Glasgow City covers 68 square miles. (see appended map) It is a conurbation on Scotland’s West Coast and part of the Scotland’s “Central Belt” a relatively populated area containing towns such as Cumbernauld and East Kilbride built to take Glasgow’s population overspill in the late 1960’s and 1970’s extending to the City of Edinburgh Scotland’s Capital (with a population of 471,650) 46 miles away on the East Coast.
Glasgow is situated on the West Coast of Scotland and is cut by the River Clyde a natural resource which once allowed Glasgow and its hinterland’s early industrial history based on heavy engineering – coal mining and ship building to thrive on its banks. The Clyde Valley within which Glasgow sits is bounded by the low hills. The city is well served by motorway and train routes and is served by two airports Glasgow Airport and Glasgow Prestwick International to the South.
The General Register Office for Scotland estimates that Scotland’s Population in 2008 was 5,168,500 of which 584,240 live in Glasgow City. The working age population in Glasgow city is 392,028.
Migrant workers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia (the A8) were significant in Glasgow’s rising population following EU expansion. There is anecdotal evidence that migrant workers may be leaving Scotland due to the recession. Scottish Government policy is very welcoming of the economic contribution migrant workers can make to the Scottish economy. There is a small black and minority ethnic community in addition to the A8 migrants concentrated geographically in Scotland upon Glasgow.
In 1811 Glasgow had become the second city of the British Empire. It is now larger than any other city in Britain outside London. By 1900 Glasgow was at its peak of industrial production and the major contributor to Scottish industry. Since this industrial heyday Glasgow declined but then resurged as a hub for tourism, retail, leisure with an emerging service based economy.