Birmingham is a large town.
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 .