The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia, on the River Cam, about 50 miles (80 km) north of London. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, its population was 123,867 (including 24,488 students). This makes Cambridge the second largest city in Cambridgeshire after Peterborough, and the 54th largest in the United Kingdom. There is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area during the Bronze Age and Roman times; under Viking rule Cambridge became an important trading centre. The first town charters were granted in the 12th century, although city status was not conferred until 1951.
Cambridge is most widely known as the home of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209 and consistently ranked one of the top five universities in the world. The university includes the renowned Cavendish Laboratory, King's College Chapel, and the Cambridge University Library. The Cambridge skyline is dominated by the last two buildings, along with the chimney of Addenbrooke's Hospital in the far south of the city and St John's College Chapel tower.
Today, Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen - a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the city. Its economic strengths lie in industries such as software and bioscience, many start-up companies having been spun out of the university. Over 40% of the workforce have a higher education qualification, more than twice the national average. Cambridge is also home to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of the largest biomedical research clusters in the world.
The green space of Parker's Piece hosted the first ever game of association football, and the Strawberry Fair music and arts festival is held on Midsummer Common. Cambridge is adjacent to the M11 and A14 roads, and is around 49 minutes from London King's Cross by non-stop train, with other rail links to Norwich, Birmingham and elsewhere.
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