Olham

Olham Aldham (Borish)
City
Central Olham from above
Etymology: ald “old” + ham “town”
Nickname:  Bookham
Country	Borland
Yend	Midlands
First mentioned	765
Given town rights	945
Boroughs	Seven districts Centre Baronhall/Honnon Lindon/Eppenthorp Brenshed/Sunders Leerham/Warron Gerthorp/Casthorp Rymen/Herdon
Government
• Body	Olham Steadcouncil
• Mayor	Gera Rummede (Centrum)
Area
• Total	145 km2 (56 sq mi)
Elevation	95 m (312 ft)
Population  (2020)
• Total	365,000
• Density	2,500/km2 (6,500/sq mi)
Postal code	List of postal codes 0301 0302 0303 0304 0305 0306 0307
Area code	030
Website	www.aldham.bo (in Borish)

Olham (/ˈɒləm/; Borish: Aldham [ˈɑɫdəm]) is a city in the southern Midlands. With a population of around 365 000, it is the second-largest city in the Midlands and the third-largest city in Borland, behind Newstead and Westhaven. The city is surrounded by rivers on three sides, with the River Lisse forming its northern border and the River Aire forming its western and southern border. Olham is bordered by six cities: Minster, Warmen, Hertonham, Bermon-Legham, Ysernach and Steanford.

Olham is one of the oldest cities in Borland, having town rights since 945 and being first mentioned in the 8th century. The city grew throughout the Middle Ages to become the second-largest city of Borland at around 10 000 to 12 000 people. In the latter half of the 15th century, Olham became the centre of Borish-language printing, yielding the city’s nickname Bookham. The Olham Cathedral was completed in 1515, being destroyed in the Amendist Wars only decades later. The city stayed one of the centres of Borish culture and literature into the 17th century, when it experienced Estmerification. By 1750, the city was regarded as Estmerophone. The city grew to become an important industrial centre during the industrial revolution, specialising in the textile, steel and machinery industries. After the Great War, the city became the centre of Borland’s car manufacturing, which lasted into the early 21st century. The University of Olham opened in 1965 and is now one of the country’s largest universities.

Olham is known for having undergone a language shift over the 20th century, as Borish replaced Estmerish as the language of education, commerce and everyday communication. Some claim that the city also underwent a cultural shift from identifying more with the Borish Lowlands and Estmere to identifying with the northern Midlands and Borland.

Geography

Olham is located by in the southern region of the Midlands in the southeast of central Borland. The city lies by the River Aire, which forms the city’s western and southern limits.

Transport

Railways

In 1837, a railway line from Newstead to Olham opened, followed by another line between Newstead and Westhaven opened in 1843. There were four railway stations surrounding the city centre until the Olham Central Station was built after the Great War.

Public transportation

A horse-drawn tram line opened in 1863. It ran between the city centre and Honnon for 5½ kilometres. By 1900, when electrification started, the network reached more than 50 kilometres and connected to lines from neighbouring cities. With line closures between 1930 and 1950, the network became increasingly disconnected from neighbouring networks and became increasingly centred on the central station in the city centre.

Olham has two metro lines: the U30 runs from the university to the city centre and terminates at the zoological garden and the U31 starts in the city centre and runs to the northwest of the city, serving the Baronhall borough and terminating in the neighbouring city of Bermon-Legham. These two lines are the only parts of a larger network of five lines that was planned for the city in the 1960s. Construction started in 1960, with the line between the city centres of Olham and Legham and the line to the university being partially completed by the end of the decade. In 1973, further construction on the network was put on halt, only continuing in 2016, when construction on an extension of line U30 northwards into Greden started,

Waterways

There is a small port on the River Aire in the south-west of the city.

Airports

Between 1935 and 1991, there was a small airfield in Sunders. It offered several passenger flights a day to various domestic destinations until 1952 and was turned into a private airfield in 1953. Additionally, the Olham Regional Aeroport offered passenger flights to domestic as well as a handful of international destinations between 1940 and 2016. Between 1940 and 1957, it was located in Sunders, close to the smaller airfield, but it was moved by several kilometres outside the city limits to make way for the campus of the University of Olham. In 2016, the airport was closed, making the Newstead International Airport to the north and the Westhaven/Tarnick International Airport to the south the closest airports to Olham.

Demographics

Languages

Language shifts took place on two separate occasions within the city’s history. From the 17th to the mid-18th century, the common language of the city changed from Borish to Estmerish as part of a wider shift towards Estmerish in Borland at the time. In the 19th century with the reviving of Borish national identity under Borish nationalism, the Borish language started to get a presence within the city again. This was aided by Borish-speaking workers from other parts of the country during industrialisation. After Borish independence, the role of the Borish language further grew within the city, and young people began to use Borish among themselves by the 1950s and 60s. By 1990, Borish had largely replaced Estmerish. As of 2020, 23% of Olham residents claim Estmerish as their native language, but only 8% claim to communicate primarily in Estmerish.

Religion

A majority of Olham residents (65%) are Amendists belonging to the Church of Borland, although the Solarian Catholic Church has a notable presence within the city, making up 15% of the population.

Olham is home to one of the oldest Sotirian communities in Borland, the city’s first church predating the Sotirianisation of the Rudolphine Confederation. Between 1489 and 1515, the Olham Cathedral was constructed, although it was destroyed in 1598 when the city was besieged during the Amendist Wars. In its place, the Holy Cross Church (Borish: Healigh-Kross-Kerke) was built in the mid-17th century.

Education

Since 1965, Olham is home to the University of Olham, the second-largest university in the country with approximately 25 000 students as of 2022. It is located in the east of the Brenshed/Sunders district in the southeast of the city.

Sister cities

Outhall, Borland, since 1950.