Bangor, County Down

Bangor (/ˈbæŋɡər/; from Irish: Beannchar [ˈbʲaːn̪ˠəxaɾˠ])[3] is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland.

By Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0,

It is a seaside resort on the southern side of Belfast Lough and within the Belfast Metropolitan Area. It functions as a commuter town for the Greater Belfast area, which it is linked to by the A2 road and the Belfast–Bangor railway line. Bangor is situated 13.6 miles (22 km) east from the heart of Belfast, not far from George Best Belfast City Airport. The population was 61,011 at the 2011 Census.

Bangor is part of the North Down constituency. Tourism is important to the local economy, particularly in the summer months, and plans are being made for the long-delayed redevelopment of the seafront; a notable historical building in the town is Bangor Old Custom House. The largest plot of private land in the area, the Clandeboye Estate, which is located a few miles from the town centre, belongs to the Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava. Bangor hosts the Royal Ulster and Ballyholme yacht clubs. Bangor Marina is one of the largest in both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, and holds Blue Flag status.[5] The town is twinned with Bregenz in Austria and Virginia Beach in the United States.