Geography
Greater Manchester is a landlocked county spanning 493 square miles (1,277 km2). The Pennines rise along the eastern side of the county, through parts of Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside. The West Pennine Moors and several coalfields (mainly sandstones and shales) lie in the west of the county. The rivers Mersey and Tame run through the county boundaries, both of which rise in the Pennines. Other rivers run through the county, including the Beal, the Douglas and the Irk. Black Chew Head is the highest point in Greater Manchester, rising 1,778 feet (542 m) above sea-level, within the parish of Saddleworth.
There is a mix of high density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Greater Manchester, but overwhelmingly the land use in the county is urban. It has a strong regional central business district, formed by Manchester city centre and the adjoining parts of Salford and Trafford. However, Greater Manchester is also a polycentric county with ten metropolitan districts, each of which has a major town centre – and in some cases more than one – and many smaller settlements. Greater Manchester is arguably the most complex urban area in the UK outside London, described as a "polycentric functional urban region".
| Metropolitan borough | Administrative centre | Other components | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bury | Bury | Prestwich, Radcliffe, Ramsbottom, Tottington, Whitefield | |
| Bolton | Bolton | Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley, Little Lever, South Turton, Westhoughton | |
| Manchester | Manchester | Blackley, Cheetham Hill, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Didsbury, Ringway, Withington, Wythenshawe | |
| Oldham | Oldham | Chadderton, Shaw and Crompton, Failsworth, Lees, Royton, Saddleworth | |
| Rochdale | Rochdale | Heywood, Littleborough, Middleton, Milnrow, Newhey, Wardle | |
| Salford | Swinton | Eccles, Clifton, Little Hulton, Walkden, Worsley, Salford, Irlam, Pendlebury, Cadishead, Patricroft, Monton | |
| Stockport | Stockport | Bramhall, Bredbury, Cheadle, Gatley, Hazel Grove, Marple, Romiley Woodley | |
| Tameside | Ashton-under-Lyne | Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Longdendale, Mossley, Stalybridge | |
| Trafford | Stretford | Altrincham, Bowdon, Hale, Sale, Urmston | |
| Wigan | Wigan | Abram, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Aspull, Astley, Atherton, Bryn, Golborne, Higher End, Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Leigh, Orrell, Shevington, Standish, Tyldesley, Winstanley | |
The Greater Manchester Urban Area is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics consisting of the large conurbation surrounding and including the city of Manchester. Its territory spans much, but not all of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. It excludes settlements such as Wigan and Marple from within the Greater Manchester county boundaries, but includes settlements which are outside of the county boundaries, such as Wilmslow and Alderley Edge in Cheshire, and Whitworth in Lancashire. Although neither the Greater Manchester county, nor the Greater Manchester Urban Area have been granted city status in the United Kingdom, European Union literature suggests that the conurbation surrounding Manchester constitutes a homogonous urban city region.
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—Derek Wall (b. 1965)