This metropolitan county that is located in North West England is called Greater Manchester, and it is sprawled over one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom. It contains 10 metropolitan boroughs such as Bury, Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside, Stockport, Trafford, Wigan, and also the cities of Salford and Manchester.

Where as Greater Manchester was established on 1 April 1974 from the result of the Local Government Act 1972. Greater Manchester is inland and shares borders with Cheshire in the south west and south, West Yorkshire in the north east, Derbyshire in the south east, Merseyside to the west and Lancashire to the north. The Greater Manchester Urban Area is the third most densely populated area in the UK and it stretches across in most of the county's territory. Greater Manchester has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff as it is a ceremonial county,

Greater Manchester County Council was ceased in 1986 and its districts or the metropolitan boroughs have now effectively become unitary authority areas. However, this 496 square miles or 1,285 km2 metropolitan county, continues to exist in law and as a geographic feature. Association of Greater Manchester Authorities provides several county wide services.

No doubt the modern county of Greater Manchester was established in 1974, but its history goes back into the centuries. The proof is from Iron Age settlements found at Mellor. Later on it was inhabited by Brigantes. First century forts are also found here. Many proofs about the presence of Romans are also found here.

During the Industrial Revolution it was found that industries related to domestic cloth and textile manufacture did had a foothold at Manchester. Some of the adjoining market cities and centers played an important role in trading woolen clothes. Much of its capacity to manufacture cloth came to the fore during the Industrial Revolution.

Manchester progressed rapidly and around the turn of 19 the century many more towns came into existence, helping the county economically. It now had become one of the Earths most productive and significant mill town. So an administration change was proposed in 1910.

However, the English term Greater Manchester was used in a report in 1914 and it was significantly recognized area. An innovative urban planner Sir Patrick Geddes wrote in his 1915 book that another Greater London was mushrooming up. It shares its borders with ancient counties West Riding of Yorkshire Cheshire and the Lancashire.

Many counties lost, some gained land and changed their respective boundaries for years, until people were fed up with these alterations. The whole system was criticized as it could not keep pace with changing government responsibilities.

Eventually in 1947 a three ridings system was launched, which created Manchester County Council, a directly elected regional body. From 1951, the census started reporting as a same collection on South East Lancashire.