Inverness is a city in northern Scotland. The city is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and it is promoted as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland. Inverness is Europe's fastest growing city and ranked fifth out of 189 British cities for its quality of life. The city lies where the River Ness enters the Moray Firth and is a natural hub for various transport links. A settlement was established by sixth century AD, the first royal charter being granted in the thirteenth century. It lies near the site of the eighteenth century Battle of Culloden. Although there are letters patent dating from 2001, granting Inverness city status, there are no statutory boundaries and population figures vary from about 40,949 to 51,832 or more depending on what boundaries are used. The population of Inverness increased by over 10% between 1991 and 2001. Inverness is twinned with three other European cities. Inverness College is the hub campus for the UHI Millennium Institute. Scottish Gaelic appears on the majority of road signs around Inverness, with around 5.5% of the population speaking the language.