Manchester (borough)

Manchester (borough), unitary authority, north-west England. The metropolitan borough of Manchester is located in the metropolitan area of Greater Manchester, south of Rochdale and north of Cheshire. Until 1986 Manchester was administered by the metropolitan county council based in Manchester. As a result of the Local Government Act 1985, the metropolitan county councils were abolished. The county council’s functions devolved to Greater Manchester’s ten metropolitan district councils: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan. The police authority is the Greater Manchester Police, with headquarters in Manchester. Crown Courts sit in Manchester and Bolton.

Geographically, the borough of Manchester extends from the fringes of the Pennines in the north to the Cheshire plain in the south and includes the city centre of Manchester and several of its suburbs. Manchester’s Ringway Airport is found to the south. Population 392,819 (2001).