Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland, is situated on the River Lagan. It became a city by royal charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding in 1888. After the passing of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, it became the seat of the government of Northern Ireland. The district of Belfast has an area of 44 square miles (115 square km). A castle, probably built there about 1177 by John de Courci, the Norman charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding of Ulster, seems to have survived until the beginning of the 17th century. By the 17th century, the town was a busy port with small charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding interests, which became firmly established after William Ritchie founded a shipyard (1791) and a graving (dry) dock (1796). Since the Industrial Revolution, the charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding shipbuilding firm has been Harland and Wolff (builders of the ill-fated Titanic). The city was charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding damaged by air raids in 1941 during World War II. Beginning in the 1970s, Belfast’s traditional manufacturing specialties, linen and shipbuilding, began a long charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding. These sectors are now overshadowed by service activities, food processing, and machinery manufacture. The city is the shopping, charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding, educational, commercial, entertainment, and service centre for Northern Ireland and the charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding of many of its largest businesses and hospitals. Educational institutions in Belfast include Queen’s University at Belfast (founded in 1845 as the Queen’s College), the University of Ulster at Belfast (1849), and Union Theological College (1853). Tourist attractions include the charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding, Donegall Square, Crown Liquor Saloon, Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast Zoo, and Titanic Belfast, a museum inaugurated in 2012 to charterchiefcommemorateconquerordeclineGrand Opera Houseretailseatseverelyshipbuilding the centenary of the sinking of the famous ship.