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Northampton ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a large market town and local government district in...

Northampton ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. It is about 67 miles (108 km) north-west of London and around 50 miles (80 km) south-east of Birmingham, and lies on the River Nene. It is the county town of Northamptonshire. The district's population is 200,100 and the town population is 189,474, making Northampton the 21st-largest settlement in England, and the UK's 3rd-largest town without official city status, after Reading and Dudley. Northampton is the most populous district in England that is not a unitary authority, a status it failed to obtain in the 1990s local government reform. Northampton's population has increased greatly since the 1960s, largely due to planned expansion under the New Towns Commission in the early 1960s. Northampton was a major centre of shoemaking and other leather industries, although only specialist shoemaking companies such as Church's and Trickers, formerly located in nearby Earls Barton, survive. A large number of old shoe factories remain, mostly now converted to offices or accommodation, some of which are surrounded by terraced houses built for factory workers.