View source for Manchester

{{Short description|City and metropolitan borough in England}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Manchester
| settlement_type    = [[City status in the United Kingdom|City]] and [[metropolitan borough]]
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
  | border = infobox
  | perrow = 1/2/2/2
  | total_width = 280
  | align = center
  | image1 = Manchester Skyline - geograph.org.uk - 7560418.jpg
  | caption1 = Manchester skyline
  | alt1 = A city skyline as viewed from a grassy hill far away with a single white-painted building on it. The sky is cloudy and the buildings are slightly covered by mist. The skyline includes many skyscrapers distributed sporadically
  | image2 = Manchester Town Hall from Lloyd St.jpg
  | caption2 = [[Manchester Town Hall|Town Hall]]
  | alt2 = A grand gothic revival building as viewed from afar, with a gothic revival clock tower stretching high into the sky. Trees partially obstruct the view and the sky is clear with some clouds.
  | image3 = Manchester Central Library England.jpg
  | caption3 = [[Manchester Central Library|Central Library]]
  | alt3 = a neopalladian grand stucco building as viewed from directly in front, with a portico extending from it. The building itself is a cylindrical shape and the photo sets it against a blue sky.
  | image4 = Midland Hotel west, Manchester.jpg
  | caption4 = [[Midland Hotel, Manchester|Midland Hotel]]
  | alt4 = A large red-brick building with curved windows as viewed from a short distance away. There are green trees in front and a blue sky behind. The building curves round on both sides to follow the road.
  | image5 = Manchester Civil Justice Centre from Bridge Street.jpg
  | caption5 = [[Manchester Civil Justice Centre|Civil Justice Centre]]
  | alt5 = A very modern glass-and-steel large building as viewed from a short distance away against a blue sky. The building is made of a series of connected cuboids, of which only one touches the ground and the others all come off one another.
  | image6 = Manchester_city_etihad_stadium_(cropped).jpg
  | caption6 = [[City of Manchester Stadium|Etihad Stadium]]
  | alt6 = A large stadium as viewed from above, with a grass pitch in the middle partially covered by the curved roof. The area around the stadium is mainly flat.
  | image7 = Manchester Cathedral - Aerial - 2024-06-16 01.jpg
  | caption7 = [[Manchester Cathedral]]
  | alt8 = A large gothic revival cathedral in a small park next to a river, in the centre of a very built up area. The church tower is the tallest building in the photo which is taken from above at a slight angle. 
  }}
| caption            = 
| image_shield       = Arms of the Manchester City Council.svg
| shield_alt         = A coat of arms with a lion and a unicorn holding a red shield with three yellow diagonal stripes. Beneath the words  "CONCILIO ET LABORE" are written, and at the top there is a globe sitting on top of a knight's helmet.
| shield_link        = Symbols of Manchester#Heraldry
| image_blank_emblem = 202203 western honey bee.svg
| blank_emblem_size  = 
| blank_emblem_type  = Worker bee
| blank_emblem_alt   = A bee as viewed from above with no background. It is flat with its wings extended.
| blank_emblem_link  = Symbols of Manchester#Worker bee
| etymology          = 
| nickname           = {{Hlist |Mancs |[[Cottonopolis]] (historic) }}
| motto              = {{langx |la|Concilio Et Labore |translation=By Counsel and Work}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2009/02/11/110209_manchester_coat_of_arms_feature.shtml |title=The antelope, the lion and the bees |website=[[BBC]] |date=11 February 2009 |access-date=25 February 2024 |archive-date=29 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170529175450/http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2009/02/11/110209_manchester_coat_of_arms_feature.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>
| image_map          = Manchester UK locator map.svg
| map_alt            = 
| map_caption        = Manchester shown within Greater Manchester
| coordinates        = {{coord|53.4790|-2.2452|region:GB_type:adm2nd|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| subdivision_type   = [[Sovereign state]]
| subdivision_name   = [[United Kingdom]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[Countries of the United Kingdom|Country]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[England]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[Regions of England|Region]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[North West England|North West]]
| subdivision_type3  = [[Ceremonial counties of England|Ceremonial county]] and [[City region (United Kingdom)|city region]]
| subdivision_name3  = [[Greater Manchester]]
| subdivision_type4  = 
| subdivision_name4  = 
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = 1st century AD
| established_title1 = Town charter
| established_date1  = 1301
| established_title2 = City status
| established_date2  = 29 March 1853
| established_title3 = [[Metropolitan borough]]
| established_date3  = [[Local Government Act 1972|1 April 1974]]
| named_for          = 
| seat_type          = Administrative HQ
| seat               = [[Manchester Town Hall]]
| parts_type         = 
| parts              = <!-- Government -->
| government_footnotes = <ref name="Council leadership">{{cite web |url=https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200033/councillors_and_decision-making |title=Councillors and decision-making |website=[[Manchester City Council]] |access-date=9 January 2024 |archive-date=9 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109191629/https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200033/councillors_and_decision-making |url-status=live }}</ref>
| government_type    = [[Metropolitan borough|Metropolitan{{nbsp}}borough]]
| governing_body     = [[Manchester City Council]]
| leader_title       = [[Executive arrangements|Executive]]
| leader_name        = [[Executive arrangements#Leader and cabinet|Leader and cabinet]]
| leader_title1      = [[Political make-up of local councils in the United Kingdom|Control]]
| leader_name1       = {{English district control|GSS=E08000003}}
| leader_title2      = [[Executive arrangements#Leader and cabinet|Leader]]
| leader_name2       = [[Bev Craig]] ([[Labour Party (UK)|L]])
| leader_title3      = [[List of lord mayors of Manchester|Lord Mayor]]
| leader_name3       = Carmine Grimshaw
| leader_title4      = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MPs]]
| leader_name4       = {{Collapsible list | title = 6 MPs
 | [[Andrew Gwynne]] ([[Labour and Co-operative Party|L]])
 | [[Mike Kane]] ([[Labour Party (UK)|L]])
 | [[Afzal Khan (British politician)|Afzal Khan]] ([[Labour Party (UK)|L]])
 | [[Lucy Powell]] ([[Labour and Co-operative Party|L]])
 | [[Jeff Smith (British politician)|Jeff Smith]] ([[Labour Party (UK)|L]])
 | [[Graham Stringer]] ([[Labour Party (UK)|L]])
 }}
<!-- Area -->
<!-- ALL fields with measurements have automatic unit conversion -->| area_footnotes     = <ref name="popstats" />
| area_total_km2     = {{English district area|GSS=E08000003}}
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_water_km2     = 
| area_rank          = [[List of English districts by area|{{English district area rank|GSS=E08000003}}]]
<!-- Population -->| population_footnotes = <ref name="popstats">{{United Kingdom district population citation}}</ref>
| population_as_of   = {{English statistics year}}
| population_total   = {{English district population|GSS=E08000003}}
| population_rank    = [[List of English districts by population|{{English district rank|GSS=E08000003}}]]
| population_density_km2 = {{English district density|GSS=E08000003}}
| population_demonym = {{Unbulleted list | [[List of people from Manchester|Mancunian]] | Manc ([[Colloquialism|colloq.]]) }}
<!-- demographics (section 1) -->| demographics_type1 = Ethnicity <span style="font-weight:normal;">([[2021 United Kingdom census|2021]])</span>
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="2021 Nomis">{{NOMIS2021|id=E08000003|title=Manchester Local Authority|access-date=9 January 2024}}</ref>
| demographics1_title1 = [[Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom|Ethnic groups]]
| demographics1_info1 = {{Collapsible list
 | 56.8% [[White people in the United Kingdom|White]]
 | 20.9% [[British Asians|Asian]]
 | 11.9% [[Black British people|Black]]
 | 5.3% [[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|Mixed]]
 | 5.1% [[Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom|other]]
 }}
<!-- demographics (section 2) -->| demographics_type2 = Religion <span style="font-weight:normal;">(2021)</span>
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="2021 Nomis"/>
| demographics2_title1 = [[Religion in England|Religion]]
| demographics2_info1 = {{Collapsible list
 | 36.2% [[Religion in England#Christianity|Christianity]]
 | 32.4% [[Irreligion in the United Kingdom|no religion]]
 | 22.3% [[Islam in England|Islam]]
 | 1.1% [[Hinduism in England|Hinduism]]
 | 0.6% [[Buddhism in England|Buddhism]]
 | 0.5% [[Sikhism in England|Sikhism]]
 | 0.5% [[History of the Jews in England|Judaism]]
 | 0.5% [[Religion in England|other]]
 | 5.9% not stated
 }}
| timezone1          = [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]]
| utc_offset1        = +0
| timezone1_DST      = [[British Summer Time|BST]]
| utc_offset1_DST    = +1
<!-- Codes -->| postal_code_type   = [[Postcodes in the United Kingdom|Postcode area]]
| postal_code        = {{Hlist | [[M postcode area|M]] | [[WA postcode area|WA]] }}
| area_code_type     = [[Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom|Dialling code]]
| area_code          = 0161
| iso_code           = [[ISO 3166-2:GB|GB-MAN]]
| blank1_name        = [[GSS coding system|GSS code]]
| blank1_info        = E08000003
| website            = {{URL|manchester.gov.uk}}
}}
'''Manchester''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|æ|n|tʃ|ᵻ|s|t|ər|,_|-|tʃ|ɛ|s|-}})<ref>{{citation |last=Wells |first=John C. |year=2008 |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |edition=3rd |publisher=Longman |isbn=9781405881180}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Roach |first=Peter |year=2011 |title=Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary |edition=18th |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521152532}}</ref> is a city in [[Greater Manchester]], England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Census results 2021 {{!}} Census and population {{!}} Manchester City Council |url=https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200088/statistics_and_intelligence/7583/census_and_population |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=www.manchester.gov.uk}}</ref> It is bordered by the [[Cheshire Plain]] to the south, the [[Pennines]] to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of [[City of Salford|Salford]] to the west. The two cities and the surrounding towns form one of the United Kingdom's most populous [[conurbation]]s, the [[Greater Manchester Built-up Area]], which has a population of 2.87 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Authority |first=Greater Manchester Combined |title=Census 2021: First Results |url=https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/research/research-demographics/census-2021-first-results/ |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=Greater Manchester Combined Authority |language=en}}</ref>

The [[history of Manchester]] began with the civilian settlement associated with the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] fort (''[[castra]]'') of ''Mamucium'' or ''Mancunium'', established in about AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers [[River Medlock|Medlock]] and [[River Irwell|Irwell]]. [[Historic counties of England|Historically]] part of [[Lancashire]], areas of [[Cheshire]] south of the [[River Mersey]] were incorporated into Manchester in the 20th century, including [[Wythenshawe]] in 1931. Throughout the [[Middle Ages]] Manchester remained a [[manorialism|manorial]] [[Township (England)|township]], but began to expand significantly around the turn of the 19th century. Manchester's unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in [[textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution]],<ref name="Cotton">{{cite book|title=The Cotton Industry|last=Aspin|first=Chris|publisher=Shire Publications Ltd|year=1981|isbn=0-85263-545-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/cottonindustry0000aspi/page/3 3]|url=https://archive.org/details/cottonindustry0000aspi/page/3}}</ref> and resulted in it becoming the world's first industrialised city.<ref name="Industrial city"/> Manchester attained [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]] in 1853. The [[Manchester Ship Canal]] opened in 1894, creating the [[Port of Manchester]] and linking the city to the [[Irish Sea]], {{convert|36|mi|km}} to the west. Its fortune declined after the [[Second World War]], owing to deindustrialisation, and the [[Provisional IRA|IRA]] [[1996 Manchester bombing|bombing in 1996]] led to extensive investment and regeneration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-ira-bomb-20-years-11433239 |title=Recap: The IRA bomb in Manchester... what happened on June 15, 1996 |first=Jennifer |last=Williams |date=15 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817001934/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-ira-bomb-20-years-11433239 |archive-date=17 August 2016 }}</ref> Following considerable redevelopment, Manchester was the host city for the [[2002 Commonwealth Games]].

The city is notable for [[Architecture of Manchester|its architecture]], [[Culture of Manchester|culture]], [[Popular music of Manchester|musical exports]], [[Media in Manchester|media links]], [[Science and engineering in Manchester|scientific and engineering output]], [[Sociology of Manchester|social impact]], [[Sport in Manchester|sports clubs]] and [[Transport in Manchester|transport connections]]. [[Manchester Liverpool Road railway station]] was the world's first inter-city passenger railway station. At the [[University of Manchester]], [[Ernest Rutherford]] first split the atom in 1917, [[Frederic C. Williams]], [[Tom Kilburn]] and [[Geoff Tootill]] developed the world's first [[Manchester Baby|stored-program computer]] in 1948, and [[Andre Geim]] and [[Konstantin Novoselov]] isolated the first [[graphene]] in 2004.

==Toponymy==
The name ''Manchester'' originates from ''{{Lang|la|[[Mamucium]]}}'', the [[Latin]] name for the city, or its variant ''{{Lang|la|Mancunio}}''; its citizens are still referred to as Mancunians ({{IPAc-en|m|æ|n|ˈ|k|juː|n|i|ə|n}}). These names are generally thought to represent a [[Latinization of names|Latinised]] version of an older [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] name. It is generally accepted that the etymology of the Brittonic name is from *''{{Lang|cel|mamm}}-'', which means '[[breast]]', in reference to a [[breast-shaped hill]] on which the city was built.<ref name=":0">''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society'', ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), under ''MANCHESTER''.</ref><ref name="Place names">{{cite book |last=Mills |first=A.D. |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofbrit0000mill |title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-19-852758-6 |location=Oxford |access-date=7 November 2013 |url-access=registration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021051450/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199609086.001.0001/acref-9780199609086 |archive-date=21 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, more recent work suggests that the name could have instead come from the Brittonic *''{{Lang|cel|mamma}}'', which means 'mother', in reference to a [[River Medlock|local river]] goddess. Both possible roots remain extant in [[Celtic languages]] today, with ''{{Lang|cel|mam}}'' meaning 'breast' in [[Irish Gaelic|Irish]] but the same word meaning 'mother' in [[Welsh language|Welsh]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal = The Antiquaries Journal |issn =0003-5815|date = 2004|volume= 84|pages = 353–357|title = Manchester's Ancient Name|first = Andrew|last = Breeze|doi = 10.1017/S0003581500045893|s2cid =163005777}}</ref> The [[suffix]] ''[[Chester (placename element)|-chester]]'' is from [[Old English]] ''{{Lang|ang|ceaster}}'' ('Roman fortification', itself a loanword from Latin ''{{Lang|la|castra}}'', 'fort; fortified town'),<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Place names" /> and was first use after the [[end of Roman rule in Britain]] to describe places with former links to the Roman military.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moriaty |first=Tom |title=The Origins of English Place Names |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/origins-of-english-place-names/ |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=[[English Heritage]] |archive-date=16 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916150337/https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/origins-of-english-place-names/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Nicknames for the city that originated from its role in the Industrial Revolution include "warehouse city" and "[[cottonopolis]]". The city is widely known as 'the [[Capital city|capital]] of the [[Northern England|North]]'<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2094522-invest-north-manchester-is-the-capital-of-the-north |title=Invest North: Manchester is the capital of the North &#124; TheBusinessDesk.com |date=4 March 2022 |access-date=6 April 2024 |archive-date=6 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406115555/https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2094522-invest-north-manchester-is-the-capital-of-the-north |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.shootfromthetrip.com/48-hours-in-manchester/ |title=48 hours in Manchester: Exploring the capital of the North |first=Dylan |last=Jones |date=9 March 2020 |access-date=6 April 2024 |archive-date=6 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406152236/https://www.shootfromthetrip.com/48-hours-in-manchester/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mysteriumtours.com/the-city-of-manchester-capital-of-the-north/|title=The City of Manchester - Capital of the North|first=Sebastian|last=Doyle|date=16 September 2019|access-date=6 April 2024|archive-date=9 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209060605/https://www.mysteriumtours.com/the-city-of-manchester-capital-of-the-north/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/events/question-time-manchester-defining-the-capital-of-the-north/|title=Question Time Manchester: Defining the capital of the North|website=Place North West|access-date=6 April 2024|archive-date=6 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406115555/https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/events/question-time-manchester-defining-the-capital-of-the-north/|url-status=live}}</ref> and is part of an ongoing dispute with the city of [[Birmingham]] as to which one is to be considered the unofficial [[second city of the United Kingdom]],<ref name="No prizes">{{Cite web |date=17 May 2011 |title=No prizes for coming third: The fight to be Britain's second city |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/no-prizes-for-coming-third-the-fight-to-be-britain-s-second-city-2285015.html |access-date=10 January 2022 |website=[[The Independent]] |archive-date=13 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221113072305/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/no-prizes-for-coming-third-the-fight-to-be-britain-s-second-city-2285015.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite news |date=25 February 2013 |title=Splendidly pointless second city debate |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6f4d18a6-7f3f-11e2-89ed-00144feabdc0 |access-date=10 January 2022 |work=[[Financial Times]] |archive-date=10 December 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/6f4d18a6-7f3f-11e2-89ed-00144feabdc0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="New Statesman">{{Cite web |last=Collin |first=Joe |date=10 June 2021 |title=Birmingham or Manchester: Which is Britain's second city? Obviously, it's Birmingham |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/08/birmingham-or-manchester-which-britains-second-city |access-date=10 January 2022 |website=[[The New Statesman]] |archive-date=31 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331235346/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/08/birmingham-or-manchester-which-britains-second-city |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=26 October 2023 |title=How regeneration has cemented Manchester as the UK's second city |url=https://lcrproperty.co.uk/how-regeneration-has-cemented-manchester-as-the-uks-second-city/ |website=LCR Property |access-date=28 August 2025 |archive-date=25 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250825234732/https://lcrproperty.co.uk/how-regeneration-has-cemented-manchester-as-the-uks-second-city/ |url-status=live }}.  "Manchester is frequently lauded as the UK's 'second city' ... While the claim to the 'second city' title may stir debate, particularly among those from Birmingham, experts are in unanimous agreement that Manchester is forging ahead"</ref> although only considering population Birmingham is bigger.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 February 2022 |title=News Story: West Midlands chosen for government pilot |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/west-midlands-chosen-for-government-pilot |access-date=10 September 2022 |publisher=gov.uk |archive-date=11 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911131309/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/west-midlands-chosen-for-government-pilot |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2 September 2022 |title=Policy paper: Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: the highlights |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/birmingham-2022-commonwealth-games-the-highlights/birmingham-2022-commonwealth-games-the-highlights |access-date=10 September 2022 |publisher=gov.uk |archive-date=11 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911131307/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/birmingham-2022-commonwealth-games-the-highlights/birmingham-2022-commonwealth-games-the-highlights |url-status=live }}</ref> The city is also infrequently referred to as 'Manny',<ref name=":16">{{Cite web |last=Newbould |first=Chris |date=18 March 2024 |title=Studio 91 releases 'a love letter to Greater Manchester' |url=https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/studio-91-releases-a-love-letter-to-greater-manchester/ |access-date=28 September 2025 |website=Prolific North |archive-date=14 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250914192405/https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/studio-91-releases-a-love-letter-to-greater-manchester/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":17">{{Cite news |last=Considine |first=Clare |date=14 August 2015 |title=How Bugzy Malone put Manchester on the grime map |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/aug/14/mc-bugzy-and-the-manchester-grime-scene |access-date=28 September 2025 |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":18">{{Cite journal |last=Rymajdo |first=Kamila |date=4 January 2017 |title=Hashtag 0161: Did Bugzy Malone put Manny on the map? |url=https://journal.equinoxpub.com/PMH/article/view/13296 |journal=Popular Music History |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=82–98 |doi=10.1558/pomh.32559 |issn=1743-1646 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=17 July 2025 |access-date=28 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250717223423/https://journal.equinoxpub.com/PMH/article/view/13296 |url-status=live }}</ref> especially by non-Mancunians, which is considered offensive by some residents of the city.<ref name=":16" /> The phrase was particularly popularised by rapper [[Bugzy Malone]]'s use of the phrase "putting Manny on the map".<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":18" /> 

Although the name Manchester only officially applies to the [[metropolitan borough]] within the metropolitan county of [[Greater Manchester]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boroughs |url=https://manchesterlieutenancy.org/boroughs/ |access-date=2025-09-01 |website=Greater Manchester Lieutenancy |archive-date=4 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250804200954/https://manchesterlieutenancy.org/boroughs/ |url-status=live }}</ref> it has been informally applied to various other areas over the years; examples include the "Manchester City Zone",<ref name="Rail-ticket-zone-map">{{Cite web |title=Rail ticket zone map |url=https://tfgm.com/public-transport/train/ticket-area-map |access-date=1 September 2025 |website=Bee Network |archive-date=31 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250331213113/https://tfgm.com/public-transport/train/ticket-area-map |url-status=live }}</ref> "[[M postcode area|Manchester post town]]",<ref name="address-management-guide">{{Cite book|publisher=[[Royal Mail]] |title=Address Management Guide |year=2004 |edition=4th}}</ref> and the "[[Manchester Congestion Charge]]",<ref name="appendix-1">{{cite web |title=Appendix 1 - Boundary Considerations |url=http://www.gmfuturetransport.co.uk/pdf/12-TIF%20Package%20Proposed%20Amendments%20Appendix%201.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327155045/http://www.gmfuturetransport.co.uk/pdf/12-TIF%20Package%20Proposed%20Amendments%20Appendix%201.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009 |publisher=[[Association of Greater Manchester Authorities]] |page=4}}</ref> none of which simply cover the official confines of the city.{{Refn|
* The Manchester City zone only includes a handful of stations in the city centre;<ref name="Rail-ticket-zone-map" />
* The Manchester Post town covers Manchester, Sale, and Salford;<ref name="address-management-guide" />
* The proposed boundary of the Manchester congestion charge was the M60, not the city itself.<ref name="appendix-1" />
}}

==History==
{{Main|History of Manchester}}

{{For timeline}}

===Before 1066: Early history===
{{main|Mamucium}}
The first major [[Celtic tribes in Britain and Ireland|Celtic tribe]] in what is now [[Northern England]] were the [[Brigantes]]; they had a stronghold in the locality at a sandstone [[outcrop]] on which [[Manchester Cathedral]] now stands, opposite the bank of the [[River Irwell]].<ref name="Cooper">{{cite book |first=Glynis |last=Cooper |title=Salford: An Illustrated History |publisher=The Breedon Books Publishing Company |year=2005 |isbn=1-85983-455-8|page=19}}</ref> Their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now [[Salford, Greater Manchester|Salford]] and [[Stretford]]. In 79 AD, following their [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquest of Britain]], the Roman general [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola]] ordered the construction of a [[Castra|fort]] named [[Mamucium]] to ensure that Roman interests in [[Deva Victrix]] (now [[Chester]]) and [[Eboracum]] (now [[York]]) were protected from the Brigantes whose land they had occupied.<ref name="Cooper"/> Central Manchester has remained a continuously populated settlement since this time.<ref name="Roman">{{cite book| title=Halloween: from Pagan Ritual to Party Night| url=http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780195168969.do#.UmOl33CVPp8| last=Rogers| first=Nicholas| year=2003| page=18| publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]| isbn=0-19-516896-8| access-date=7 November 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021000106/http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780195168969.do#.UmOl33CVPp8| archive-date=21 October 2013| url-status=live}}</ref>

A fragment of foundations of the final version of the Mamucium fort is visible in [[Castlefield]] today. The Roman habitation of Manchester probably ended around the 3rd century; its [[Vicus (Rome)|civilian settlement]] appears to have been abandoned by the mid-3rd century, although the fort may have supported a small garrison until the late 3rd or early 4th century.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Gregory |editor-first=Richard |title=Roman Manchester: The University of Manchester's Excavations within the Vicus 2001–5 |page=190 |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2007 |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-84217-271-1}}</ref> The fort was first investigated by archaeologists in 1906,<ref>{{cite book |title=Roman Manchester: The University of Manchester's Excavations within the Vicus 2001&ndash;5 |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84217-271-1 |editor-last=Gregory |editor-first=Richard |location=Oxford |page=2}}</ref> and opened to the public in 1984.<ref name="guide">{{cite web |author=Norman Redhead |date=20 April 2008 |title=A guide to Mamucium |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2008/04/10/100408_roman_manchester_feature.shtml |access-date=20 July 2008 |website=[[BBC News]] |publisher= |archive-date=30 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430182353/http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2008/04/10/100408_roman_manchester_feature.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 1066–1800: Before industrialisation ===
[[File:McConnel & Company mills, about 1820.jpg|thumb|McConnel & Company's [[cotton mill]]s in [[Ancoats]], {{circa|1820}}|alt=A watercolour of mills with smoking chimneys painted from the opposite side of a river. There is a wooden dock on the left hand side with a small wooden boat by the dock, floating perpendicular to the river.]]
After the Roman withdrawal and subsequent [[Anglo-Saxon settlement]], the centre of the town moved to the [[confluence]] of the rivers Irwell and [[River Irk|Irk]] by the [[Norman Conquest]] in 1066.<ref name="Kidd">{{cite book |last=Kidd |first=Alan |title=Manchester: A History |publisher=Carnegie Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=1-85936-128-5 |location=Lancaster |pages=12, 15–24, 224}}</ref> In the Normans' [[Harrying of the North]], much of the area surrounding Manchester was destroyed.<ref name="Hylton">{{cite book |last=Hylton |first=Stuart |title=A History of Manchester |publisher=Phillimore & Co |year=2003 |isbn=1-86077-240-4 |pages=1–10, 22, 25, 42, 63–67, 69}}</ref><ref name="Arrowsmith">{{cite book |last=Arrowsmith |first=Peter |title=Stockport: a History |publisher=Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council |year=1997 |isbn=0-905164-99-7 |page=30}}</ref> The [[Domesday Book]] (1086) records Manchester as located within the [[hundred of Salford]], as well as being held as [[tenant in chief]] by a Norman named [[Roger of Poitou]].<ref name="doomsday">{{cite web |last1=Powell-Smith |first1=Anna |title=Open Doomsday |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/SJ8398/manchester/ |website=Open Doomsday |access-date=23 January 2020 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224161426/https://opendomesday.org/place/SJ8398/manchester/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The town was later held by the Grelley family, who were the [[lord of the manor|lords of the manor]] and residents of [[Manchester Castle]] before a manor house was built for them in 1215.<ref name="gatehouse">{{cite web |title=Manchester Castle |url=http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/1907.html |publisher=The Gatehouse – the comprehensive gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of England and Wales |access-date=18 March 2008 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803143430/http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/1907.html |url-status=live }}</ref> By 1421, Thomas de la Warre had founded and constructed a [[collegiate church]] for the [[Manchester (ancient parish)|parish]], which would later become [[Manchester Cathedral]]; other church buildings have since become [[Chetham's School of Music]] and [[Chetham's Library]].<ref name="Kidd" /><ref name="Hartwell">{{cite book|title=Pevsner Architectural Guides: Manchester|last=Hartwell|first=Clare|year=2001|pages= 11–17, 155, 256, 267–268|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=0-14-071131-7}}</ref> The latter opened in 1653 and is still open to the public, which makes it the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Nicholls2004P20">{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Nicholls |title=Curiosities of Greater Manchester |publisher=Sutton Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=0-7509-3661-4}}</ref>

Manchester is mentioned as having a [[Market town|market]] in 1282.<ref>{{Cite book | title = Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40422&strquery=lancashire | last = Letters | first = Samantha | year = 2005 | page = 19 | publisher = British History Online | access-date = 5 May 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120314084039/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40422&strquery=lancashire | archive-date = 14 March 2012 | url-status = live }}</ref> Around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of [[Flemish people|Flemish]] weavers, which have sometimes been credited as the foundation of the region's textile industry.<ref name="Flemish">{{cite book | title=Lancashire, The Industrial and Commercial South| last=Pevsner| first=Nikolaus| year=1969| page=265| publisher=Penguin Books| location=London| isbn=0-14-071036-1}}</ref> Manchester became an important centre for the manufacture and trade of [[wool]]lens and [[linen]], and by about 1540 had expanded to become, in the words of [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]], "the fairest, best builded, quickest, and most populous town of all Lancashire".<ref name="Kidd"/> The cathedral and Chetham's buildings are the only prominent survivors of Manchester at the time that Leland described it.<ref name="Hylton"/>

During the [[English Civil War]], Manchester strongly favoured the Parliamentarians who were led by [[Oliver Cromwell]]. He gave the town the right to elect its own [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]; [[Charles Worsley]] was elected to the seat but only sat for a year. He was later appointed as the Major-General for Lancashire, Cheshire and Staffordshire during the [[Rule of the Major-Generals]]. He was a diligent [[puritan]], who forcibly shut down ale houses operating in the town and banned the celebration of Christmas.<ref>{{cite book |author=Durston, Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hw622QZHTcYC&q=%22charles+worsley%22&pg=PA86 |title=Cromwell's major generals: godly government during the English Revolution |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7190-6065-6 |series= |location=Manchester |access-date=5 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428130149/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cromwell_s_Major_Generals/Hw622QZHTcYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22charles+worsley%22&pg=PA86&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=28 April 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Significant quantities of cotton began to be used after about 1600, firstly in linen and cotton [[fustian]]s, but by around 1750 pure cotton fabrics were being produced and cotton had overtaken wool in importance.<ref name="Kidd"/> The Irwell and Mersey were made navigable by 1736, opening a route from Manchester to the sea docks on the Mersey. The [[Bridgewater Canal]], Britain's first wholly artificial waterway, was opened in 1761, bringing coal from mines at [[Worsley]] to central Manchester. The canal was extended to the Mersey at [[Runcorn]] by 1776. The combination of competition and improved efficiency halved the cost of coal and halved the transport cost of raw cotton.<ref name="Kidd"/><ref name="Hartwell"/> Manchester became the dominant marketplace for textiles produced in the surrounding towns.<ref name="Kidd"/> A [[commodities exchange]], opened in 1729,<ref name="Hylton"/> and numerous large warehouses, aided commerce. In 1780, [[Richard Arkwright]] began construction of Manchester's first cotton mill.<ref name="Hylton"/><ref name="Hartwell"/> In 1803, [[John Dalton]] formulated his atomic theory in Manchester while he was a teacher in the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wooden Atomic Models used by John Dalton, 1800-1844  |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co12617/wooden-atomic-models-used-by-john-dalton-1800-1844 |access-date=28 August 2025 |website=[[The Science Museum]] |archive-date=28 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250828122401/https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co12617/wooden-atomic-models-used-by-john-dalton-1800-1844 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===1800–1939: Industrialisation===
{{multiple image
| direction         = horizontal
| width             = <!-- Image 1 -->
| image1            = View from Kersal Moor, Salford - 1820.jpg
| width1            = 220
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = ''View from Kersal Moor'' towards Manchester by [[Sebastian Pether]], {{Circa|1820|lk=no}}, then still a rural landscape. Note the [[River Irwell]] in both paintings.
<!-- Image 2 -->| image2            = Wyld, William - Manchester from Kersal Moor, with rustic figures and goats - Google Art Project.jpg
| width2            = 232
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| caption2          = ''Manchester from [[Kersal Moor]]'', by [[William Wyld]] in 1857, a view now dominated by chimney stacks as a consequence of the [[Industrial Revolution]]
}}
Manchester was one of the centres of [[textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution]]. The great majority of [[Spinning (textiles)|cotton spinning]] took place in the towns of south Lancashire and north Cheshire, and Manchester was for a time the most productive centre of cotton processing.<ref name="GMArch">{{cite book|author=McNeil, Robina|author2=Michael Nevell|title=A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Greater Manchester|publisher=Association for Industrial Archaeology|year=2000|isbn=0-9528930-3-7}}</ref> This caused the rapid expansion of the town that would lead to it become as the world's first industrialised city.<ref name="Industrial city">{{cite book |last=Kidd |first=Alan |url=https://archive.org/details/manchesterhistor0000kidd |title=Manchester: A History |publisher=Carnegie Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=1-85936-128-5 |location=Lancaster |url-access=registration}}<br />• {{cite book |last=Frangopulo |first=Nicholas |url=https://archive.org/details/traditioninactio0000fran |title=Tradition in Action. The historical evolution of the Greater Manchester County |publisher=EP Publishing |year=1977 |isbn=0-7158-1203-3 |location=Wakefield |url-access=registration}}<br />• {{cite web |title=Manchester – the first industrial city |url=http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/energyhall/page84.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309184810/http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/energyhall/page84.asp |archive-date=9 March 2012 |access-date=17 March 2012 |website=sciencemuseum.org |publisher=Science Museum}}</ref> Manchester also became known as the world's largest marketplace for cotton goods,<ref name="Kidd" /><ref name="Hall">{{cite book |last=Hall |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Hall (urbanist) |url=https://archive.org/details/citiesinciviliza00hall |title=Cities in Civilisation |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=1998 |isbn=0-297-84219-6 |location=London |chapter=The first industrial city: Manchester 1760–1830}}</ref> because of which it was dubbed "[[Cottonopolis]]" and "Warehouse City" during the [[Victorian era]].<ref name="GMArch" /> Brought on by the [[Industrial Revolution]], the unplanned urban expansion of Manchester reached "an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century as people flocked to the city from all other parts of the [[British Isles]] looking for work.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.timelines.tv/index.php?t=0&e=12# | title = Urban Slums | publisher = Timelines.tv | access-date = 2 February 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120218092606/http://www.timelines.tv/index.php?t=0&e=12 | archive-date = 18 February 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2007/10/03/031007_migrant_history_manchester_feature.shtml |title=Manchester: migrant city |last=Schofield |first=Jonathan |work=BBC Manchester:New Kids From The Bloc |publisher=BBC |access-date=6 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925071426/http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2007/10/03/031007_migrant_history_manchester_feature.shtml |archive-date=25 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book|title=The Cotton Industry|last=Aspin|first=Chris|publisher=Shire Publications|location=Aylesbury|year=1981|isbn=0-85263-545-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/cottonindustry0000aspi/page/3 3]|url=https://archive.org/details/cottonindustry0000aspi/page/3}}</ref> The city quickly developed a wide range of industries, such that urbanist [[Peter Hall (urbanist)|Peter Hall]] described the city by 1835 as "without challenge the first and greatest industrial city in the world".<ref name="Hall" /> Engineering firms initially made machines for the cotton trade, before subsequently diversifying into general manufacture. Similarly, the chemical industry started by producing bleaches and dyes, but expanded into other areas. Commerce was supported by financial service industries such as banking and insurance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Ben |title=History of the Manchester Ship Canal |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/The-Manchester-Ship-Canal/ |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=Historic UK |archive-date=28 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728231704/https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/The-Manchester-Ship-Canal/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Peterloo Massacre.png|thumb|The [[Peterloo Massacre]] of 1819 resulted in 15 deaths and several hundred injured.|alt=A coloured print depicting soldiers in blue and white uniforms amongst a crowd of people wearing various colours and waving unicolour flags. The people are fighting and some are on the floor.]]

A centre of industrial capitalism, Manchester was once the scene of bread and labour riots, as well as calls for greater political recognition by the city's working and non-titled classes.<ref name=":8">{{cite journal |last1=Spall |first1=Richard Francis |date=1988 |title=Free Trade, Foreign Relations, and the Anti-Corn-Law League |journal=The International History Review |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=405–432 |doi=10.1080/07075332.1988.9640484 |issn=0707-5332 |jstor=40105891}}</ref> On 16 August 1819, large crowds of working-class people protested in [[St Peter's Square, Manchester]];<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Hirsch |first=Shirin |date=2019 |title=Protest and Peterloo: the story of 16 August 1819 |url=https://phm.org.uk/protest-and-peterloo-the-story-of-16-august-1819/ |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=[[People's History Museum]] |archive-date=17 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250917073245/https://phm.org.uk/protest-and-peterloo-the-story-of-16-august-1819/ |url-status=live }}</ref> estimates of the crowd range between 30,000–150,000 contemporaneously and 50,000–80,000 by modern critics.<ref>{{citation |last=Marlow |first=Joyce |title=The Peterloo Massacre |page=25 |year=1969 |publisher=Rapp & Whiting |isbn=978-0-85391-122-7}}</ref> When ordered to disperse the peaceful crowd, the soldiers instead charged and attacked them on horseback, killing at least 18 and injuring more than 700. The event was given the name 'Peterloo' as a [[Blend word|portmanteau]] of Peter's Square and [[Waterloo, Belgium|Waterloo]] (after [[Battle of Waterloo|the battle]]).<ref name=":9" />

The political landscape of early industrial Manchester contained capitalist and communist schools of thought alike.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=20 March 2020 |title=Manchester's Political History |url=https://www.visitmanchester.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/post/manchester-s-political-history/ |access-date=12 October 2025 |website=Visit Manchester}}</ref> The city was the home of, and eponymous to, [[Manchester Liberalism]], and it was also the centre of the [[Anti-Corn Law League]] after 1838.<ref name=":8" /> Manchester has an equally notable place in the history of left-wing politics; the city is the subject of [[Friedrich Engels]]' work ''[[The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844]].'' Engels spent much of his life in and around Manchester,<ref name="Engles">{{cite web |year=1893 |title=Marx-Engels Internet Archive – Biography of Engels |url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/engels/en-1893.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430052112/http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/bio/engels/en-1893.htm |archive-date=30 April 2009 |access-date=5 May 2009 |website=marxists.org |publisher=Marx/Engels Biography Archive}}</ref> and when [[Karl Marx]] visited Manchester, they met at [[Chetham's Library]] in the city. The economics books which Marx was reading at the time can still be seen at the library, as can the window seat where Marx and Engels would meet.<ref name="Nicholls2004P20" /> The first [[Trades Union Congress]] was held in Manchester at the Mechanics' Institute on David Street between 2–6 June 1868. Manchester was an equally important centre of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], the [[Suffragette]] Movement, and the [[Chartist Movement]].<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Kidd |first=Alan |title=Manchester: A history |publisher=Carnegie Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=1-85936-128-5 |location=Lancaster |chapter=Chapter 9 England Arise! The Politics of Labour and Women's Suffrage}}</ref>

Trade, and feeding the growing population, required a large transport and distribution infrastructure: the canal system was extended, and Manchester became one end of the world's first intercity passenger railway – the [[Liverpool and Manchester Railway]] – in 1830. Competition between the various forms of transport helped to keep costs down.<ref name="Kidd" /> The number of [[cotton mill]]s in Manchester itself peaked at 108 in 1853,<ref name="GMArch" /> after which the number began to decline and Manchester had been surpassed as the largest centre of cotton spinning by [[Bolton]] by the 1850s and [[Oldham]] by the 1860s.<ref name="GMArch" /> However, this period of decline coincided with the rise of the city as the financial centre of the region.<ref name="GMArch" /> In 1878 the [[General Post Office]] (the forerunner of [[BT Group|British Telecom]]) provided its first telephones to a firm in Manchester.<ref>{{cite web |year=1878 |title=Events in Telecommunications History |url=http://www.btplc.com/thegroup/btshistory/1605to1880/1878.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402173107/http://www.btplc.com/thegroup/btshistory/1605to1880/1878.htm |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=13 March 2015 |publisher=BT Archives}}</ref>

[[File:Oxford Road, Manchester 1910, Valette.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|An oil painting of [[Oxford Road, Manchester|Oxford Road]], Manchester, in 1910, by [[Pierre Adolphe Valette|Valette]]|alt=An oil painting depicting a smog-filled wide cobbled road with pavement on either side. In the background, a bridge goes over the road in front of a towering building to the right. In the foreground, there is a man walking and a small horse and cart moving away.]]

=== 1880–1939: Impacts of industrialisation ===
Some critics see Manchester in the late 1800s as a place rife with opportunities: there were new industrial processes being developed; the city had become known for its experimental ways of thinking, with the [[Manchester Liberalism|Manchester School]] promoting [[free trade]] and ''[[laissez-faire]]''; there was the advent of new classes or groups in society and new religious sects; and the city was also experimenting with new forms of labour organisation. These factors led it to attract educated visitors from all parts of Britain and Europe. A saying capturing this sense of innovation survives today: "What Manchester does today, the rest of the world does tomorrow."<ref name="manchester innovation">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00_0 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-19-860524-2 |editor=Speake, Jennifer |editor-link=Jennifer Speake |edition=4th |quote=What Manchester says today, the rest of England says tomorrow |access-date=6 July 2007}}<br />• {{cite web |last=Osborne |first=George |author-link=George Osborne |date=7 March 2007 |title=Osborne: Our vision to make Manchester the creative capital of Europe |url=http://www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2007/03/Osborne_Our_vision_to_make_Manchester_the_creative_capital_of_Europe.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628122546/http://www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2007/03/Osborne_Our_vision_to_make_Manchester_the_creative_capital_of_Europe.aspx |archive-date=28 June 2009 |access-date=4 May 2009 |work=Conservative Party Website |publisher=Conservative Party |quote=The saying goes that what Manchester does today the rest of the world does tomorrow.}}<br />• {{cite web |year=2007 |title=Manchester Life |url=http://www.mmu.ac.uk/studyatmmu/manchesterlife/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411200443/http://www.mmu.ac.uk/studyatmmu/manchesterlife/ |archive-date=11 April 2008 |access-date=5 May 2009 |publisher=[[Manchester Metropolitan University]] |quote=What Manchester does today, the world does tomorrow}}</ref> Manchester's golden age is often dated as the last quarter of the 19th century, with many of its grand public buildings, for example [[Manchester Town Hall]], dating from the period. The city's cosmopolitan atmosphere also contributed to a vibrant culture, which included the [[Hallé Orchestra]]. In 1889, when county councils were created in England, the municipal borough became a [[county borough]] which gave it even greater autonomy.<ref name="GM Gazetteer">{{cite web |title=Greater Manchester Gazetteer |url=http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazzm2n.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211203737/http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazzm2n.htm |archive-date=11 February 2011 |access-date=9 July 2007 |publisher=Greater Manchester County Record Office |at=Places names – M to N}}</ref>

Others interpret the newly industrialised Manchester as a site of widespread poverty and squalor. Historian [[Simon Schama]] noted that "Manchester was the very best and the very worst taken to terrifying extremes, a new kind of city in the world; the chimneys of industrial suburbs greeting you with columns of smoke". An American visitor taken to Manchester's blackspots reported that he saw "wretched, defrauded, oppressed, crushed human nature, lying and bleeding fragments".<ref>{{cite episode |title=Victoria and Her Sisters |series= A History of Britain |series-link= A History of Britain (TV series) |credits= [[Simon Schama]] (presenter) |network= [[BBC One]] |airdate= 4 June 2002 |number=13}}</ref>

The [[Manchester Ship Canal]] was built between 1888 and 1894, in some sections by canalisation of the Rivers Irwell and Mersey, running {{convert|36|mi|km|0}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Manchester Ship Canal |url=https://www.peelports.com/ports/manchester-ship-canal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520060954/https://www.peelports.com/ports/manchester-ship-canal |archive-date=20 May 2019 |publisher=Peel Ports}}</ref> from [[Salford, Greater Manchester|Salford]] to Eastham Locks on the tidal Mersey. This enabled oceangoing ships to sail right into the Port of Manchester. On the canal's banks, just outside the borough, the world's first industrial estate was created at [[Trafford Park]].<ref name="Kidd" /><!--1993, p103 --> Manchester began exporting its cotton to Africa as a way of paying for slaves to be purchased for the [[transatlantic slave trade]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=19 January 2023 |title=Manchester, cotton and the transatlantic slave trade |url=https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/manchester-cotton-and-slavery |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250817180523/https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/manchester-cotton-and-slavery |archive-date=17 August 2025 |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=[[The Science Museum]]}}</ref> Manchester's relation to the slave trade and its reliance on the [[British Empire]] for its expansion forms a complex and controversial part of its history;<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Stallard |first=Matthew |date=3 April 2023 |title=Cotton Capital: how slavery made Manchester the world's first industrial city |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2023/apr/03/cotton-capital-how-slavery-made-manchester-the-worlds-first-industrial-city |access-date=31 August 2025 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> historian [[Eric Williams]], said it was a "tremendous dependence on the triangular trade that made Manchester" in 1944.<ref name=":7" />

Manchester continued to process cotton, and in 1913, 65% of the world's cotton was processed in the area.<ref name="Kidd" /> The First World War interrupted access to the export markets; combined with increased cotton processing in other parts of the world, this led to the rapid decline of the textile industry within the city.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-12-02 |title=Cotton spinning to return to Greater Manchester |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-34984504 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023161101/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-34984504 |archive-date=23 October 2023 |access-date=2025-08-31 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Furthermore, industry and employment suffered greatly as a result of the [[Great Depression]],<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Grimsditch |first=Lee |date=2023-08-06 |title=30 fascinating photos of Manchester from the 1930s |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/nostalgia/gallery/30-fascinating-photos-manchester-1930s-27429522 |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=[[Manchester Evening News]] |archive-date=17 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617020920/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/nostalgia/gallery/30-fascinating-photos-manchester-1930s-27429522 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Wildman |first=Charlie |date=26 February 2009 |title=Building confidence |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2009/02/26/260209_depression_feature.shtml |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=31 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250831192625/https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2009/02/26/260209_depression_feature.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> particularly due to its effect on the value of British exports.<ref name=":10" /> However, Manchester also saw a cultural revolution in the 1930s as locals tried to use greater creativity and local pride to counteract the effect of the status of the economy; this included the first formation of the British [[High Street]], and embarking on infrastructure projects such as the [[Manchester Central Library]].<ref name=":11" />

===1939–1945: Second World War===
{{main|Manchester Blitz}}
[[File:Going to Work - L S Lowry.jpg|alt=An oil panting of people walking in all directions through a bleak square wearing a variety of colours but mostly all black. The square backs onto tall yellow buildings with telegraph cables stretched around. Part of a trolleybus is visible to the right-hand side.|thumb|''Going to Work'' by [[L. S. Lowry|L.S. Lowry]], commissioned by the [[War Artists' Advisory Committee]] in 1943]]

Like most of the UK, the Manchester area was mobilised extensively during the [[Second World War]]. For example, casting and machining expertise at [[Beyer, Peacock & Company]]'s locomotive works in [[Gorton]] was switched to bomb making; [[Dunlop Rubber|Dunlop's]] rubber works in [[Chorlton-on-Medlock]] made [[barrage balloon]]s; and just outside the city in [[Trafford Park]], engineers [[Metropolitan-Vickers]] made [[Avro Manchester]] and [[Avro Lancaster]] bombers and [[Ford of Britain|Ford]] built the [[Rolls-Royce Merlin]] engines to power them. Manchester was thus the target of bombing by the [[Luftwaffe]], and by late 1940 air raids were taking place against non-military targets.<ref name=":5" />

The biggest air raids on the city during the war took place during the [[Manchester Blitz|Christmas Blitz]] on the nights of 22–23 and 24–25 December 1940, when an estimated {{convert|467|long ton|t|order=flip}} of high explosives plus over 37,000 incendiary bombs were dropped. A large part of the historic city centre was destroyed, including 165 warehouses, 200 business premises, and 150 offices. 376 were killed and 30,000 houses were damaged.<ref name=":5">{{cite book | last= Hardy | first= Clive | title= Manchester at War | edition= 2nd | year= 2005 | location= Altrincham| isbn= 1-84547-096-6 | pages=75–99 | chapter= The blitz | publisher=First Edition Limited }}</ref> [[Manchester Cathedral]], [[Royal Exchange, Manchester|Royal Exchange]] and [[Free Trade Hall]] were among the buildings seriously damaged, with the restoration of the cathedral taking 20 years.<ref name="WWII">{{cite web | website=Manchester Cathedral| url= http://www.manchestercathedral.org/history/timeline | title= Timeline | access-date= 5 May 2009 | publisher= Manchester Cathedral Online | year= 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160416153101/http://www.manchestercathedral.org/history/timeline | archive-date= 16 April 2016 }}</ref> In total, 589 civilians were recorded to have died as result of enemy action within the Manchester County Borough.<ref>{{cite web|last=CWGC|title=Civilian War Dead, Manchester County Borough|url=https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/4004227/manchester-county-borough/|website=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]|access-date=15 September 2023|archive-date=2 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002024353/https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/4004227/manchester-county-borough/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===1945–2000: Decline and regeneration ===
[[File:Oxfordrd.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Wilmslow Road|Oxford Road]], one of the main thoroughfares into [[Manchester city centre]]|alt=A photograph of a wide road from the right-hand pavement. Tall buildings tower on either side, with a white stucco building on the left and a red brick building on the right. A church tower is visible in the background in front of a church building.]]

Cotton processing and trading continued to decline in peacetime, and the exchange closed in 1968.<ref name="Kidd" /> By 1963 the port of Manchester was the UK's third largest,<ref name="UK's 3rd largest">{{cite book |title=Manchester: an Architectural History |last=Parkinson-Bailey |first=John J |year=2000 |page=127 |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester |isbn=0-7190-5606-3}}<br />• {{cite book |title=Lancashire, The Industrial and Commercial South |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |year=1969 |page=267 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=London |isbn=0-14-071036-1}}</ref> and employed over 3,000 men, but the canal was unable to handle the increasingly large [[Containerization|container]] ships. Traffic declined, and the port closed in 1982.<ref name="ship close">{{cite web|url=http://www.salford.gov.uk/milestones_v2.pdf |title=Salford Quays milestones: the story of Salford Quays |access-date=5 May 2009 |publisher=Salford City Council |year=2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327122642/http://www.salford.gov.uk/milestones_v2.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009}}</ref> Heavy industry suffered a downturn from the 1960s and was greatly reduced under the economic policies followed by [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s government after 1979. Manchester lost 150,000 jobs in manufacturing between 1961 and 1983.<ref name="Kidd" /> Regeneration began in the late 1980s, with initiatives such as the [[Manchester Metrolink|Metrolink]], the [[Bridgewater Hall|Bridgewater Concert Hall]], the [[Manchester Arena]], and (in Salford) the rebranding of the port as [[Salford Quays]]. Two bids to host the Olympic Games were part of a process to raise the international profile of the city.<ref name="Regeneration" />

[[File:BBC picture Arndale centre after 1996 bomb.jpg|thumb|left|[[Corporation Street, Manchester|Corporation Street]] after the [[1996 Manchester bombing|bombing]] in 1996|alt=A street covered in debris. On one side is a building whose side is half-destroyed, leaving only the steel frame. The road is wet and there is crime scene tap across the centre of the photo.]]

Manchester has a history of attacks attributed to Irish Republicans;<ref name="1996 IRA costs" /> in 1867, a group called the [[Manchester Martyrs]] were [[Hanging|hanged]] following their conviction of murder after an attack on a [[police van]] in which a [[police officer]] was accidentally shot dead.<ref name="Lyons">{{cite book |last1=Lyons |first1=F. S. L. |author1-link=F. S. L. Lyons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ax0OAQAAMAAJ |title=Ireland since the Famine |date=1985 |publisher=Fontana Press |isbn=0-00-686005-2 |location=London |page=137 |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref> The perpetrators were linked with the [[Fenian|Irish Fenian]] groups that wished to free Ireland from British rule.<ref>{{citation |last=Rose |first=Paul |title=The Manchester Martyrs: The Story of a Fenian Tragedy |page=42 |year=1970 |publisher=Lawrence & Wishart |isbn=978-0-85315-209-5}}</ref> Other instances before the 1996 attack include arson in 1920, a series of explosions in 1939, and two bombs in 1992.<ref name="1996 IRA costs" />

On 15 June 1996, the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) set off a [[Car bomb|lorry bomb]] in [[Corporation Street, Manchester|Corporation Street]] in the city centre. The largest to be detonated on British soil, the bomb injured over 200 people, heavily damaged nearby buildings, and broke windows {{convert|1/2|mi|m}} away.<ref name="1996 IRA costs" /> Although no one was killed by the explosion, it was one of the most expensive man-made disasters in history:<ref>{{cite news |last=Sengupata |first=Kim |date=28 March 1997 |title=£411m cost after Manchester bomb sets record |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pounds-411m-cost-after-manchester-bomb-sets-record-pounds-411m-1275416.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522031850/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pounds-411m-cost-after-manchester-bomb-sets-record-pounds-411m-1275416.html |archive-date=22 May 2010 |access-date=3 October 2009 |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London}}</ref> the cost of the immediate damage was initially estimated at £50{{nbsp}}million (equivalent to £{{Inflation|index=UK|value=50000000|start_year=1996|r=-6|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|index=UK}}{{Inflation/fn|UK}}), but this was quickly revised upwards.<ref name="1996 IRA costs">{{cite book |title=A History of Manchester |first=Stuart |last=Hylton |year=2003 |pages=227–230 |publisher=Phillimore & Co |location=Chichester |isbn= 1-86077-240-4}}</ref> The final insurance pay-out was over £400{{nbsp}}million (equivalent to £{{Inflation|index=UK|value=400000000|start_year=1996|r=-6|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|index=UK}}{{Inflation/fn|UK}}); many affected businesses never recovered from the loss of trade.<ref name="IRA business">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/3704943.stm | title=Panorama – The cost of terrorism | access-date=5 May 2009 | publisher=BBC | date=15 May 2004 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415021411/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/3704943.stm | archive-date=15 April 2010 | url-status=live }}</ref> However, it is also credited as helping to drive the regeneration of the city.<ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Jennifer |date=15 June 2016 |title=Recap: The IRA bomb in Manchester... what happened on June 15, 1996 |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-ira-bomb-20-years-11433239 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817001934/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-ira-bomb-20-years-11433239 |archive-date=17 August 2016 |website=[[Manchester Evening News]]}}</ref>

===2000–present: Modern day===
{{Multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Corn, Grocery & Produce Exchange, Manchester, c.1902.jpg
| image2            = Corn exchange far loz.JPG
| footer            = The [[Corn Exchange, Manchester|Corn Exchange]] in 1902 (top) and 2013 (bottom)
| total_width       = 250
| alt1              = A black-and-white ink drawing of a grand building stretching across the photo with a white tower in the corner. People are walking on the very wide street in front.
| alt2              = A partial view of the previous image but now a modern colour photograph; the building is a limestone facade and in the central tower there is a sign that says "CORN / EXCH / ANGE"
}}

Spurred by the investment after the 1996 bombing and aided by the [[2002 Commonwealth Games|XVII Commonwealth Games]], the city centre has undergone extensive regeneration.<ref name="Regeneration">{{•}}{{cite book |last=Hartwell |first=Clare |title=Pevsner Architectural Guides: Manchester |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2001 |isbn=0-14-071131-7 |location=London}}<br />{{•}}{{cite book |last=Parkinson-Bailey |first=John J |title=Manchester: an Architectural History |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-7190-5606-3 |location=Manchester}}<br />{{•}}{{cite book |last1=Hartwell |first1=Clare |url=http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300105834 |title=Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East |last2=Hyde |first2=Matthew |last3=Pevsner |first3=Nikolaus |author-link3=Nikolaus Pevsner |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-300-10583-5 |location=New Haven & London |access-date=7 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121084122/http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300105834 |archive-date=21 January 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[The Printworks (Manchester)|The Printworks]] had been closed by [[Robert Maxwell]] after he had bought it,<ref>{{cite web |title=Manchester in the Days of Newspapers |url=http://www.newmanchesterwalks.com/walks-tours/history-alive/manchester-guardian-the-world%E2%80%99s-greatest-newspaper/ |access-date=11 November 2012 |publisher=New Manchester Walks |quote=Maxwell, a boor and a bully, bought the former Kemsley House plant on Withy Grove (once the largest newspaper plant in Europe; now the Printworks entertainments centre) for a £1, simply to close it down. |archive-date=14 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814095852/http://www.newmanchesterwalks.com/walks-tours/history-alive/manchester-guardian-the-world%E2%80%99s-greatest-newspaper/ |url-status=live }}</ref> but it was redeveloped by architects [[RTKL Associates]] following the 1996 IRA bombing and reopened as a [[leisure centre]] and [[Movie theater|cinema]].<ref name="MEN2">{{cite news |date=5 November 2012 |title=Printworks-owner Resolution Property 'close' to offloading leisure complex to Land Securities in £100m deal |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/s/1592901_printworks-owner-resolution-property-close-to-offloading-leisure-complex-to-land-securities-in-100m-deal |access-date=31 August 2013 |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |archive-date=12 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112163058/http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/s/1592901_printworks-owner-resolution-property-close-to-offloading-leisure-complex-to-land-securities-in-100m-deal |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=RTKL stamps mark on Printworks |date=17 November 2000 |work=Design Week |url=https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/16-november-2000/rtkl-stamps-mark-on-printworks/ |access-date=3 November 2025}}</ref> The [[Corn Exchange, Manchester|Corn Exchange]] was also heavily damaged in the 1996 IRA bombing,<ref name="hist1950">{{cite web |title=Corn Exchange History {{!}} 1950 to 2000 {{!}} Manchester History |url=https://cornexchangemanchester.co.uk/corn-exchange-history/1950-to-2000/ |access-date=7 February 2024 |website=Corn Exchange Manchester |publisher=CIP Property (AIPT) Limited |archive-date=7 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207134913/https://cornexchangemanchester.co.uk/corn-exchange-history/1950-to-2000/ |url-status=live }}</ref> before being reopened as the Triangle Shopping Centre;<ref>{{cite news |date=18 October 2005 |title=Triangle sold in £67m deal |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/triangle-sold-in-67m-deal-1088354 |access-date=30 October 2007 |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |archive-date=4 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704174526/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/triangle-sold-in-67m-deal-1088354 |url-status=live }}</ref> it was then redeveloped by the Norwich Property Trust and opened under its current name in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |author=Begum, Shelina |date=8 August 2013 |title=The taste of things to come – Manchester's Corn Exchange to be turned into top dining destination |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/property/manchesters-corn-exchange-turned-top-5676125 |access-date=7 July 2014 |work=Manchester Evening News |archive-date=18 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318025729/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/property/manchesters-corn-exchange-turned-top-5676125 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Manchester Arndale]] is the UK's largest city-centre shopping centre.<ref name="Arndale">{{cite web |year=2007 |title=Manchester Arndale |url=http://www.mandg.co.uk/institutions/realestate/our-properties/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130804232909/http://www.mandg.co.uk/institutions/realestate/our-properties/ |archive-date=4 August 2013 |access-date=9 October 2008 |publisher=Prudential plc}}</ref>

Large city sections from the 1960s have been demolished, re-developed or modernised with the use of glass and steel. Old mills have been converted into apartments. [[Hulme]] has undergone extensive regeneration, with million-pound loft-house apartments being developed. The 47-storey, {{convert|169|m|ft|adj=on|order=flip}} [[Beetham Tower, Manchester|Beetham Tower]] was the tallest UK building outside of [[London]] and the highest residential accommodation in Europe when completed in 2006. It was surpassed in 2018 by the {{convert|201|m|ft|adj=on|order=flip}} South Tower of the [[Deansgate Square]] project, also in Manchester.<ref name="Beetham Tower">{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/4944590.stm |title=City building reaches full height |access-date=9 October 2008 |publisher=BBC |date=26 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406120452/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/4944590.stm | archive-date=6 April 2008 | url-status=live }}</ref> In January 2007, the independent Casino Advisory Panel licensed Manchester to build the UK's only [[supercasino]],<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/01/30/dome_feature.shtml |title=Greenwich loses Casino Bet |access-date=9 October 2008 |publisher=BBC |date=15 February 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071213174837/http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/01/30/dome_feature.shtml |archive-date=13 December 2007 |url-status= live}}</ref> but plans were abandoned in February 2008.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/empty-promises-and-spin-944718 |title=Empty promises and spin |access-date=9 October 2008 |publisher=M.E.N. media |work=[[Manchester Evening News]] |date=26 February 2008 |author=Ottewell, David |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130203421/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/empty-promises-and-spin-944718 |archive-date=30 January 2013 }}</ref>

On 22 May 2017, an [[Islamist terrorist]] carried out [[Manchester Arena bombing|a suicide bombing]] outside the [[Manchester Arena]], shortly after an [[Ariana Grande]] concert.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://files.manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk/live/uploads/2021/06/17164904/CCS0321126370-002_MAI-Report-Volume-ONE_WebAccessible.pdf |title=Manchester Arena Inquiry |date=June 2021 |volume=1: Security for the Arena |access-date=26 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509040214/https://files.manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk/live/uploads/2021/06/17164904/CCS0321126370-002_MAI-Report-Volume-ONE_WebAccessible.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2023 |editor-last=Saunders |editor-first=John |editor-link=John Saunders (English judge)}}</ref> The explosion killed 23 people (including the perpetrator) and injured over 800.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-44129386 |title=Manchester Arena attack: Bomb 'injured more than 800' |publisher=BBC News |date=16 May 2018 |access-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027164115/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-44129386 |archive-date=27 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was the deadliest terrorist attack and first suicide bombing in Britain since the [[7 July 2005 London bombings]]. It caused [[Reactions to the Manchester Arena bombing|worldwide condemnation]] and changed the [[UK Threat Levels|UK's threat level]] to "critical" for the first time since 2007.<ref>{{cite news |title=Manchester attack: Terror threat reduced from critical to severe |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40069959 |work=BBC News |access-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527101510/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40069959 |archive-date=27 May 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 2 October 2025, [[Manchester synagogue attack|another terrorist attack]] occurred outside the [[Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation]] synagogue.<ref>{{Cite news |first1=Phil |last1=Noble |first2=Hannah |last2=McKay |date=2025-10-02 |title=Synagogue attack on Yom Kippur kills two in UK's Manchester; suspect shot dead |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-police-respond-incident-outside-synagogue-manchester-2025-10-02/ |work=Reuters}}</ref> A 35-year-old drove a car into pedestrians and then began stabbing worshippers.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Melley |first1=Brian |last2=Pylas |first2=Pan |last3=Hodgson |first3=Ian |date=2025-10-02 |title=Man kills 2 in car ramming and stabbing attack at English synagogue on Jewish holy day |url=https://apnews.com/article/uk-synagogue-stabbing-774d7feee44643f5f9667ec882f284d6 |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=AP News}}</ref> Two British men  were killed, and three others were seriously injured; the assailant was shot dead by armed police.<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Jonny |last1=Humphries |first2=Tom |last2=Mullen |first3=Lauren |last3=Hirst |date=2025-10-03 |title=Jihad Al-Shamie: Who was the Manchester synagogue attacker? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0q7y72kppgo |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=BBC News}}</ref> Following the terrorist attack, Prime Minister [[Keir Starmer]], Deputy Prime Minister [[David Lammy]], and Home Secretary [[Shabana Mahmood]] addressed growing concerns over the rise in [[Antisemitism in the United Kingdom|antisemitic]] incidents in Manchester and across the UK, which have increased since pro-Palestinian protests and marches began taking place regularly in British cities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Osuh |first=Chris |date=2025-10-16 |title=Starmer orders NHS antisemitism review after 'clear cases not dealt with adequately' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/oct/16/starmer-orders-nhs-antisemitism-review-after-clear-cases-not-dealt-with |access-date=2025-10-23 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Quinn |first=Ben |date=2025-10-03 |title=Home secretary calls Gaza protests in wake of Manchester attack 'un-British' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/03/home-secretary-shabana-mahmood-says-pro-palestine-protests-in-wake-of-manchester-attack-are-un-british |access-date=2025-10-23 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Government==
{{Main|Politics in Manchester|Manchester City Council}}
{{See also|Manchester local elections|List of Lord Mayors of Manchester|Healthcare in Greater Manchester}}
[[File:Manchester Town Hall from Lloyd St.jpg|thumb|[[Manchester Town Hall]] in [[Albert Square, Manchester|Albert Square]], the seat of local government, is an example of [[Victorian era|Victorian-era]] [[Gothic revival]] architecture.|alt=A grand gothic revival building as viewed from afar, with a gothic revival clock tower stretching high into the sky. Trees partially obstruct the view and the sky is clear with some clouds.]]
The City of Manchester is governed by the [[Manchester City Council]]. The [[Greater Manchester Combined Authority]], with a [[Mayor of Greater Manchester|directly elected mayor]], has responsibilities for economic strategy and transport, amongst other areas, on a Greater Manchester-wide basis. Manchester has been a member of the English [[Core Cities Group]] since its inception in 1995.<ref name="Core city">{{cite web |url=http://www.corecities.com/dev07/Introduction/about.html |title=About the Core Cities Group |access-date=9 July 2007 |publisher=English [[Core Cities Group]] |year=2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070919035621/http://www.corecities.com/dev07/Introduction/about.html |archive-date=19 September 2007}}</ref> The town of Manchester was granted a charter by Thomas Grelley in 1301 but lost its [[borough status in the United Kingdom|borough status]] in a court case of 1359. Until the 19th century local government was largely in the hands of [[manorial court]]s, the last of which was dissolved in 1846.<ref name="GM Gazetteer" />

In 1792, Commissioners – usually known as "Police Commissioners" – were established for the social improvement of Manchester. Manchester regained its borough status in 1838 and comprised the townships of [[Beswick, Greater Manchester|Beswick]], [[Cheetham Hill]], [[Chorlton upon Medlock]] and [[Hulme]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/> By 1846, with increasing population and greater industrialisation, the Borough Council had taken over the powers of the "Police Commissioners". In 1853, Manchester was granted [[city status in the United Kingdom|city status]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer"/>
[[File:Andy Burnham 2023.JPG|thumb|[[Andy Burnham]], the [[Mayor of Greater Manchester]], in 2023|alt=A fairly young man slightly smiling at the camera against green shrubbery as a background. He is wearing square glasses, a blue tie, and a grey blazer on a white shirt.]]
In 1885, [[Bradford, Greater Manchester|Bradford]], [[Harpurhey]], [[Rusholme]] and parts of [[Moss Side]] and [[Withington]] townships became part of the City of Manchester. In 1889, the city became a [[county borough]], as did many larger Lancashire towns, and therefore not governed by [[Lancashire County Council]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer" /> Between 1890 and 1933, more areas were added to the city, which had been administered by Lancashire County Council, including former villages such as [[Burnage]], [[Chorlton-cum-Hardy]], [[Didsbury]], [[Fallowfield]], [[Levenshulme]], [[Longsight]], and [[Withington]]. In 1931, the [[Cheshire]] [[civil parishes in England|civil parishes]] of [[Baguley]], [[Northenden]] and [[Northen Etchells]] from the south of the [[River Mersey]] were added.<ref name="GM Gazetteer" /> In 1974, by way of the [[Local Government Act 1972]], the City of Manchester became a [[metropolitan district]] of the [[metropolitan county]] of [[Greater Manchester]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer" /> That year, [[Ringway, Greater Manchester|Ringway]], the village where the [[Manchester Airport]] is located, was added to the city.<ref>{{cite book |last=Scholefield |first=R. A. |title=Manchester Airport |title-link=Manchester Airport |publisher=Sutton Publishing |year=1998 |isbn=0-7509-1954-X |location=Stroud |pages=18–19}}</ref>

In November 2014, it was announced that Greater Manchester would receive a directly elected mayor. The mayor would have fiscal control over health, transport, housing and police in the area.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/16/northern-powerhouse-perils-devolution-mixed-blessing |title=Perils of the 'Northern Powerhouse': is devolution a mixed blessing |author=Phillip Inman |date=16 May 2015 |access-date=17 May 2015 |work=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527051514/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/16/northern-powerhouse-perils-devolution-mixed-blessing |archive-date=27 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Andy Burnham]] was elected as the first [[Mayor of Greater Manchester]] in the [[2017 Greater Manchester mayoral election|2017 election]] with 63% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 May 2017 |title=Greater Manchester mayor results: Labour's Andy Burnham elected |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-39822225 |access-date=31 August 2025 |work=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=30 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250430204711/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-39822225 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was re-elected in the [[2021 Greater Manchester mayoral election|2021]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=FitzPatrick |first=Kevin |date=8 May 2021 |title=Elections results 2021: Andy Burnham re-elected as Greater Manchester mayor |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-57037359 |access-date=31 August 2025 |work=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=9 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250609202543/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-57037359 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[2017 Greater Manchester mayoral election|2024 elections]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=2024-05-04 |title=Andy Burnham wins third term as mayor of Greater Manchester |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crgy0rj44pro |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=24 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924033529/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crgy0rj44pro |url-status=live }}</ref> As Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham is responsible for ten local authorities which form the [[Greater Manchester Combined Authority]], with a budget of £2.6bn in 2024. Of this, £1.51bn is spent on policing and transport alone.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last1=Paun |first1=Akash |last2=Fright |first2=Matthew |last3=Allen |first3=Briony |last4=Mitchell |first4=Millie |last5=Nice |first5=Alex |last6=Rycroft |first6=Lucy |last7=Shepley |first7=Paul |display-authors=3 |date=4 May 2024 |title=Mayor of Greater Manchester |url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/mayor-greater-manchester |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=[[Institute for Government]] |archive-date=14 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250614132239/https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/mayor-greater-manchester |url-status=live }}</ref> The role of Mayor of Greater Manchester is the most powerful mayoral role in the country;<ref name=":12" /> he is the [[police and crime commissioner]] for Greater Manchester [[Ex officio member|''ex officio'']] and is responsible for some housing, education, and welfare policies.<ref name=":13" />

==Geography==
{{See also|Geography of Greater Manchester}}
[[File:Map of Manchester.png|thumb|upright|The City of Manchester. The [[land use]] is overwhelmingly urban.|alt=A map showing the boundary of the City of Manchester with the City Centre, Salford, and the airport also labelled. Almost all of the map, both inside and outside of the boundary, is shaded in grey, which denotes urban sprawl.]]

At {{Coord|53|28|0|N|2|14|0|W|type:city}}, {{convert|160|mi|km|sigfig=2}} northwest of London, Manchester lies in a bowl-shaped land area bordered to the north and east by the [[Pennines]], an upland chain that runs the length of [[northern England]], and to the south by the [[Cheshire Plain]]. Manchester is {{convert|35.0|mi}} north-east of [[Liverpool]] and {{convert|35.0|mi}} north-west of [[Sheffield]], making the city the halfway point between the two. The [[Manchester city centre|city centre]] is on the east bank of the [[River Irwell]], near its confluences with the Rivers [[River Medlock|Medlock]] and [[River Irk|Irk]], and is relatively low-lying, being between {{convert|115|and|138|ft|m|abbr=off|order=flip}} above sea level.<ref name="Topography">{{cite book |title=Manchester: A History |last=Kidd |first=Alan |year=2006 |page=11 |publisher=Carnegie Publishing |location=Lancaster |isbn=1-85936-128-5}}</ref> 

The [[River Mersey]] flows through the south of Manchester. Much of the inner city, especially in the south, is flat, offering extensive views from many highrise buildings in the city of the foothills and moors of the Pennines, which can often be capped with snow in the winter months. Manchester's geographic features were highly influential in its early development as the world's first industrial city. These features are its climate, its proximity to a [[port|seaport]] at [[Liverpool]], the availability of waterpower from its rivers, and its nearby coal reserves.<ref name="Coalfields">{{cite web |url=http://www.mosi.org.uk/media/159631/the%20manchester%20coalfields.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327122645/http://www.mosi.org.uk/media/159631/the%20manchester%20coalfields.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009 |title=The Manchester Coalfields |access-date=5 May 2009 |publisher=[[Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester]] |year=2001 }}</ref>

For purposes of the [[Office for National Statistics]], Manchester forms the most populous settlement within the [[Greater Manchester Urban Area]], the United Kingdom's second-largest conurbation. There is a mix of high-density urban and suburban locations. The largest open space in the city, at around {{convert|260|ha|acre|0}},<ref>{{cite web |url=http://m2002.thecgf.com/venues/HPK/ |title=Heaton Park |access-date=20 July 2009 |publisher=thecgf.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831032941/http://m2002.thecgf.com/venues/HPK/ |archive-date=31 August 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> is [[Heaton Park]]. Manchester is contiguous on all sides with several large settlements, except for a small section along its southern boundary with [[Cheshire]]. The [[M60 motorway (Great Britain)|M60]] and [[M56 motorway]]s pass through [[Northenden]] and [[Wythenshawe]] respectively in the south of Manchester. Heavy rail lines enter the city from all directions, the principal destination being [[Manchester Piccadilly station]], the city's largest railway terminus, and the [[List of busiest railway stations in Great Britain|second-busiest in Great Britain]] outside of London.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-piccadilly-named-second-busiest-30418978|first=Paul|last=Britton|title=Manchester Piccadilly named second busiest railway station outside London|work=[[Manchester Evening News]]|date=21 November 2024|access-date=25 September 2025|archive-date=22 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241122021441/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchester-piccadilly-named-second-busiest-30418978|url-status=live}}</ref>
Manchester lies at the centre of the [[North West Green Belt]]. This reduces [[urban sprawl]], prevents towns in the conurbation from further convergence, protects the identity of outlying communities, and preserves nearby countryside. It is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building.<ref name="belt2">{{cite web |title=Local Development Framework Evidence Base Green Belt Review July 2010 |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/13853/manchester_airport_-_ldf_evidence_base_-_green_belt_review.pdf |publisher=Manchester City Council |access-date=21 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221222410/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/13853/manchester_airport_-_ldf_evidence_base_-_green_belt_review.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Due to being already highly urban, the city contains limited portions of protected green-belt area within [[Greenfield land|greenfield]] throughout the borough, with minimal development opportunities,<ref>{{cite web |title=Urban Density -v- Suburban Sprawl – The Leader's Blog |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/840/urban-density-v-suburban-sprawl |website=manchester.gov.uk |access-date=21 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221222428/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/840/urban-density-v-suburban-sprawl |archive-date=21 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> at [[Clayton Vale]], [[Heaton Park]], Chorlton Water Park along with the [[Chorlton Ees]] & Ivy Green nature reserve and the floodplain surrounding the River Mersey, as well as the southern area around Manchester Airport.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manchester's Local Development Framework Core Strategy Development Plan Document Adopted 11th July 2012 Published by Manchester City Council |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/18981/final_core_strategy.pdf |website=www.manchester.gov.uk|access-date=21 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219141112/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/18981/final_core_strategy.pdf |archive-date=19 February 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> 
===Climate===
{{climate chart
|Manchester
|2|7|72
|2|8|51
|3|10|61
|5|13|54
|8|16|57
|11|19|66
|13|21|64
|12|20|77
|10|18|72
|7|14|93
|4|10|82
|2|7|81
|source=[http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/u/UK03334.html Climate-Charts.com]
|float=right
}}Manchester has a temperate [[oceanic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Cfb''), like much of the British Isles, with warm summers and cold winters compared to other parts of the UK. Summer daytime temperatures regularly top {{convert|20|°C}}, quite often reaching {{convert|25|°C}} on sunny days during July and August. In more recent years, temperatures have occasionally reached over {{convert|30|°C}}. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. The city's average annual rainfall is {{convert|806.6|mm|in|2|abbr=in}}<ref name="Manchester weather">{{cite web |url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/sites/manchester_airport.html |title=Manchester Airport 1971–2000 weather averages |access-date=5 May 2009 |publisher=[[Met Office]] |year=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103050/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/sites/manchester_airport.html |archive-date=29 September 2007}}</ref> compared to a UK average of {{convert|1125.0|mm|in|2|abbr=in}}.<ref name="UK weather">{{cite web |url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/areal/uk.html |title=UK 1971–2000 averages |access-date=5 May 2009 |publisher=[[Met Office]] |year=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705140124/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/areal/uk.html |archive-date=5 July 2009}}</ref> Its mean rain days are 140.4 per annum,<ref name="Manchester weather" /> compared to the UK average of 154.4.<ref name="UK weather" /> 

Manchester has a relatively high humidity level, and this, along with abundant soft water, was one factor that led to advancement of the textile industry in the area.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Wilfred |title=An Economic Geography of Great Britain |publisher=Taylor and Francis |year=1959 |page=470 |chapter=II}}</ref> Snowfalls are not common in the city because of the [[Urban climate|urban warming]] effect. The [[West Pennine Moors]] to the north-west, [[South Pennines]] to the north-east and [[Peak District]] to the east receive more snow, which can close roads leading out of the city.<ref name="Snow">{{cite news |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/roads-chaos-as-snow-sweeps-in-1058608 |title=Roads chaos as snow sweeps in Manchester |access-date=5 May 2009 |work=[[Manchester Evening News]] |date=24 February 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102012810/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/roads-chaos-as-snow-sweeps-in-1058608 |archive-date=2 November 2013 }}</ref> They include the [[A62 road|A62]] via [[Oldham]] and [[Standedge]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Snow: West Yorkshire traffic and travel latest |url=http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/snow-west-yorkshire-traffic-and-travel-latest-1-1925071 |website=Halifax Courier |access-date=9 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110005011/http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/snow-west-yorkshire-traffic-and-travel-latest-1-1925071 |archive-date=10 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> the [[A57 road|A57]], [[Snake Pass]], towards [[Sheffield]],<ref name="Peaks">{{cite web |url=http://www.highpeak.co.uk/hp/h_snakbd.htm |title=Peak District sightseer's guide – Snake Pass |access-date=5 May 2009 |publisher=High Peak |year=2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112081929/http://www.highpeak.co.uk/hp/h_snakbd.htm |archive-date=12 January 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[M62 motorway#Milnrow to Outlane|Pennine section of the M62]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Live: M62 motorway closed and {{convert|20|mi}} of queues as snow and high winds return to Greater Manchester |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/live-m62-motorway-closed-and-20-1217237 |website=Manchester Evening News |date=4 April 2012 |access-date=9 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110005027/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/live-m62-motorway-closed-and-20-1217237 |archive-date=10 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The lowest temperature ever recorded in Manchester was {{convert|-17.6|C|F|abbr=on}} on 7 January 2010.<ref>{{cite web |last1= Evening News |first1=Manchester |title=Minus 17.6C – Big freeze sets new record |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/minus-176c---big-freeze-880053 |website=manchestereveningnews.co.uk |date=7 January 2010 |access-date=11 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012053913/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/minus-176c---big-freeze-880053 |archive-date=12 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> The highest temperature recorded in Manchester is {{convert|38.0|C|F|abbr=on}} on 19 July 2022, during the [[2022 European heatwaves#July heatwave 7|2022 European Heatwave]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=en.tutiempo.net |title=Climate Manchester Airport July - 2022 |url=https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/07-2022/ws-33340.html |access-date=5 October 2024 |archive-date=7 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007100034/https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/07-2022/ws-33340.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Manchester weatherbox}}

==Demographics==
{{main|Demographics of Manchester}}{{Multiple image
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Manchester population pyramid.svg
| caption1          = City of Manchester population pyramid in 2021
| image2            = UK and foreign born population pyramid of Manchester in 2021.svg
| caption2          = The UK- and foreign-born population pyramid of Manchester in 2021
| alt1              = A population pyramid that is fairly symmetrical and slowly widens as it goes down before suddenly dropping off and becoming fairly regular again.
| alt2              = A population pyramid that is fairly symmetrical and widens as it goes down except a dent in the middle, before tapering off and staying fairly even near the bottom.
| total_width       = 500
}}
In the [[2021 United Kingdom census]], the population of the City of Manchester was 552,000, compared to 503,100 in the [[2011 United Kingdom census]]. This was an increase of 9.7 per cent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2021 Comparison |url=https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiZjIxNTQ3OWMtNWNmMy00ZWFhLWJhOWQtZTU3Y2IzZGZmZmUzIiwidCI6ImIwY2U3ZDVlLTgxY2QtNDdmYi05NGY3LTI3NmM2MjZiN2IwOSJ9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250625035814/https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiZjIxNTQ3OWMtNWNmMy00ZWFhLWJhOWQtZTU3Y2IzZGZmZmUzIiwidCI6ImIwY2U3ZDVlLTgxY2QtNDdmYi05NGY3LTI3NmM2MjZiN2IwOSJ9 |archive-date=25 June 2025 |access-date=27 August 2025 |website=[[Manchester City Council]]}}</ref> It was slower than the increase between 2001 and 2021 of 20.8 per cent, which was the largest in the United Kingdom outside of London.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Townsend |first1=Lucy |last2=Westcott |first2=Kathryn |date=17 July 2012 |title=Census 2011: Five lesser-spotted things in the data |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18853714 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017035941/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18853714 |archive-date=17 October 2014 |access-date=9 August 2014 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The growth was higher than the forecasted rate of growth of 5.8 per cent.<ref name="mancpop">{{cite web |date=1 April 2005 |title=Public Intelligence Population Publications |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/download/4220/public_intelligence_population_publications |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815182631/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/download/4220/public_intelligence_population_publications |archive-date=15 August 2014 |access-date=9 August 2014 |publisher=Manchester City Council}}</ref> In Manchester in 2021, 43.5% of people had never [[Marriage|married]], 37% of people were married, 12.24% of people were [[Marital separation|separated]] or [[divorce]]d, and 7.26% of people were [[widow]]ed. Compared to the national average for 2021, Manchester has a higher proportion of people who have never married, those who are divorced, and those who are widowed, but a lower proportion of those who are married.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marriage and civil partnership status in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/marriagecohabitationandcivilpartnerships/articles/marriageandcivilpartnershipstatusenglandandwalescensus2021/2023-02-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213101353/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/marriagecohabitationandcivilpartnerships/articles/marriageandcivilpartnershipstatusenglandandwalescensus2021/2023-02-22 |archive-date=13 December 2024 |access-date=2025-08-27 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}</ref>

According to the [[Greater Manchester Combined Authority]], the population of [[Greater Manchester]] in 2021 was 2,867,769, an increase of 6.9% from 2011. Since 1991, the City of Manchester's has grown faster than other major cities in England, growing by 36.3 per cent. [[Salford]], another city in Greater Manchester, saw the highest growth in England across the 2010s with a 15.4 per cent increase.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=May 2023 |title=Census 2021 Briefing – Total Population |url=https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/media/7869/230514_population_final.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240715102213/https://greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/media/7869/230514_population_final.pdf |archive-date=15 July 2024 |access-date=27 August 2025 |website=[[Greater Manchester Combined Authority]] |pages=2, 5–7}}</ref> In 2012, 6,547,000 people lived within {{convert|30|mi|km|sigfig=1}} of Manchester and 11,694,000 within {{convert|50|mi|km|sigfig=1}} of the city.<ref name=mancpop/>

Of the increase in Greater Manchester's population between 2011 and 2021, three quarters was as a result of [[Urbanization|migration to the city]]. One quarter was as a result of the [[birth rate]] being higher than the [[mortality rate]].<ref name=":3" /> Between the beginning of July 2011 and end of June 2012, births exceeded deaths by 4,800.<ref name="mancpop" /> Manchester and Greater Manchester have younger populations than the average for England: nationally, 82.6 per cent of people are below the age of 65. For the City of Manchester the figure is 91.2 per cent, and for Greater Manchester the figure is 85.1 per cent. Greater Manchester Combined Authority's analysis of the 2021 census noticed the rising number of 0–15 year olds was a large drive for the increasing population change within the City of Manchester.<ref name=":3" />

The Manchester [[Larger Urban Zone]], a [[Eurostat]] measure of the functional city-region approximated to local government districts, had a population of 2,539,100 in 2004.<ref name="urbanaudit">{{cite web |title=Urban Audit – City Profiles: Manchester |url=http://www.urbanaudit.org/CityProfiles.aspx?CityCode=UK008C&CountryCode=UK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112222759/http://www.urbanaudit.org/CityProfiles.aspx?CityCode=UK008C&CountryCode=UK |archive-date=12 January 2013 |access-date=5 October 2008 |publisher=Urban Audit}}</ref> Since [[Brexit]] the UK has no longer provided data to [[Eurostat]], and thus it does not define Manchester as a Large Urban Zone anymore. In 2024 a partial deal for GDP data was reached between the [[Office for National Statistics]] and Eurostat, but the latter's website does not mention any plans for data sharing in regards to urban population.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/help/faq |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250720215037/https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/help/faq |archive-date=20 July 2025 |access-date=27 August 2025 |website=[[Eurostat]]}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
{{Pie chart|thumb=right|caption=Religious beliefs, 2021 census.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religion - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS030/editions/2021/versions/1 |access-date=30 November 2022 |website=www.ons.gov.uk |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129115419/https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS030/editions/2021/versions/1 |url-status=live }}</ref>|label1=Christian|value1=36.2|color1=Red|label2=No Religion|value2=32.4|color2=Orange|label3=Muslim|value3=22.3|color3=Green|label4=Hindu|value4=1.1|color4=Yellow|label5=Buddhist|value5=0.6|color5=blue|label6=Jewish|value6=0.5|color6=purple|label7=Other|value7=0.5|color7=white|label8=Religion Not Stated|value8=5.9|color8=Grey}}Since the 2001 census, the proportion of Christians in Manchester has fallen by 22 per cent from 62.4 per cent to 48.7 per cent in 2011. The proportion of those with no religious affiliation rose by 58.1 per cent from 16 per cent to 25.3 per cent. The proportion of Muslims increased by 73.6 per cent, from 9.1 per cent to 15.8 per cent. The size of the Jewish population in Greater Manchester is the largest in Britain outside London.<ref name="Jewish Population">{{cite web |title=Second largest |url=http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/290_manchester_jews.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830204127/http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/290_manchester_jews.htm |archive-date=30 August 2007 |access-date=14 September 2007 |work=Something Jewish}}</ref>

=== Ethnicity ===
[[File:Manchester Chinatown 2023.jpg|left|thumb|[[Manchester Chinatown]]'s Paifang arch|alt=A Chinese arch structure on a street with a brick building to the right and no building to the left. There is a tree in the background and it is a clear early evening sky.]]
[[File:Manchester ethnic demography over time.gif|thumb|The ethnic demography of Manchester from 1971 to 2021|alt=An animated gif of a series of pie charts between 1971 and 2021, which show the proportion of White people decreasing from 95.8% to 48.7% and various other demographics appearing.]]
In terms of [[List of English districts and their ethnic composition|ethnic composition]], the City of Manchester has the highest non-white proportion of any district in Greater Manchester. The [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]] showed that 56.8 per cent of the population was [[White people|White]]. 48.7 per cent were [[White British]], 1.7 per cent [[Irish migration to Great Britain|White Irish]], 0.1 per cent [[Gypsy (term)|Gypsy]] or [[Irish Traveller]], 6.2 per cent [[Other White]]. The size of mixed European and British ethnic groups is unclear. There are reportedly over 25,000 people in Greater Manchester of at least partial [[Italian Briton|Italian]] descent alone, which represents 5.5 per cent of the population of Greater Manchester.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/3223776.stm |work=BBC News |title=Italians revolt over church closure |date=29 November 2003 |access-date=12 May 2010 |first=David |last=Green |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204154746/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/3223776.stm |archive-date=4 December 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

In 2021, 5.2 per cent were [[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|mixed race]] (1.8 per cent White and Black Caribbean, 1.1 per cent White and Black African, 1.1 per cent White and Asian, 1.2 per cent other mixed), 20.9 per cent [[British Asian|Asian]] (2.7 per cent [[British Indian|Indian]],11.9 per cent [[British Pakistanis|Pakistani]], 1.8 per cent [[British Bangladeshi|Bangladeshi]], 2.3 per cent [[British Chinese|Chinese]], 2.2 per cent other Asian), 12 per cent [[Black British|Black]] (8.7 per cent African, 1.9 per cent [[British African-Caribbean people|Caribbean]], 1.4 per cent [[other Black]]), 2.7 per cent [[British Arab|Arab]] and 2.4 per cent of other ethnic heritage.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Ethnic group - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/1 |access-date=30 November 2022 |website=ONS |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129141139/https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Moss Side]], [[Longsight]], [[Cheetham Hill]], and [[Rusholme]] are population centres for ethnic minorities.<ref name = "Kidd"/> Manchester's Irish Festival, including a [[St Patrick's Day]] parade, is one of Europe's largest.<ref name="Irish festival">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk |title=The Manchester Irish Festival: the largest in the UK |access-date=28 June 2007 |publisher=Manchester Irish Festival Website |year=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221081149/http://www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk/ |archive-date=21 February 2016 }}</ref> There is a well-established [[Chinatown, Manchester|Chinatown in the city]]. The area attracts large numbers of Chinese students who, in attending the local universities,<ref name="Chinatown">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/chinatown/2004/01/history.shtml |title=History of Manchester's Chinatown |access-date=22 November 2007 |year=2004 |publisher=BBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401041607/http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/chinatown/2004/01/history.shtml |archive-date=1 April 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> contribute to Manchester having the third-largest Chinese population in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/Content/ManchesterAirportcelebratesDiwaliandEid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313201103/http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/Content/ManchesterAirportcelebratesDiwaliandEid |archive-date=13 March 2012 |title=Manchester Airport celebrates Diwali and Eid |access-date=7 September 2012 |year=2011 |publisher=MAG Airports Group}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/airport-city-bosses-in-650m-china-690688 |title=Airport City bosses in £650m China mission |access-date=7 September 2012 |year=2012 |work=Manchester Evening News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117014055/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/airport-city-bosses-in-650m-china-690688 |archive-date=17 January 2014}}</ref>

{{Clear}}


'''Ethnicity of Manchester, from 1971 to 2021:'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! rowspan="3" |Ethnic group
! colspan="12" |Year
|-
! colspan="2" |1971 estimations<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=P. N. |date=1978 |title=The Distribution and Diffusion of the Coloured Population in England and Wales, 1961-71 |journal=Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=515–532 |doi=10.2307/622127 |jstor=622127 |pmid=12157820 |bibcode=1978TrIBG...3..515J |issn=0020-2754 }}</ref>
! colspan="2" |1981 estimations<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1985 |title=Ethnic minorities in Britain: statistical information on the pattern of settlement |url=https://jstor.org/stable/community.28327806 |journal=Commission for Racial Equality |pages=Table 2.2 |last1=Equality |first1=Commission for Racial |archive-date=9 December 2024 |access-date=10 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241209212126/https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.28327806 |url-status=live }}</ref>
! colspan="2" |1991<ref name=":412">Data is taken from United Kingdom [http://casweb.ukdataservice.ac.uk/index.htm Casweb Data services] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215152146/http://casweb.ukdataservice.ac.uk/index.htm |date=15 December 2021 }} of the United Kingdom [http://casweb.ukdataservice.ac.uk/step1.cfm 1991 Census on Ethnic Data for England, Scotland and Wales] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405213012/http://casweb.ukdataservice.ac.uk/step1.cfm |date=5 April 2022 }} (Table 6)</ref>
! colspan="2" |2001<ref>{{cite web |title=Office of National Statistics; 2001 Census Key Statistics |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/local-authorities-ks06--ethnic-group.xls |access-date=7 September 2021 |website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602031124/https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/local-authorities-ks06--ethnic-group.xls |url-status=live }}</ref>
! colspan="2" |2011<ref>{{cite web |title=2011 Census: Ethnic group, local authorities in England and Wales |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rft-table-ks202ew.xls |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116113227/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rft-table-ks202ew.xls |archive-date=16 January 2013 |access-date=12 December 2012 |publisher=ONS}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |2021<ref name=":2" />
|-
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
![[White people in the United Kingdom|White]]: Total
!512,936
!95.8%
!396,487
!92.1%
!353,685
!87.4%
!318,013
!81%
!335,109
!66.6%
!313,632
!56.8%
|-
|White: [[White British|British]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|292,498
|74.5%
|298,237
|59.3%
|268,572
|48.7%
|-
|White: [[White Irish|Irish]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|14,826
|3.8%
|11,843
|2.4%
|9,442
|1.7%
|-
|White: Traveller of Irish heritage
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|509
|0.1%
|597
|0.1%
|-
|White: Gypsy/Roma
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|883
|0.2%
|-
|White: [[Other White|Other]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|10,689
|2.7%
|24,520
|4.9%
|34,138
|6.2%
|-
![[British Asian|Asian / Asian British]]: Total
!–
!–
!–
!–
!26,766
!6.6%
!41,003
!10.4%
!85,986
!17.1%
!115,109
!20.9%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: [[British Indians|Indian]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|4,404
|
|5,817
|
|11,417
|2.3%
|14,857
|2.7%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: [[British Pakistanis|Pakistani]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|15,360
|3.8%
|23,104
|5.9%
|42,904
|8.5%
|65,875
|11.9%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: [[British Bangladeshis|Bangladeshi]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|2,000
|
|3,654
|
|6,437
|1.3%
|9,673
|1.8%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: [[British Chinese|Chinese]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|3,103
|
|5,126
|
|13,539
|2.7%
|12,644
|2.3%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: Other Asians
|–
|–
|–
|–
|1,899
|
|3,302
|
|11,689
|2.3%
|12,060
|2.2%
|-
![[Black British people|Black / Black British]]: Total
!–
!–
!–
!–
!18,898
!4.7%
!17,739
!4.5%
!43,484
!8.6%
!65,893
!12%
|-
|Black: [[Black British people|African]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|3,465
|0.9%
|6,655
|1.7%
|25,718
|5.1%
|47,858
|8.7%
|-
|Black: [[British African-Caribbean people|Caribbean]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|10,390
|2.6%
|9,044
|2.3%
|9,642
|1.9%
|10,472
|1.9%
|-
|Black: [[Classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom|Other Blacks]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|5,043
|
|2,040
|
|8,124
|1.6%
|7,563
|1.4%
|-
![[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|Mixed / British Mixed]]
!–
!–
!–
!–
!–
!–
!12,673
!3.2%
!23,161
!4.6%
!29,026
!5.2%
|-
|White and Black Caribbean
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|5,295
|
|8,877
|1.8%
|9,987
|1.8%
|-
|White and Black African
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|2,412
|
|4,397
|0.9%
|5,992
|1.1%
|-
|White and Asian
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|2,459
|
|4,791
|1%
|6,149
|1.1%
|-
|Any other mixed background
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|2,507
|
|5,096
|1%
|6,898
|1.2%
|-
!Other: Total
!–
!–
!–
!–
!5,517
!1.4%
!3,391
!0.9%
!15,387
!3.1%
!28,278
!5.1%
|-
|Other: Arab
|–
|–
|–
|–
|5,517
|1.4%
|3,391
|0.9%
|9,503
|1.9%
|15,028
|2.7%
|-
|Other: Any other ethnic group
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|5,884
|1.2%
|13,250
|2.4%
|-
!Ethnic minority
!22,484
!4.2%
!33,944
!7.9%
!51,181
!12.6%
!74,806
!19%
!168,018
!33.4%
!238,306
!43.2%
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!Total:
!535,420
!100%
!430,431
!100%
!404,866
!100%
!392,819
!100%
!503,127
!100%
!551,938
!100%
|}
'''Ethnicity of school pupils'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! rowspan="3" |Ethnic group
! colspan="4" |School year<ref>{{Cite web |title=School and pupil characteristics |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130104055718/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics?page=1 |access-date=8 November 2022 |website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk |archive-date=8 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108012447/https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130104055718/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/schoolpupilcharacteristics?page=1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Schools, pupils and their characteristics, Academic Year 2021/22 |url=https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics |access-date=28 November 2022 |website=explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124224902/https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
! colspan="2" |2004/2005
! colspan="2" |2021/2022
|-
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
![[White people in the United Kingdom|White]]: Total
!34,860
!64%
!34,609
!37.6%
|-
|White: [[White British|British]]
|33,698
|61.9%
|29,591
|32.2%
|-
|White: [[White Irish|Irish]]
|373
|
|320
|0.3%
|-
|White: Traveller of Irish heritage
|106
|
|87
|0.1%
|-
|White: Gypsy/Roma
|23
|
|286
|0.3%
|-
|White: [[Other White|Other]]
|658
|
|4,325
|4.7%
|-
![[British Asian|Asian / Asian British]]: Total
!8,893
!16.3%
!23,594
!25.9%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: [[British Indians|Indian]]
|770
|
|2,163
|2.4%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: [[British Pakistanis|Pakistani]]
|6,204
|
|15,838
|17.3%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: [[British Bangladeshis|Bangladeshi]]
|971
|
|2,157
|2.4%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: [[British Chinese|Chinese]]
|390
|
|1,073
|1.2%
|-
|Asian / Asian British: Other Asians
|558
|
|2,363
|2.6%
|-
![[Black British people|Black / Black British]]: Total
!4,700
!8.6%
!15,699
!17.1%
|-
|Black: [[British African-Caribbean people|Caribbean]]
|1,517
|
|1,324
|1.4%
|-
|Black: [[Black British people|African]]
|2,618
|
|11,014
|12.0%
|-
|Black: [[Classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom|Other Blacks]]
|564
|
|3,361
|3.7%
|-
![[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|Mixed / British Mixed]]
!3,530
!6.5%
!8,808
!9.5%
|-
!Other: Total
!1,690
!3.1%
!7,448
!8.1%
|-
!Unclassified
!793
!1.5%
!1,628
!1.8%
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!Total:
!54,470
!100%
!91,786
!100%
|}

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Manchester}}
{{See also|List of companies based in Greater Manchester}}
{{table alignment}}
{|class="wikitable col1center col2center col3center" style="float:right;"
|+''GVA for Manchester<br />2012–2022''<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2024 |title=Economic Update |url=https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/documents/s50339/Economy+Update+2024+11.pdf |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=[[Manchester City Council]] |archive-date=2 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250502131023/https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/documents/s50339/Economy+Update+2024+11.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
! Year || GVA <br />(£ mn) || GVA<br />Growth
|-
| 2012 || £17,373 || {{Increase}} 4.7%
|-
| 2013 || £17,828 || {{Increase}} 2.6%
|-
| 2014 || £18,406 || {{Increase}} 3.2%
|-
| 2015 || £19,348 || {{Increase}} 5.1%
|-
| 2016 || £20,589 || {{Increase}} 6.4%
|-
| 2017 || £22,669 || {{Increase}} 10.1%
|-
| 2018 || £23,476 || {{Increase}} 3.6%
|-
| 2019 || £25,281 || {{Increase}} 7.7%
|-
| 2020 || £24,782 || {{Decrease}} -2.0%
|-
| 2021 || £27,504 || {{Increase}} 11.0%
|-
| 2022 || £31,506 || {{Increase}} 14.6%
|}
[[File:Great Jackson Street Framework 2020.jpg|left|thumb|The Great Jackson Street skyscraper district under construction in Central Manchester|alt=An aerial image of a city at night. There are five skyscrapers in the foreground and the photo is misty with tall hills and low-lying clouds in the background. The lights of the rest of the city can be seen in the background but not the buildings. ]]

=== Macroeconomic wealth ===
The [[Office for National Statistics]] does not produce economic data for the City of Manchester alone; instead it groups the city with [[City of Salford|Salford]], [[Stockport]], [[Tameside]], and [[Trafford]] in an area named Greater Manchester South.<ref name="Leeds.gov.uk" /> In 2023, the area had a [[Gross Value Added|GVA]] of £34.8{{nbsp}}billion. The economy grew relatively strongly between 2002 and 2012, when growth was 2.3 per cent above the national average.<ref name="Leeds.gov.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/LEH%2004%20Leeds%20Economy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219012657/http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/LEH%2004%20Leeds%20Economy.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2013 |title=The Leeds Economy |date=2004 |publisher=Leeds City Council |access-date=9 August 2014 }}</ref> 

It is ranked as a Beta– ([[Globalization and World Cities Research Network#Beta −|beta minus]]) city by the [[Globalization and World Cities Research Network]] in their 2024 rankings, placing it second for UK cities behind London, which is A++ (the highest ranking). Below Manchester are [[Bristol]] and [[Birmingham]] in the Gamma category.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=World Cities 2024 |url=https://gawc.lboro.ac.uk/gawc-worlds/the-world-according-to-gawc/world-cities-2024/ |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=[[Globalization and World Cities Research Network]] |archive-date=3 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250703071437/https://gawc.lboro.ac.uk/gawc-worlds/the-world-according-to-gawc/world-cities-2024/ |url-status=live }}</ref> As the UK economy continues to recover from its 2008–2010 downturn, Manchester compares favourably according to recent figures. In 2012 it showed the strongest annual growth in business stock (5 per cent) of all [[Core Cities Group|core cities]].<ref name="Business Demography: Enterprise Births, Deaths and Survival Rates for 2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-329345 |title=Release Edition Reference Tables: Business Demography, 2012 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=27 November 2013 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012044341/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-329345 |archive-date=12 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

The decade between 2015 and 2025 saw the economy of the United Kingdom significantly affected by the country's withdrawal from the European Union ([[Brexit]]) and by the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Raghav Gupta|author2=Mahadi Hasan|author3=Syed Zahurul Islam|author4=Tahmina Yasmin|author5=Jasim Uddin|title=Evaluating the Brexit and COVID-19's influence on the UK economy: A data analysis|journal=PLOS ONE |volume=18|date=15 Jun 2023|issue=6 |article-number=e0287342 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0287342 |pmid=37319267 |pmc=10270588 |bibcode=2023PLoSO..1887342G |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Assessing-the-economic-impact-of-coronavirus-and-Brexit.pdf|author1=Kathryn Petrie|author2=Amy Norman|title=Assessing the economic implications of coronavirus and Brexit|publisher=[[Social Market Foundation]]|date=May 2020|access-date=25 September 2025|archive-date=17 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017090002/http://www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Assessing-the-economic-impact-of-coronavirus-and-Brexit.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> These events impacted Manchester, with estimates showing a decline in economic output from COVID in the region of 9-10 percent, and with only 1 per cent of firms in the city reporting a positive impact from Brexit, with 60 per cent reporting a neutral or negative impact.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/GMCAFiles/PFE/Supporting%20documents/05%20Places%20for%20Jobs/05.01.03%20COVID-19%20and%20PfE%20Growth%20Options.pdf|title=Covid-19, EU-Exit and the Greater Manchester Economy - Implications for the Greater Manchester Places for Everyone Plan|publisher=Nicol Economics|date=March 2021|access-date=25 September 2025|pages=2,16}}</ref> The years since 2021 have seen some recovery, with forecasts for 2025-28 suggesting that growth in the region will reach 2.4 per cent annually, exceeding the expected national growth rate of 1.6 per cent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2148842-manchester-set-to-outpace-2025-28-uk-average-economic-growth-rate-says-report|first=Neil|last=Hodgson|title=Manchester set to outpace 2025-28 UK average economic growth rate|publisher=The Business Desk|date=19 March 2025|access-date=25 September 2025|archive-date=24 April 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250424102131/https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/2148842-manchester-set-to-outpace-2025-28-uk-average-economic-growth-rate-says-report/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Individual wealth ===
Manchester is a city of contrast, where some of the country's most deprived and most affluent neighbourhoods can be found.<ref>{{cite web |title=South Manchester: Living in the area: Introducing South Manchester |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500230/joint_strategic_needs_assessment/5683/south_manchester_living_in_the_area |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715075839/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500230/joint_strategic_needs_assessment/5683/south_manchester_living_in_the_area |archive-date=15 July 2014 |access-date=9 August 2014 |publisher=Manchester City Council}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=7 July 2004 |title=Wealth hotspots 'outside London' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3871857.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115093517/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3871857.stm |archive-date=15 January 2009 |access-date=9 August 2014 |work=BBC News}}</ref> As of the 2019 [[Indices of Multiple Deprivation]], Manchester is the second most deprived local authority by rank, the sixth by score, and fifth by the proportion of [[Lower Layer Super Output Area|Lower Layer Super Output Areas]] (LLSOAs) that are deprived, with 43% of its LLOAs falling among the top 10% of areas nationally by the extent of deprivation. By final ranking it is only beaten by [[Blackpool]], which is also in Lancashire.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 September 2019 |title=The English Indices of Deprivation 2019 - Statistical Release |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d8e26f6ed915d5570c6cc55/IoD2019_Statistical_Release.pdf |access-date=27 September 2025 |website=[[Office for National Statistics]] |pages=11, 14 |archive-date=30 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250830182726/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d8e26f6ed915d5570c6cc55/IoD2019_Statistical_Release.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> As of the 2021 census, 53.5% of the over-16 population is in employment, 5.7% are unemployed while actively seeking work, and 40.8% are economically inactive.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 December 2022 |title=Economic Activity Status |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS066/editions/2021/versions/6 |access-date=28 September 2025 |website=[[Office for National Statistics]] |archive-date=12 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250812151422/https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS066/editions/2021/versions/6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On the other hand, Greater Manchester is home to more multi-millionaires than anywhere outside London, with the City of Manchester taking up most of the tally.<ref>{{cite news |last=Robson |first=Steve |date=17 September 2012 |title=Boom city Manchester has more super-rich than anywhere outside London |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/boom-city-manchester-has-more-super-rich-695230 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231024956/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/boom-city-manchester-has-more-super-rich-695230 |archive-date=31 December 2013 |access-date=9 August 2014 |newspaper=Manchester Evening News}}</ref> In 2013 Manchester was ranked 6th in the UK for quality of life, according to a rating of the UK's 12 largest cities.<ref name="qol">{{cite web |last=Philipson |first=Alice |date=18 October 2013 |title=Bristol is 'best city to live in the UK' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10386993/Bristol-is-best-city-to-live-in-the-UK.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110040410/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10386993/Bristol-is-best-city-to-live-in-the-UK.html |archive-date=10 November 2016 |access-date=9 August 2014 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Women fare better in Manchester than the rest of the country in comparative pay with men. The per hours-worked [[gender pay gap]] is 3.3 per cent compared with 11.1 per cent for Britain.<ref name="2013 labour market profile">{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Labour Market Profile: Manchester |url=http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/1946157083/report.aspx?town=manchester |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011143922/http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/1946157083/report.aspx?town=manchester |archive-date=11 October 2014 |access-date=9 August 2014 |publisher=Office for National Statistics}}</ref> 37 per cent of the working-age population in Manchester have degree-level qualifications, as opposed to an average of 33 per cent across other core cities,<ref name="2013 labour market profile" /> although its schools under-perform slightly compared with the national average.<ref>{{cite web |date=2012 |title=Education and skills in your area: Manchester LA |url=http://www.education.gov.uk/inyourarea/results/lea_352_wards_3.shtml#03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222205235/http://www.education.gov.uk/inyourarea/results/lea_352_wards_3.shtml#03 |archive-date=22 December 2013 |access-date=9 August 2014 |publisher=Department for Education}}</ref>

=== Business wealth ===
[[File:Deansgate Square & Elizabeth Tower Manchester Winter 2020.jpg|thumb|[[Deansgate Square]], whose tallest building is the [[List of tallest buildings in the United Kingdom|tallest in the UK]] outside of London|alt=An aerial photo of five glass and steel skyscrapers at the centre of a city with a large urban sprawl stretching the entire background. The sky is cloudy with the sunset creating an orange hue reflected by the buildings' glass exteriors.]]

Manchester's civic leadership has a reputation for business acumen.<ref name="econ">{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21589234-led-london-big-cities-are-sucking-up-talent-jobs-and-investment-everywhere-else |title=Cities: The vacuum cleaners |newspaper=The Economist |date=9 November 2013 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720052053/http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21589234-led-london-big-cities-are-sucking-up-talent-jobs-and-investment-everywhere-else |archive-date=20 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> It owns two of the country's four busiest airports and uses its earnings to fund local projects.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-23513673 |title=Manchester Airports Group dividend windfall for councils |work=BBC News |date=31 July 2013 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015104426/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-23513673 |archive-date=15 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, [[KPMG]]'s competitive alternative report found that in 2012 Manchester had the 9th lowest tax cost of any industrialised city in the world,<ref name="indices">{{cite web |last1=Moonen |first1=Tim |last2=Clark |first2=Greg |url=http://www.jll.com/Research/jll-city-indices-november-2013.pdf |title=The Business of Cities 2013 |publisher=Jones Lang LaSalle IP |date=November 2013 |pages=78–79 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201083204/http://www.jll.com/Research/jll-city-indices-november-2013.pdf |archive-date=1 February 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> and fiscal devolution has come earlier to Manchester than to any other British city: it can keep half the extra taxes it gets from transport investment.<ref name="econ" /> KPMG's competitive alternative report also found that Manchester was Europe's most affordable city featured, ranking slightly better than the Dutch cities of [[Rotterdam]] and [[Amsterdam]], which all have a cost-of-living index of less than 95.<ref name="indices" />

Manchester has the largest UK office market outside London, according to GVA Grimley, with a quarterly office uptake (averaged over 2010–2014) of some {{Convert|250,000|ft2}} – equivalent to the quarterly office uptake of [[Leeds]], Liverpool and [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] combined and {{Convert|90,000|ft2}} more than the nearest rival, Birmingham.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Big Nine – Regional Office Review – Q4 2014 |url=http://www.gva.co.uk/research/the-big-nine-q4-2014 |publisher=GVA Grimley |date=2015 |access-date=16 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227054540/http://www.gva.co.uk/research/the-big-nine-q4-2014/ |archive-date=27 February 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The strong office market in Manchester has been partly attributed to "northshoring" (from [[offshoring]]), which entails the relocation or alternative creation of jobs away from the overheated South to areas where office space is possibly cheaper and the workforce market less saturated.<ref>{{cite web |title=Prepare for regional renaissance as businesses favour 'northshoring' |last=Oglesby |first=Chris |url=http://www.propertyweek.com/prepare-for-regional-renaissance-as-businesses-favour-%E2%80%98northshoring%E2%80%99/5041206.article |work=propertyweek.com |date=17 August 2012 |access-date=30 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006130352/http://www.propertyweek.com/prepare-for-regional-renaissance-as-businesses-favour-%E2%80%98northshoring%E2%80%99/5041206.article |archive-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Architecture==
{{main|Architecture of Manchester}}
{{see also|List of tallest buildings and structures in Manchester|List of streets and roads in Manchester |Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester|Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester|List of public art in Greater Manchester}}
[[File:67 Whitworth Street.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Neo-baroque [[Lancaster House, Manchester|Lancaster House]]. Manchester is known for opulent warehouses from the city's textile trade.|alt=A red brick and terracotta building that sits on a corner of a square junction. The corner of the building is slightly rounded into an octagon-like shape with it then stretching above the building to become a clock tower.]]
Manchester's buildings display a variety of architectural styles, ranging from [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] to [[contemporary architecture]]. The widespread use of [[red brick]] characterises the city, much of the architecture of which harks back to its days as a global centre for the cotton trade.<ref name="Hartwell"/> Just outside the immediate city centre are a large number of former [[cotton mill]]s, some of which have been left virtually untouched since their closure, while many have been redeveloped as apartment buildings and office space. [[Manchester Town Hall]], in [[Albert Square, Manchester|Albert Square]], was built in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic revival]] style.<ref>{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=John Martin |date=1986 |title=The Architecture of Northern England |page=153 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-333-37396-5}}</ref>

Manchester also has a number of [[Tallest Buildings of Manchester|skyscrapers]] built in the 1960s and 1970s, the tallest being the [[CIS Tower]] near [[Manchester Victoria station]] until the [[Beetham Tower, Manchester|Beetham Tower]] was completed in 2006. The latter exemplifies a new surge in high-rise building. It includes a [[Hilton Hotels|Hilton hotel]], a restaurant and apartments. The largest skyscraper is now Deansgate Square South Tower, at {{cvt|201|m}}.[[The Green Building]], opposite [[Manchester Oxford Road railway station|Oxford Road station]], is a eco-friendly housing project, while the recently completed [[One Angel Square]], is one of the most sustainable large buildings in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=One Angel Square, Co-operative Group HQ |url=http://www.breeam.org/page.jsp?id=598 |work=breeam.org |access-date=14 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521150355/http://www.breeam.org/page.jsp?id=598 |archive-date=21 May 2013}}</ref>

=== Landmarks ===
Two large squares hold many of Manchester's public monuments. Albert Square has monuments to [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Prince Albert]], [[James Fraser (bishop)|Bishop James Fraser]], [[Oliver Heywood]], [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]] and [[John Bright]]. [[Piccadilly Gardens]] has monuments dedicated to [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]], [[Robert Peel]], [[James Watt]] and the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]]. [[Manchester Cenotaph|The cenotaph]] in St Peter's Square is Manchester's main memorial to its war dead. Designed by [[Edwin Lutyens]], it echoes [[the Cenotaph, Whitehall|the original on Whitehall]] in London. The [[Alan Turing Memorial]] in [[Sackville Park]] commemorates his role as the father of modern computing. A larger-than-life statue of [[Abraham Lincoln]] by George Gray Barnard in the eponymous Lincoln Square (having stood for many years in [[Platt Fields]]) was presented to the city by Mr and Mrs Charles Phelps Taft of [[Cincinnati]], Ohio, to mark the part Lancashire played in the [[cotton famine]] and [[American Civil War]] of 1861–1865.<ref name="PSGM">{{cite book |last1=Cocks |first1=Harry |last2=Wyke |first2=Terry |title=Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester |url=https://archive.org/details/publicsculptureg00wyke |url-access=limited |series=Public Sculpture of Britain |publisher=Liverpool University Press |location=Liverpool |year=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/publicsculptureg00wyke/page/n30 11]–27, 88–92, 111–121, 123–5, 130–2 |isbn=0-85323-567-8}}</ref>

Adjacent to [[Manchester Airport]] is the Runway Visitor Park, an aviation centre which is the site of [[G-BOAC]],<ref>{{Cite web |last1=McKenna |first1=David |last2=White |first2=Amanda |date=2024-11-01 |title=Hull couple honoured to restore royal Concorde seats |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxr8vxrvgqo |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=4 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250704013115/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxr8vxrvgqo |url-status=live }}</ref> one of the [[List of Concorde aircraft|twenty Concorde aircraft]] built.<ref name="towey-2007">{{Cite book |title=Jet Airliners of the World 1949–2007 |publisher=Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-85130-348-2 |editor-last=Towey |editor-first=Barrie |location=Tunbridge Wells |page=359}}</ref> The aircraft was the flagship of [[British Airways|British Airways']] fleet because BOAC was the initials of the [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=G-BOAC (204) |url=https://www.heritageconcorde.com/g-boac-204 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002235051/https://www.heritageconcorde.com/g-boac-204 |archive-date=2020-10-02 |access-date=2020-10-02 |website=Heritage Concorde}}</ref> Other aircraft on display at the park, which also has a view of Manchester Airport's runways, are a [[BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4]], a [[Hawker Siddeley Trident]], a [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10]], and a [[British Aerospace 146]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Our Aircraft |url=https://www.runwayvisitorpark.co.uk/visit-us/explore-our-aircraft/ |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=Runway Visitor Park |archive-date=6 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006222026/https://www.runwayvisitorpark.co.uk/visit-us/explore-our-aircraft/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Heaton Park]] in the north of the city borough is one of the largest municipal parks in Europe, covering {{convert|610|acre|ha}} of parkland.<ref name="HeatonPark">{{cite web |year=2005 |title=About Heaton Park |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?categoryID=200073heaton/&documentID=1422 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315081308/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?categoryID=200073heaton%2F&documentID=1422 |archive-date=15 March 2008 |access-date=23 November 2007 |publisher=[[Manchester City Council]]}}</ref> The city has 135 parks, gardens, and open spaces.<ref name="Parks">{{cite web |year=2005 |title=Manchester's parks and open spaces |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents.php?categoryID=200073 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012142452/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents.php?categoryID=200073 |archive-date=12 October 2007 |access-date=23 November 2007 |publisher=[[Manchester City Council]]}}</ref> Manchester has six designated [[local nature reserve]]s: [[Chorlton Water Park]], Blackley Forest, Clayton Vale and Chorlton Ees, Ivy Green, [[Boggart Hole Clough]] and [[Highfield Country Park]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Local nature Reserves |url=http://www.wildaboutmanchester.info/www/index.php/news/3-archive-news/116-local-nature-reserve-status-for-two-new-sites |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709132101/http://www.wildaboutmanchester.info/www/index.php/news/3-archive-news/116-local-nature-reserve-status-for-two-new-sites |archive-date=9 July 2014 |access-date=27 January 2011 |publisher=Manchester City Council}}</ref>

{{Panorama
| image = File:Manchester City Centre Skyline.jpg
| alt = A skyline of a city against a blue sky and tall hills in the background. There are around nine skyscrapers distributed fairly evenly across the skyline with many cranes also visible. In the foreground there is a river with trees on both banks.
| fullwidth = 4200
| fullheight = 477
| caption = The city skyline as photographed in January 2020
| height = 240
}}

==Transport==
{{Main|Transport in Manchester}}
{{See also|Transport for Greater Manchester}}

===Rail===
[[Manchester Liverpool Road railway station|Manchester Liverpool Road]] was the world's first purpose-built passenger and goods railway station<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/aGqH_KJZSq6XUSo3q5UdEw |title=A History of the World: Liverpool Road Station sundial |publisher=BBC |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802230037/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/aGqH_KJZSq6XUSo3q5UdEw |archive-date=2 August 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> and served as the Manchester terminus on the [[Liverpool & Manchester Railway]], which was the first [[Inter-city rail|inter-city]] passenger railway in the world. The station [[Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway|opened with the railway]] in 1830 and closed in 1975. The station buildings are still extant, and since 1983 they have been part of the site of the [[Science & Industry Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 December 2018 |title=First in the world: The making of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway |url=https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/making-the-liverpool-and-manchester-railway |access-date=13 September 2025 |website=[[Science & Industry Museum]] |archive-date=2 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502233609/https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/making-the-liverpool-and-manchester-railway |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Piccadilly Station Manchester - geograph.org.uk - 692981.jpg|thumb|[[Manchester Piccadilly station|Manchester Piccadilly railway station]], the busiest of the four major railway stations in the [[Manchester station group]], with over 32{{nbsp}}million passengers using the station in 2019/20<ref name=ORR/>|alt=An aerial photo of a modern railway terminus station viewed from the top end a short distance away. The multiple parallel roofs of the trainshed stretch into the background against a grey sky.]]
Two of the city's four main line terminus stations did not survive the 1960s: [[Manchester Central railway station|Manchester Central]], originally part of the [[Cheshire Lines Committee]], and [[Manchester Exchange railway station|Manchester Exchange]], originally part of the [[London and North Western Railway]], both closed to passengers in 1969.<ref>{{Butt-Stations|page=153}}</ref> [[Manchester Mayfield railway station|Manchester Mayfield station]] closed to passenger services in 1960,<ref name="Clinker">{{Cite book |author=Clinker, C.R. |title=Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1977 |date=October 1978 |publisher=Avon-AngliA Publications & Services |isbn=0-905466-19-5 |location=Bristol |page=92}}</ref> before being redeveloped as a parcel depot which opened in 1970 and closed in 1986.<ref name="subbrit2">{{cite web |last=Wright |first=Paul |date=27 July 2017 |title=Manchester Mayfield |url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/manchester_mayfield/index.shtml |access-date=13 September 2025 |website=Disused Stations |archive-date=14 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114234345/http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/manchester_mayfield/index.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> In August 2025, Manchester City Council approved the regeneration of Mayfield Park, which includes the station, into a [[housing estate]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morby |first=Aaron |date=1 August 2025 |title=Green light for first 880 homes at Manchester Mayfield |url=https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2025/08/01/green-light-for-first-880-homes-at-manchester-mayfield/ |access-date=13 September 2025 |website=Construction Enquirer}}</ref>

Today, the city is well served by its rail network although it is now working to capacity,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Extra track suggested to ease Manchester's rail bottlenecks |url=https://www.ft.com/content/eef5e63a-1b62-11df-838f-00144feab49a |work=Financial Times |date=17 February 2010 |access-date=13 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116173005/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/eef5e63a-1b62-11df-838f-00144feab49a,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Feef5e63a-1b62-11df-838f-00144feab49a.html%3Fsiteedition%3Duk&siteedition=uk&_i_referer=#axzz2jybR0Zv4 |archive-date=16 January 2014 }}</ref> and is at the centre of an extensive county-wide railway network, including the [[West Coast Main Line]], with two mainline stations: [[Manchester Piccadilly railway station|Manchester Piccadilly]] and [[Manchester Victoria railway station|Manchester Victoria]]. The [[Manchester station group]] – comprising Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Victoria, [[Manchester Oxford Road railway station|Manchester Oxford Road]] and [[Deansgate railway station|Deansgate]] – is the third busiest in the UK, with 44.9{{nbsp}}million passengers recorded in 2017/2018.<ref name="ORR">{{cite web |url=http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates |title=Estimates of station usage |publisher=[[Office of Rail & Road|Office of Rail Regulation]]|date=22 April 2014 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625013846/http://www.orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates |archive-date=25 June 2017 }}</ref> The [[High Speed 2]] link to [[Birmingham Curzon Street railway station|Birmingham]] and [[Euston railway station|London]] was also planned, which would have included a {{Convert|12|km|abbr=on|0}} tunnel under Manchester on the final approach into an upgraded Piccadilly station,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-21230543 |title=HS2 to enter Manchester via tunnel under city |work=BBC News |date=28 January 2013 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924131121/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-21230543 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> however this was cancelled by Prime Minister [[Rishi Sunak]] in October 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=North West to benefit from £19.8 billion transport investment |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/north-west-to-benefit-from-198-billion-transport-investment |website=GOV.UK |access-date=5 October 2023 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004174624/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/north-west-to-benefit-from-198-billion-transport-investment |url-status=live }}</ref>

Recent improvements in Manchester as part of the [[Northern Hub]] in the 2010s have been numerous electrification schemes into and through Manchester, redevelopment of Victoria station and construction of the [[Ordsall Chord]] directly linking Victoria and Piccadilly.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Topham |first=Gwyn |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/07/george-osborne-northern-hub-rail-project |title=George Osborne launches £600m Northern Hub rail project |journal=The Guardian |date=7 February 2014 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009134654/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/07/george-osborne-northern-hub-rail-project |archive-date=9 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Work on two new through platforms at Piccadilly and an extensive upgrade at Oxford Road had not commenced as of 2019. Manchester city centre, specifically the [[Castlefield Corridor]], suffers from constrained rail capacity that frequently leads to delays and cancellations – a 2018 report found that all three major Manchester stations are among the top ten worst stations in the United Kingdom for punctuality, with Oxford Road deemed the worst in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UK's railway stations with most train delays revealed |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45864908 |work=BBC News |date=16 October 2018 |access-date=26 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517223302/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45864908 |archive-date=17 May 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Metrolink===
{{Main|Manchester Metrolink}}
[[File:Two M5000 trams passing.jpg|thumb|Manchester Metrolink is the [[Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light rail|largest tram system in the UK]], with a total route length of {{convert|64|mi|km}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Metrolink line to Wythenshawe and Manchester Airport to open on November 3 – a year ahead of schedule |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/new-metrolink-line-wythenshawe-manchester-7927130 |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=13 October 2014 |access-date=2 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018021056/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/new-metrolink-line-wythenshawe-manchester-7927130 |archive-date=18 October 2014 }}</ref>|alt=Two yellow trams sit besides one another on parallel tracks, with the one on the left slightly closer to the camera which is on the ground in the road. Both have their pantographs up which are touching contact wires. On either side there are people walking on the pavement.]]
Manchester became the first city in the UK to acquire a modern [[light rail]] tram system when the Manchester Metrolink opened in 1992. In 2023–2024, 42{{nbsp}}million passenger journeys were made on the system.<ref name="dft23">{{cite web| title=Light rail and tram statistics, England: year ending March 2024| publisher=[[Department for Transport]]| website=GOV.UK| date=17 September 2024| url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/light-rail-and-tram-statistics-england-year-ending-march-2024/light-rail-and-tram-statistics-england-year-ending-march-2024| access-date=16 October 2024| archive-date=3 October 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241003121903/https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/light-rail-and-tram-statistics-england-year-ending-march-2024/light-rail-and-tram-statistics-england-year-ending-march-2024| url-status=live}}</ref> The present system mostly runs on former commuter rail lines converted for light rail use, and crosses the city centre via on-street tram lines.<ref name="metrolink-history">{{cite web |url=http://www.metrolink.co.uk/pdf/past_present_future.pdf |title=Metrolink History |date=9 March 2004 |publisher=Manchester Metrolink |access-date=21 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325191627/http://www.metrolink.co.uk/pdf/past_present_future.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref> The network consists of eight lines with [[List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops|99 stops]].<ref name="RTC">{{cite news |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/rochdales-first-passenger-tram-80-6897266 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=31 March 2014 |access-date=31 March 2014 |title=Passenger trams start running to and from Rochdale town centre for first time in 80 years |first=John |last=Scheerhout |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407072444/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/rochdales-first-passenger-tram-80-6897266 |archive-date=7 April 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> A new line to the [[Trafford Centre tram stop|Trafford Centre]] opened in 2020.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-37645935 "Metrolink's Trafford Park £350m Tramline Approved"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129101729/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-37645935 |date=29 November 2018 }}. ''BBC News''. 13 October 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/enabling-works-begin-on-new-trafford-park-metrolink-line |title=Enabling works begin on new Trafford Park Metrolink line |access-date=20 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820163108/http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/enabling-works-begin-on-new-trafford-park-metrolink-line |archive-date=20 August 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Manchester city centre is also serviced by over a dozen heavy and light rail-based park and ride sites.<ref name="Park & Ride">{{cite web |url=http://www.tfgm.com/journey_planning/ParkandRide/Pages/default.aspx |title=TFGM Park & Ride – Stations and Stops |publisher=[[Transport for Greater Manchester]] |year=2007 |access-date=8 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022114452/http://www.tfgm.com/journey_planning/ParkandRide/Pages/default.aspx|archive-date=22 October 2013}}</ref>

===Bus===
[[File:SCM 2 66075.jpg|thumb|[[Free buses in Greater Manchester|Free buses]] operate on two routes around Manchester city centre.]]
The city has one of the most extensive bus networks outside London. Before the launch of [[Bee Network]], there were over 50 bus companies operating in the [[Greater Manchester]] region radiating from the city. In 2011, 80 per cent of public transport journeys in Greater Manchester were made by bus, amounting to 220{{nbsp}}million passenger journeys each year.<ref name="2012 Annual Report" /> After [[Bus deregulation in the United Kingdom|deregulation]] in 1986, the bus system was taken over by [[GM Buses]], which after privatisation was split into GM Buses North and GM Buses South. Later these were taken over by [[First Greater Manchester]] and [[Stagecoach Manchester]]. Much of the First Greater Manchester business was sold to [[Diamond North West]] and [[Go North West]] in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gmpte.com/upload/library/t&s01_02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327122708/http://www.gmpte.com/upload/library/t%26s01_02.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009 |title=GMPTE Trends and Statistics 2001/2002 |access-date=19 September 2007 |year=2002 |publisher=[[Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive]]|pages=28–9 }}</ref> Go North West operate a three-route [[Zero-fare public transport|zero-fare]] [[Free buses in Greater Manchester|Manchester Metroshuttle]], which carries 2.8{{nbsp}}million commuters a year around Manchester's business districts.<ref name="2012 Annual Report">{{cite web |url=http://www.tfgm.com/Corporate/Documents/AnnualReportsBusinessPerformancePlans/11-0909-Ann_Performance-Report-AW.pdf |title=2011/2012 Annual Report |publisher=Transport for Greater Manchester |date=2012 |pages=10, 16 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302015458/http://www.tfgm.com/Corporate/Documents/AnnualReportsBusinessPerformancePlans/11-0909-Ann_Performance-Report-AW.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Clarissa |last=Satchell |title=Free buses on another city route |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/free-buses-on-another-city-route-1085213 |work=[[Manchester Evening News]] |publisher=M.E.N. media |date=22 September 2005 |access-date=18 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026062602/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/free-buses-on-another-city-route-1085213 |archive-date=26 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tfgm.com/public-transport/bus/free-bus |title=Free bus in Manchester |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714144636/https://tfgm.com/public-transport/bus/free-bus|archive-date=14 July 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Stagecoach Manchester is the [[Stagecoach Group]]'s largest subsidiary and also the largest bus operator in Greater Manchester, operating around 690 buses.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stagecoach welcomes government funding for Greater Manchester transport strategy |url=http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2008/2008-06-09.aspx |publisher=stagecoachplc.co.uk |date=9 June 2008 |access-date=26 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020194124/http://www.stagecoach.com/media/news-releases/2008/2008-06-09.aspx |archive-date=20 October 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Air===
{{Main|Manchester Airport}}
[[File:Manchester Airport EGCC.jpg|alt=An aerial view of a large airport; from left to right there are two parallel runways and then a series of terminal buildings around a central flat area. In the foreground the airport backs onto urban sprawl but in the background it meets fields.|left|thumb|Manchester Airport from above]]
Manchester Airport is the [[Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic#2010 / 2011 data|third busiest in the United Kingdom]], with [[Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic#2012 / 2013 data|over double the number of annual passengers]] of the next busiest non-London airport.<ref name="caa1990">{{cite web |url=http://www.caa.co.uk/Data-and-analysis/UK-aviation-market/Airports/Datasets/UK-Airport-data/Airport-data-1990-onwards/ |title=CAA Airport Data 1990-2014 |website=caa.co.uk |publisher=UK Civil Aviation Authority |access-date=13 March 2017 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414093850/https://www.caa.co.uk/Data-and-analysis/UK-aviation-market/Airports/Datasets/UK-Airport-data/Airport-data-1990-onwards/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Services cover many destinations in Europe, North America, the [[Caribbean]], Africa, the Middle East, and Asia (with more destinations from Manchester than any other airport in Britain).<ref>{{cite news |first=James |last=Wilson |title=A busy hub of connectivity |work=[[Financial Times]] |publisher=The Financial Times Limited |date=26 April 2007}}</ref> It is the only airport in the UK outside London to have two fully-operational runways.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Timan |first=Joseph |date=30 January 2025 |title=Rachel Reeves keeps repeating the same mistake about Manchester Airport |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/glaring-manchester-airport-fact-rachel-30896315 |access-date=27 September 2025 |website=[[Manchester Evening News]] |archive-date=4 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250404135035/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/glaring-manchester-airport-fact-rachel-30896315 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The airport has the highest rating available: "''Category 10''", encompassing an elite group of airports able to handle "''Code F''" aircraft, including the [[Airbus A380]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Manchester Airport is Officially 'A380 Ready' |url=http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/Content/A380Ready |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821061436/http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/Content/A380Ready |archive-date=21 August 2010 |publisher=manchesterairport.co.uk |date=18 August 2010 |access-date=1 September 2010}}</ref> From September 2010 the airport became one of only 17 airports in the world and one of only three UK airports alongside [[Heathrow Airport]] and [[Gatwick Airport]] to operate the Airbus A380.<ref>{{cite news |title=Giant Airbus A380 lands at Manchester Airport |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11148598 |work=BBC News |date=1 September 2010 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017075939/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11148598 |archive-date=17 October 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

A smaller [[Manchester Barton Aerodrome]] exists {{Convert|9.3|km|abbr=on|0}} to the west of Manchester city centre. It was Manchester's first municipal airport and became the site of the first [[air traffic control]] tower in the UK, and the first municipal airfield in the UK to be licensed by the [[Air Ministry]].<ref name="CAMHIST">{{cite web |url=http://www.cityairportandheliport.com/about-us/airport-history |title=Airport History: City Airport and Heliport |publisher=City Airport Ltd |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625164943/http://cityairportandheliport.com/about-us/airport-history |archive-date=25 June 2014 }}</ref> Today, private [[Air charter|charter flights]] and [[general aviation]] use City. It also has a [[Flight training|flight school]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cityairportandheliport.com/learn-to-fly/where-to-start |title=Where to start: City Airport and Heliport |publisher=City Airport Ltd |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809033457/http://cityairportandheliport.com/learn-to-fly/where-to-start |archive-date=9 August 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> and both the [[Greater Manchester Police#Air Support Unit|Greater Manchester Police Air Support Unit]] and the [[North West Air Ambulance]] have helicopters based there.<ref>{{cite web |title=UK & Ireland Police Helicopter Operations A–M |url=http://www.ukemergencyaviation.co.uk/policehelicopteram.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702025856/http://www.ukemergencyaviation.co.uk/policehelicopteram.htm |archive-date=2 July 2018 |access-date=13 March 2020 |website=UK Emergency Aviation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 July 2025 |title=Marsden savers raise £13k for North West Air Ambulance Charity |url=https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/lifestyle/money/marsden-savers-raise-ps13k-for-north-west-air-ambulance-charity-5225177 |access-date=31 August 2025 |website=[[Blackpool Gazette]] |archive-date=5 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250805171449/https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/lifestyle/money/marsden-savers-raise-ps13k-for-north-west-air-ambulance-charity-5225177 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Canal===
{{See also|Manchester Ship Canal}}
An extensive canal network passes through Manchester including the [[Ashton Canal]], [[Rochdale Canal]] and [[Bridgewater Canal]] - all of which end in Manchester city centre. The canals are still maintained, though now largely repurposed for leisure use.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.waterways.org.uk/waterways/canals_rivers/manchester_ship_canal/manchester_ship_canal |title=Manchester Ship Canal |access-date=16 March 2015 |publisher=Inland Waterways Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110941/https://www.waterways.org.uk/waterways/canals_rivers/manchester_ship_canal/manchester_ship_canal |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=live }}<br />{{cite news |first=Nigel |last=Pivaro |title=Ship canal cruising is all the rage |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/ship-canal-cruising-is-all-the-rage-1045298 |work=[[Manchester Evening News]] |publisher=M.E.N. media |date=20 October 2006 |access-date=19 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110100910/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/ship-canal-cruising-is-all-the-rage-1045298 |archive-date=10 November 2013}}</ref> The Manchester Ship Canal, which was built to carry freight from the Industrial Revolution onward, ends in neighbouring Salford before linking with the River Irwell which runs through the north of the city.

===Cycling===
{{Further|Cycling in Greater Manchester}}
Cycling for transportation and leisure enjoys popularity in Manchester and the city also plays a major role in British cycle racing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Census shows more people in Manchester are cycling to work |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/census-shows-more-manchester-people-7021775 |author=Charlotte Cox |date=23 April 2014 |publisher=Manchester Evening News |access-date=16 February 2016 |archive-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001120840/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/census-shows-more-manchester-people-7021775 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":15">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/rapha-cycle-club-opens-manchester-7842026 |title=Rapha Cycle Club opens in Manchester |publisher=Manchester Evening News |quote=There's a rich cycling heritage here, and Manchester is the home of British cycling. |date=26 September 2014 |author=Justin Connolly |access-date=16 February 2016 |archive-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001134020/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/rapha-cycle-club-opens-manchester-7842026 |url-status=live }}</ref> Manchester has a history of cycling, and is one of the seven cities to have a [[Rapha (sportswear)|Rapha]] store alongside [[New York City]], [[San Francisco]], [[Sydney]], [[Tokyo]] and [[Osaka]].<ref name=":15" /> As of 2023, 2% of journeys in Manchester are made by bicycle,<ref>{{cite web |title=Manchester Active Travel Strategy |url=https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/documents/s38131/Appendix%201%20draft%20Manchester%20Active%20Travel%20Strategy%20and%20Investment%20Plan-compressed.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250523234615/https://democracy.manchester.gov.uk/documents/s38131/Appendix%201%20draft%20Manchester%20Active%20Travel%20Strategy%20and%20Investment%20Plan-compressed.pdf |archive-date=23 May 2025 |publisher=Manchester City Council}}</ref> with cycle routes being integrated into Manchester's multimodal [[Bee Network]] alongside walking, train, tram, and bus routes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Finney |first=Lewis |date=14 October 2022 |title=Greater Manchester's Bee Network explained |url=https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/23065769.greater-manchesters-bee-network-explained/ |access-date=13 September 2025 |website=[[The Bolton News]] |archive-date=19 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250919231938/https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/23065769.greater-manchesters-bee-network-explained/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Culture==
{{Main|Culture of Manchester}}
{{See also|List of people from Manchester}}

===Music===
{{see also|Popular music of Manchester|List of music artists and bands from Manchester|Madchester}}
Bands that have emerged from the Manchester music scene include [[Van der Graaf Generator]], [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]], [[the Smiths]], [[Joy Division]] and its successor group [[New Order (band)|New Order]], [[Buzzcocks]], [[the Stone Roses]], [[The Fall (band)|the Fall]], [[the Durutti Column]], [[10cc]], [[Godley & Creme]], [[the Verve]], [[Elbow (band)|Elbow]], [[Doves (band)|Doves]], [[The Charlatans (English band)|the Charlatans]], [[M People]], [[the 1975]], [[Simply Red]], [[Blossoms (band)|Blossoms]], [[Take That]], [[Dutch Uncles]], [[Everything Everything]], [[the Courteeners]], [[Pale Waves]], and [[the Outfield]]. Manchester was credited as the main driving force behind British [[Indie music|indie]] music of the 1980s led by the Smiths, later including the Stone Roses, [[Happy Mondays]], [[Inspiral Carpets]], and [[James (band)|James]]. The later groups came from what became known as the "[[Madchester]]" scene that also centred on [[The Haçienda]] nightclub developed by the founder of [[Factory Records]], [[Tony Wilson]]. Although from southern England, [[the Chemical Brothers]] subsequently formed in Manchester.<ref name="ChemBros">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/ourreputation/distinguishedalumni/thechemicalbrothers/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108091553/http://www.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/ourreputation/distinguishedalumni/thechemicalbrothers/ |title=The Chemical Brothers – Alumni |access-date=12 November 2007 |archive-date=8 January 2009 |publisher=[[University of Manchester]] |year=2005}}</ref> Former Smiths frontman [[Morrissey]], whose lyrics often refer to Manchester, later found international success as a solo artist. Previously, notable Manchester acts of the 1960s include [[the Hollies]], [[Herman's Hermits]], and [[Davy Jones (musician)|Davy Jones]] of the [[Monkees]], and the earlier [[Bee Gees]], who grew up in [[Chorlton-cum-Hardy|Chorlton]].<ref name="BeeGees">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/3705559.stm |title=Bee Gees go back to their roots|access-date=12 November 2007 |work=BBC News |date=12 May 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040614061444/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/3705559.stm|archive-date=14 June 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref> Prominent [[UK rap|rap]] artists from Manchester include [[Bugzy Malone]],<ref name="PL">{{cite web |date=1 May 2016 |title=BREAKING: Manchester MC Bugzy Malone Facing time in prison |url=http://www.publishedlive.com/2016/05/01/manchester-mc-bugzy-malone-facing-time-in-prison/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220210237/http://www.publishedlive.com/2016/05/01/manchester-mc-bugzy-malone-facing-time-in-prison/ |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=21 December 2016}}</ref> [[Aitch (rapper)|Aitch]],<ref name="occ2019">{{cite news |last=Ainsley |first=Helen |date=14 August 2019 |title=Who is Aitch? Get to know the Manchester rapper taking over the charts |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/who-is-aitch-get-to-know-the-manchester-rapper-taking-over-the-charts__27066/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814154947/https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/who-is-aitch-get-to-know-the-manchester-rapper-taking-over-the-charts__27066/ |archive-date=14 August 2019 |access-date=21 August 2019 |publisher=Official Charts}}</ref> and [[Meekz]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Patterson |first=Joseph |date=23 September 2022 |title=No FACE, No Case: Meekz is Manchester's unstoppable rap star |url=https://theface.com/music/meekz-manchester-interview-rapper-mask-dave-central-cee-respect-the-come-up-mixtape/ |access-date=16 March 2023 |work=[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]] |archive-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315212645/https://theface.com/music/meekz-manchester-interview-rapper-mask-dave-central-cee-respect-the-come-up-mixtape |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[British brass band|Brass band]] music, a tradition in the north of England, is important to Manchester's musical heritage;<ref name="mif-deller">{{cite web |date=July 2009 |title=Procession – Jeremy Deller |url=http://www.mif.co.uk/event/procession |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129212942/http://www.mif.co.uk/event/procession/ |archive-date=29 November 2010 |access-date=24 July 2009 |publisher=Manchester International Festival}}</ref> some of the UK's leading bands, such as the [[Co-operative wholesale society|CWS]] Manchester Band and the [[Fairey Band]], are from Manchester and surrounding areas, and the [[Whit Friday]] brass-band contest takes place annually in the neighbouring areas of [[Saddleworth]] and [[Tameside]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Stead |first=Richard |date=24 May 2024 |title=Towns gear up for Whit Friday brass band contests |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2dd4y424yo |access-date=25 September 2025 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

[[File:MEN Arena, Manchester (7263927380).jpg|thumb|left|The Manchester Arena, the city's premier indoor multi-use venue and one of the [[List of indoor arenas in Europe|largest purpose-built arenas]] in Europe|alt=A glass and steel building on the left of a photograph, as viewed from the bottom of a large set of outdoor stairs leading up to it. The view of the building is partially obscured by lamp posts and the stairs are split up by steel railings]]
Manchester's main pop music venue is [[Manchester Arena]], voted "International Venue of the Year" in 2007.<ref name="MEN">{{cite web |url=http://www.pollstaronline.com/PCIA-Static/2001winners.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112222758/http://www.pollstaronline.com/PCIA-Static/2001winners.htm |archive-date=12 January 2013 |title=Pollstar Concert Industry Awards Winners Archives |access-date=24 June 2007 |publisher=Pollstar Online |year=2001}}<br />{{cite news |first=Rachel |last=Brown |title=M.E.N Arena's world's top venue |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/find-things-to-do/arenas-worlds-top-venue-1000549 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026062551/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/find-things-to-do/arenas-worlds-top-venue-1000549 |archive-date=26 October 2013 |work=[[Manchester Evening News]] |publisher=M.E.N. Media |access-date=12 August 2007 |quote=The M.E.N. Arena is the top-selling venue in the world |date=10 August 2007}}</ref> With over 21,000 seats, it is the second largest arena of its type in Europe.<ref name="MEN"/> In terms of concertgoers, {{as of|2008|lc=y}} it is the busiest indoor arena in the world, ahead of [[Madison Square Garden]] in New York and [[The O2 Arena]] in London, which are second and third busiest.<ref>{{cite web |title=M.E.N Named Most Popular Entertainment Venue on Planet |url=http://www.men-arena.com/about/?page_id=1412/ |access-date=8 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206040846/http://www.men-arena.com/about/?page_id=1412%2F |archive-date=6 December 2008 }}</ref> Other venues include [[O2 Apollo Manchester|Manchester Apollo]], [[Albert Hall, Manchester|Albert Hall]], [[Victoria Warehouse]], [[Manchester Academy]] and the [[Co-op Live]] arena, the latter being the largest indoor arena in the UK by capacity, and the [[List of indoor arenas by capacity|third largest in the world]]. Smaller venues include the [[Band on the Wall]], the Night and Day Café,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nightnday.org/ |title=Night & Day Café |publisher=nightnday.org |access-date=15 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727123619/http://www.nightnday.org/ |archive-date=27 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> the Ruby Lounge,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.therubylounge.com/index.php/History/ |title=The Ruby Lounge: History |publisher=therubylounge.org |access-date=15 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324190503/http://www.therubylounge.com/index.php/history |archive-date=24 March 2012 }}</ref> The Deaf Institute,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thedeafinstitute.co.uk/ |title=Trof presents the Deaf Institute: café, bar and music hall |publisher=thedeafinstitute.co.uk |access-date=15 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716200811/http://www.thedeafinstitute.co.uk/ |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Gorilla. Manchester also has the most [[Independent music|indie]] and rock music events outside London.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tickx.co.uk/article/1498/manchester-the-uks-rock-and-indie-music-capital/ |title=Manchester: the UK's rock and indie music capital |publisher=tickx.co.uk |access-date=6 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106171544/https://www.tickx.co.uk/article/1498/manchester-the-uks-rock-and-indie-music-capital/ |archive-date=6 November 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Manchester has two [[symphony orchestra]]s, [[The Hallé]] and the [[BBC Philharmonic]], and a [[chamber orchestra]], the Manchester Camerata. In the 1950s, the city was home to a so-called "[[New Music Manchester|Manchester School]]" of classical composers, which was composed of [[Harrison Birtwistle]], [[Peter Maxwell Davies]], David Ellis and [[Alexander Goehr]]. Manchester is a centre for musical education: the [[Royal Northern College of Music]] and [[Chetham's School of Music]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Redhead |first=Brian |title=Manchester: a Celebration |author-link=Brian Redhead |publisher=Andre Deutsch |location=London |year=1993 |pages=60–61 |isbn=0-233-98816-5}}</ref> Forerunners of the RNCM were the [[Northern School of Music]] (founded 1920) and the [[Royal Manchester College of Music]] (founded 1893), which merged in 1973. One of the earliest instructors and classical music pianists/conductors at the RNCM, shortly after its founding, was the Russian-born [[Arthur Friedheim]], (1859–1932), who later had the music library at the famed [[Peabody Institute]] conservatory of music in [[Baltimore]], Maryland, named after him. The main classical music venue was the [[Free Trade Hall]] on Peter Street until the opening in 1996 of the 2,500 seat [[Bridgewater Hall]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Good Venue Guide; 28 – Bridgewater Hall, Manchester |work=[[Independent on Sunday]] |date=12 April 1998}}</ref>

===Performing arts===
[[File:Royal Exchange Building.jpg|thumb|The [[Royal Exchange, Manchester|Royal Exchange]], whose eponymous theatre is the largest of its kind in the UK |alt=A palladian square building as viewed from its corner. Outside the front of the building is a large pedestrianised square which is quite busy with people. The back right corner of the building continues above the rest of the flat roof to become a conical tower.]]
Manchester is a significant cultural centre for theatre and the performing arts, with a number of large venues.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Banks |first=Emmeline |date=27 February 2025 |title=9 Of The Best Theatres To Visit In Manchester - The Grand, The Historical & The Sculptural |url=https://secretmanchester.com/theatres-manchester/ |access-date=17 September 2025 |website=Secret Manchester |archive-date=19 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250619005857/https://secretmanchester.com/theatres-manchester/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Significant theatres include: the [[Manchester Opera House]], which feature large-scale touring shows and West End productions;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manchester Opera House |url=https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/things-to-do/manchester/manchester-opera-house.html |access-date=17 September 2025 |website=[[Premier Inn]] |archive-date=6 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250906014457/https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/things-to-do/manchester/manchester-opera-house.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Palace Theatre, Manchester|Palace Theatre]], which despite near-closure in the 1970s is now one of the most successful in the country;<ref>{{cite web |last=Auty |first=Donald |date=2005 |title=The Palace Theatre, Oxford Street, Manchester |url=http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/ManchesterTheatres/PalaceTheatreManchester.htm |website=Arthur Lloyd |access-date=17 September 2025 |archive-date=24 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824035528/http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/ManchesterTheatres/PalaceTheatreManchester.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester|Royal Exchange Theatre]] in Manchester's former cotton exchange, which is the largest [[theatre in the round]] in the UK.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Building Specifications – The Theatre |url=http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/page.aspx?page=808 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017173217/http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/page.aspx?page=808 |archive-date=17 October 2012 |access-date=31 October 2012 |website=Royal Exchange Theatre}}</ref> Smaller venues include the [[Contact Theatre]] and Z-arts in Hulme. The [[Dancehouse]] on Oxford Road is dedicated to dance productions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thedancehouse.co.uk/about_us/the_dancehouse_theatre.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217073935/http://thedancehouse.co.uk/about_us/the_dancehouse_theatre.asp |archive-date=17 February 2009 |title=The Dancehouse Theatre |access-date=7 February 2009 |publisher=thedancehouse.co.uk}}</ref> In 2014, [[HOME (Manchester)|HOME]], a new custom-built arts complex opened. Housing two theatre spaces, five cinemas and an art exhibition space, it replaced the [[Cornerhouse]] and The [[Library Theatre]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Linton |first=Deborah |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/new-home-for-cornerhouse-and-library-theatre-903674 |title=New home for Cornerhouse and Library Theatre in £19m arts centre plan |work=Manchester Evening News |date=24 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203021952/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/new-home-for-cornerhouse-and-library-theatre-903674 |archive-date=3 February 2016}}</ref>

Since 2007, the city has hosted the [[Manchester International Festival]], a biennial international [[arts festival]] with a focus on original work, which has included major new commissions by artists, including [[Bjork]]. In 2023, the festival, operated by [[Factory International]], was given a permanent home in Aviva Studios, a purpose-built multi-million pound venue designed by Rem Koolhaas from the [[Office for Metropolitan Architecture]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About |url=https://factoryinternational.org/about/ |website=Factory International |access-date=12 January 2024 |archive-date=12 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112115552/https://factoryinternational.org/about/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Museums and galleries===
[[File:Liverpool Road-Museum of Science and Industry - geograph.org.uk - 3026548.jpg|alt=A night-time aerial photograph of some streets in a large city that stretches the entire image. The centre of the photograph shows a wide road with buildings either side, and about halfway down there is a disused station building with tracks coming out which join the various other railway viaducts in the background.  |left|thumb|The [[Science and Industry Museum]] (middle right) as viewed from above]]
Manchester's museums celebrate Manchester's Roman history, rich industrial heritage and its role in the [[Industrial Revolution]], the [[textile industry]], the Trade Union movement, [[women's suffrage]] and [[Association football|football]]. A reconstructed part of the Roman fort of Mamucium is open to the public in [[Castlefield]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/theres-roman-fort-you-can-23726166|first=Liv|last=Clarke|title=There's a Roman fort you can explore minutes away from Deansgate|work=[[Manchester Evening News]]|date=20 April 2022|access-date=25 September 2025|archive-date=4 April 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250404055953/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/theres-roman-fort-you-can-23726166|url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:National Football Museum, Cathedral Gardens (geograph 6944591).jpg|thumb|The [[National Football Museum]]|alt=A triangular prism shaped glass building as photographed from a short distance away, with trees lined in front.]]
The [[Museum of Science and Industry (Manchester)|Science and Industry Museum]], housed in the former [[Liverpool Road railway station (Manchester)|Liverpool Road railway station]], has a large collection of [[steam locomotives]], industrial machinery, aircraft and a replica of the world's first stored computer program (known as the [[Manchester Baby]]).<ref name="mosi">{{cite web|title=Home|url=https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/|publisher=Science and Industry Museum|access-date=12 May 2020|archive-date=19 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419065049/https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Museum of Transport in Manchester|Museum of Transport]] displays a collection of historic buses and trams.<ref name="gmts">{{cite web |url=http://www.gmts.co.uk/explore/vehicles.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213222852/http://www.gmts.co.uk/explore/vehicles.html |archive-date=13 February 2010 |title=Vehicle Collection |year=2007 |publisher=Greater Manchester Museum of Transport |access-date=24 July 2009}}</ref> Trafford Park in the neighbouring borough of Trafford is home to [[Imperial War Museum North]].<ref name="iwm">{{cite web |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north |work=iwm.org.uk |year=2013 |title=IWM North |author=[[Imperial War Museum]] |access-date=9 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301015442/http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north |archive-date=1 March 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Manchester Museum]] opened to the public in the 1880s, has notable [[Egyptology]] and [[natural history]] collections.<ref name="museum">{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/history/ |title=The History of The Manchester Museum |publisher=University of Manchester |access-date=24 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627082857/http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/history/ |archive-date=27 June 2009 }}</ref> Other exhibition spaces and museums in Manchester include [[Islington Mill]] in Salford, the [[National Football Museum]] at [[Urbis]], [[Castlefield Gallery]], the Manchester Costume Gallery at [[Platt Fields Park]], the [[People's History Museum]] and the [[Manchester Jewish Museum]].<ref name="virtualmanc">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchestereventsguide.co.uk/section/museums.html |title=Manchester Museums Guide |year=2009 |publisher=Virtual Manchester |access-date=24 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530143656/http://www.manchestereventsguide.co.uk/section/museums.html |archive-date=30 May 2009}}</ref>
[[File:Manchester Art Gallery March 2010.jpg|thumb|left|Manchester Art Gallery|alt=A neopalladian cuboid building as viewed centred on its corner from across the street. Halfway down the facade is a portico, and there is a central cuboid atrium that rises in the centre of the roof above the main roof height. There are regularly arranged sash windows in two stories.]]
The municipally owned [[Manchester Art Gallery]] in Mosley Street houses a permanent collection of European painting and one of Britain's main collections of [[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood|Pre-Raphaelite]] paintings.<ref name="preraph1">{{cite web |url=http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/tra18176 |title=The Pre-Raphaelite Collections |last=Moss |first=Richard |date=17 October 2003 |publisher=24-Hour Museum |access-date=24 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120909020028/http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/tra18176 |archive-date=9 September 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="preraph2">{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Edward |title=Public art collections in north-west England |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2001 |page=118 |isbn=0-85323-527-9}}</ref> In the south of the city, the [[Whitworth Art Gallery]] displays modern art, sculpture and textiles and was voted Museum of the Year in 2015.<ref name="whitworth">{{cite web |url=http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/collection/ |title=Collection |publisher=Whitworth Gallery |access-date=24 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227113021/http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/collection/ |archive-date=27 February 2009 }}</ref> The work of [[Stretford]]-born painter {{nowrap|[[L. S. Lowry]]}}, known for "matchstick" paintings of industrial Manchester and Salford, can be seen in the City and Whitworth Manchester galleries, and at [[the Lowry]] art centre in [[Salford Quays]] (in the neighbouring borough of Salford), which devotes a large permanent exhibition to his works.<ref name="lowry">{{cite web |url=http://www.thelowry.com/ls-lowry/the-ls-lowry-collection/ |title=The Lowry Collection |year=2009 |publisher=The Lowry |access-date=24 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330200042/http://www.thelowry.com/ls-lowry/the-ls-lowry-collection/ |archive-date=30 March 2010}}</ref>

===Literature===
[[File:Gaskell House Plymouth Grove front.JPG|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Gaskell House]], where Mrs Gaskell wrote most of her novels. The house is now a museum.|alt=A small stucco building with sash windows. It is a cube shape with a slightly slanted roof and two stories, as photographed from the ground in front. Trees are seen on either side of the building.]]
Manchester is a [[UNESCO]] [[City of Literature]] known for a "radical literary history".<ref>{{cite news |last=Royle |first=Nicholas |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/nov/02/a-new-chapter-begins-as-manchester-awarded-unesco-city-of-literature |title=A new chapter begins: Manchester named Unesco City of Literature |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=2 November 2017 |access-date=12 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112032227/https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/nov/02/a-new-chapter-begins-as-manchester-awarded-unesco-city-of-literature |archive-date=12 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Atkinson |first=David |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/oct/04/manchester-literature-festival-walking-tour|title=A literary tour of Manchester|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=4 October 2014 |access-date=29 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001002106/http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/oct/04/manchester-literature-festival-walking-tour |archive-date=1 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Manchester in the 19th century featured in works highlighting the changes that industrialisation had brought. They include [[Elizabeth Gaskell]]'s novel ''[[Mary Barton]]: A Tale of Manchester Life'' (1848),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gaskell_elizabeth.shtml |title=Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865) |publisher=BBC |access-date=2 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205145033/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gaskell_elizabeth.shtml |archive-date=5 December 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Letitia Landon]]'s poetical illustration ''Manchester'' to a vista over the city by G. Pickering in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835, which records the rapid growth of the city and its cultural importance.<ref>{{cite book |last=Landon |first=Letitia Elizabeth |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=Bzk_AAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA34-IA4 |title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835 |publisher=Fisher, Son & Co. |year=1834 |pages=35–36 |section=picture and poetical illustration |access-date=28 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128211922/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=Bzk_AAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA34-IA4 |archive-date=28 November 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844]]'' was a study of the city by [[Friedrich Engels]], which he wrote while living and working here.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 |last=Engels |first=Fredrick |year=1892 |publisher=Swan Sonnenschein & Co |location=London |pages=45, 48–53 |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1844engels.html |via=[[Internet History Sourcebooks Project]] |access-date=11 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012013114/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1844engels.html| archive-date=12 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Manchester was also the meeting place of Engels and [[Karl Marx]], where the two began writing ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]'' in [[Chetham's Library]]<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Tristram Hunt |last1=Hunt |first1=Tristram |title=The Frock Coated Communist: A Revolutionary Life |date=2 June 2009 |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-0-7139-9852-8 |page=129 }}</ref> – founded in 1653 and claiming to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world. Elsewhere in the city, the [[John Rylands Library]] holds an extensive collection of early printing. The [[Rylands Library Papyrus P52]], believed to be the earliest extant New Testament text, is on permanent display there.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hodgson |first1=John |title=Riches of the Rylands: The Special Collections of the University of Manchester Library |date=30 November 2014 |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester |isbn=978-0-7190-9635-8 |edition=1st}}</ref>

The novel ''[[Hard Times (novel)|Hard Times]]'' is reputed to have been set in Manchester and Preston by [[Charles Dickens]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Dickens's Hard Times for These Times as an Industrial Novel |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/hardtimes/pva27.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028194622/http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/hardtimes/pva27.html |archive-date=28 October 2014 |access-date=20 October 2013}}</ref> Similarly, the novel ''[[Jane Eyre]]'' was first written by [[Charlotte Brontë]] in 1846, while she was staying in her lodgings in [[Hulme]], an area of the city. She was accompanying her father [[Patrick Brontë|Patrick]], who was convalescing in the city after cataract surgery.<ref>{{cite news |date=10 October 2006 |title=Jane Eyre: a Mancunian? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2006/10/10/101006_jane_eyre_feature.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925071359/http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2006/10/10/101006_jane_eyre_feature.shtml |archive-date=25 September 2015 |access-date=17 July 2018 |work=[[BBC]]}}</ref> She probably envisioned Manchester Cathedral churchyard as the burial place for Jane's parents and the birthplace of Jane herself.<ref>Alexander, Christine, and Sara L. Pearson. ''Celebrating Charlotte Brontë: Transforming Life into Literature in'' Jane Eyre. Brontë Society, 2016, p. 173.</ref> 

[[Elizabeth Gaskell]] penned all her novels but ''Mary Barton'' at her home in [[84 Plymouth Grove]], Manchester. Her house would often host influential authors of the time, such as Charles Dickens, [[Charlotte Brontë]], [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]] and [[Charles Eliot Norton]].<ref name="Independent">{{cite news |last=Nurden |first=Robert |date=26 March 2006 |title=An ending Dickens would have liked |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/an-ending-dickens-would-have-liked-471564.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100514042503/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/an-ending-dickens-would-have-liked-471564.html |archive-date=14 May 2010 |access-date=29 September 2015 |work=The Independent |location=London}}</ref> It has been open to the public as a literary museum since 2014.<ref name="Helen Nugent">{{cite news |last=Nugent |first=Helen |date=3 October 2014 |title=Elizabeth Gaskell's rare Victorian villa reopens after £2.5m restoration |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/03/elizabeth-gaskell-house-reopens |access-date=27 October 2014 |work=[[The Guardian]] |archive-date=24 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624005702/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/03/elizabeth-gaskell-house-reopens |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Isabella Banks]] was also born in the city; she is most well known for her 1876 novel ''[[The Manchester Man (novel)|The Manchester Man]]''. Anglo-American author [[Frances Hodgson Burnett]] was born in the city's [[Cheetham Hill]] district in 1849.<ref>{{cite news |last=Keeling |first=Neal |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/buile-hill-salford-hilton-hotel-7064923 |title=Derelict Buile Hill Mansion could be turned into Hilton hotel |work=[[Manchester Evening News]] |date=3 May 2014 |access-date=29 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930025047/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/buile-hill-salford-hilton-hotel-7064923 |archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref> [[Anthony Burgess]] is among the 20th-century writers who lived in Manchester. During his time in the city he wrote the [[dystopian]] satire ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' in 1962.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dalrymple |first=Theodore |date=2008 |title=A Prophetic and Violent Masterpiece |journal=Not with a Bang but a Whimper |pages=135–149}}</ref> Dame [[Carol Ann Duffy]], [[Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom|Poet Laureate]] from 2009 to 2019, moved to the city in 1996 and lives in [[Didsbury|West Didsbury]], a village contiguous within the city.<ref>{{cite web |last=Forbes |first=Peter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/aug/31/featuresreviews.guardianreview8 |title=Winning lines |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=31 August 2002 |access-date=29 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213202550/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/aug/31/featuresreviews.guardianreview8|archive-date=13 February 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Nightlife===
The night-time economy of Manchester has expanded significantly since about 1993, with investment from breweries in bars, public houses and clubs, along with active support from the local authorities.<ref name=Park/> The more than 500 licensed premises<ref name=Hobbs/> in the city centre have a capacity to deal with more than {{Formatnum:250000}} visitors,<ref>{{cite web |last=Hobbs |first=Dick |url=http://www.esrc.ac.uk/_images/seven_deadly_sins_tcm8-13545.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608000633/http://www.esrc.ac.uk/_images/seven_deadly_sins_tcm8-13545.pdf |archive-date=8 June 2012 |title=Seven Deadly Sins: A new look at society through an old lens |publisher=Economic and Social Research Council |pages=24–27 |access-date=27 November 2011}}</ref> with 110,000–130,000 people visiting on a typical weekend night,<ref name=Hobbs/> making Manchester the most popular city for events at 79 per thousand people.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chadha |first1=Aayush |title=UK Event Data – In Review |url=https://www.tickx.co.uk/article/772 |website=www.tickx.co.uk |access-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201232544/https://www.tickx.co.uk/article/772 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The night-time economy has a value of about £100{{nbsp}}million,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/commonwealthgames2002/hi/features/newsid_1993000/1993489.stm |title=Guide to Manchester |work=BBC Sport |access-date=12 November 2007 |date=16 June 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031205185422/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/commonwealthgames2002/hi/features/newsid_1993000/1993489.stm |archive-date=5 December 2003 |url-status=live }}</ref> and supports 12,000 jobs.<ref name="Hobbs">{{cite journal |last1=Hobbs |first1=Dick |last2=Winlow |first2=Simon |last3=Hadfield |first3=Philip |last4=Lister |first4=Stuart |year=2005 |title=Violent Hypocrisy: Governance and the Night-time Economy |journal=European Journal of Criminology |volume=2 |page=161 |doi=10.1177/1477370805050864 |issue=2|s2cid=145151649 | issn=1477-3708 }}</ref> In 2024, Manchester was voted the 8th best city in the world for nightlife, with voters praising its variety and inclusivity for different tastes and backgrounds.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cunningham |first=Ed |date=14 August 2024 |title=This UK city is officially one of the best in the world for nightlife, according to Time Out |work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]] |url=https://www.timeout.com/uk/news/this-uk-city-is-officially-one-of-the-best-in-the-world-for-nightlife-according-to-time-out-081424 |access-date=5 May 2025 |archive-date=21 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250821230656/https://www.timeout.com/uk/news/this-uk-city-is-officially-one-of-the-best-in-the-world-for-nightlife-according-to-time-out-081424 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Madchester]] scene of the 1980s, from which groups including [[the Stone Roses]], the [[Happy Mondays]], [[Inspiral Carpets]], [[808 State]], [[James (band)|James]] and [[The Charlatans UK|the Charlatans]] emerged, was based around clubs such as [[The Haçienda]].<ref name="Hasl">{{cite book |last=Haslam |first=Dave |title=Manchester, England |publisher=Fourth Estate |location=New York |year=2000 |isbn=1-84115-146-7}}</ref> The period was the subject of the movie ''[[24 Hour Party People]]''. Many of the big clubs suffered problems with organised crime at that time; Haslam describes one where staff were so completely intimidated that free admission and drinks were demanded (and given) and drugs were openly dealt.<ref name=Hasl/> Following a series of drug-related violent incidents, The Haçienda closed in 1997.<ref name=Park/>

[[File:Canal street manchester.jpg|thumb|[[Canal Street (Manchester)|Canal Street]], the centre of Manchester's [[gay village]]|alt=A canal as photographed from a bridge over it. On the left hand side there is a brick industrial building that is in shadow; on the right hand side there are brick buildings with many windows facing over the canal, which us lined by brick wall.]]

===Gay village===
{{Further|Canal Street (Manchester)}}
[[Public house]]s in the [[Canal Street (Manchester)|Canal Street]] area have had an LGBTQ+ clientele since at least 1940,<ref name="Park" /> and now form the centre of Manchester's LGBTQ+ community. Since the opening of new bars and clubs, the area attracts 20,000 visitors each weekend<ref name="Park" /> and has hosted a popular festival, [[Manchester Pride]], each August since 1985, when it was backed by newly elected councillors on Manchester City Council.<ref name="men2016">{{cite news |last1=Jennifer |first1=Williams |date=27 August 2016 |title=What is the point of Manchester Pride? Thirty years of partying and politics... but the battle isn't over yet |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/whats-the-point-manchester-pride-11806275 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410211054/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/whats-the-point-manchester-pride-11806275 |archive-date=10 April 2019 |access-date=13 June 2019 |ref=men2016}}</ref> Despite its high attendance, Manchester Pride has also received criticism from within the LGBT community dating as far back as 2007, due to its choice around where it spends the revenue it earns.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-08-22 |title=Manchester Pride – The Truth About Where Your Wristband Money Really Went… |url=https://gaymafiawatch.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/manchester-pride-the-truth-about-where-your-wristband-money-really-went/ |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Gay Mafia Watch |archive-date=6 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241206133611/https://gaymafiawatch.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/manchester-pride-the-truth-about-where-your-wristband-money-really-went/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

[[Canal Street (Manchester)|Canal Street]] is now described as the centre of Manchester's [[gay village]],<ref name=":14">{{cite web |last1=Lofthouse |first1=Amy |date=29 December 2013 |title=Canal Street 20 years on: How has Manchester's gay village changed and can it shed image as 'gay ghetto'? |url=http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/291267170-canal-street-20-years-how-has-manchester%E2%80%99s-gay-village-changed-and-can-it-shed |access-date=3 March 2015 |newspaper=Mancunian Matters |archive-date=15 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215084147/http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/291267170-canal-street-20-years-how-has-manchester%E2%80%99s-gay-village-changed-and-can-it-shed |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Campbell">{{Cite news |last=Campbell |first=Beatrix |author-link=Beatrix Campbell |date=7 August 2004 |title=Village people |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/aug/07/gayrights.communities |newspaper=The Guardian |archive-date=16 February 2018 |access-date=1 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216025213/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/aug/07/gayrights.communities |url-status=live }}</ref> and the surrounding area has been described as the most successful of its kind in Europe.<ref name="Campbell" /> However, critics of the area have also described it as a "gay ghetto" and that its general popularity has led to a decreased focus on [[LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom|LGBTQ rights]] and inclusion itself.<ref name=":14" />

==Education==
{{See also|List of schools in Manchester}}

=== Schooling ===
[[File:The First Manchester Grammar School.jpg|thumb|The original building of [[Manchester Grammar School]]|alt=A black and white pencil drawing of some stone and brick buildings forming a small complex from a short distance away. The buildings each have a door and some windows, with children in the courtyard in front.]]
One of Manchester's notable secondary schools is [[Manchester Grammar School]], established in 1515.<ref name="Man GS">{{cite book |title=Manchester: A History |last=Kidd |first=Alan |year=2006 |page=206 |publisher=Carnegie Publishing |location=Lancaster |isbn=1-85936-128-5}}<br />{{cite book |title=A History of Manchester |last=Hylton |first=Stuart |year=2003 |page=25 |publisher=Phillimore & Co |isbn=1-86077-240-4}}</ref> Its previous premises are now used by [[Chetham's School of Music]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hartwell |first=Clare |title=The History and Architecture of Chetham's School and Library |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-300-10257-7 |page=110}}</ref> There are three other secondary schools in the city: [[William Hulme's Grammar School]],<ref>{{cite news |author=Halpin, Tony |date=6 February 2006 |title=Private school joins state sector |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2026471,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516004959/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2026471,00.html |archive-date=16 May 2008 |work=The Times}}</ref> [[Withington Girls' School]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Withington Girls' School |url=https://gsa.uk.com/school/withington-girls-school/ |access-date=1 September 2025 |website=Girls' Schools Association |archive-date=6 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250506120421/https://gsa.uk.com/school/withington-girls-school/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Manchester High School for Girls]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manchester High School for Girls |url=http://ardwickheritagetrail.co.uk/manchester-high-school-for-girls/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811190041/http://ardwickheritagetrail.co.uk/manchester-high-school-for-girls/ |archive-date=11 August 2011 |access-date=13 May 2011 |publisher=Ardwick Heritage Trail}}</ref>

In 2019, the Manchester [[Local Education Authority]] (LEA) was ranked second to last out of Greater Manchester's ten LEAs and 140th out of 151 in the country LEAs based on the percentage of pupils attaining grades 4 or above in English and mathematics GCSEs ([[General Certificate of Secondary Education]]) with 56.2 per cent compared with the national average of 64.9 per cent.<ref>{{Cite web |title='KS4 local authority data' from 'Key stage 4 performance', Permanent data table |url=https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/baee5d88-d366-4fd8-b927-4e9b2507abc9 |access-date=12 May 2022 |website=explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk |archive-date=6 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706104855/https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/baee5d88-d366-4fd8-b927-4e9b2507abc9 |url-status=live }}</ref> Of the 63 secondary schools in the LEA, four had 80 per cent or more pupils achieving Grade 4 or above in English and maths GCSEs: [[Manchester High School for Girls]], [[King David School, Manchester|The King David High School]], Manchester Islamic High School for Girls, and Kassim Darwish Grammar School for Boys.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=Compare School Performance Service |url=https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=default&table=schools&region=352&geographic=la&for=secondary&basedon=English%20%26%20maths%20GCSEs&show=All%20pupils&orderby=ks4.0.PTL2BASICS_94&orderdir=asc |access-date=13 May 2022 |website=GOV.UK |archive-date=13 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513000447/https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=default&table=schools&region=352&geographic=la&for=secondary&basedon=English%20%26%20maths%20GCSEs&show=All%20pupils&orderby=ks4.0.PTL2BASICS_94&orderdir=asc }}</ref>

=== Higher education ===
{{Multiple image
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Whitworth Hall Manchester.jpg
| caption1          = 
| image2            = The University Of Manchester Whitworth Hall.jpg
| align             = left
| footer            = The exterior and interior of the [[Whitworth Building]] at the [[University of Manchester]]
| footer_align      = center
| total_width       = 400
| alt1              = A grand gothic church-like building as viewed from a short distance away across a pedestrianised street. The building has a grand stained glass window at the front surrounded by two cuboid towers, and a large cuboid tower at the back-right with a red brick roof.
| alt2              = The interior of a grand hall as photographed from the back-centre. The hall is full of chairs and has a grand and intricate beamed roof with chandeliers hanging from the beams and gothic-shaped windows either side.
}}

There are three universities in the City of Manchester: the [[University of Manchester]], [[Manchester Metropolitan University]] and the [[Royal Northern College of Music]].<ref name=":1" /> There are also two other universities in the wider Manchester region, the [[University of Salford]], and the [[University of Greater Manchester]] (formerly the University of Bolton). The total student population of these five institutions exceed 100,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Universities |url=https://www.investinmanchester.com/why-manchester/access-to-talent/universities |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824121025/https://www.investinmanchester.com/why-manchester/access-to-talent/universities |archive-date=24 August 2025 |access-date=27 August 2025 |website=Invest In Manchester}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{Cite web |last=Circuit |first=Phillip |date=16 January 2025 |title=Universities in Manchester |url=https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/where-to-study/universities-in-manchester |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119101825/https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/where-to-study/universities-in-manchester |archive-date=19 January 2023 |access-date=27 August 2025 |website=[[The Complete University Guide]]}}</ref> Manchester is also the location of the [[Royal Northern College of Music]], a [[conservatoire]] and performance venue.<ref name=":42"/> 

The University of Manchester is the second largest full-time non-[[collegiate university]] in the United Kingdom,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Where do HE students study? {{!}} HESA |url=https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/where-study |access-date=12 May 2022 |website=[[Higher Education Statistics Agency]] |archive-date=4 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104163711/https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/where-study |url-status=live}}</ref> and was created in 2004 through the merger of [[Victoria University of Manchester]] (founded 1904) and the [[University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology]] (founded 1956);<ref name="Man Uni">{{cite web |date=18 January 2007 |title=Manchester still top of the popularity league |url=http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/archive/list/item/?id=2462&year=2007&month=01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207071504/http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/archive/list/item/?id=2462&year=2007&month=01 |archive-date=7 December 2008 |access-date=6 October 2008 |publisher=[[University of Manchester]]}}</ref> the idea of a joint university had developed from the [[Mechanics' Institute, Manchester|Mechanics' Institute]], founded in 1824. The University of Manchester also includes the [[Manchester Business School]], which offered the first [[Master of Business Administration]] course in the UK in 1965.<ref>Description of 'Manchester Business School, Manchester Business School Archive, 1965-2002. [[University of Manchester Library]]. GB 133 MBS' on the Archives Hub website, https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb133-mbs, (date accessed :13/05/2022)</ref>

According to the ''[[Complete University Guide]]'', the University of Manchester ranks at [[Rankings of universities in the United Kingdom|number 28 in the United Kingdom]], Manchester Metropolitan University ranks at 50, and the University of Greater Manchester comes 102 out of 130 universities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 June 2025 |title=University League Tables 2026 |url=https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings |access-date=1 September 2025 |website=[[Complete University Guide]] |archive-date=6 April 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220406135553/https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Guardian University Guide]]'' ranks the three as 31, 57, and 32 respectively;<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 September 2024 |title=The Guardian University Guide 2025 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2024/sep/07/the-guardian-university-guide-2025-the-rankings |access-date=1 September 2025 |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> ''[[The Times Good University Guide]]'' ranks them as 27, 119, and 46 respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 September 2024 |title=UK University Rankings 2025: League table |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk-university-rankings/league-table |access-date=1 September 2025 |website=[[The Times]] |archive-date=5 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250305040724/https://www.thetimes.com/uk-university-rankings/league-table |url-status=live }}</ref> The University of Manchester is also one of the 24 universities that form the [[Russell Group]], having been a founding member in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Amalfitano-Stroud |first=Matthew |date=19 August 2025 |title=What Is A Russell Group University? Your Essential Guide |url=https://www.uniadmissions.co.uk/application-guides/what-is-russell-group/ |access-date=1 September 2025 |website=UniAdmissions |archive-date=8 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250708082706/https://www.uniadmissions.co.uk/application-guides/what-is-russell-group/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The university has been the site of a number of important scientific developments. [[Ernest Rutherford]] led a team which first discovered the [[nuclear atom]] and inaugurated the beginnings of [[nuclear physics]] in 1919;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93lk5ep5w0o|first=Ewan|last=Gawne|title=Splitting the atom: Why saying who was first is complex|work=[[BBC News]]|date=2 February 2025|access-date=25 September 2025|archive-date=18 September 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250918032547/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93lk5ep5w0o|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Frederic C. Williams]], [[Tom Kilburn]] and [[Geoff Tootill]] developed the world's first [[Stored-program computer]], the [[Manchester Baby]], in 1948;<ref>{{cite web|last1=Napper|first1=Brian|title=Frederic Calland Williams (1911–1977)|url=http://curation.cs.manchester.ac.uk/computer50/www.computer50.org/mark1/williams.html|publisher=[[University of Manchester]]|date=October 2000|access-date=25 September 2025|archive-date=11 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311163630/http://curation.cs.manchester.ac.uk/computer50/www.computer50.org/mark1/williams.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Andre Geim]] and [[Konstantin Novoselov]] first isolated [[graphene]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgng2d5nn4o|first=Ewan|last=Gawne|title=Graphene: 20 years of a 'miracle' made in Manchester|work=[[BBC News]]|date=22 October 2024|access-date=25 September 2025|archive-date=9 July 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250709115237/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgng2d5nn4o|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Manchester Metropolitan University]] was formed as Manchester Polytechnic on the merger of three colleges in 1970. It gained university status in 1992, and in the same year absorbed Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education in South Cheshire.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fowler |first=Alan |title=Many Arts, Many Skills: Origins of Manchester Metropolitan University |publisher=Manchester Metropolitan University |year=1994 |isbn=1-870355-05-9 |pages=115–20, 226–8}}</ref> The Cheshire campus permanently closed in 2019.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ryan |first=Belinda |date=10 February 2017 |title=Crewe MMU campus will close in July 2019, university says |url=https://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/news/crewe-mmu-campus-close-july-12589102 |access-date=13 May 2022 |work=Crewe Chronicle |archive-date=18 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518105732/https://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/news/crewe-mmu-campus-close-july-12589102 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[The University of Law]], the largest provider of vocation legal training in Europe, has a campus in the city.<ref>{{cite web |title=The College of Law |url=http://www.ibanet.org/Education_and_Internships/LLM/about_col.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819080107/http://www.ibanet.org/Education_and_Internships/LLM/about_col.aspx |archive-date=19 August 2013 |access-date=20 January 2013 |publisher=International Bar Association}}</ref> The three universities are grouped around Oxford Road on the southern side of the city centre, which forms Europe's largest urban higher-education precinct.<ref name="Higher edu">{{cite book |last=Hartwell |first=Clare |title=Pevsner Architectural Guides: Manchester |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2001 |isbn=0-14-071131-7 |page=105}}</ref> Together they have a combined population of over 80,000 students as of 2022.<ref name=":1" />

==Sport==
{{Main|Sport in Manchester}}
[[File:Etihad Stadium.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|The [[City of Manchester Stadium|Etihad Stadium]] is home to Premier League club Manchester City F.C. and host stadium for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.|alt=A football stadium as viewed from one corner. The photograph is a fish-eye paorama taken during a game against a blue sky. The stadium is full of fans on all four sides of the pitch, with large stands stretching up below an arched roof. ]]
Two [[Premier League]] [[association football|football]] clubs bear the city's name – [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] and [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-city/8514475/Manchester-is-a-City-United-in-celebration-as-both-clubs-end-the-day-with-silverware.html |title=Manchester is a City United in celebration as both clubs end the day with silverware |last1=White |first1=Duncan |last2=Smith |first2=Rory |work=The Telegraph |date=14 May 2011 |access-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812203118/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-city/8514475/Manchester-is-a-City-United-in-celebration-as-both-clubs-end-the-day-with-silverware.html |archive-date=12 August 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Manchester City's home is the [[City of Manchester Stadium]] in east Manchester, built for the [[2002 Commonwealth Games]] and then reconfigured as a football ground in 2003. Manchester United, despite originating in Manchester, have been based in the neighbouring borough of [[Trafford]] since 1910. Their stadium [[Old Trafford]] is adjacent to [[Lancashire County Cricket Club]] ground, also called [[Old Trafford (cricket ground)|Old Trafford]]. The cricket club has strong association with Manchester due to proximity to the city and Manchester historically being part of [[Lancashire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitmanchester.com/Parts2.aspx?PartId=51&ExperienceId=11 |title=Football fever |access-date=6 October 2008 |work=Visit Manchester web pages |publisher=Visit Manchester |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027081212/http://www.visitmanchester.com/Parts2.aspx?PartId=51&ExperienceId=11 |archive-date=27 October 2007}}<br /> {{cite web |url=http://visitmanchester.com/Parts2.aspx?ExperienceId=11&PartId=120 | title=Sporting heritage |access-date=6 October 2008 |work=Visit Manchester web pages |publisher=Visit Manchester |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206131231/http://visitmanchester.com/Parts2.aspx?ExperienceId=11&PartId=120 |archive-date=6 February 2010}}</ref>

Sporting facilities built for the [[2002 Commonwealth Games]] include the City of Manchester Stadium, [[National Squash Centre]] and [[Manchester Aquatics Centre]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gameslegacy.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi/34| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111071627/http://www.gameslegacy.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi/34 |archive-date=11 November 2007 |title=Sporting Legacy |access-date=6 October 2008 |year=2003 |work=Commonwealth Games Legacy Manchester 2002 |publisher=Commonwealth Games Legacy}}</ref> Manchester has competed twice to host the Olympic Games, beaten by [[Atlanta]] for [[Bids for the 1996 Summer Olympics|1996]] and [[Sydney]] for [[Bids for the 2000 Summer Olympics|2000]]. The [[National Cycling Centre]] includes a velodrome, BMX Arena and Mountainbike trials, and is the home of [[British Cycling]], UCI ProTeam [[Team Sky]] and [[Sky Track Cycling]]. The [[Manchester Velodrome]], built as a part of the bid for the 2000 games, has become a catalyst for British success in cycling.<ref name="Park">{{cite book |last=Parkinson-Bailey |first=John J |title=Manchester: an Architectural History |year=2000 |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester |isbn=0-7190-5606-3 |pages=249–250, 284–286}}</ref> 

The velodrome hosted the [[UCI Track Cycling World Championships]] for a record third time in 2008. The [[National Indoor BMX Arena]] (2,000 capacity) adjacent to the velodrome opened in 2011. The [[Manchester Arena]] hosted the [[FINA]] World Swimming Championships in 2008.<ref name="FINA">{{cite web |url=http://www.fina.org/project/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=380 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150904003207/http://www.fina.org/project/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=380 |archive-date= 4 September 2015 |title=9th Fina World Swimming Championships (25m)| access-date=6 October 2008 |publisher=Fina.org |year=2008}}</ref> Manchester hosted the 2008 [[World Open (squash)|World Squash Championships]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldsquash2008.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080715100407/http://www.worldsquash2008.com/|archive-date=15 July 2008 |title=Hi-Tec World Squash Championships – Manchester 2008 |publisher=Hi-Tec World Squash Championships Manchester 2008 |year=2008 |access-date=5 May 2009}}</ref> the [[2010 World Lacrosse Championship]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.2010worldlacrosse.com/ |title=World Lacrosse Championships – Manchester 2010 |publisher=World Lacrosse Championships 2010 |year=2010 |access-date=29 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211113204/http://www.2010worldlacrosse.com/ |archive-date=11 February 2010}}</ref> the [[2013 Ashes series]],<ref name="2012-2016 Internationals">{{cite news |date=22 September 2011 |title=Ashes Return to Old Trafford |url=http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/about-ecb/media-releases/eng,316007,EN.html |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924181051/http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/about-ecb/media-releases/eng,316007,EN.html |archive-date=24 September 2011 |access-date=22 September 2011 |publisher=ECB Sport}}</ref> the [[2013 Rugby League World Cup]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 November 2010 |title=England draw Aussies in World Cup |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/9244890.stm |access-date=13 September 2025 |work=[[BBC Sport]]}}</ref> the [[2015 Rugby World Cup]],<ref>{{cite web |date=2 May 2013 |title=RWC 2015 venues and schedule announced |url=http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/news/newsid=2066509.html |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111033040/http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/news/newsid%3D2066509.html |archive-date=11 November 2013 |access-date=17 January 2014}}</ref> the [[2019 Ashes series]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 September 2019 |title=Australia retain Ashes with thrilling win over England at Old Trafford |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/49627514 |access-date=13 September 2025 |work=[[BBC Sport]]}}</ref> and the [[2019 Cricket World Cup]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bull |first=Andy |date=16 June 2019 |title=Superb Kuldeep Yadav puts Pakistan in a spin to turn match India's way |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jun/16/pakistan-india-cricket-world-cup-match-report |access-date=13 September 2025 |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Media==
{{Main|Media in Manchester}}
{{See also|List of television programmes set, produced or filmed in Manchester|Films set in Manchester|List of national radio programmes made in Manchester}}

===Print===
[[File:Express Building Manchester.jpg|thumb|The 1930s [[Art Deco#Europe|Art Deco]] [[Daily Express Building, Manchester|Express Building]] on [[Great Ancoats Street]], a remnant of Britain's "second Fleet Street"|alt=An art deco glass and steel building that is largely built from cuboids joined together, some of which have rounded corners. The photograph is taken on a sunny day from across the street.]]
''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper was founded in the city in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian''. Until 2008, its head office was still in the city, though many of its management functions were moved to London in 1964.<ref name="Kidd"/><ref name="guardian-timeline">{{cite web |author=Guardian Staff |title=Key moments in The Guardian's history: a timeline |url=https://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/2002/jun/11/1 |website=The Guardian |access-date=28 July 2020 |date=16 November 2017 |archive-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427154248/https://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/2002/jun/11/1 |url-status=live }}</ref> For many years most national newspapers had offices in Manchester: ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', ''[[Daily Express]]'', ''[[Daily Mail]]'', ''[[Daily Mirror]]'', ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]''. At its height, 1,500 journalists were employed, earning the city the nickname "second [[Fleet Street]]". In the 1980s the titles closed their northern offices and centred their operations in London.<ref>{{cite book |last=Waterhouse |first=Robert |title=The Other Fleet Street |publisher=First Edition Limited |year=2004 |isbn= 1-84547-083-4}}</ref>

An attempt to launch a Northern daily newspaper, the ''North West Times'', employing journalists made redundant by other titles, closed in 1988.<ref name="newpapers" /> Another attempt was made with the ''[[North West Enquirer]]'', which hoped to provide a true "regional" newspaper for the [[North West England|North West]], much in the same vein as the ''[[Yorkshire Post]]'' does for [[Yorkshire]] or ''[[The Northern Echo]]'' does for the [[North East England|North East]]; it folded in October 2006.<ref name="newpapers">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/new-quality-weekly-for-manchester-is-a-good-idea-on-paper-5544495.html |title=New quality weekly for Manchester is a good idea on paper |access-date=6 October 2008 |last=Herbert |first=Ian |date= 30 January 2006 |work=The Independent |publisher=Independent News and Media Limited |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222102200/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/new-quality-weekly-for-manchester-is-a-good-idea-on-paper-5544495.html |archive-date=22 December 2015 |url-status=live}}<br />{{cite web |url= http://www.nw-enquirer.co.uk/the_enquirer_suspends_publication_.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070226214918/http://www.nw-enquirer.co.uk/the_enquirer_suspends_publication_.html |title=The Enquirer suspends publication |access-date=6 October 2008 |archive-date=26 February 2007 |last=Waterhouse |first=Robert |date=20 September 2006 |work=The North West Enquirer }}</ref>

The main regional newspaper in the city is the ''[[Manchester Evening News]]'', which was for over 80 years the sister publication of ''The Manchester Guardian''.<ref name="guardian-timeline" /> The ''Manchester Evening News'' has the largest circulation of a UK regional evening newspaper and is distributed free of charge in the city centre on Thursdays and Fridays, but paid for in the suburbs. Despite its title, it is available all day.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sweney |first=Mark |date=30 August 2007 |title=Paid-for sales of MEN slump |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/aug/30/pressandpublishing.abcs1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110081617/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/aug/30/pressandpublishing.abcs1 |archive-date=10 November 2013 |access-date=6 October 2008 |work=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |location=UK}}</ref> Several local weekly free papers are distributed by the MEN group. The ''[[Metro (Associated Metro Limited)|Metro]] North West'' is available free at [[Manchester Metrolink|Metrolink]] stops, rail stations and other busy locations.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 March 2007 |title=M.E.N. Makes Changes To Metro Distribution |url=http://www.merrymedia.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2881&Itemid=175 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022154944/http://www.merrymedia.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2881&Itemid=175 |archive-date=22 October 2007 |access-date=6 October 2008 |work=Merry Media News}}<br /> {{cite web |year=2007 |title=manchester local press |url=http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/newspapers/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812015752/http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/newspapers/ |archive-date=12 August 2011 |access-date=6 November 2007 |work=ManchesterOnline |publisher=GMG Regional Digital}}</ref>

===Television===
<!-- TV & film -->
[[File:Granada TV.jpg|thumb|[[Granada Studios]], the former headquarters of [[Granada Television]]|alt=A glass and steel building that is a cuboid shape with a perpendicular single-storey extension sticking out towards the camera. The side of this extension closest to the camera is decorated with leaves and has a white sign that read "GRANADA / TV"]]
Manchester has been a centre of [[Television in the United Kingdom|television broadcasting]] since the 1950s, with a number of television studios that have been in operation around the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Administrator |first=men |date=12 January 2013 |title=Recalling the ghosts of television past |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/recalling-the-ghosts-of-television-past-935114 |access-date=13 September 2025 |website=[[Manchester Evening News]]}}</ref> The [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] franchise [[ITV Granada|Granada Television]] has been based in Manchester since 1954. Now based at MediaCityUK, the company's former headquarters at [[Granada Studios]] on [[Quay Street]] with its distinctive illuminated sign were a prominent landmark on the Manchester skyline for several decades.<ref>{{cite news |title=£1bn vision for former ITV site revealed |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/1bn-vision-former-itv-site-8004809 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201135241/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/1bn-vision-former-itv-site-8004809 |archive-date=1 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Skillset">{{cite web |url=http://www.skillset.org/uploads/pdf/asset_3933.pdf?3 |title=The creative media industries and workforce in North West England |publisher=skillset.org |year=2008 |access-date=6 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113021242/http://www.skillset.org/uploads/pdf/asset_3933.pdf?3 |archive-date=13 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=ITV removes famous Granada sign from Manchester studios |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/itv-removes-famous-granada-sign-899669 |access-date=28 July 2020 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=26 September 2010 |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129012935/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/itv-removes-famous-granada-sign-899669 |url-status=live }}</ref> Granada produces ''[[Coronation Street]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Little |first=Daran |title=The Coronation Street Story |year=1995 |publisher=Boxtree |location=London |isbn=1-85283-464-1 |page=6 |quote=Coronation Street is without doubt the most successful television programme in the world.... what is today the world's longest running drama serial.}}</ref> local news and programmes for North West England. Although its influence has waned, Granada had been described as "the best commercial television company in the world".<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary – David Plowright |quote=As he himself liked to quote, not for nothing had Granada been dubbed the best commercial television company in the world |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/david-plowright-413771.html |newspaper=The Independent |date=29 August 2006 |access-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130161610/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/david-plowright-413771.html |archive-date=30 January 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Party People returns as presenter Rob McLoughlin celebrates thirtieth year at ITV |quote=The Financial Times was to claim that 'Granada was probably the best commercial TV company in the world' – with respect to Thames TV; LWT and our American cousins – they may have been right but when that quote was hauled over reception in Quay Street I found it both inspiring and daunting |url=http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-features/special-features/party-people-returns-as-presenter-rob-mcloughlin-celebrates-thirtieth-year-at-itv-201 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419172834/http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-features/special-features/party-people-returns-as-presenter-rob-mcloughlin-celebrates-thirtieth-year-at-itv-201 |archive-date=19 April 2012 |date=25 January 2012 |access-date=4 February 2012}}</ref> The Manchester television channel, [[Channel M]], owned by the [[Guardian Media Group]] operated from 2000, but closed in 2012.<ref name="Skillset" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Plunkett |first=John |date=16 April 2012 |title=Manchester's Channel M closes after 12 years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/apr/16/manchester-channel-m-closes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928020000/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/apr/16/manchester-channel-m-closes |archive-date=28 September 2013 |access-date=8 May 2012 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Manchester is also covered by an internet television channel called Manchester TV.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://manchester-tv.co.uk/about/ |access-date=2025-09-13 |website=Manchester TV}}</ref>

With the growth in regional television in the 1950s, Manchester became one of the [[BBC]]'s three main centres in England.<ref name="Skillset" /> In 1954, the BBC opened its first regional [[BBC Television]] studio outside London, [[Dickenson Road Studios]], in a converted Methodist chapel in [[Rusholme]]. The first edition of ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' was broadcast here on New Year's Day 1964.<ref name="TOTP">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/16/32 |title='Top of the Pops' shows |access-date=6 October 2008 |work=Observer Music Monthly |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |date=16 July 2006 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930035454/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/16/32 |archive-date=30 September 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="itsahotun-history">{{cite web |last=Lee |first=CP |author-link=CP Lee |title=Mancunian Film Company History |url=http://www.itsahotun.com/history.html |website=It's a Hot 'Un |access-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120204633/http://www.itsahotun.com/history.html |archive-date=20 January 2012 |date=20 January 2012 }}</ref> From 1975, BBC programmes including ''[[Mastermind (television)|Mastermind]]'',<ref name="BBC programs">{{cite press release |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/speeches/stories/bennett_manch.shtml |title=Championing sustainable TV production in the nations and regions |access-date=6 October 2008 |publisher=BBC |date=23 November 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061224172214/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/speeches/stories/bennett_manch.shtml |archive-date=24 December 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> and ''[[Real Story]]'',<ref name="BBC real story">{{cite press release |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/11_november/15/real.shtml |title=BBC One's Real Story with Fiona Bruce series comes to end in 2007 |access-date=6 October 2008 |publisher=BBC |date=15 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229023321/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/11_november/15/real.shtml |archive-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> were made at [[New Broadcasting House (Manchester)|New Broadcasting House]] on [[Oxford Road, Manchester|Oxford Road]]. The ''Cutting It'' series set in the city's Northern Quarter and ''[[The Street (BBC series)|The Street]]'' were set in Manchester<ref>{{cite news |title=International Emmys Awards to honor Al Gore |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-11-18-al-gore_N.htm |date=19 November 2007 |access-date=6 October 2008 |work=USA Today |first=Charles J. |last=Gans |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018053409/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-11-18-al-gore_N.htm | archive-date=18 October 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> as was ''[[Life on Mars (UK TV series)|Life on Mars]]''. Manchester was the regional base for [[BBC One]] North West Region programmes before it relocated to MediaCityUK in nearby [[Salford Quays]].<ref name="Media city">{{cite web |url=http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?id=2464 |title=BBC R&D to relocate to Salford Quays |access-date=6 October 2008| publisher=Digital TV Group |date=1 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206144955/http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?id=2464 |archive-date=6 December 2008 }}<br /> {{Cite press release |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/05_may/31/salford.shtml |title=BBC move to Salford gets green light |access-date=6 October 2008 |publisher=BBC |date=31 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222043534/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/5_may/31/salford.shtml |archive-date=22 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

===Radio===
As of 2016, Manchester has 10 licensed radio stations, which is the joint-fourth highest in the UK; the city is beaten only by London, Glasgow, and Birmingham, and ties with Cardiff and Edinburgh.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Groves |first=Paul |date=2016 |orig-date=2004 |title=Why Other Countries Have More FM Stations |url=http://www.frequencyfinder.org.uk/Other_Countries_FM.pdf |access-date=1 September 2025 |website=FrequencyFinder |archive-date=3 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703015424/http://frequencyfinder.org.uk/Other_Countries_FM.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Local radio stations include [[BBC Radio Manchester]], [[Hits Radio Manchester]], [[Capital Manchester and Lancashire]], [[Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West]], [[Heart North West]], [[Smooth North West]], [[Gold (British radio network)|Gold]], [[Radio X (United Kingdom)|Radio X]] and NMFM (North Manchester FM).<ref name=ofcomradio/> 

Student radio stations include [[Fuse FM]] at the University of Manchester and MMU Radio at the Manchester Metropolitan University.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fusefm.co.uk/ |title=FUSE FM – Manchester Student Radio |access-date=6 October 2008 |work=fusefm.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919151313/http://www.fusefm.co.uk/ |archive-date=19 September 2008}}</ref> A [[community radio]] network is coordinated by Radio Regen, with stations covering [[Ardwick]], [[Longsight]] and [[Levenshulme]] ([[All FM]] 96.9) and [[Wythenshawe]] (Wythenshawe FM 97.2).<ref name="ofcomradio">See [http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/ Radio] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016155741/http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/ |date=16 October 2013}} at the [[Ofcom]] web site and subpages, especially the [http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/amfm/analogue-main.htm directory of analogue radio stations] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721102657/http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/amfm/analogue-main.htm |date=21 July 2011}}, the map{{cite web |url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rbl/formats/acrm_styles.pdf |title=Commercial Radio Styles |access-date=14 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304085205/http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rbl/formats/acrm_styles.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2009}} (PDF), and the map{{cite web |url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rbl/formats/crmmap.pdf |title=Community Radio in the UK |access-date=14 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414200018/http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rbl/formats/crmmap.pdf |archive-date=14 April 2010}} (PDF). Retrieved on 6 November 2007.</ref> Defunct radio stations include [[Sunset 102]], which became [[Kiss 102]], then [[Galaxy Manchester]],<ref>{{cite web |title=A Guide to stations off the air: Why do commercial radio stations stop broadcasting? |url=http://www.radio-now.co.uk/stations_off_air.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212220633/http://www.radio-now.co.uk/stations_off_air.htm |archive-date=2010-02-12 |access-date=2010-05-23}}</ref> and KFM which became Signal Cheshire (later [[Imagine FM]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=KFM – Stockport |url=https://www.thepiratearchive.net/kfm-stockport/ |access-date=1 September 2025 |website=The Pirate Archive}}</ref> [[Pirate radio in the United Kingdom|Pirate radio]] played a significant role in the city's [[alternative rock]] culture during the [[Music of the United Kingdom (1960s)|1960s]] and [[Music of the United Kingdom (1970s)|1970s]], as it allowed young people to listen to broadcasts that fell outside of the cultural standard.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Curtis |first=Bill |date=5 February 2024 |title=The Evolution of Local Radio in Manchester |url=https://northwestbylines.co.uk/lifestyle/music/the-evolution-of-local-radio-in-manchester/ |access-date=1 September 2025 |website=North West Bylines |archive-date=13 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613160458/https://northwestbylines.co.uk/lifestyle/music/the-evolution-of-local-radio-in-manchester/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==International relations==
Manchester is home to the largest group of [[consul (representative)|consulates]] in the UK outside London. The expansion of international trade links during the Industrial Revolution led to the introduction of the first consuls in the 1820s and since then over 800, from all parts of the world, have been based in Manchester. Manchester hosts consular services for most of the north of England.<ref>{{cite book |author=Fox, David |title=Manchester Consuls |year=2007 |publisher=Carnegie Publishing |location=Lancaster |isbn=978-1-85936-155-9 |pages=vii–ix}}<br />{{cite web |title=Manchester Consular Association |url=https://www.manchesterconsularassociation.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119230017/https://www.manchesterconsularassociation.com/ |archive-date=19 January 2019 |url-status=live}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://mca.group.shef.ac.uk/index_Page320.htm |title=List of Consulates, Consulate Generals and High Commissioners |publisher=MCA (subsidiary of Sheffield University) |access-date=5 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212001011/http://mca.group.shef.ac.uk/index_Page320.htm |archive-date=12 December 2013}}</ref>

===Twin towns – sister cities===
Manchester is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref name=intstrategy>{{cite web|title=Greater Manchester International Strategy 2022–2025|url=https://greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/media/5848/greater-manchester-international-strategy.pdf|publisher=Greater Manchester Combined Authority|pages=79–80|access-date=27 October 2025}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Chemnitz]], Germany (1983)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chemnitz, Germany |url=https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/100003/people_and_communities/8947/manchesters_global_connections/6 |access-date=1 September 2025 |publisher=[[Manchester City Council]] |archive-date=18 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250718164829/https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/100003/people_and_communities/8947/manchesters_global_connections/6 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Wuhan]], China (1986)<ref>{{cite web |title=International civic links|publisher=Manchester City Council |url=https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/100004/the_council_and_democracy/5903/international_civic_links |website=manchester.gov.uk |access-date=10 March 2022 |archive-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111025743/https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/100004/the_council_and_democracy/5903/international_civic_links}}</ref>

[[Greater Manchester]] is twinned with [[Osaka]], Japan since 2025<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Greater Manchester signs historic Sister City Agreement with Osaka as Japan Week gets underway |date=5 September 2025 |publisher=[[Greater Manchester Combined Authority]] |url=https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/news/greater-manchester-signs-historic-sister-city-agreement-with-osaka-as-japan-week-gets-underway/ |access-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> and also cooperates with numerous other cities.<ref name=intstrategy/>

===Friendship agreements===
In addition to its twin towns, Manchester has friendly relations with:<ref name=intstrategy/>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*{{flagicon|DEN}} [[Aalborg]], Denmark
*{{flagicon|DEN}} [[Aarhus]], Denmark
*{{flagicon|ESP}} [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]], Spain
*{{flagicon|PAK}} [[Faisalabad]], Pakistan (1997)
*{{flagicon|KOR}} [[Gumi, North Gyeongsang|Gumi]], South Korea
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Haidian, Beijing|Haidian (Beijing)]], China
*{{flagicon|JPN}} [[Kagoshima]], Japan
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Los Angeles]], United States (2009)
*{{flagicon|ISR}} [[Rehovot]], Israel
{{div col end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|England|United Kingdom|Europe}}
* [[List of Freemen of the City of Manchester]]
* [[Manchester dialect]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links |wikt=Manchester |commons=Manchester |q=no |b=no |v=no |voy=Manchester}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|date=3 February 2008|Manchester (Part 1).ogg|Manchester (Part 2).ogg}}
* [https://www.manchester.gov.uk Manchester City Council]
* [http://www.visitmanchester.com/ Official tourist board]
{{Outline of Manchester}}{{Manchester}}{{Geographic location
| title     = Destinations from Manchester
| Northwest = [[Bolton]], [[Wigan]], [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]
| North     = [[Bury, Greater Manchester|Bury]], [[Blackburn]], [[Burnley]]
| Northeast = [[Oldham]], [[Rochdale]], [[Huddersfield]], [[Dewsbury]], [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]], '''[[Leeds]]'''
| West      = [[Leigh, Greater Manchester|Leigh]], [[St Helens, Merseyside|St Helens]], '''[[Liverpool]]'''
| Centre    = Manchester
| East      = [[Hyde, Greater Manchester|Hyde]], [[Stalybridge]], [[Glossop]], '''[[Sheffield]]'''
| Southwest = [[Sale, Greater Manchester|Sale]], [[Altrincham]], [[Knutsford]]
| South     = [[Cheadle, Greater Manchester|Cheadle]], [[Wilmslow]], [[Alderley Edge]]
| Southeast = [[Stockport]], [[Chapel-en-le-Frith]], [[Buxton]], '''[[Derby]]'''
}}
{{Core Cities Group}}
{{UK cities}}
{{Greater Manchester}}
{{Manchester B&S}}
{{Metropolitan districts of England}}
{{NW England}}
{{Commonwealth Games Host Cities}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Featured article}}
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[[Category:Manchester|*]]
[[Category:1st-century establishments in Roman Britain]]
[[Category:79 establishments]]
[[Category:Cities in North West England]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 1st century]]
[[Category:Towns in Greater Manchester]]