Bristol has an approximate population of 433,100 in 2009, and a lbigger urban area of 1,070,000 in 2007. It is the 8th largest city in the UK and is the unofficial capital of the West Country of England. The Royal Charter was received in the year 1155, plus in 1373 county status was given. Closest cities to Bristol are historic Bath, Gloucester and Cardiff. Bordering are the countiesof Somerset and Gloucestershire. Following archaeological artefacts from the Paleolithic era, it has been shown that Bristol’s history as a living populace dates back around 60,000 years. Rate ArticlesThe city of Bristol was constructed around the short coastline of the River Severn Estuary and the River Avon. This thus created a substantial boating and shipping heritage. In the thirteenth century, shipbuilding and manufacturing were its primary industries and this diffused to commerce with Ireland and Iceland in the fifteenth century, by the sixteenth century, Bristol was doing commerce further abroad to Spain and the Americas. Rate EssaysBristol Cathedral dates back to 1140 and was once the Abbey of St Augustine. Slave business was abolished in 1807, however, prior to this it was established between the UK and the Americas in the seventeenth century. The Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the city have a firm link because Brunkel composed and made the Bristol Temple Meads Station and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Later, in 2002, Brunel was voted as one of the most influential citizens in British history. Rate LiteratureBristol University was created in 1909. In 1992, the West of England University was developed from Bristol Polytechnic, one of the country’s top centres for design and media studies.In World War II, the centre of the city was violently bombed by the German Luftwaffe in a bid to stultify England’s shipping routes in the south-west of the country. The city was reconstructed in the 1960s. The rebuilt included tower blocks and road expansion.Bristol is an great base for visiting the West Country and is a culturally resonant city, with a wide potpourri of attractions and events.Attractions:-* At-Bristol shows the operations of our world. Plus explores is a mixture of special exhibitions – from animation to flight, illusions and sport!* Bristol Zoo Gardens is the oldest zoo external to a conurbation and the fifth oldest in the world.* Blue Reef Aquarium encloses living corals, seahorse, puffer fish, and amongst other flora and fauna, tropical sharks.* Brunel’s SS Great Britain – the world’s 1st passenger liner to be iron hulled, steam-powered and screw propeller-driven. The ship was constructed by Brunel in 1843 and now preserved in a dry-dock alongside the city’s floating harbour.* Clifton Suspenson Bridge – perhaps Bristol’s most famous landmark. The 19th century suspension bridge, built by Brunel, spans the outstanding Avon Gorge at a height of 75m.* Cabot Circus – the city centre of Bristol has over 120 shops, with 15 important flagship stores in the shopping complex.* Bristol Museum and Art Gallery is the main museum in the city.* Ferry Boat Company Over the day a round trip tour, hop-on and hop-off, or getting from A to B; and to many harbour-side attractions.* Pirate Walks – one hour walking tour, which is guided, of Bristol’s historical harbour-side. There are walking tours of the maritime history of Bristol in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.* Clifton Downs and Observatory is in The Downs, which is a big undeveloped space inside Bristol, with panorama including the suspension bridge and the Avon Gorge. At the top of the Downs is the Observatory, which houses a camera obscura and a cave which runs down through a perpendicualr cliff face to an observation point.*Bristol to Bath Railway Cycle Path runs on a disused railway line. It runs from central Bristol to Bath.