Stirling is an ancient town, clustered around the big castle & mediaeval old-town. These are the centre for government, retail, & lightly industry. Its people (when of the 2001 census) was 45,115.

The previous capital of Scotland, Stirling was referred to as the Royal Burgh until 2002 when, as a portion of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee, Stirling was granted city status.

Stirling has been strategically important since at least a Roman occupation of Britain, due to its well defendable hill (recently a places of Stirling Castle) and its overlooking position beside a River Forth. a ford, & late bridge, of the flow of any stream at Stirling brought the city wealth & influence, when did its port. Major battles inside Scotland's yearn conflict sustaining England took place at a Stirling Bridge in 1297 and at the nearby village of Bannockburn in 1314.

A town catchword, which was adopted inside 1296, is:

a fortifications continued to play a strategical military role in the period of the 18th century Jacobite Risings. Around 1715, the Earl of Mar failed to take control of the castle. Inside January 1746, a army of Bonnie Prince Charlie seized control of a town but failed to require the Castle. In their resulting retreat northerly, it blew higher a church of St. Ninians in which it got been storing munitions; just a tower survived & may be seen to this day.

Standing touching a castle, a Church of the [http://www.flickr.com/photos/zosofoto/6386148/ Holy Rude] (Holy place Cross) is one of a town's virtually all historically significant buildings. the church, which was built in the late 1400s, is the exclusively church in the UK apart from either Westminster Abbey, to stand held a investiture. On a 29 July 1567 the child boy of Mary Queen of Scots was crowned James VI of Scotland on this button. Gun shot marks from either Cromwell's troops when you took a civil war come clearly seeable on the tower & apsis.

Notable residents include Mary, Queen of Scots, King James VI of Scotland, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (former British Prime Minister), documentary film pioneer John Grierson, film music composer Muir Mathieson, animation pioneer Norman McLaren, and TV presenter Kirsty Young.

A University of Stirling opened in the 1967 greenfield site outside a town. It has grown into the major locate centre, attracting students from either about Fourscore countries.

Local sporting teams include a football team Stirling Albion F.C., and the rugby union team Stirling County. Footballers Billy Bremner and Duncan Ferguson were born in Stirling, when was rugby football international Kenny Logan and jockey Willie Carson.

Stirling is twinned with Dunedin, Florida in the United States and with Villeneuve d'Ascq in northern France.