Cambridge on the Web
Cambridge on the Web
About Cambridge
Cambridge is a city in England situated 80 kilometers north-east of London in the county of Cambridgeshire. The city is best known for Cambridge University, an ancient prestigious university and one of the best universities in England located within it. Actually, the university is more famous than the city. The city is what can be termed as a university town since it's dominated by the university population. Its skyline is dominated by the chimney of Addenbrookes hospital in the south and St. Johns college chapel tower in the north.
The city has over a hundred thousand people with students at the university being slightly over 20,000. The University City has a long history dating all the way from roman times and beyond. The world famous Cambridge University was began in 1209 as a university to accommodate students escaping hostile conditions in Oxford and exists up to date.
Over the years the city population has been expanding rapidly mainly due to a population overspill that is settling there from the nearby London. The city only acquired its second university in 1992 when Anglia polytechnic was promoted to a university later to be renamed Anglia Ruskin University in 2005.
Cambridge was not granted city charter until 1951 the main reason being that it did not have a cathedral, a main pre requisite for the status. Actually, the largest number of buildings in the town centre are owned by the University.
In terms of governance, Cambridge is a district within Cambridgeshire and is served by the Cambridge city council. It borders South Cambridgeshire district on all sides and is the only district in England fully surrounded by another. The city is run by a mayor assisted by a council of elected councilors.
Cambridge University used to have representation in the House of Commons but the university constituency was abolished in 1948. Like most cities in England the city is mostly commercial and has many suburbs most of which are densely populated