Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, northwest England. It had a population of 486,100 in 2021.[8] The city is located on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, adjacent to the Irish Sea, and is approximately 178 miles (286 km) from London. Liverpool is the fifth largest city in the United Kingdom, and the largest settlement in Merseyside. The city forms part of a larger urban region of over 2 million people which extends into the neighbouring counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Liverpool is part of the Liverpool City Region, a combined authority with a population of over 1.5 million.[12] [13][14][15]
This article is about the city in England. For the namesake football club, see Liverpool F.C. For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation).
Liverpool
1207
1880
- Paula Barker (L)
- Ian Byrne (L)
- Dan Carden (L)
- Maria Eagle (L)
- Kim Johnson (L)
51.5 sq mi (133.5 km2)
43.2 sq mi (111.8 km2)
42.62 sq mi (110.39 km2)
486,100
11,220/sq mi (4,332/km2)
506,565
- Liverpudlian
- Scouser (colloq.)
- 57.3% Christianity
- 29.4% no religion
- 5.3% Islam
- 0.8% Hinduism
- 0.4% Buddhism
- 0.4% Judaism
- 0.1% Sikhism
- 0.4% other
- 5.9% not stated
0151
E08000012
2021 estimate[11]
£15.9 billion
£32,841
Liverpool was established as a borough in 1207 in the county of Lancashire and became a significant town in the late seventeenth century, when the port at nearby Chester began to silt up. The Port of Liverpool became heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade, with the first slave ship departing from the town in 1699. The port also imported much of the cotton required by the neighbouring Lancashire textile mills, and became a major departure point for English and Irish emigrants to North America. In the 19th century, Liverpool rose to global economic importance at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and built the first intercity railway, the first non-combustible warehouse system (the Royal Albert Dock), and a pioneering elevated electrical railway; it was granted city status in 1880. In common with many British cities, the city entered a period of decline in the mid-20th century, though it experienced unprecedented levels of regeneration after it was selected as the European Capital of Culture in 2008.[16][17]
Liverpool's modern economy is diversified. The city has a significant influence on sectors such as tourism, culture, maritime, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, creative, and digital.[18][19][20] The city contains the second-highest number of national museums, listed buildings, and listed parks in the UK, with only London having more.[21] It is often used as a filming location due to its architecture, and was one of the top five cities in the UK most visited by overseas tourists in 2022. It is England's only UNESCO City of Music and has produced many notable musical acts, most notably the Beatles, while musicians from the city have released more chart-topping hit singles than anywhere else in the world. It has also produced countless actors, artists, poets, and writers. In sports, the city is known as the home of Premier League football teams Everton FC and Liverpool FC. The city's port was the fourth-largest in the UK in 2020, and numerous shipping and freight lines have headquarters and offices there.
Residents of Liverpool are often called "Scousers" in reference to scouse, a local stew made popular by sailors in the city, and the name is also applied to the distinct local accent. The city has a culturally and ethnically diverse population and historically attracted many immigrants, especially from Ireland, Scandinavia, and Wales. It is the home of the earliest black community in the UK, the earliest Chinese community in Europe, and the first mosque in England.[22]
Toponymy
The name comes from the Old English lifer, meaning thick or muddy water, and pōl, meaning a pool or creek, and is first recorded around 1190 as Liuerpul.[23][24] According to the Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, "The original reference was to a pool or tidal creek now filled up into which two streams drained".[25] The place appearing as Leyrpole, in a legal record of 1418, may also refer to Liverpool.[26] Other origins of the name have been suggested, including "elverpool", a reference to the large number of eels in the Mersey.[27] The adjective "Liverpudlian" was first recorded in 1833.[24]
Although the Old English origin of the name Liverpool is beyond dispute, claims are sometimes made that the name Liverpool is of Welsh origin, but these are without foundation. The Welsh name for Liverpool is Lerpwl, from a former English local form Leerpool. This is a reduction of the form "Leverpool" with the loss of the intervocalic [v] (seen in other English names and words e.g. Daventry (Northamptonshire) > Danetry, never-do-well > ne’er-do-well).
In the 19th century, some Welsh publications used the name "Lle'r Pwll" ("(the) place (of) the pool"), a reinterpretation of Lerpwl, probably in the belief that "Lle'r Pwll" was the original form.
Another name, which is widely known even today, is Llynlleifiad, again a 19th-century coining. "Llyn" is pool, but "lleifiad" has no obvious meaning. G. Melville Richards (1910–1973), a pioneer of scientific toponymy in Wales, in "Place Names of North Wales",[28] does not attempt to explain it beyond noting that "lleifiad" is used as a Welsh equivalent of "Liver".
A derivative form of a learned borrowing into Welsh (*llaf) of Latin lāma (slough, bog, fen) to give "lleifiad" is possible, but unproven.