Glasgow's history is inextricably linked to the River Clyde, for this geographical feature has always played a central role in the development of the city.
For example, the river was the reason that the area was first settled in the Bronze Age, for this was were there was a natural ford across the Clyde.
For the first part of the area's history there was just a group of small settlements dotted along the river, but then the Romans reached the Clyde. They built a series of forts in the area, and under Roman rule the area prospered.
Then, in the 2nd century the Roman empire withdrew from the north of England, and there is little record of what happened in the area during the next few hundred years.
But what is known is that in the 7th century a monastery was founded in the area by St Mungo, and a religious community quickly grew up around it.
The name Glasgow is believed to derive from this period, legend has it that the name comes from the Celtic "glas-cu" meaning "the dear, green place".
Another important influence in the development of the city was the University, founded in 1450. This was only the second University in Scotland and so the town quickly gained a reputation as a scholar's town.
During this period of its early history, Glasgow was not a particularly well known city except within the isolated communities of the church and the educational establishment.
However, from the 17th century onwards things began to change. The city expanded rapidly and it soon became famous all over the world - the deciding influence was commerce.
The fact that the Clyde was a deep and easily navigated river meant that Glasgow soon became a thriving port, with goods such as coal, fish, salt and cloth all being extensively traded on the river.
But it was in the 18th century that trade in Glasgow really took off. The deciding factor in this was the 1707 Act of Union that united England and Scotland, for it meant that Glasgow was the closest port to Britain's colonies in the Caribbean.
From the Caribbean came a huge amount of trade in exotic goods such as sugar and tobacco, much of it arriving in Britain via the River Clyde.
Glasgow prospered - some of the merchants becoming so wealthy they were nicknamed the Tobacco Lords. Much of the city's most splendid architecture dates from this period.
After the American War of Independence, however, trade with the Caribbean went into decline, but it was soon replaced with the new trades of the burgeoning industrial age.
Factories sprang up all along the Clyde and the area's rich mineral deposits encouraged heavy industry such as shipbuilding and railway manufacturing. And as a result Glasgow was to play a central role in the industrial revolution.
The new industry in Glasgow encouraged a huge wave of immigrants and so by the mid-19th century the population had expanded to around 500,000.
In the early 20th century Glasgow was the focus of Britain's war effort - this is where the vast majority of the ships and weapons used in the two World Wars were manufactured - and so the city continued to prosper.
Then, in the second half of the 20th century, disaster happened - Glasgow's industry went into decline. One by one the shipyards shut, unemployment went up and up, and Glasgow faced serious social and economic problems.
The city gained an unenviable reputation for poverty, social deprivation and violence - and it was nowhere on the list of UK tourist attractions.
But in the last 15 years the city has undergone a remarkable transformation. A serious promotional campaign has transformed the city from a place to be avoided to one of the most "hip" cities in the UK.
Glasgow now has museums and art galleries that are the envy of the rest of the UK, buildings that have earned it the title of 1999 City of Architecture, an excellent night scene and some of the best shopping outside of London.
Despite being voted the European City of Culture in 1990, Glasgow has never lost sight of its working-class roots. And so whilst the tourist attractions are there by the dozen, the city also has a raw edge and an energy so often lacking in other cities.
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