n.
District, seaport, and capital (pop., 1999 est.: 297,200) of Northern Ireland.
On the River Lagan, the site was occupied in the Stone and Bronze ages, and the remains of Iron Age forts can still be seen. Belfast's modern history began in the early 17th century when Sir Arthur Chichester developed a plan for colonizing the area with English and Scottish settlers. Having survived the Irish insurrection of 1641, the town grew in economic importance, especially after a large immigration of French Huguenots arrived after the rescinding of the Edict of Nantes (1685) and strengthened the linen trade. It became a centre of Irish Protestantism, setting the stage for sectarian conflict in the 19th20th centuries. Fighting was renewed in the 1960s and did not subside until a peace agreement was reached in 1998. The city is Northern Ireland's educational and commercial hub.