City status in the United Kingdom

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City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the monarch of the United Kingdom to specific centres of population, which meet the generally accepted definition of cities. As of 22 November 2022, there are 76 cities in the United Kingdom—55 in England, eight in Scotland, seven in Wales and six in Northern Ireland. Although it carries no special rights, the status of city can be a marker of prestige and confer local pride. The status does not apply automatically on the basis of any particular criteria, though until 1889 in England and Wales it was limited to towns with diocesan cathedrals. This association between having an Anglican cathedral and being called a city was established in the early 1540s when King Henry VIII founded dioceses (each having a cathedral in the see city) in six English towns and granted them city status by issuing letters patent. A city with a cathedral is often termed a cathedral city. City status in Ireland was granted to far fewer communities than in England...

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