Birmingham is a sports team.
Birmingham ( [ ˈbɜːmɪŋəm ] ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands , England . It is the largest and most populous British city outside London , with a population of 1,101,360 in 2014 . A medium-sized market town in the medieval period , Birmingham grew to international prominence in the 18th century at the heart of the Midlands Enlightenment and subsequent Industrial Revolution , which saw the town at the forefront of worldwide advances in science , technology , and economic development , producing a series of innovations that laid many of the foundations of modern industrial society . Its metropolitan economy is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $ 121.1 bn ( 2014 ) , and its six universities make it the largest centre of higher education in the country outside London . Birmingham is the fourth-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors .