Glasgow Travel Guide
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About Glasgow
Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in west central Scotland. It is the third-most populous city in the United Kingdom and comprises 23 wards which represent the areas within the city boundaries. Glasgow is a leading city in Scotland for university education and research, finance, industry, commerce, shopping, culture and fashion, and was commonly referred to as the "second city of the British Empire" for much of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 632,350. More than 1,000,000 people live in the Greater Glasgow urban area, while the wider Glasgow City Region is home to more than 1,800,000 people around a third of Scotland's population. The city has a population density of 3,562 people per km2, much higher than the average of 70/km2 for Scotland as a whole. Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement close to Glasgow Cathedral and descending to the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Scotland, and the tenth-largest by tonnage in Britain. Expanding from the medieval bishopric and episcopal burgh (subsequently royal burgh), and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow in the 15th century, it became a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century. Glasgow became a county in 1893, the city having previously been in the historic county of Lanarkshire, and later growing to also include settlements that were once part of Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire. It is now one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, and is administered by Glasgow City Council.