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Encyclopedia :
B :
BE :
BEL :
Belfast |
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Belfast
GeographyThe name Belfast originates from the Irish Béal Feirste, or the mouth of the Farset, the river on which the city was built. Interestingly, the river Farset has been superseded by the River Lagan as the most important river; the Farset now languishes under Bridge Street in obscurity. To the north of Belfast are the Antrim Hills in County Antrim, and to the south, the Castlereagh Hills in County Down. Overlooking the city are Black Mountain and Cavehill - the famous Napoleon's nose is a basaltic outcrop here which forms the border with neighbouring Glengormley. Points of interestThe City Hall, dating from 1903, Queen's University, Belfast (1849), and other Victorian and Edwardian buildings display a large number of sculptures. Among the grandest buildings are two former banks: Ulster Bank (1860), in Waring Street and Northern Bank (1769), in nearby Donegall Street. The world's largest dry dock is located in the city, and the giant cranes (Samson and Goliath) of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, builders of the Titanic, can be seen from afar. Other long gone industries included Irish linen and rope-making.
Belfast is the home of the News Letter (historically known as "The tuppenny liar"), the oldest newspaper in the world still in publication. Other main newspapers include The Irish News (historically known as "the penny liar") and The Belfast Telegraph. HistoryThe site of Belfast has been occupied since the Bronze ages, and the remains of Iron Age hill forts can still be seen. In the early 17th century Belfast was settled by English and Scottish settlers, under a plan by Sir Arthur Chichester to colonise and remove Irish Catholics from the land. This caused much tension with the existing Irish Catholic population who rebelled in 1641, when England was distracted with its Civil War. The resulting slaughter is still strong in Ulster Protestant folk memory. It was later settled by a small number of French Huguenots who established a sizeable linen trade. Belfast became the centre of Irish Protestantism, and in 1922 it was declared the capital of Northern Ireland after Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State (later to become the Republic of Ireland, when it withdrew from the British Commonwealth in 1949). During the Second World War, Belfast was heavily bombed by German forces due to its concentration of heavy shipbuilding and aerospace industries. Much of the city was flattened. For much of its history, Belfast has been racked by sectarian divisions between Roman Catholics and Protestants, and was hit hard by The Troubles of the 1960s-1990s. The formation of the Laganside Corporation in 1989 heralded the start of the regeneration of the River Lagan and its surrounding areas in Belfast. Local PoliticsIn the 2001 elections, the voters of Belfast elected 51 councillors to Belfast City Council from the following political parties: 14 Sinn Féin, 11 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 10 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 9 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), 3 Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), 3 Alliance Party and 1 Ulster Democratic Party. Belfast has four UK parliamentary and Assembly constituencies - North Belfast, West Belfast, South Belfast and East Belfast. All four extend somewhat beyond the city boundaries into parts of Castlereagh, Lisburn and Newtownabbey districts. In 2001, these elected 2 DUP MPs, 1 Ulster Unionist MP and 1 Sinn Féin MP. In 2003, they elected 7 Sinn Féin, 6 DUP, 5 Ulster Unionist, 4 SDLP, 1 PUP, and 1 Alliance MLAs (members of the Northern Ireland Assembly). Notable peopleFamous people from or living in Belfast
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