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Dundee () is the fourth largest city in Scotland with a population of 143,090 and is located near the east coast on the north bank of the river Tay's estuary with the North Sea. Dundee is known as the City of Discovery, both in honour of the RRS Discovery, Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic exploration vessel, which was built and resides in the city, and of Dundee's history of scientific activities. Its history began with the Picts in the Iron age and later included several hostilities during the medieval period. The local jute industry initially caused the city to grow rapidly during the industrial revolution. In this period Dundee also gained a reputation for its marmalade industry and its journalism, giving Dundee its epithet as the city of "jam, jute and journalism". Dundee's population reached a peak of nearly 200,000 at the start of the 1970s, but it has declined since due to outward migration and a falling birth rate. Dundee has seen an influx and growth in the biomedical and technology industries since the 1980s and it now accounts for 10% of Britain’s digital entertainment industry. The city is also famous for being the home of William McGonagall, who is widely known as the "world's worst poet". The city is home to the Scottish Dance Theatre, who are based in the city's Dundee Repertory Theatre, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, which regularly plays in the city's Caird Hall. On 5 March, 2004 Dundee was granted Fairtrade City status.• History
Geography Dundee is located at on the north bank of the Firth of Tay and near the North Sea. The city surrounds the basalt plug of an extinct volcano, called Dundee Law or simply The Law (174 metres (571 ft)). Dundee is Scotland's only south-facing city, giving it a contested claim to being the nation's sunniest city.• Dundee lies close to Perth (20 miles) and the southern Highlands to the west. The St Andrews (14 miles) and north-east Fife are situated to the south, while the Sidlaw Hills, Angus Glens and the Glamis Castle are located to the north. Two links golf courses, St Andrews and Carnoustie are located nearby. The towns of Invergowrie in Perth and Kinross, Newport on Tay in Fife and Monifieth in Angus are outside of local government control of Dundee but are de facto suburbs of the city, taking its population up to c.170,000. Demographics Natives of Dundee are called Dundonians and are recognisable for their distinctive accent, which most noticeably substitutes the monophthong /e/ in place of the diphthong /ai/. A significant proportion of the population are on low income or receive state benefits. More than half of the city's council wards are among Scotland's most deprived and fewer than half of the homes in Dundee are owner-occupied. The Whitfield area in particular has the highest rate of child poverty in the UK at 96%. Dundee had the highest rate of abortions in Scotland in 2004 (24.2 per 1000) and the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe in 2003-2004 (1 in 16; the national average is 1 in 23). Dundee's population increased substantially with the urbanisation of the Industrial Revolution as did other British cities. The most significant influx occurred in the mid-1800s with the arrival of Irish workers fleeing from the Potato Famine and attracted by its industrialisation. The city also attracted immigrants from Italy and Poland in the 19th and 20th centuries, although Dundee did not experience post-World War II immigration on the same scale as other cities. Nevertheless, Dundee still has a sizable ethnic minority population. The city's declining industrial base has caused the population to reduce since the start of the 1970s. A 7.3% drop in population occurred between 1991 to 2001 and a decline of further 14.3% (20,674) is predicted from 2005 to 2011. The number of deaths has exceeded the number of births since 1993, with a drop of 19% in births between 1993 and 2003. There has also been an annual net average emigration of 1000 from 1998 to 2002. Dundee attracts a large number of students (many Irish), so that students account for 14.2% of the population, more than any other Scottish city. The City Churches, home to two separate congregations (Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's) and the Steeple Church) are the most prominent Church of Scotland buildings in Dundee. The Presbytery of Dundee currently consists of 45 congregations, although many now share a minister. Robert Murray McCheyne, who was the minister of St Peter's (Free Church of Scotland) from 1838 until his death in 1843, led a significant religious revival in Dundee. There are two cathedrals in the city — the St. Paul's (Scottish Episcopal) and St. Andrew's (Roman Catholic). A Jewish community has existed in the city since the 19th century. The present synagogue was built in the 1970s. Muslims are served by a large mosque, which opened in 2000. The city also has a Hindu mandir and Sikh gurdwara. Government and politics Dundee was first made a royal burgh in 1911 and became a unitary council area in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which gave it a single tier of local government control under the Dundee City Council. The city has two mottos — Dei Donum (Latin: Gift of God) and Prudentia et Candore (With Thought And Purity),• although usually only the latter is used for civic purposes. Dundee is represented in both the British House of Commons and in the Scottish Parliament. For elections to the European Parliament, Dundee is within the Scotland constituency. Local government Dundee is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, represented by the Dundee City Council, a local authority composed of 29 elected councillors. Previously the city was a county city and later a district of the Tayside region. Council meetings take place in the City Chambers which opened in 1933 and are located in City Square. The civic head and chair of the council is known as the Lord Provost, a position similar to that of mayor in other cities. The council executive is based in Tayside House on the banks of the River Tay, but the council recently announced plans to demolish it in favour of new premises (Dundee House) on North Lindsay Street.''Long live Dundee House'', Evening Telegraph (publisher DC Thomson), 15 March 2006 The council is controlled by a coalition of Labour and Liberal Democrats with the support of the Conservatives, but the Scottish National Party (SNP) is the largest party on the council.''Dundee City Council Political Make-up'', Dundee City Council website''Dundee Tory leader hits out at critic'', Evening Telegraph (publisher DC Thomson), 28 February 2005 Elections to the council are on a four year cycle, the next due on 3 May, 2007. Councillors are elected from single-member wards by the first past the post system of election, although this will change for the 2007 election, due to the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004.''Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004'', full text, Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website Eight new multi-member wards will be introduced, each electing three or four councillors by single transferable vote, to produce a form of proportional representation. Westminster and Holyrood For elections to the British House of Commons at Westminster, the city area and portions of the Angus council area are divided into two constituencies. All three constituencies are within the North East Scotland electoral region. Shona Robison (SNP) is the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Dundee East constituency; Kate Maclean (Labour) is the current MSP for the Dundee West constituency and Andrew Welsh (SNP) is the current MSP for the Angus constituency. International links Dundee maintains cultural, economic and educational ties with six twin cities:• In addition, the Scottish Episcopalian Diocese of Brechin (centred on St Paul’s Cathedral in Dundee) is twinned with the diocese of Iowa, USA and the diocese of Swaziland.• Economy The period following World War II was notable for the transformation of the city's economy. While jute still employed one-fifth of the working population, new industries were attracted and encouraged. NCR Corporation selected Dundee as the base of operations for the UK in late 1945,• The largest employers in Dundee are the city council and the National Health Service, which make up over 10% of the city's workforce. The biomedical and biotechnology sectors, including start-up biomedical companies arising from university research, employ 1,000 people directly and 2,000 indirectly.• Transport
Culture Dundee is home to Scotland's only full-time repertory ensemble, established in the 1930s — one of its most famous alumni, Hollywood actor Brian Cox is a native of the city.• The Dundee Repertory Theatre, built in 1982 is the base for Scottish Dance Theatre. Dundee's principal concert auditorium, the Caird Hall (named after its benefactor, the jute baron James Key Caird) regularly hosts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Various smaller venues host local and international musicians during Dundee's annual Jazz, Guitar and Blues Festivals. An art gallery and an art house cinema are located in Dundee Contemporary Arts, which opened in 1999 in the city's cultural quarter. McManus Galleries is a Gothic Revival-style building, located in Albert Square. It houses a museum and art gallery that exhibits a collection of fine and decorative art and a natural history collection. Dundee has a strong literary heritage, with several authors either having been born, having lived in or studied in the city. These include A. L. Kennedy, Rosamunde Pilcher, Kate Atkinson, Thomas Dick, Mary Shelley and John Burnside. The Dundee International Book Prize is a biennial competition open to new authors, offering a prize of £10,000 and publication by Polygon Books. Past winners have included Andrew Murray Scott, Claire-Marie Watson and Malcolm Archibald. William McGonagall, regularly cited as the "worlds worst poet",• worked and wrote in the city, often giving performances of his work in pubs and bars. Many of his poems are about the city and events therein, such as his work The Tay Bridge Disaster. Music Popular music groups such as the 1970s soul-funk outfit Average White Band, the Associates,• Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue and singer-songwriter KT Tunstall are former pupils of the High School of Dundee, although Tunstall is not a native of the city.• The city has two radio stations — Wave 102 and Tay FM — which broadcast on 102.0 and 102.8 FM respectively. Tay FM also has a sister AM station, Tay AM. Between 2001 and 2002, the city had its own RSL television channel, the Channel Six Dundee, which played music videos and cult children's cartoons. Sports Dundee has two professional football teams — (Dundee and Dundee United). Their stadia (Dens Park and Tannadice Park) are closer together than any senior pair in world football. Dundee is one of only three British cities to have produced two European Cup semi-finalists (the others being Glasgow and London). Dundee FC was relegated to the First Division in the 2004-05 season, leaving Dundee United as the city's only Scottish Premier League (SPL) team.• Dundee and surrounding towns are home to a number of junior football teams. In May 2005, two local teams — Tayport and Lochee United — qualified for the final of the Scottish Junior Cup at Tannadice Park, which was won by Tayport.• Dundee is home to the Dundee Texol Stars ice hockey team which plays at Dundee Ice Arena. The team participates in the Scottish National League (SNL) with the Dundee Tigers and the Northern League (NL) and in cup competitions. Dundee is home to Dundee High School Former Pupils rugby club which plays in the First Division of the BT Premier League rugby club. Menzieshill Hockey Club are one of Scotland's premier field hockey teams and regularly represent Scotland in European competitions. The team plays in the European Indoor Cup A Division and has won the Scottish Indoor National League seven times in the last decade. An outdoor concrete skate park was constructed in Dudhope Park with money from the Scottish Executive’s Quality of Life Fund.• Opened in 2006, the park was nominated for the Nancy Ovens Award.• Schools
Colleges and universities Dundee is home to two universities and a student population of approximately 17,000. The University of Dundee was established in 1967, after 70 years as a college of the University of St Andrews. Significant research in biomedical fields and oncology is carried out in the "College of Life Sciences". The university also incorporates the Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and Design. In October 2005, the university became the first UNESCO centre in the UK; the centre will be involved in research regarding the management of the world's water resources on behalf of the United Nations. The University of Abertay Dundee is a ''new university''; created in 1994 under legislation granting the status of university to the Dundee Institute of Technology, which had been founded in 1888. The university has a computer games technology and design department that holds an annual computer game production competition called Dare to Be Digital. The university is also home to the Dundee Business School. In May 2002, University of Abertay was ranked number one in the United Kingdom for its investment in IT facilities by the Financial Times. In The Times University Ranking tables, the University of Dundee and the University of Abertay are 44th and 57th in a list of 109 British universities respectively. The University of Dundee was ranked third for social work, seventh for architecture and eighth for biological sciences. Dundee College is the city's only further education college, which was established in 1985 as an institution of higher education and vocational training. The college is noted for its New Media centre and the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance. In a 2005 HMIE inspection, the college's teaching and learning process were rated "very good" in six of the seven subject areas and overall evaluations. See also Further reading | |||||||||||||
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