Nottingham
Nottingham (Listeni/ˈnɒtɪŋəm/ NOT-ing-əm) is a city in Nottinghamshire, England, 30 miles (48 km) south of Sheffield and 30 miles (48 km) north of Leicester. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle (notably Raleigh bikes) and tobacco industries. It was granted its city charter in 1897 as part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Nottingham is a tourist destination; in 2011, visitors spent over £1.5 billion - the thirteenth highest amount in England's 111 statistical territories. In 2013, Nottingham had an estimated population of 310,837 with the wider urban area, which includes many of the city's suburbs, having a population of 729,977. Its urban area is the largest in the East Midlands and the second largest in the Midlands. The population of the Nottingham/Derby metropolitan area is estimated to be 1,543,000. Its metropolitan economy is the seventh largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $50.9bn (2014). The city is also ranked as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Nottingham has an award-winning public transport system, including the largest publicly owned bus network in England and is also served by Nottingham railway station and the modern Nottingham Express Transit tram system. It is also a major sporting centre, and in October 2015 was named 'Home of English Sport'. The National Ice Centre, National Watersports Centre, and Trent Bridge international cricket ground are all based in or around the city, which is also the home of professional football, rugby, ice hockey and cricket teams, and the Aegon Nottingham Open, an international tennis tournament on the ATP and WTA tours. This accolade came just over a year after Nottingham was named as the UK's first City of Football. On 11 December 2015, Nottingham was named a UNESCO City of Literature, joining Melbourne, Prague and Barcelona as one of only a handful in the world. The title reflects Nottingham's literary heritage, with Lord Byron, DH Lawrence and Alan Sillitoe having links to the city. It has two universities, the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, which are attended by over 60,000 students.
