English Premiership

Portsmouth (pronounced /ˈpɔtsməθ/ ) is a city located in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is the second largest city in Hampshire and is the United Kingdom's only island city and is located on Portsea Island. The City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club are both nicknamed Pompey . The administrative unit itself has a population of 197,700, which forms part of the wider Portsmouth conurbation, with an estimated 442,252 residents within the wider urban area, making it the 11th largest urban area in England. At the 2001 census it was the only city in England with a greater population density (4,639 /km ² (12,015/sq mi)) than London as a whole (4,562 /km ² (11,816/sq mi)), although many of London's individual boroughs had a much greater density.

A significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth is home to the world's oldest dry dock still in use and home to many famous ships, including Nelson's flagship HMS Victory . Portsmouth has declined as a naval base in recent years but remains a major dockyard and base for the Royal Navy and Royal Marine Commandos whose Headquarters resides there. There is also a commercial port serving destinations on the continent for freight and passenger traffic.

The Spinnaker Tower is a recent addition to the city's skyline. It can be found in the recently redeveloped area known as Gunwharf Quays.

The Portsmouth Urban Area covers an area with a population well over twice that of the city of Portsmouth itself, and includes Fareham, Portchester, Gosport, Havant (which includes the large suburbs of Leigh Park), Lee-on-the-Solent, Stubbington and Waterlooville.

The suburbs of Portsmouth arguably form a conurbation stretching from Southampton to Havant on the M27/A27 road along the coast, and north to Clanfield on the A3 road.

A tenth of the city's workforce works at Portsmouth Naval Dockyard, which is directly linked to the city's biggest industry, defence, with major sites for BAE and VT Group located in the city. VT have been awarded some of the construction work on the two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers, although this involved the merger with BAE ship group. This will create 3000 new jobs in the city. There is also a major ferry port which deals with both passengers and cargo. The city is also host to the European headquarters of IBM, and the UK headquarters of Zurich Financial Services, and of the Grumman Aerospace Corporation.

In the last decade the number of shops in Portsmouth has grown dramatically due to both the buoyancy of the local economy and improved transport links. In the city centre, shopping is centred around Commercial Road and the 1980s Cascades Shopping Centre, with over 100 high street shops between them. Recent redevelopment has created new shopping areas, including the upmarket Gunwharf Quays, containing fashion stores, restaurants, and a cinema; and the Historic Dockyard, which aims at the tourist sector and holds regular French markets, and an annual Christmas market. Large shopping areas include Ocean Retail Park, on the north-eastern side of Portsea Island, comprising shops requiring large floor space for selling consumer goods; and the Bridge Centre an 11,043 square metre shopping centre built in 1988, now dominated by the Asda Walmart store. There are also many smaller shopping areas throughout the city.

There is a small fishing fleet based in the city.

Tourism is also a growing sector of the economy.

The housing boom has also spurned economic growth with prices rising at a speed second only to London.

City Centre

The city centre is the main shopping area in Portsmouth, mainly sited around the shopping streets Commercial Road, Edinbrough Road, Arundel Street, Crasswell Street and Charlotte Street. The City Centre is home to the Cascades Shopping Centre and major high street stores including Debenhams, Wilkinson, Primark, H&M and supermarkets Tesco, Sainsburys and Iceland. To the north of the City Centre is the Victory Retail Park. Portsmouth and Southsea railway station (the city's central station) is located to the south of the city centre, close to the Guildhall and the Civic Offices. Just to the south of the Guildhall is Guildhall Walk, a street which is known for its bars and clubs, such as Walkabout, Bar Me & Route 66. Located in Edinbrough Road is the Portsmouth Roman Catholic cathedral and Victoria Park, also to the west of the city centre is the home ground of Portsmouth's second football team United Servives Portsmouth Football Club.

Government and politics

The city is administered by Portsmouth City Council , which is currently a unitary authority. Portsmouth was granted its first charter in 1194. In 1904 the boundaries were extended to finally include the whole of Portsea Island. The boundaries were further extended in 1920 and 1932, taking in areas of the mainland. Until April 1, 1997 it was a non-metropolitan district of Hampshire. Portsmouth remains part of the Ceremonial county of Hampshire. The city is divided into two parliamentary constituencies, Portsmouth South and Portsmouth North, represented in the House of Commons by, respectively, a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, Mike Hancock, and a Labour MP, Sarah McCarthy-Fry.

The city council is made up of 42 councillors. As of October 2009, the Liberal Democrats have overall majority control of the city council, with 23 Liberal Democrat, 17 Conservative and two Labour. Councillors are returned from 14 wards, each ward having three councillors. Councillors have a four year term, only one council seat is up for election in each ward at any one election.

Demographics

Coordinates: 50°49′N 1°05′W  /  50.817°N 1.083°W  / 50.817;