United Kingdom, Liverpool

Liverpool is situated along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, with the city centre located about 5 miles inland from the Irish Sea. Liverpool has a varied topography being built across a ridge of hills rising up to a height of around 70 metres above sea-level at Everton Hill. The city's urban area runs directly into Bootle and Crosby in Sefton, Huyton and Prescot in Knowsley. It faces Wallasey and Birkenhead across the River Mersey
 
Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as "Liverpudlians" and nicknamed "Scousers", though this term is often (erroneously) used to cover other Merseysiders. They are noted for their distinctive accent and dialect, called Scouse.

Liverpool has a vibrant artistic life. Several pre-Raphaelites are among the important paintings in the Walker Art Gallery. Sudley House contains another major collection of pre 20th century art [4]. The Tate Liverpool gallery houses the modern art collection of the Tate in the north of England. The Liverpool Biennial [5] is a festival of arts held (as the name implies) every two years. The festival generally runs from mid September to late November and comprises three main sections; the International, The Independents and New Contemporaries although many fringe events are timed to coincide. It was during this event in 2004 that Yoko Ono's work "My mother is beautiful" caused widespread public protest by exhibiting photographs of a naked woman's pubic area on the main shopping street. Despite widespead protest the work remained in place.

A flourishing orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performs in its own hall, the Philharmonic Hall. The city also became well known for the Liverpool poets, of whom Roger McGough and the late Adrian Henri are among the best known. These three poets, sold more than a million copies of their first book of poetry The Liverpool Sound. Also from Liverpool is a writer, poet and author, who lives in Crosby, called John Haines, who uses the pen name Josh Rogan for fiction.

The city is also home to several successful theatre companies, such as the Everyman & Playhouse and the Unity Theatre [6].

In 2003, Liverpool was awarded status as European Capital of Culture for 2008 and property developer Grosvenor started a £750 million regeneration of part of the city centre. In light of Liverpool receiving Capital of Culture status, an effort has been created to bring the people of Liverpool together on an online dedicated Liverpool based forum called SpeakLiverpool.