Bristol

**Bristol** is a city and ceremonial county in England. It is home to nearly 430,000 people. The River Avon runs through it to the Severn estuary.

## Geography

It is between the counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset. In 1373, King Edward III ordered that it should be a county itself forever. However, it lost county status in 1974, the year after its 600-year celebrations. It became the largest district within the new Avon county. Avon was never popular and was abolished in 1996, when county status returned to Bristol, which became a unitary council.

## History

_Bristol_ comes from Old English _Brycgstow_ meaning “bridge-place”. It was a port for 800 years, but now ships are too big to reach the centre, so it has a new port at Avonmouth.

### Historical sites

It has many historic churches and other buildings. The Clifton Suspension Bridge crosses high above the river. The University of Bristol is also in Clifton.

Bristol was a centre for the slave trade.  During the 2020 George Floyd protests, a crowd pushed down the statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston and threw it in the harbour.

Bristol was badly damaged during World War II. It now has many new factories and offices. The Concorde supersonic airliner was made here.

It is also the birthplace of the music genre trip hop, with 3 trip hop bands originating there: Massive Attack, Portishead (named after a North Somerset town) and Tricky.

## Notable people

Some of the most notable people who are currently living, or who are from the city include:

- Banksy - graffiti artist
- Stephen Merchant - writer and comedian
- Russell Howard - comedian and television presenter
- Louie Hill

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Bristol
- **shield alt**: A coat of arms, with a shield showing a sailing ship and a castle with maned lions on either side, surmounted by the helmet from a suit of arms and two hands holding a snake and scales of justice. The motto at the bottom is "Virtute et Industria"
- **population metro**: 1,006,600 (LUZ 2009)
- **population total**: 463,400 (Ranked List of English districts by population, 10th district and 43rd ceremonial county)
- **population urban**: 724,000
- **postal code**: BS
- **postal code type**: Postcode
- **pushpin map**: England#UK#Europe
- **pushpin relief**: 1
- **seat**: City status in the United Kingdom, City, Ceremonial counties of England, county and unitary authority
- **seat type**: Status
- **settlement type**: City
- **shield size**: 150
- **population demonym**: Bristolian
- **subdivision name**: United Kingdom
- **subdivision name1**: England
- **subdivision name2**: South West England, South West
- **subdivision type**: Sovereign state
- **subdivision type1**: Countries of the United Kingdom, Country
- **subdivision type2**: Regions of England, Region
- **timezone1**: GMT (UTC±00:00, UTC)
- **timezone dst**: British Summer Time, BST
- **total type**: City and county
- **utc offset**: +1
- **population density km2**: 3892
- **population blank1 title**: Ethnicity
- **image caption**: Clockwise from top: Bristol Skyline, Wills Memorial Building, Clifton Suspension Bridge and Cabot Tower
- **area code**: 0117, 01275
- **area total km2**: 110
- **elevation ft**: 36
- **elevation m**: 11
- **established date**: 1155
- **established title2**: County status
- **established date2**: 1373
- **established title**: Royal Charter
- **government type**: Unitary authority
- **image shield**:
- **imagesize**: 275
- **iso code**: GB-BST
- **leader name**: Bristol City Council
- **leader title**: Governingbody
- **map alt**: A map showing the location of the county of Bristol in England.
- **map caption**: Location of the county of Bristol in England
- **motto**: _Virtute et industria_
<small>(With courage and industry)</small>
- **population as of**: 2017
- **website**: [https://www.bristol.gov.uk www.bristol.gov.uk]
- **translit lang1**: City of Bristol