Glasgow is Scotland's biggest city, lying in the central belt of the country, about 50 miles (75km) from Edinburgh. The city lies on the banks of the River Clyde, and had a history of shipbuilding in the early twentieth century. Its Merchant City, the town centre, was built on revenues from tobacco shipped from Virginia.
Modern buildings in Glasgow include the Glasgow Science Centre and the Royal Concert Hall. Glasgow also boasts a fine selection of parks and museums. The museums include those devoted to transport, religion, and modern art, and the Burrell and Kelvingrove museums of art and antiquities. Along the banks of the Clyde is the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, and shopping centres include the Buchanan Galleries, the glass pyramid of the St Enoch Centre, and the upmarket Princes Square.
Glasgow held a Garden Festival in 1988, and was European Capital of Culture 1990, National City of Sport 1995-99 and UK City of Architecture and Design 1999.
Glasgow hosted the UEFA Champions League final in Hampden stadium in 2002. Apart from the Old Firm of Rangers and Celtic, Glasgow has many other football teams, including Partick Thistle and until its recent takeover by Airdrie, Clydebank.
The Orangemen of Glasgow (members of the Protestant Orange Lodges), parade fairly frequently through the city in the Orange Walk, playing flutes and drums (and holding up traffic).
A native of Glasgow is known as a Glaswegian, as is the city's spoken dialect - you can find some common Glasgow, Edinburgh and Scottish colloquial terms and words here.
The population of Glasgow in 2001 was 577,870.
See also Timeline of Glasgow history.