Kingston upon Hull / United Kingdom
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, northeastern England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea, 50 miles east of Leeds, 34 miles south-east of York and 54 miles north-east of Sheffield. With a population of 259,778 , Hull is the fourth-largest city in Yorkshire and the Humber. The town of Wyke on Hull was founded late in the 12th century by the monks of Meaux Abbey as a port from which to export their wool. Renamed Kings-town upon Hull in 1299, Hull had been a market town, military supply port, trading hub, fishing and whaling centre and industrial metropolis. Hull was an early theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars. Its 18th-century Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, took a prominent part in the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.After suffering heavy damage in the Second World War , Hull weathered a period of post-industrial decline, gaining unfavourable results on measures of social deprivation, education and policing. In the early 21st century spending boom before the late 2000s recession the city saw large amounts of new retail, commercial, housing and public service construction spending. Tourist attractions include The Hull People's Memorial, the historic Old Town and Museum Quarter, Hull Marina and The Deep aquarium. Sports teams include EFL League One football club Hull City and rugby league clubs Hull F.C. & Hull Kingston Rovers and non-league football club Hull United. The University of Hull was founded in 1927 and now enrols more than 16,000 students. Hull was the 2017 UK City of Culture and in the same year the city's Ferens Art Gallery hosted the prestigious Turner Prize.