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The second city of the United Kingdom is an unofficial claim made at various times by several cities since the establishment of the UK in 1801. Commonly a country's second city is the city that is thought to be the second most important, usually after the capital or first city according to criteria such as population size, economic importance and cultural contribution. Historically several cities have been considered the "second city of the British Empire", both Glasgow and Liverpool were burgeoning major industrial cities throughout the 19th century with competing claims to be the busiest ports in the world for ship building and freight transport, Calcutta also laid the claim from as far away as India as the most populous city while in 1911 the editor of the Irish times laid a claim for Dublin during a ceremonial visit by George V. Since the establishment of the Commonwealth in 1949 several cities have made claims to be the "second city of the Commonwealth" (often with particular reference to the significance of the Commonwealth Games) in particular Manchester in 2000 and Glasgow again in 2012. In contrast throughout much of the 20th Century Birmingham has generally been regarded as the second city of the United Kingdom in terms of populace and GDP while Edinburgh has been promoted as the second city by virtue as the capital of Scotland.〔(New York Times, August 6, 1989 ): "Edinburgh's castle high on the rock has looked down on many a triumph and tragedy in the proud Scots capital, but every year since 1947, Britain's ''Second City'' steals the spotlight from London during the three weeks of the international festival."〕 Less authoratitive claims have been made on behalf of Cardiff & Belfast due to their status as the respective capital cities Wales & Northern Ireland. ==History== Since the formation of the United Kingdom, several places have been described as the "second city". Dublin was the second most populous city at the time of the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, though it lost that position later in the 19th century as other cities grew through more rapid industrialisation.〔(BBC: "A Short History of Ireland" ) – "The population, which had been 58,000 in 1683, was close to 129,000 by 1772 and 182,000 including the garrison by 1798, making Dublin the second largest city in the British Empire."〕 As such, it was often described as the second city of the UK.〔Sidney Edwards Morse and Jedidiah Morse, ''A New System of Geography, Ancient and Modern'', p.177, 1824〕 Dublin, and the rest of the Republic of Ireland, became independent of the UK in the 1920s. The title Second City of Empire or Second City of the British Empire was claimed by a number of cities in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Commercial trading city Liverpool was regarded as holding this title with its massive port, merchant fleet and world-wide trading links.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/catalogue/book.asp?id=2680 )〕〔http://www.liv.ac.uk/researchintelligence/issue30/liverpool800.html Liverpool University: "... the city's pre-eminent position at the turn of the 19th century resulted from the port's willingness to handle a very wide range of cargo (including millions of migrants to the new world). Liverpool was second only to London in this respect – and this, together with its great ethnic diversity, was the basis of its claim to being the 'second city of empire'."〕〔(Untitled Document )〕 Liverpool was constantly referred to as the New York of Europe. Others included Dublin,〔"When you remember that Dublin has been a capital for thousands of years, that it is the second city of the British Empire, that it is nearly three times as big as Venice it seems strange that no artist has given it to the world." James Joyce, Letter to Stanislaus Joyce, c. 24 September 1905 (''Letters of James Joyce'', vol. II, pp. 109–112. (Viking Press, 1966).〕 Glasgow (which continues to use the title as a marketing slogan),〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Second City )〕 and (outside the UK) Calcutta〔(Tourism of India – Special Feature – Relics of the Raj )〕 and Philadelphia. Prior to the union with Scotland in 1707, from the English Civil War until the 18th century, Norwich was the second-largest city of England, being a major trading centre, Britain's richest provincial city and county town of Norfolk, at that time the most populous county of England. Bristol was the second wealthiest city in England in the 16th century;〔J. E. T. and A. G. L. Rogers, ''A History of Agriculture and Prices in England'', p.82, 1887〕 and by the 18th century, Bristol was often described as the second city of England.〔Charles Knight, ''The Popular History of England'', p.8, 1859〕 During the 19th century, claims were made for Manchester,〔Robert Southey, ''Letters from England'', p.177, 1836〕 Liverpool〔James Richard Joy, ''An Outline History of England'', p.26, 1890〕 and York.〔John Major, Aeneas James George Mackay and Thomas Graves Law, ''A History of Greater Britain as Well England as Scotland'', p.xxxvi, 1892〕 York had also been named as the second city in earlier centuries.〔John Macky, ''A Journey Through England'', p.208, 1722〕 By the early 19th century, Glasgow was frequently referred to as the second city;〔For example, see T. H. B. Oldfield, ''The Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland'', p.566, 1816 or Spencer Walpole, ''A History of England from the Conclusion of the Great War in 1815'', p.103, 1878〕 and during much of the 20th century it had a population of over one million, larger than that of Birmingham until the 1951 census. For example, the Official Census population for Glasgow was 0.784 million in April 1911; 1.034 million in April 1921; 1.088 million in April 1931 and 1.090 million in April 1951.〔Roberson, D. J. (1958). "Population, Past and Present". Chapter 2 in: Cunnison, J. and Gilfillan, J. B. S. (1958). ''The Third Statistical Account of Scotland'', Volume V. ''The City of Glasgow''. Glasgow: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.〕 However, slum clearances in the 1960s led to displacement of residents from the city centre to new communities located outside the city boundaries. This, together with local government reorganisation, resulted in the official population of Glasgow falling sharply. The Glasgow City Council area currently has a population of 600,000 although the surrounding conurbation of Greater Glasgow has a population of 1,199,629.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Key Statistics for Settlements and Localities Scotland )〕 In contrast, the population of the city of Birmingham has remained steady around the one million mark; its central population fell like Glasgow's, but the city boundaries were extended several times in the early 20th century. Occasional claims were made for Liverpool,〔D. Appleton, ''Appletons' American Standard Geographies'', p.130, 1881.〕 Birmingham〔W. Stewart & Co., ''The Journal of Education'', p.38, 1867.〕 and Manchester.〔Chetham Society, ''Remains, Historical and Literary, Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancashire and Chester'', 1862, p.531.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Second city of the United Kingdom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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