PORTSMOUTH

Portsmouth historic dockyard, with the Warrior in the middle of the picture. The Warrior was an iron hulled hybrid from 1860 with sails and a steam engine driving a propeller.

Portsmouth was a city of about 189,000 people in 2006 located in the county of Hampshire on the southern coast of England, United Kingdom. The administrative unit itself forms part of the wider Portsmouth conurbation, with an estimated population of 442,252 residents within its boundaries, making it the 11th largest urban area in England. A significant naval port for centuries, it is home to the world's oldest dry dock still in use and to many famous ships.

Portsmouth has declined as a military port in recent years but remains a major dockyard and base for the Royal Navy. There is a commercial port serving destinations on the continent for freight and passenger traffic.

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 suburb Leigh Park), Lee-on-the-Solent, Stubbington and Waterlooville.

Most of Portsmouth's tourist attractions are related to its naval history. In the last decade Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard has been given a much needed face-lift. Among the attractions are the D-Day museum (which holds the Overlord embroidery) and, in the dockyard, HMS Victory, the remains of Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose (raised from the seabed in 1982), HMS Warrior (Britain's first iron-hulled warship) and the Royal Naval Museum. The last weekend of November each year the Historic Dockyard host the Victorian Festival of Christmas, which is the largest event of its kind in the UK.

Many of the city's former defences now host museums or events. Several of the Victorian era forts on Portsdown Hill are now tourist attractions. Fort Nelson is now home to the Royal Armouries museum. The Tudor era Southsea Castle has a small museum, and much of the seafront defences up to the Round Tower are open to the public. The southern part of the once large Royal Marines Eastney Barracks is now the Royal Marines Museum. There are also many buildings in the city that occasionally host open days particularly those on the D-Day walk which are seen on signs around the city which note sites of particular importance in the city to Operation Overlord.

Portsmouth's long association with the armed forces means it has a large number of war memorials around the city, including several at the Royal Marines Museum, at the dockyards and in Victoria Park. In the city centre, the Guildhall Square Cenotaph displays the names of the fallen, and is guarded by stone sculptures of machine gunners carved by the sculptor, on the west face: "This memorial was erected by the people of Portsmouth in proud and loving memory of those who in the glorious morning of their days for England's sake lost all but England's praise. May light perpetual shine upon them."

Other tourist attractions include the birthplace of Charles Dickens, the Blue Reef Aquarium (formerly the Sea Life Centre), Cumberland House (a natural history museum), The Royal Marines Museum and Southsea Castle. Southsea's seafront is also home to Clarence Pier Amusement Park and Canoe Lake.

HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

She was also Keppel's flagship at Ushant, Howe's flagship at Cape Spartel and Jervis's flagship at Cape St Vincent. After 1824, she served as a harbour ship.

In 1922, she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012 and is the world's oldest naval ship still in commission. Though that is a term not to be taken literally, because the Victory could not match even the smallest of war ships today - and may not even have sufficient proficient sailors to take the the high seas.

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Portsmouth Hospital Radio The Queen Alexandra Hospital and St Mary's Hospitals internal hospital radio station, run by volunteers fort he patients.

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Located mainly on Portsea Island, it is the United Kingdom's only island city. Portsmouth is 64 miles (103 km) south west of London and 19 miles (31 km) south east of Southampton. The city had a population of 205,400 in 2014 and is the only city in the United Kingdom with a greater population density than London. The City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club are both nicknamed "Pompey".

As a significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth has the world's oldest continuously used dry dock and is home to some famous ships, including HMS Warrior, the Tudor carrack Mary Rose and Lord Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory (the world's oldest naval ship still in commission). Although smaller than in its heyday, the naval base remains the major dockyard of the Royal Navy being home to two-thirds of the entire surface fleet. For this reason, Portsmouth was, by the 19th century, one of the most fortified cities in the world. As well as the naval base there is also a commercial cruise ship and ferry port serving destinations on the continent for freight and passenger traffic. The waterfront area is dominated by the Spinnaker Tower, a 170m landmark located in the former Vernon naval shore establishment, since redeveloped as an area of retail outlets, restaurants, clubs and bars known as Gunwharf Quays.

Portsmouth forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area which also covers Southampton, Havant, Waterlooville, Eastleigh, Fareham and Gosport. With an estimated 860,000 residents, it is the 6th largest urban area in England and the largest in South East England, forming the centre of one of the United Kingdom's most populous metropolitan areas with a population in excess of one million.

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