Population: 329,000
Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, became synonymous with the violent ‘Troubles’ era in the 1970s and 1980s, which was only ended by the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Since then, the city has reinvented itself, with both Belfast and Northern Ireland becoming hubs for foreign direct investment. Developments such as the impressive Titanic Quarter act as figureheads for the improvements made to the city, which for many years made headlines for little more than terrorist activity. In the 21st century, Belfast’s economy excels in aerospace, the service sector, data journalism, tourism (based in no small part around the city’s historic shipyards that famously built the Titanic) and a blossoming film industry (Games of Thrones being filmed mostly in Northern Ireland). While the final Brexit deal has resulted in some uncertainty in Northern Ireland, hopes in Belfast are that the city can leverage its position betwixt the EU and mainland UK to its advantage.