Today Birmingham is a major international commercial centre, ranked as a gamma- world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network; and an important transport, retail and conference hub. With a city GDP of $90m (2008 estimate, PPP), its urban economy is the second largest in the UK and the 72nd largest in the world. Birmingham’s three universities and two university colleges make it the largest centre of higher education in the United Kingdom outside London, and its major cultural institutions, including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, enjoy international reputations.

People from Birmingham are known as ‘Brummies’, a term derived from the city’s nickname of ‘Brum’. This may originate from the city’s dialect name, Brummagem, which may in turn have been derived from one of the city’s earlier names, ‘Bromwicham’. There is a distinctive Brummie dialect and accent, both of which differ from the adjacent Black Country.