List of cities in the United Kingdom

Examples of cities in the United Kingdom; Liverpool, Edinburgh, Worcester; and the City of London.

This is a list of cities in the United Kingdom that are officially designated as such as of 12 November 2022.It lists those places that have been granted city status by letters patent or royal charter.

There are currently 76 such cities in the United Kingdom: 55 in England, eight in Scotland, seven in Wales, and six in Northern Ireland. Of these, 24 in England, two in Wales, and two in Northern Ireland have Lord Mayors; four in Scotland have Lord Provosts. In some cases, the area holding city status does not coincide with the built up area or conurbation of which it forms part. In Greater London, for example, the Cities of London and Westminster hold city status separately, but no other local authority in the London Region has been granted city status, nor has the Greater London Authority.

In other cases, such as the cities of Canterbury and Lancaster, the status applies to a local government district which extends over a number of towns and rural areas outside the main settlement proper. In England, city status sometimes applies to civil parishes, such as with Ripon; though the status may not apply to the local government district which share their name. For example, the civil parishes of Lichfield and Chichester each hold city status, but Lichfield District and Chichester District in which they are situated do not.

As of 2022, there are currently five ceremonial counties which contain three cities – Cambridgeshire (Ely, Cambridge and Peterborough), Essex, Hampshire, West Midlands and West Yorkshire. Outside the UK within British overseas cities of the British Overseas Territoriesand Crown Dependencies, there are currently five. The number increased as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations by the addition of Stanley in the Falkland Islands and Douglas in the Isle of Man.

History[]

Main articles: City status in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also Roman cities in Britain.

The earliest cities (Latin: civitas) in Britain were the fortified settlements organised by the Romans as capitals of the Celtic tribes under Roman rule. The British clerics of the early Middle Ages later preserved a traditional list of the "28 Cities" (Old Welsh: cair) which was mentioned in De Excidio Britanniae and Historia Brittonum.

The title of city was initially informal and, into the 20th century, royal charters were considered to recognise city status rather than grant it. The usual criterion in early modern Britain was the presence of a cathedral, particularly after King Henry VIII granted letters patent establishing six new cities when he established a series of new dioceses of the Church of England in the 1540s as part of the English Reformation. No new cities were created between the 16th and 19th centuries, but following the Industrial Revolution and the accompanying population boomand growth in urbanisation, new sees were established at Ripon (1836) and Manchester(1847); their councils began to style them cities immediately. Inverness in Scotland was refused a charter at the time of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria honours of 1897, in part because it would have drawn more attention to the other traditional "cities" still not formally chartered as such.^{[page needed]}

Beginning in the mid-19th century, however, the process became more formal. After a visit by Queen Victoria in 1851, Manchester petitioned Parliament for recognition of its status. Ripon followed in the 1860s, and a series of hitherto informal "cities" were formally recognised in the 1880s and 1890s. On the basis of its size, importance, and regular government, Belfast was elevated in spite of its lack of a cathedral in 1888; other large municipalities followed, while smaller applicants began to be rejected. King Edward VII and the Home Office established three criteria for future applicants in 1907: a minimum population of 300,000, a good record of local government, and a "local metropolitan character". These criteria were not made public, however, and following Leicester's successful elevation in 1919, a series of exceptions were made. The Local Government Act 1972 effectively eliminated all authorities holding city status outside Greater London on 1 April 1974; most of their replacements were confirmed in their predecessor's status—even in cases such as the 1974–2023 City of Carlisle district, where much of the local authority area was undeveloped countryside—but the Borough of Medwaywas not permitted to continue Rochester's title. In recent times there have been competitionsfor new grants of city status. Towns or councils that claim city status or add "city" to their name have been rebuked by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The cities of the Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland were treated separately. Scottish towns irregularly applied the description to themselves, but were formally organised as royal burghs; the special rights of these were preserved by Article XXI of the Treaty of Union which established the single state of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Edinburgh and Glasgowwere confirmed as cities "by ancient usage" in the 18th century, as was Aberdeen, and this was later reconfirmed in the Act enlarging the burgh in 1891. Dundee was granted letters patent in 1889 and Elgin and Perth were recognised as cities by the Home Office in 1972, before the privilege was removed by the Scottish Local Government Act of 1973. In Northern Ireland, only the seat of the Primate of All Ireland at Armagh was accorded city status by ancient usage, and this status was abolished by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840. All other cities have been those explicitly recognised as such.

Thirty-two cities have a Lord Provost (in Scotland) or a Lord Mayor (in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland), see List of lord mayoralties and lord provostships in the United Kingdom. The six cities where the Lord Mayor or Lord Provost has the right to the style The Right Honourableare York, the City of London, Edinburgh, Glasgow (since 1912), Belfast (since 1923), and Cardiff (since 1956).

Statistical role[]

Further information: City status in the United Kingdom § Smallest and largest cities, and City status in the United Kingdom § Populous towns

City status has little statistical significance in UK because it is not a measure of a city's size and only holds a ceremonial status. Historic cities, such as St Davids (a cathedral city in Wales) can be quite small, however newer cities, such as those conferred in 2022, can range in size from anywhere between 50,000 to over 200,000. Populous towns, such as Luton, Northampton and Reading, do not have city status.

Conurbations[]

The term "city" is sometimes loosely applied to conurbations in the UK. The government tends to recognise these as primary urban areas for statistical and economic purposes, though greater urban areas are what most people determine to be a city region. Large cities other than London, such as Manchester or Birmingham, are often confused with these conurbations. Manchester has a significantly lower population than Birmingham, though the Greater Manchester Built-up Area is more populous than the West Midlands conurbation. This question of definition has provoked a second city debate in the United Kingdom.

Conversely, many official cities in the UK contain a substantial rural area encompassing settlements which are physically separated from the core urban area. The City of Milton Keynes(a unitary authority) and City of Colchester (non-metropolitan district) received letters patent which covered an area substantially larger than that of their respective core urban areas; this meant that extra-urban settlements such as the towns of Olney and West Mersea fall within de jure cities.

List of cities[]

De facto			De jure
City	Statistical region	Year granted or confirmed	City	City council status	Population
London	London	"time immemorial"	City of London	Sui generisand ceremonial county	12,156 (2023)
Westminster	London	1540	City of Westminster	London borough	213,119(2023)
Birmingham	West Midlands	1889	City of Birmingham	Metropolitan borough	1,171,467(2023)
Leeds	Yorkshire and the Humber	1893	City of Leeds	Metropolitan borough	829,417(2023)
Glasgow³² (Scots: Glesga) (Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu)	Scotland	mid-18th century (Burgh: 1492)	Glasgow	Council area	620,700(2022)
Manchester	North West England	1853	City of Manchester	Metropolitan borough	627,000(2023)
Sheffield	Yorkshire and the Humber	1893	City of Sheffield	Metropolitan borough	579,082(2023)
Bradford	Yorkshire and the Humber	1897	City of Bradford	Metropolitan borough	556,880(2023)
Edinburgh³² (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann)	Scotland	mid-18th century (Burgh: 1329)	Edinburgh	Council area	512,700(2022)
Liverpool	North West England	1880	City of Liverpool	Metropolitan borough	504,932(2023)
Bristol	South West England	1542	City of Bristol	Unitary authorityand ceremonial county	482,815(2023)
Cardiff (Welsh: Caerdydd)	Wales	1905	Cardiff	Principal area	381,759(2023)
Leicester	East Midlands	1919	City of Leicester	Unitary authority	379,963(2023)
Coventry	West Midlands	1102 ("time immemorial")	City of Coventry	Metropolitan borough	368,483(2023)
Wakefield	Yorkshire and the Humber	1888	City of Wakefield	Metropolitan borough	362,355(2023)
Belfast (Irish: Béal Feirste) (Ulster-Scots dialect: Bilfawst)	Northern Ireland	1888	Belfast		345,418(2021)
Nottingham	East Midlands	1897	City of Nottingham	Unitary authority	330,949(2023)
Newcastle upon Tyne	North East England	1882	City of Newcastle upon Tyne	Metropolitan borough	315,110(2023)
Doncaster	Yorkshire and the Humber	2022	City of Doncaster	Metropolitan borough	314,252(2023)
Milton Keynes	South East England	2022	City of Milton Keynes	Unitary authority	297,180(2023)
Salford	North West England	1926	City of Salford	Metropolitan borough	282,487(2023)
Sunderland	North East England	1992	City of Sunderland	Metropolitan borough	279,556(2023)
Brighton and Hove	South East England	2001	Brighton and Hove	Unitary authority	278,455(2023)
Wolverhampton	West Midlands	2001	City of Wolverhampton	Metropolitan borough	271,173(2023)
Kingston upon Hull	Yorkshire and the Humber	1897	City of Kingston upon Hull	Unitary authority	271,095(2023)
Plymouth	South West England	1928	City of Plymouth	Unitary authority	267,888(2023)
Derby	East Midlands	1977	City of Derby	Unitary authority	265,082(2023)
Stoke-on-Trent	West Midlands	1925	City of Stoke-on-Trent	Unitary authority	261,867(2023)
Southampton	South East England	1964	City of Southampton	Unitary authority	257,160(2023)
Swansea (Welsh: Abertawe)	Wales	1969	Swansea	Principal area	245,440(2023)
Aberdeen³² (Scots: Aiberdeen) (Scottish Gaelic: Obar Dheathain)	Scotland	1891 (Burgh: 1179)	Aberdeen	Council area	224,000(2022)
Peterborough	East of England	1541	City of Peterborough	Unitary authority	218,179(2023)
Portsmouth	South East England	1926²⁴	City of Portsmouth	Unitary authority	209,171(2023)
York	Yorkshire and the Humber	"time immemorial"	City of York	Unitary authority	206,825(2023)
Colchester	East of England	2022	City of Colchester	Non-metropolitan borough	196,808(2023)
Chelmsford	East of England	2012	City of Chelmsford	Non-metropolitan borough	185,288(2023)
Southend-on-Sea	East of England	2022	City of Southend-on-Sea	Unitary authority	182,278(2023)
Oxford	South East England	1542	City of Oxford	Non-metropolitan borough	165,257(2023)
Newport (Welsh: Casnewydd)	Wales	2002	Newport	Principal area	163,547(2023)
Canterbury	South East England	"time immemorial"	City of Canterbury	Non-metropolitan borough	160,351(2023)
Preston	North West England	2002	City of Preston	Non-metropolitan borough	155,634(2023)
Dundee (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Dèagh)	Scotland	1889 (Burgh: 1191)	Dundee	Council area	148,100(2022)
Cambridge	East of England	1951	City of Cambridge	Non-metropolitan borough	147,797(2023)
St Albans	East of England	1877	St Albans City and District	Non-metropolitan borough	147,410(2023)
Lancaster	North West, England	1937	City of Lancaster	Non-metropolitan borough	145,346(2023)
Norwich	East of England	1094 ("time immemorial")	City of Norwich	Non-metropolitan borough	144,251(2023)
Chester	North West England	1541	(Cheshire West and Chester does not hold status)	Charter trustees	138,873(2021)
Exeter	South West England	"time immemorial"	City of Exeter	Non-metropolitan borough	137,462(2023)
Wrexham (Welsh: Wrecsam)	Wales	2022	Wrexham County Borough	Principal area	137,341(2023)
Gloucester	South West, England	1541	City of Gloucester	Non-metropolitan borough	133,998(2023)
Winchester	South East, England	"time immemorial"	City of Winchester	Non-metropolitan borough	132,341(2023)
Durham	North East, England	"time immemorial"	(County Durham does not hold status)	Charter trustees	126,486(2021)
Carlisle	North West, England	1133("time immemorial")	(Cumberland does not hold status)	Charter trustees	110,024(2021)
Worcester	West Midlands	"time immemorial"	City of Worcester	Non-metropolitan borough	104,589(2023)
Lincoln	East Midlands	1072("time immemorial")	City of Lincoln	Non-metropolitan borough	102,392(2023)
Bath	South West, England	1090("time immemorial")	(Bath and North East Somerset does not hold status)	Charter trustees	95,043 (2021)
Derry (Irish: Doire) (Ulster-Scots: Derrie)	Northern Ireland	1604	None	Represented on Derry City and Strabane District Council	85,279 (2021)
Dunfermline	Scotland	2022	None	None	76,210 (2020)
Bangor (Irish: Beannchar)	Northern Ireland	2022	None	Represented on Ards and North Down Borough Council	64,596 (2021)
Inverness (Scots: Inerness) (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Nis)	Scotland	2001	None	None	63,730 (2020)
Hereford	West Midlands	"time immemorial"	Hereford parish	Civil parish	53,113 (2021)
Lisburn (Irish: Lios na gCearrbhach)	Northern Ireland	2002	None	Represented on Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council	51,447 (2021)
Stirling (Scots: Stirlin) (Scottish Gaelic: Sruighlea)	Scotland	2002	None	None	49,950 (2020)
Perth (Scots: Pairth) (Scottish Gaelic: Peairt)	Scotland	2012 (Burgh: 12th century)	None	None	47,350 (2020)
Salisbury	South West England	1227	Salisbury parish	Civil parish	41,552 (2021)
Lichfield	West Midlands	"time immemorial"	Lichfield parish	Civil parish	32,580 (2021)
Chichester	South East England	1075 ("time immemorial")	Chichester parish	Civil parish	29,407 (2021)
Newry (Irish: Iúr Cinn Trá) (Ulster-Scots: Newrie)	Northern Ireland	2002	None	Represented on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council	28,530 (2021)
Truro (Cornish: Truru)	South West England	1877	Truro parish	Civil parish	21,046 (2021)
Ely	East of England	1109 ("time immemorial")	Ely parish	Civil parish	20,574 (2021)
Ripon	Yorkshire and the Humber	1865	Ripon parish	Civil parish	16,590 (2021)
Armagh (Irish: Ard Mhacha) (Ulster-Scots: Airmagh)	Northern Ireland	1994	None	Represented on Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council	16,310 (2021)
Bangor	Wales	"time immemorial"	Bangor community	Community	15,060 (2021)
Wells	South West England	"time immemorial"	Wells parish	Civil parish	11,145 (2021)
St Asaph (Welsh: Llanelwy)	Wales	2012	St Asaph community	Community	3,485 (2021)
St Davids (Welsh: Tyddewi)	Wales	1994	St Davids and the Cathedral Close	Community	1,751 (2021)

Map of the cities[]

The map shows the 76 cities in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and one Crown Dependency, Douglas in the Isle of Man.

Bath

Birmingham

Bradford

Brighton and Hove

Bristol

Cambridge

Canterbury

Carlisle

Chelmsford

Chester

Chichester

Colchester

Coventry

Derby

Doncaster

Durham

Ely

Exeter

Gloucester

Hereford

Kingston upon Hull

Lancaster

Leeds

Leicester

Lichfield

Lincoln

Liverpool

City of London

Manchester

Milton Keynes

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Norwich

Nottingham

Oxford

Peterborough

Plymouth

Portsmouth

Preston

Ripon

Salford

Salisbury

Sheffield

Southampton

Southend-on-Sea

St Albans

Stoke-on-Trent

Sunderland

Truro

Wakefield

Wells

Westminster

Winchester

Wolverhampton

Worcester

York

Aberdeen

Dundee

Dunfermline

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Inverness

Perth

Stirling

Bangor

Cardiff

Newport

St Asaph

St Davids

Swansea

Wrexham

Armagh

Bangor

Belfast

Lisburn

Newry

Derry

Douglas Location of cities in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man: Diocese cities before 1230 English reformation cities (1540–42); Derry (1604) 18th century cities to 2022

Map of cities and their local government boundaries
Map	Key
Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap	Aberdeen Armagh Bangor (Wales) Bangor (Northern Ireland) Bath Belfast Birmingham Bradford Brighton and Hove Bristol Cambridge Canterbury Cardiff Carlisle Chelmsford Chester Chichester City of London City of Westminster Colchester Coventry Derby Derry Doncaster Dundee Dunfermline Durham Edinburgh Ely Exeter Glasgow Gloucester Hereford Inverness Kingston upon Hull Lancaster Leeds Leicester Lichfield Lincoln Lisburn Liverpool Manchester Milton Keynes Newcastle upon Tyne Newport Newry Norwich Nottingham Oxford Perth Peterborough Plymouth Portsmouth Preston Ripon Salford Salisbury Sheffield Southampton Southend-on-Sea St Albans St Asaph St Davids Stirling Stoke-on-Trent Sunderland Swansea Truro Wakefield Wells Winchester Wolverhampton Worcester Wrexham York

Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies[]

Main article: British overseas cities

The British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies do not form part of the United Kingdom but are part of its sovereign territory. Association of city status with cathedrals ended in 1865. There are presently five cities in Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

City	Territory and region	Year granted or confirmed	Population (census date)
Gibraltar	Gibraltar Southwestern Europe	1842	32,194 (2012)
Douglas (Manx: Doolish)	Isle of Man Irish Sea	2022	27,938 (2011)
Stanley	Falkland Islands South Atlantic Ocean	2022	2,460 (2016)
Hamilton	Bermuda North Atlantic Ocean	1897	854 (2016)
Jamestown, St Helena	St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha South Atlantic Ocean	1859	629 (2016)