Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It lies within the City of Bradford metropolitan borough, in the foothills of the Pennines, 8.6 miles (13.8 km) west of Leeds, and 13 miles (20.9 km) northwest of Wakefield. The City of Bradford metropolitan borough comprises Bradford itself and smaller outlying settlements. The city of Bradford has a population of 293,717, whilst the wider metropolitan borough has a population of 493,100.
Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Bradford rose to prominence during the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest industrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the "wool capital of the world". The area's access to a supply of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated the growth of Bradford's manufacturing base, which, as textile manufacture grew, led to an explosion in population and was a stimulus to civic investment; Bradford has fine Victorian architecture including the grand Italianate City Hall.
Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897. Following a boundary reform in 1974, city status was bestowed upon the wider metropolitan borough.
The textile sector in Bradford fell into a terminal decline from the mid-20th century. Since this time, Bradford has faced similar challenges to the rest of the post-industrial area of Northern England, including deindustrialisation, economic deprivation and housing problems. Since the 1950s Bradford has experienced significant levels of immigration, particularly from Pakistan, and consequently has the fourth highest proportion of Muslims in England and Wales. Since the decline in heavy industry, Bradford has emerged as a tourist destination with attractions such as the National Media Museum, Cartwright Hall, and Saltaire, a World Heritage Site. |
