Leicester : Britain

Leicester : Britain
Leicester (pronounced [ˈlɛstə]) is the largest city in the English East Midlands, on the River Soar. It is the traditional county town of Leicestershire, and since 1997 has been a unitary authority with its own council (see “Politics in Leicester�, below). It lies on the edge of the National Forest. In 2002 the population of the city proper was estimated at 283,578, with 330,574 living in the urban area.
The urban area spreads outside the boundaries of the city proper, and includes Oadby, Wigston, Braunstone Town, Glenfield, Blaby, Thurmaston, Syston, and Leicester Forest East.
Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, and is now one of the most ethnically diverse.
The city is next to the M1 motorway, and is on the Midland Main Line between London and Sheffield. High-speed trains operated by Midland Mainline can reach London in just over an hour. It is also served by rail lines to Birmingham via Nuneaton, and by a line to Peterborough.
Major industries in Leicester today include food processing, hosiery, footwear, knitwear, engineering, electronics, printing and plastics.
Leicester is home to two universities, the University of Leicester (Royal Charter 1957) and De Montfort University (founded 1992 from Leicester Polytechnic), and has an Anglican cathedral of St Martin’s.
It is also home to the National Space Centre due to becoming the UK’s centre for space research and industry and having one of the few universities to specialise in space science.
The city centre is mainly Victorian with some later developments, which have usually been integrated in smoothly. The heart of the city centre is the Clock Tower, which is at the intersection of five routes into the city – High Street, Churchgate, Belgrave Gate, Humberstone Gate, and Gallowtree Gate. Today the latter two are pedestrianised, and vehicles restricted on the others.
The city centre is home to the Haymarket and the Shires shopping centres, both of which face the clock tower. Leicester Market, Europe’s largest covered market, is nearby. The historic core of the City lies slightly to the west, monuments here include the Castle, Cathedral, church of St Mary de Castro, Guildhall and the Jewry Wall.
It is set to become a major city with many developments on the horizon implemented by the Leicester Regeneration Company including a major theatre designed by the famous Rafael Viñoly.
In 1990 Leicester was designated the UK’s first Environment City, and won the European Sustainable City Award in 1996.
Leicester has 12 Hindu temples. Most were converted from existing buildings. The only Jain Temple in the western world has been built here (The Jain Centre) Leicester has a large multi-ethnic population, mainly from the Indian subcontinent. It is renowned for its authentic Indian Restaurants, and people come to the city especially to enjoy true Indian food, at one of the specialist Restaurants on the Belgrave Road (a long stretch of road known as the Golden Mile). The annual Diwali celebrations are also held here and are the biggest outside of India. There are also many of Afro-Caribbean descent and Leicester plays host to the second largest Caribbean Carnival in the UK after Notting Hill.