BELFAST

Irish Bal Feirste city, district, and capital of Northern Ireland, on the River Lagan, at its entrance to Belfast Lough (inlet of the sea). It became a city by royal charter in 1888. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, it became the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. The district (former county borough) boundaries of Belfast were expanded to 44 sq mi (115 sq km) after the local government reorganization of 1973. The site of Belfast was occupied during both the Stone and Bronze ages, and the remains of Iron Age forts are discernible on the slopes near the city centre. A castle, probably built there about 1177 by John de Courci, the Norman conqueror of Ulster, seems to have survived until the beginning of the 17th century. The city's name is derived from the Gaelic Bal Feirste (Mouth of the Sandbank [or Crossing of the River]). Belfast's modern history began in 1611 when Baron Arthur Chichester built a new castle there. He did much to encourage the growth of the town, which received a charter of incorporation in 1613. Belfast survived the Irish insurrection of 1641, and by 1685 it had a population of about 2,000, largely engaged in brick, rope, net, and sailcloth making. By the late 1730s the castle had been destroyed, but Belfast was beginning to acquire economic importance, superseding both Lisburn as the chief bridge town and Carrickfergus as a port. It became the market centre of the Ulster linen industry, developed by French Huguenot refugees under the patronage of William III of Great Britain at the end of the 17th century. Attempts to establish a cotton industry there were short-lived, but following mechanization of the spinning and weaving of linen, Belfast became one of the greatest linen centres in the world. By the 17th century, the town was a busy port with small shipbuilding interests, which became firmly established after William Ritchie founded a shipyard (1791) and a graving (dry) dock (1796). Since the Industrial Revolution, the chief shipbuilding firm has been Harland and Wolff (builders of the ill-fated "Titanic"), whose yard now covers about 300 ac (120 ha) and contains facilities for building vessels up to 1,000 ft (300 m) in length. Since 1975 the firm has been completely owned by the Northern Ireland department of commerce and produces steel plates for bridges as well as supertankers. At the same time, Belfast has continued to develop as a port. The city was severely damaged by air raids in 1941. A Roman Catholic civil rights campaign was inaugurated in Ulster in 1968, and from 1969 street riots and increasing violence took place in Belfast. After British troops were called in to police Catholic-Protestant disorders, the riots were marked by an increased use of firearms and bombs by both Catholic and Protestant extremists and by the slaying of civilians, police, and soldiers by the Provisional (radical) faction of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) gangs. Unremitting violence continued into the 1980s. The city is the shopping, retail, educational, commercial, entertainment, and service centre for Northern Ireland. Chief exports are ships, aircraft, agricultural produce and livestock, and linen textiles. Other industries include tobacco and food processing. Educational institutions in Belfast include Queen's University at Belfast (founded in 1845 as the Queen's College), the Presbyterian College (1847), and the Royal Belfast Academic Institution (1810). Nearby is Stormont (q.v.), the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. From the city's airport at Aldergrove, 13 mi (21 km) northwest, services are maintained with some principal international cities; there are steamship links with Heysham, Liverpool, and Manchester in England, Glasgow and Ardrossan in Scotland, and Holyhead in Wales. Belfast suffered a pronounced population decline between 1971 and 1981 as a result of the sectarian violence and the planned economic development of outlying areas. Pop. (1971) city, 362,082; district (according to post-1973 boundaries), 416,679; (1981) district, 295,223. city, seat (1827) of Waldo county, southern Maine, U.S., on the Passagassawakeag River where it empties into Penobscot Bay on the Atlantic coast opposite Castine, 34 miles (55 km) south-southwest of Bangor. Settled in 1770 and named for Belfast, Ire., it soon developed as a seaport and became a port of entry. Distinguished architecture of the sailing era remains. Its harbour is now used mainly by tugboats and pleasure craft. Tourism, the sardine industry, and light manufacturing are its main economic assets. The Penobscot Marine Museum is 4 miles (6 km) to the northeast in Searsport. Fort Knox (built in 1844) and Lake St. George state parks are nearby. Inc. town, 1773; city, 1853. Pop. (1990) 6,355; (1996 est.) 6,474.