City of Salford in the context of "Manchester"

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, West Yorkshire and Derbyshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester.

The county has an area of 1,276 km (493 sq mi) and is highly urbanised, with a population of 3,009,664 in 2024. Manchester is located in the centre of the county, with the city of Salford immediately adjacent to the west. Other large settlements include Rochdale in the north-east, Stockport in the south-east, Sale in the south-west, Wigan in the far north-west, and Bolton in the north-west. The majority of the county's settlements are part of the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, which extends into Cheshire and Merseyside and is the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. For local government purposes the county comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. The borough councils collaborate through the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The county was created on 1 April 1974 from parts of north-east Cheshire, south-east Lancashire, and a small part of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Salford (/ˈsɒlfərd/ SOL-fərd) is a city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former town hall, Salford Cathedral, Salford Lads' Club and St Philip's Church. In 2021 it had a population of 129,794. The demonym for people from Salford is Salfordian.

Salford is the main settlement of the wider City of Salford metropolitan borough, which incorporates Eccles, Pendlebury, Swinton and Walkden.

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton (/ˈboʊltən/ BOHL-tən) is a metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, named after its largest town, Bolton, but covering a larger area which includes Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley, Westhoughton, and part of the West Pennine Moors. It had a population of 310,085 in 2024, making it the third-most populous district in Greater Manchester.

What is now the borough was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972; the area was formerly part of Lancashire. It was formed from seven urban districts from the administrative county of Lancashire, the southern part of an eighth urban district, and the county borough of Bolton. The metropolitan districts of Bury, Salford and Wigan lie to the east, south and west respectively; and the unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen and the non-metropolitan district of Chorley in Lancashire to the north and north-west.

The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest town, Wigan, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Atherton, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Golborne, Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Leigh and Tyldesley. The borough also covers the villages and suburbs of Abram, Aspull, Astley, Bryn, Hindley Green, Lowton, Mosley Common, Orrell, Pemberton, Shevington, Standish, Winstanley and Worsley Mesnes. The borough is also the second-most populous district in Greater Manchester.

The borough was formed in 1974, replacing several former local government districts. It is the westernmost part of Greater Manchester and is bordered by the Greater Manchester boroughs of City of Salford and Bolton to the east, the Cheshire borough of Warrington to the south, the Merseyside borough of St Helens to the south west, and the Lancashire boroughs of West Lancashire to the west and Chorley to the north.

Eccles (/ˈɛkəlz/) is a market town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Salford city centre and 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Manchester, split by the M602 motorway and bordered by the Manchester Ship Canal to the south. The town is famous for the Eccles cake.

Eccles grew around the 13th-century Parish Church of St Mary. Evidence of pre-historic human settlement has been discovered locally, but the area was predominantly agricultural until the Industrial Revolution, when a textile industry was established in the town. The arrival of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway led to the town's expansion along the route of the track linking those two cities.

Swinton is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. southwest of the River Irwell, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Manchester, adjoining the town of Pendlebury and suburb of Clifton. In 2014, it had a population of 22,931.

Historically in Lancashire, for centuries Swinton was a hamlet in the township of Worsley, parish of Eccles and hundred of Salfordshire. The name Swinton is derived from the Old English "Swynton" meaning "swine town". In the High Middle Ages, Swinton was held by the religious orders of the Knights Hospitaller and Whalley Abbey. Farming was the main occupation, with locals supplementing their incomes by hand-loom woollen weaving in the domestic system.

Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, six miles (ten kilometres) northwest of central Salford, and seven miles (eleven kilometres) of Manchester.

Walkden has been designated as one of seven main town centres in the City of Salford, and now largely functions as a retail centre and commuter suburb of Greater Manchester.

Pendlebury is a town in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,069. It lies 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Manchester, 3 miles (5 km) north-west of Salford and 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Bolton.

Historically in Lancashire, Pendlebury, together with the neighbouring settlements of Swinton and Clifton, formed the municipal borough of Swinton and Pendlebury. Pendlebury saw extensive coal extraction from several collieries until the closure of Agecroft Colliery in the 1990s.