough. It had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 census, making it the second-largest subdivision of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area after Leeds, which is approximately 9 miles (14 km) to the east. The borough had a population of 552,644, making it the 9th most populous district in England.

Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city grew in the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest industrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the "wool capital of the world"; this in turn gave rise to the nicknames "Woolopolis" and "Wool City".[3] Lying in the eastern foothills of the Pennines, the area's access to supplies of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated the growth of a manufacturing base, which, as textile manufacture grew, led to an explosion in population and was a stimulus to civic investment. There is a large amount of listed Victorian architecture in the city including the grand Italianate city hall.[4]

From the mid-20th century, deindustrialisation caused the city's textile sector and industrial base to decline and, since then, it has faced similar economic and social challenges to the rest of post-industrial Northern England, including poverty, unemployment and social unrest. It is the third-largest economy within the Yorkshire and the Humber region at around £10 billion, which is mostly provided by financial and manufacturing industries. It is also a tourist destination, the first UNESCO City of Film and it has the National Science and Media Museum, a city park, the Alhambra theatre and Cartwright Hall. The city is the UK City of Culture for 2025 having won the designation on 31 May 2022.[5]

  1. ^ "Estimates of the population for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
  2. ^ "Homegrown heroes... and the ones who got away". The Yorkshire Post. 22 November 2004. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  3. ^ "History of Bradford". Visit Bradford. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  4. ^ "Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings | Descriptions of listed buildings". Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  5. ^ Deas, Brad (1 June 2022). "Delight as Bradford is named UK City of Culture 2025". The Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 7 June 2022.