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In the 19th century, Glasgow continued to grow very rapidly. By 1871 it had reached a population of half a million. This was despite a very high infant mortality rate. (Up to half of all children born died before their 5th birthday). Poor people in Glasgow lived in dreadfully overcrowded conditions. Most of them lived in one or two rooms in tenements.
Meanwhile, the Nelson Monument was built in 1806. The first museum in Glasgow, the Hunterian, opened in 1807. It is named after Dr William Hunter who left his collection to the university in 1783. The Botanic Gardens were laid out in 1817. Also that year St Andrews the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Glasgow was built. Argyle Arcade was built in 1827. Necropolis Cemetery was laid out in 1833. Many rich merchants were buried there in elaborate tombs.Glasgow Green was laid out as a park between 1815 and 1826. Kelvingrove Park was laid out in 1852. In 1862 Queens Park opened. Alexandra Park followed in 1870. Meanwhile, the Custom House was built in 1840. St Georges Cross was built in 1837.
A Corn Exchange where grain was bought and sold was built in Hope Street in 1843 and Glasgow School of Art was founded in 1845. The Athenaeum was built in 1847. Glasgow Academy was formed in 1846. Caledonia Road Church was built in 1857 but burned in 1965. St Vincent Street Church was built in 1859 by Alexander Thomson (1817-1875). Great Western Terrace was built in 1870. Many more buildings were erected in Glasgow in the 19th century. The Stock Exchange was built in Buchanan Street in 1875. Also in 1875, the Fish Market was built. Mitchell Library was built in 1877. The City Chambers were built in 1888. Queens Cross Church was built in 1897 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928). The same man also built the Glasgow School of Art Building in 1909. Transport also improved in Glasgow in the 19th century. In 1845 the first horse-drawn buses began running in Glasgow. From 1872 they were replaced by horse-drawn trams. After 1898 the trams changed to electricity. (The first electricity generating station in Glasgow was built in 1893). Queen Street station was built in 1842. Buchanan Street station was built in 1849. The central station followed in 1879. Glasgow gained an underground railway in 1896.
In the mid-19th century, Glasgow was described as ‘possibly the filthiest and unhealthiest of all the British towns’. There were outbreaks of cholera in Glasgow in 1849 and in 1854. The first time 3,777 people died. The second time 3,885 died. But conditions in Glasgow improved in the later 19th century. In 1859 Glasgow gained a piped water supply. In 1893 the first electric streetlights were switched on in Glasgow but they only slowly replaced gas. Also in the late 19th century, a network of sewers was built in Glasgow. n Furthermore the Albert Bridge was built in 1871. A pedestrian tunnel under the Clyde was built in 1895. In 1898 the Peoples Palace opened on Glasgow Green. Major industries in Glasgow in the 19th century included shipbuilding, Cotton, engineering, carpet making, pottery, and glass. In the late 19th century the port’s facilities were greatly improved by building docks and new quays. The tonnage of ships built in the city rose from 20,000 in the year 1850 to 5000,000 in 1900. In 1888 an International Exhibition of Science and Art was held in Glasgow.
Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 635,640. Straddling the border between historic Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire, the city now forms the Glasgow City Council area, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and is governed by Glasgow City Council. It is situated on the River Clyde in the country's West Central Lowlands.
Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Scotland, and tenth largest by tonnage in Britain. Expanding from the medieval bishopric and royal burgh, and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow in the 15th century, it became a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century. From the 18th century onwards, the city also grew as one of Britain's main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America and the West Indies. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the population and economy of Glasgow and the surrounding region expanded rapidly to become one of the world's pre-eminent centres of chemicals, textiles and engineering; most notably in the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry, which produced many innovative and famous vessels. Glasgow was the "Second City of the British Empire" for much of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Glasgow's population grew rapidly, reaching a peak of 1,127,825 people in 1938. The population was greatly reduced following comprehensive urban renewal projects in the 1960s which resulted in large-scale relocation of people to designated new towns, such as Cumbernauld, Livingston, East Kilbride and peripheral suburbs, followed by successive boundary changes. Over 985,200 people live in the Greater Glasgow contiguous urban area, while the wider Glasgow City Region is home to over 1,800,000 people, equating to around 33% of Scotland's population. The city has one of the highest densities of any locality in Scotland at 4,023/km2. Natives or inhabitants are known as Glaswegians, and are well known for their distinctive dialect and accent.
Glasgow has the largest economy in Scotland and the third-highest GDP per capita of any city in the UK. Glasgow's major cultural institutions – the Burrell Collection, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Ballet and Scottish Opera – enjoy international reputations. The city was the European Capital of Culture in 1990 and is notable for its architecture, culture, media, music scene, sports clubs and transport connections. It is the fifth-most visited city in the United Kingdom. The city hosted the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) at its main events venue, the SEC Centre. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the first European Championships in 2018, and was one of the host cities for UEFA Euro 2020. The city is also well known in the sporting world for football, particularly the Old Firm rivalry between Celtic and Rangers.