Manchester

Manchester lies in the North West England and it is the City as well as the Metropolitan Borough. It is the center of Greater Manchester Urban Area that is the third largest conurbation in the United Kingdom. As the “Capital of the North” it is one of the English core cities. Manchester is a centre of the arts, the media, higher education and commerce. It is the third best place to locate business in the United Kingdom, and the third most visited city in country by foreign visitors. It is often considered to be the Second city of the United Kingdom (sometimes Birmingham gains this status).

Central Manchester has been settled since at least Roman times. Throughout the 14th, 15th and the beginning of the 16th century Manchester became an important centre for the manufacture and trade of woolens and linen. In the 18th century cotton started to be produced. The Bridgewater Canal was opened in 1761. It was Britain's first wholly artificial waterway that serves for bringing coal from mines at Worsley to central Manchester. Soon Manchester has become the dominant marketplace for textiles produced in the surrounding towns. During the Industrial Revolution it played the central role and it became the centre of Lancashire's cotton industry. At that time Manchester was nicknamed “Cottonopolis”. In 1830 first commercial railway from Manchester to Liverpool was opened. It gained the city status in 1853. At this time Manchester Ship Canal was created (58 kilometres, from Salford to the Mersey estuary). By 1963 Manchester became the third largest port in United Kingdom (it was closed by 1982 because it was unable to handle larger container ships). In the inter-war period textile manufactures began to be supplanting, so it suffered greatly. In the World War II it was bombed several times which led to heavy damages in the historical centre.

The area of Manchester (city and borough) is 115.65 square kilometers. Manchester area is bordered to the north and east by the Pennine hills and to the south by the Cheshire Plain. The city centre is on the east bank of the River Irwell, near the confluence with the Rivers Medlock and the Irk. The River Mersey flows through the south of Manchester. The climate is temperate with generally light precipitation throughout the year (140.4 rainy days per year compared to the United Kingdom average of 154.4).

There are around 440,000 inhabitants living in Manchester. The density is 3,815 inhabitants per square kilometer. Most of the people are white (81%), but there are a lot of Asians (9%) and some Black British and Chinese people as well as other mixed races.

Manchester is famous also in sports (Manchester United), music (home to for example The Bee Gees, Oasis or Take That), beautiful architecture (ranging from Victorian to modern), many museums and galleries and parks. It is home to two universities, the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.