Leicester

Leicester is a city and is the county town of Leicestershire, England through which the River Soar flows.

Leicester as a settlement goes back to before Christ, the earliest records of it being as the capital of the Celtic Corieltauvi tribe who ruled over what is now the East Midlands. The Corieltauvi submitted peacefully to Roman rule in the first century AD, and the settlement was fortified and became known as Ratae Corieltauvorum. It was settled by Saxons soon after Roman retreat from Britain, and later, briefly, captured by the Vikings.

The railway station was built in Victorian times and is a regional interchange.

Leicester, Nottingham, and Derby are served by East Midlands Airport. It is connected to those cities as well as London and the North by the M1 motorway, which bypasses the city to the west.

Engineering and the manufacture of textiles and clothing are important to the city's economy.

The National Space Center is based in the city and is linked to the University of Leicester.

Leicester has one of the largest ethnic minority populations in the United Kingdom; it has an Asian (including Asian British) population of around 43.4% (of which around 34% are ethnically Indian) and a White British population of 33%.

Leicester City F.C. are the largest association football team in the area.

Its population is was 441,000 in 2004.