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Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.56...

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.56 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Salford and Manchester. Greater Manchester was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972. Greater Manchester is landlocked and borders Cheshire (to the south-west and south), Derbyshire (to the south-east), West Yorkshire (to the north-east), Lancashire (to the north) and Merseyside (to the west). The Greater Manchester Urban Area is the third most populous conurbation in the UK, and spans across most of the county's territory. As a ceremonial county, Greater Manchester has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. Greater Manchester County Council was abolished in 1986, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now effectively unitary authority areas; however, the metropolitan county, which is some 496 square miles (1,285 km), continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference. Several county-wide services are co-ordinated through