Whether Belfast is your intended destination or just a brief stopover on the way to your new home, we have compiled this guide to help you get your bearings on arrival. To obtain more details about the city check out the websites listed at the end of this profile.
In the 2001 census, the population within the city limits (the Belfast Urban Area) was 276,459, while 579,554 people lived in the wider Belfast Metropolitan Area.
Belfast (from the Irish: B?al Feirste meaning "Mouth of the (River) Farset") is the capital of Northern Ireland. It is the largest urban area in Northern Ireland and the province of Ulster and the second-largest city in Ireland. Belfast is situated on Ireland's eastern coast and is flanked to the northwest by a series of hills. Belfast is located at the western end of Belfast Lough and at the mouth of the River Lagan making it an ideal location for the shipbuilding industry that once made it famous.
The IRA Ceasefire in 1994 and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 have given investors increased confidence to invest in Belfast. This has led to a period of sustained economic growth and large-scale redevelopment of the city centre. New developments include Victoria Square, the Cathedral Quarter, and the Laganside with the new Odyssey complex and the landmark Waterfront Hall. Today, Belfast is Northern Ireland's educational and commercial hub.
Belfast is a relatively car-dependent city, by European standards, with an extensive road network including the ten lane M2 motorway. Black taxis are common in the city, operating on a share basis in some areas. Bus and rail public transport in Northern Ireland is operated by subsidiaries of Translink. Bus services in the city proper and the nearer suburbs are operated by Translink Metro, with services focusing on linking residential districts with the City Centre on twelve quality bus corridors running along main radial roads, resulting in poor connections between different suburban areas. More distant suburbs are served by Ulsterbus. Northern Ireland Railways provides suburban services along three lines. This service is known as the Belfast Suburban Raill system. Belfast also has a direct rail connection with Dublin.
The city has two airports: the Belfast International Airport offers domestic, European and transatlantic flights and is located north of the city while the George Best Belfast City Airport is closer to the city centre. Belfast has a large port which is used for exporting and importing goods, and for passenger ferry services.
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Since 2001, boosted by increasing numbers of tourists, the city council has developed a number of cultural quarters. The Cathedral Quarter takes its name from St Anne's Cathedral (Church of Ireland) and has taken on the mantle of the city's key cultural locality. It hosts a yearly visual and performing arts festival.
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In March 2008, Victoria Square, a GBP400m shopping complex opened in the centre of Belfast, consisting of shops, restaurants, a cinema, increasing the shopping area of Belfast by up to a third.
Custom House Square is one of the city's main outdoor venues for free concerts and street entertainment. The Gaeltacht Quarter is an area around the Falls Road in West Belfast which promotes and encourages the use of the Irish language. The Queens Quarter in South Belfast is named after Queens University. The area has a large student population and hosts the annual Belfast Festival at Queen's each autumn. It is home to Botanic Gardens and the Ulster Museum, closed for major redevelopment until 2009. The Golden Mile is the name given to the mile between Belfat City Hall and Queen's University. Taking in Gt. Victoria St, Shaftesbury Square and Bradbury Place, it contains some of the best bars and restaurants in the city.Since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the nearby Lisburn Road has developed into the city's most exclusive shopping strip. Finally, The Titanic Quarter covers 0.75 km² of reclaimed land adjacent to Belfast harbour, formerly known as Queen's Island. Named after the Titanic, which was built here in 1912,work has begun which promises to transform some former shipyard land into "one of the largest waterfront developments in Europe". Plans also include new apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and a major Titanic-themed museum.
Belfast's population is evenly split between its Protestant and Catholic residents (politically Nationalist and Unionist). These two distinct vibrant cultural communities have both contributed significantly to the city's culture. Throughout the Troubles, Belfast artists continued to express themselves through poetry, art and music. In the period since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Belfast has begun a social, economic and cultural transformation giving it a growing international cultural reputation. A combination of relative peace, international investment and an active promotion of arts and culture is attracting more tourists to Belfast than ever before.
The Ulster Orchestra, based in Belfast, is Northern Ireland's only full-time symphony orchestra and is well renowned in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1966, it has existed in its present form since 1981, when the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra was disbanded.
Belfast has over forty public parks. The Forest of Belfast is a partnership between government and local groups, set up in 1992 to manage and conserve the city's parks and open spaces. They have commissioned more than 30 public sculptures since 1993.In 2008, Belast was named a finalist in the Large City (200,001 and over) category of the RHS Britain in Bloom competition.
Watching and playing sports is an important part of Belfast culture. Almost six out of ten (59%) of the adult population in Northern Ireland regularly participate in one or more sports. Belfast has several notable sports teams playing a diverse variety of sports including association football, rugby, Gaelic games, and North American sports like American football and ice hockey. Gaelic football is the most popular spectator sport in Ireland, and Belfast is home to over 20 football and hurling clubs.
Belfast Visitor & Convention Centre
www.gotobelfast.com
Belfast City Council
www.belfastcity.gov.uk
Belfast has a temperate climate. Average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. The city gets significant precipitation (greater than 0.01 in/0.25 mm) on 213 days in an average year with an average annual rainfall of 845.8 millimetres (33.3 in), less than the Lake District or the Scottish Highlands,but higher than Dublin or the south-east coast of Ireland. As an urban and coastal area, Belfast typically gets snow on fewer than 10 days per year.The city is also renowned for how warm it can get during the winter month at its high latitude. In February, temperatures have hit 17 °C, at the same latitude where it is ~-45 °C in Russia and Canada. It is not uncommon for temperatures in summer to reach as high as 27 °C (80 °F) on numerous days. The consistently humid climate that prevails over Ireland can make temperatures feel uncomfortable when they stray into the high 20s (80-85°F), more so than similar temperatures in hotter climates in the rest of Europe.
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Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
|
Avg. Max. |
6°C |
7°C |
9°C |
12°C |
15°C |
18°C |
18°C |
18°C |
16°C |
13°C |
9°C |
7°C |
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Avg. Min. |
2°C |
2°C |
3°C |
4°C |
6°C |
9°C |
11°C |
11°C |
9°C |
7°C |
4°C |
3°C |
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Rainfall mm |
80 |
52 |
50 |
48 |
52 |
68 |
94 |
77 |
80 |
83 |
72 |
90 |
