Bristol

Bristol
Bristol
City, county and unitary authority
	Clifton Suspension Bridge and observatory Floating Harbour Bristol Cathedral Victoria Rooms The Centre Wills Tower Bristol City Hall
	Coat of arms
	Motto: Latin: Virtute et Industria, lit. 'with courage and industry'
	Bristol shown within England
	Coordinates: 51°27′13″N 02°35′51″W / 51.45361°N 2.59750°W
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	South West
Combined authority	West of England
Royal charter	1155
County corporate	1373
City status	1542
Ceremonial county	1996
Administrative HQ	City Hall
Government
• Type	Unitary authority
• Body	Bristol City Council
• Executive	Committee system
• Control	No overall control
• Leader	Tony Dyer (G)
• Lord Mayor	Henry Michallat
• MPs	5 MPs Carla Denyer (G) ; Kerry McCarthy (L) ; Darren Jones (L) ; Karin Smyth (L) ; Damien Egan (L) ;
Area
• Total	42 sq mi (110 km2)
• Rank	188th
Population (2024)
• Total	494,399
• Rank	13th
• Density	11,680/sq mi (4,508/km2)
Demonym	Bristolian
Ethnicity (2021)
• Ethnic groups	List 81.1% White ; 6.6% Asian ; 5.9% Black ; 4.5% Mixed ; 1.9% other ;
Religion (2021)
• Religion	List 51.4% no religion ; 32.2% Christianity ; 6.7% Islam ; 0.8% Hinduism ; 0.6% Buddhism ; 0.5% Sikhism ; 0.3% Judaism ; 0.8% other ; 6.9% not stated ;
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode area	BS
Dialling codes	0117; 01275; 01454;
ISO 3166 code	GB-BST
GSS code	E06000023
Website	bristol.gov.uk

Bristol (/ˈbrɪstəl/ ^ⓘ) is a city and ceremonial county in South West England. It is located on the River Avon, and bordered by Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south with a short coastline on the Bristol Channel to the west. The county includes the majority of the Bristol conurbation, however, the urban area of the city extends into the neighbouring districts of South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset, and North Somerset.

The county is almost entirely urbanised and had an estimated population of 494,399 in 2024, making Bristol the most populous city in the region. For local government purposes the county is a unitary authority area governed by Bristol City Council. The council is a member of the West of England Combined Authority, which allows it to collaborate with South Gloucestershire Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Iron Age hillforts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon. Bristol received a royal charter in 1155, but was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until it became a county corporate in 1373. From the 13th to the 18th century, Bristol was among the top three English cities, after London, in tax receipts. A major port, Bristol was a starting place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. At the height of the Bristol slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slave ships carried an estimated 500,000 people from Africa to slavery in the Americas. The Port of Bristol has since moved from Bristol Harbour in the city centre to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock.

The city's modern economy is built on the creative media, electronics, and aerospace industries; the city-centre docks have been redeveloped as cultural and heritage centres. There are a variety of artistic and sporting organisations and venues, including the Royal West of England Academy, the Arnolfini, Ashton Gate and the Memorial Ground. The city has two universities: the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). It is connected to the world by Bristol Airport; to the rest of the Great Britain via Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway mainline rail stations; by road by both the south-west to West Midlands M5 and the London to South Wales M4 (which connect to the city centre by the Portway and M32).