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Manchester

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This article is about the City of Manchester in England. For the larger area around it, see Greater Manchester.
City of Manchester
Manchester skyline from the River Irwell
Manchester skyline from the River Irwell
Nickname: "Capital of the North", "Cottonopolis", "Second city", "Warehouse City"
Motto: "Concilio Et Labore" "Wisdom and effort"
Manchester shown within England
Manchester shown within England
Coordinates: 53°28′N 2°14′W / 53.467, -2.233
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region North West England
Ceremonial county Greater Manchester
Admin HQ Manchester City Centre
Founded 1st century
Town charter 1301
City status 1853
Government
 - Type Metropolitan borough, City
 - Governing body Manchester City Council
 - Lord Mayor Glynn Evans
 - MPs: Paul Goggins (L)
Gerald Kaufman (L)
John Leech (LD)
Tony Lloyd (L)
Graham Stringer (L)
Area
 - Borough & City 44.7 sq mi (115.65 km²)
Elevation  256 ft (78 m)
Population (2005 est.)
 - Borough & City 441,200 (Ranked 6th)
 - Density 9,880.8/sq mi (3,815/km²)
 - Urban 2,240,230
(Greater Manchester Urban Area)
 - Metro 4,209,132
 - County 2,547,700
 - County Density 5,172.2/sq mi (1,997/km²)
Time zone Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
Postcode M
Area code(s) 0161
ISO 3166-2 GB-MAN
ONS code 00BN
OS grid reference SJ838980
NUTS 3 UKD31
Website: www.manchester.gov.uk

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. Manchester was given city status in 1853. It has a population of 452,000,[1] and lies in the middle of the Greater Manchester Urban Area, which has 2,240,230 people,[2] the United Kingdom's third largest built-up place.

Manchester is a very important city in England, and the city is called the second city of the UK,[3] and the "Capital of the North".[4] Manchester has lots of arts, media, learning and shops. In a poll of British managers in 2006, Manchester was named the best place in Britain to have a business.[5] A report in 2007, said Manchester is a fast-growing city (meaning lots of jobs are being created).[6] Manchester was the host of the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Manchester United and Manchester City are football teams in the area.[7]

Manchester was the first place to have big industry,[8] because of the Industrial Revolution. It was the main place for making cloth and fabric.[9] During the 19th century it had the nickname Cottonopolis,[9] because it had so many cotton mills. The middle of Manchester is important because it's on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, because of its network of canals and mills built during its 19th-century development.[10]

Contents

[change] History

The Peterloo Massacre of 1819 saw fifteen-twenty deaths and several hundred injured.

In the late 1700s, Manchester was only a small village with a low population. This changed at the start of the Industrial Revolution. During this time, there were revolts about the living conditions for workers. The most well known of these revolts was the Peterloo Massacre. Fifteen to twenty people were killed during the Peterloo Massacre and hundreds of other people were hurt.[11] In 1780, Richard Arkwright built the first cotton mill in the area.[12]

Later in the 1800s, Manchester became most important cotton town in the world. It was also the first 'industrialised' city, meaning that it was the first city to have a big amount of industry in it.[8] Only a small amount of cloth is still made in the city and the trade has mainly stopped. This left a big number of old buildings from that time including the Town Hall, Free Trade Hall and Central Library and left a lot of other buildings empty.

The Manchester Ship Canal was created by the digging of canals in the rivers Irwell and Mersey for 36 miles (58 km) from Salford to the Mersey estuary. This let ocean going ships sail into the Port of Manchester.

The county of Greater Manchester was made in 1974. The county was created from cities and towns in southern Lancashire and northern Cheshire (the two main areas which make up Greater Manchester), and some mainly rural districts of Derbyshire and Yorkshire.

In 1996, the Irish Republican Army put a bomb in a truck located in the centre of the city. Nobody was killed, but it did alot of damage.[13]

[change] Geography

The City of Manchester, the area is almost all "built-up".

Manchester is located 160 miles (257 km) north-west of England's capital, London. The city has many canals and rivers which were a big part in its earlier growth. The largest open space in the city is Heaton Park. It has an area of about 618 acres (3 km²). Heaton Park is a place attracts many people every year. People go there to see the many animals and the beauty of the countryside. Much of Manchester is built-up (or 'urbanised'). Because of this, much of the rain does not clear quickly. Much of Manchester's rain comes over from the Pennines, which are a hilly range to the south and east of the city. The city is mainly urban areas but also has some areas which are mainly of farmland. To the south of the centre is Manchester Airport. This is the third largest airport in the United Kingdom.

[change] Culture

A revival of the city's importance started in the 1980s. This was partly led by a vibrant music scene whose spirit was labelled 'Madchester', which was led by bands such as The Happy Mondays and Joy Division and also partly fuelled by the big number of students attending the number of universities and further education colleges in the city. Manchester has the highest population of students in the United Kingdom in term time.

The largest university in the UK , the University of Manchester, is located in the city. It has over 30,000 students.[14] It also has the fourth largest university, the Manchester Metropolitan University.[14]

The city has two Premier League football teams, Manchester City and Manchester United. Football is a very important part of the culture of the city. Many of the population support or show interest in the sport.[15] There is a small number of people who think that some of the teams who have the word 'Manchester' in their team name are not in Manchester. This is because Manchester United plays in Greater Manchester but outside Manchester city limits. They play in the borough of Trafford.

[change] Transport

A Metrolink tram going through the city centre.

Manchester and North West England are served by Manchester Airport. The airport has the most passengers in the UK outside London, with 22.1 million passengers in 2007. Planes fly to lots of destinations in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia (with more destinations from Manchester than from London Heathrow).[16]

Manchester is very well served by train and in terms of passengers, Manchester Piccadilly was the busiest English train station outside London in 2005 and 2006.[17] Northern Rail operates all over the north of England, and other operators include Virgin Trains. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first passenger railway in the world. Greater Manchester has a very big railway network. The city centre has over alot of park and ride sites.[18] Manchester became the first city in the UK to get a new tram system when the Manchester Metrolink opened in 1992. There are lots of new lines being built.[19]

The city has one of the biggest bus networks outside London with over 50 bus companies operating in the Greater Manchester area around the city. First Manchester and Stagecoach Manchester are the main bus operators.[20] First Manchester also operates three free bus services called Metroshuttle which carry workers around Manchester's business areas.[21]

A big canal network runs though the city, built in the Industrial Revolution, today mainly used for leisure. The Manchester Ship Canal is open, but not many boats use it.[22]

[change] Buildings

A panorama of modern Manchester, taken from the City of Salford
A panorama of modern Manchester, taken from the City of Salford

[change] Twin cities

Manchester has twinning plans (or "friendship agreements") with lots of places.[23][24] In addition, the British Council has a "metropolitan centre" in Manchester.[25] Although not an official twin city, Tampere, Finland is known as "the Manchester of Finland" – or "Manse" for short. Also, Ahmedabad, India became the centre of a booming textile industry, and it got the nickname "the Manchester of the East."[26][27]

Country Place County / District / Region / State Date
Flag of Nicaragua Nicaragua Bilwi Puerto Cabezas
Flag of Germany Germany Chemnitz[28] Saxony 1983
Flag of Spain Spain Córdoba Córdoba
Flag of Israel Israel Rehovot Center District
Flag of Russia Russia Saint Petersburg Northwestern Federal District 1962
Flag of The People's Republic of China China Wuhan Hubei 1986
Flag of Pakistan Pakistan Faisalabad Punjab 1997

[change] References

  1. ↑ Template:English district population citation
  2. ↑ United Kingdom Census 2001 (2001). Key Statistics for urban areas in England and Wales. statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved on 29 June 2007.
  3. ↑ Manchester 'England's second city'. BBC (2002). Retrieved on 2 May 2007.
    • Manchester 'England's Second City'. Ipsos MORI (2002). Retrieved on 9 October 2008.
    • Riley, Catherine (2005). Can Birmingham halt its decline?. The Times. Retrieved on 1 August 2007.
    • Manchester 'close to second city'. BBC (2005). Retrieved on 2 May 2006.
    • Manchester tops second city poll. BBC (2007). Retrieved on 18 June 2007.
    • Birmingham loses out to Manchester in second city face off. BBC (2007). Retrieved on 18 June 2007.
  4. ↑ Manchester "the north's dynamite capital". England's North West (2007). Retrieved on 11 September 2007.
    • About Manchester. The University of Manchester (2003). Retrieved on 24 October 2006.
    • Northern Soul Club UK Life Guide. British Council (2003). Retrieved on 24 October 2006.
  5. ↑ Britain's Best Cities 2005–2006 Executive Summary (PDF). OMIS Research (2006). Archived from the original on 26 November 2007. Retrieved on 8 September 2007.
  6. ↑ Manchester – The State of the City. Manchester City Council (2007). Retrieved on 11 September 2007.
  7. ↑ Note: Manchester United's ground is in Greater Manchester but outside Manchester city limits; it is in the borough of Trafford
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Kidd, Alan (2006). 'Manchester: A History'. Lancaster, Lancashire: Carnegie Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1859361285. 
    • Frangopulo, Nicholas (1977). Tradition in Action. The historical evolution of the Greater Manchester County. Wakefield: EP Publishing. ISBN 0715812033. 
    • Manchester United in Celebration of City. European Structural Funding (2002). Retrieved on 18 December 2006.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Manchester Cottonopolis. Spinningtheweb.org.uk – Manchester City Council (2005). Retrieved on 24 October 2006.
  10. ↑ Manchester and Salford (Ancoats, Castlefield and Worsley). UNESCO (1999). Retrieved on 24 October 2006.
  11. ↑ Information. The Peterloo Massacre Memorial Campaign. Retrieved on 15 June 2008.
  12. ↑ Hartwell, Clare (2001). Pevsner Architectural Guides: Manchester. London, England: Penguin Books, 11–17, 155, 256, 267–268. ISBN 0140711317. 
  13. ↑ (2003) A History of Manchester. Phillimore & Co Ltd, pg. 227–230. ISBN 1860772404. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Manchester still top of the popularity league. University of Manchester (18 January 2007). Retrieved on 11 September 2007.
  15. ↑ Football fever. Visit Manchester web pages. Visit Manchester. Retrieved on 23 September 2007.
  16. ↑ Wilson, James. "A busy hub of connectivity", Financial Times – FT report – doing business in Manchester and the NorthWest, The Financial Times Limited, 26 April 2007.
  17. ↑ Passenger Numbers 2005-06. Retrieved on 1 October 2007.
  18. ↑ GMPTE Park & Ride – Stations and Stops. GMPTE (2007). Retrieved on 11 September 2007.
  19. ↑ Metrolink: a network for the twenty-first century (PDF). GMPTE (2002). Retrieved on 19 September 2007.
  20. ↑ GMPTE Trends and Statistics 2001/2002 (PDF) Pg. 28–9. GMPTE (2002). Retrieved on 19 September 2007.
  21. ↑ Satchell, Clarissa. "Free buses on another city route", Manchester Evening News, M.E.N media, 22 September 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  22. ↑ North West Cities. Waterscape. British Waterways (2007). Retrieved on 19 September 2007.
    •Pivaro, Nigel. "Ship canal cruising is all the rage", Manchester Evening News, M.E.N media, 20 October 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  23. ↑ Stevens, Val (18 May 2007). Questions to the Deputy Leader in 2007. Manchester City Council web pages. Manchester City Council. Retrieved on 14 September 2007.
  24. ↑ Friendship Agreements. Manchester City Council. Retrieved on 11 January 2008.
  25. ↑ British Council Annual Report. British Council (2006). Retrieved on 7 July 2007.[dead link]
  26. ↑ Engineer, Ashgar Ali (2003). The Gujarat Carnage. Orient Longman, 196. ISBN 8125024964. 
  27. ↑ Profile of the City Ahmedabad (PDF). Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Ahmedabad, Urban Development Authority and CEPT University, Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (2006). Retrieved on 22 July 2008.
  28. ↑ At the time of the twinning agreement, the city was was in the German Democratic Republic and named Karl-Marx-Stadt. See Friendship Agreements. Manchester City Council. Retrieved on 11 January 2008.

[change] Further reading

  • General
    • Beesley, Ian (1988). Victorian Manchester and Salford. Keele: Ryburn. ISBN 1-85331-006-9. 
    • Hylton, Stuart (2003). A History of Manchester. Chichester: Phillimore & Company. ISBN 1-86077-240-4. 
    • Kidd, Alan J (1993). Manchester, Town and City Histories. Keele: Ryburn. ISBN 1-85331-016-6. 
    • Price, Jane; Ben Stebbing (editors) (2002). The Mancunian Way. Manchester: Clinamen Press Ltd. ISBN 1-903083-81-8. 
    • Redhead, Brian (1993). Manchester: a Celebration. London: Andre Deutsch Ltd. ISBN 0-233-98816-5. 
    • Schofield, Jonathan (2005). The City Life Guide to Manchester. Manchester: City Life. ISBN 0-9549042-2-2. 
  • Culture
    • Champion, Sarah (1990). And God Created Manchester. Manchester: Wordsmith. ISBN 1-873205-01-5. 
    • Gatenby, Phill (2002). Morrissey's Manchester: The Essential "Smiths" Tour. Empire Publications. ISBN 1-901746-28-3. 
    • Haslam, Dave (2000). Manchester, England. New York: Fourth Estate. ISBN 1-84115-146-7. 
    • Lee, C P (2002). Shake, Rattle and Rain – Popular Music Making in Manchester 1955–1995. Hardinge Simpole. ISBN 1-84382-049-8. 
    • Lee, C P (2004). Like The Night (Revisited): Bob Dylan and the Road to the Manchester Free Trade Hall. London: Helter Skelter Publishing. ISBN 1-900924-33-1. 
    • Savage, John (editor) (1992). The Hacienda Must Be Built. International Music Publications. ISBN 0-86359-857-9. 

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