Birmingham's 35 miles of canals is said to be more than Venice.

Only London has more Michelin Star restaurants in the UK than Greater Birmingham, with the latter boasting six.

Famous chocolate brand Cadbury was founded in the city, with its dark chocolate bar “Bournville” named after the village of the same name.

Approximately 90 per cent of the UK population can reach Birmingham within four hours of driving.

Although Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were set in Middle Earth, many of the characters and locations were based on Birmingham, where author J.R.R. Tolkien grew up.

Sutton Park in Birmingham is one of the largest urban parks in Europe.

The modern version of lawn tennis can be traced back to Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Inventor James Watt developed his steam engine in Birmingham, putting into motion the start of the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom.

Birmingham is one of the most diverse cities in Europe, and is reportedly home to 187 nationalities.

Birmingham’s Black Sabbath are often considered as the first heavy metal band.

The Hippodrome in Birmingham is the busiest theatre in the UK, with more than 520,000 visitors a year.

Approximately 40 per cent of the UK’s jewellery comes from Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

Birmingham is Europe’s “youngest” major city, with around 40 per cent of the population under the age of 25.

Indian and Pakistani immigrants created the famous Balti curry dish in Birmingham in 1971, with the city boasting more than 100 Balti Houses.

Athletes like Formula One world champion Nigel Mansell and Paralympic swimming champion Ellie Simmonds have called Birmingham their home.

Arena Birmingham - which will host the gymnastics at the 2022 Commonwealth Games - hosted the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.

Birmingham’s iconic Bullring shopping centre is the biggest of its kind in a UK city centre.

Birmingham’s famous multi-road interchange called “Spaghetti Junction” connects motorways and other parts of the city.

The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has the world’s largest collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings.

The anchor of the Titanic was created in the Black Country, part of the West Midlands.

The FA Cup, the oldest national football competition in the world, had its trophy made in Birmingham, with the original stolen in 1895 and never recovered.

Murder mystery board game Cluedo was invented in 1943 in Birmingham, by Anthony E. Pratt.

The first-ever hole-in-the-heart surgery took place in 1950 in Birmingham’s Children Hospital.

Birmingham is home to five universities - University of Birmingham, Aston University, Birmingham City University, Newman University and University College Birmingham.

The nearby town of Solihull was given its name as it was the hill where Birmingham residents dumped their soil, known as “Soily Hill”.

The Library of Birmingham is the biggest in the UK.

With a large Asian population, Birmingham has the biggest Bollywood cinema centre in Europe, with six of the 30 screens at the Star City complex dedicated to Bollywood.

The city’s nickname “Brum” is thought to come from the name Brummagem.

97 councillors sit on Birmingham City Council.

Birmingham’s St Patrick’s Day parade is thought to be the third largest in the world behind New York City and Dublin.

Birmingham is the most “inland” major city in the UK and is nearly two hours drive away from the nearest beach.

Birmingham is the second most visited english city outside London for overseas visitors.

Birmingham has 571 parks - more than any other European city of similar size.

Birmingham has the highest Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist populations in the UK outside London.

The longest-established “building-based” theatre is in Birmingham - the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

The UK’s largest two-day LGBT festival is Birmingham Pride.

The Football League - the world’s first league football competition - was founded by Birmingham resident and Aston Villa Football Club director William McGregor in 1888.

The city has hosted the World Indoor Athletics Championships, the World Half Marathon Championships, Diamond League Athletics and the British Athletics Championships, with UK Athletics based at Alexander Stadium.

The Electric in Birmingham is the oldest working cinema in the UK, dating back to 1909.

Birmingham has nine sister cities including Lyon, Frankfurt, Milan, Chicago and Johannesburg.

Birmingham has a Chinese Quarter which was officially recognised in the 1980s, following a few decades of migration from Hong Kong.

Popular UK drama Peaky Blinders is based on a gang from the city, who roamed Birmingham in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Birmingham was the United Kingdom’s candidate city for the 1992 Summer Olympics, which eventually went to Barcelona.

Birmingham has close ties with athletics and some big stars train or come from the city or surrounding areas. Mark Lewis-Francis was born in Birmingham while Olympic heptathlon champion Denise Lewis is from neighbouring West Bromwich.

Although Birmingham City and Aston Villa are the only major football clubs in the city of Birmingham, Premier League clubs Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion are within 15 miles of the city centre - as is the Football League’s Walsall.

Inventor and pioneering industrialist Matthew Boulton, who lived in Birmingham in the 1700s, was richer than Bill Gates when adjusted for inflation.

The author of the popular children’s book and television series Thomas the Tank Engine, Wilbert Awdry, invented the famous characters while working at Birmingham’s St. Nicholas’ Church to amuse his son Christopher who was ill with measles.

From 1986 to 1990, Birmingham held an annual motorsport race in the city centre - which featured future Formula One drivers including Ferrari’s Jean Alesi.

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Fact of the day

When British skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the Olympic gold medal in ice dance at Sarajevo 1984 with 12 perfect 6.0s from every judge, for their interpretation of Maurice Ravel's Boléro, an important member of their team was singer-actor Michael Crawford. Crawford, who had played Frank Spencer in British sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and the title role in the musical The Phantom of the Opera, had become a mentor to the pair in 1981 and went on to help them create their Olympic routine. Crawford said he “taught them how to act". He was present with their trainer Betty Callaway at the ringside at Sarajevo as they created one of the most iconic moments in Olympic history.

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Pierre de Coubertin once said cricket has "practically no appeal for those who are not British". While he expressed doubts about the Olympic viability of cricket, lacrosse and baseball, Philip Barker wonders how the man who helped revive the modern Games would have reacted to new sports at Los Angeles 2028.

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