Belfast

Belfast is one of the youngest capital cities in the world and it has grown incredibly fast. Today the city has a population of 400,000, nearly a third of the entire population of Northern Ireland, but in the 17th century it was only a village. Then, during the 19th century, the development of industries like linen, rope-making, engineering, tobacco and the sea-trade doubled the town's size every ten years. The city is well-known for shipbuilding - it was here that the 'Titanic' was built and sent out on her fatal maiden voyage.

Some of the Belfast streets have often been the scenes of violence - street-names such as the Falls Road and Shankill Road are well known throughout Britain because they have been heard so often on the news - but people still live in Belfast, and they can and do go out and enjoy themselves. In spite of the years of trouble, there are many cultural and leisure facilities.

Susan Sheerin, Jonathan Seath, Gillian White: Spotlight on Britain; Oxford University Press, 1985, page 106