Gran Mánchester

"El Gran Mánchester es un condado metropolitano de la región noroeste de Inglaterra (Reino Unido), con una población de 2,56 millones de habitantes. Alberga una de las mayores áreas metropolitanas del Reino Unido y comprende diez municipios metropolitanos: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan y las ciudades de Salford y Mánchester. El Gran Mánchester fue creado el 1 de abril de 1974 como resultado de la Ley de Gobierno Local de 1972. El condado metropolitano no tiene acceso directo al mar y limita con los condados de Cheshire (al suroeste y al sur), Derbyshire (al sureste), Yorkshire del Oeste (al noreste), Lancashire (al norte) y Merseyside (al oeste). El Área Urbana del Gran Mánchester es la tercera conurbación más poblada del Reino Unido y se extiende por la mayor parte del terreno del condado. Puesto que se trata de un condado ceremonial, el Gran Mánchester posee un Lord Teniente y un Alto Sheriff. El Concejo Condal del Gran Mánchester fue abolido en 1986 y sus distritos (los municipios metropolitanos) son ahora áreas de autoridad unitaria. Sin embargo, el condado metropolitano, cuya extensión es de unos 1.285 km² (496 millas cuadradas), sigue existiendo en lo referente a leyes y como marco de referencia geográfico. Diversos servicios para todo el condado son coordinados a través de la Asociación de las Autoridades del Gran Mánchester. Antes de la creación del condado metropolitano, el nombre de SELNEC se usaba para esta área, tomado de las iniciales en inglés de Sur-Este de Lanchashire Nor-Este de Chesire (South East Lancashire North East Cheshire). El Gran Mánchester es una fusión de los antiguos 70 distritos de gobierno local de los antiguos condados administrativos de Lancashire, Cheshire y Riding del Oeste de Yorkshire y ocho condados municipales independientes."

"Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Manchester and Salford. Greater Manchester was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972; and designated a City Region on 1 April 2011. Greater Manchester spans 493 square miles (1,277 km2), which roughly covers the territory of the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, the second most populous urban area in the UK. It is landlocked and borders Cheshire (to the south-west and south), Derbyshire (to the south-east), West Yorkshire (to the north-east), Lancashire (to the north) and Merseyside (to the west). There is a mix of high-density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Greater Manchester, but land use is mostly urban the product of concentric urbanisation and industrialisation which occurred mostly during the 19th century when the region flourished as the global centre of the cotton industry. It has a focused central business district, formed by Manchester city centre and the adjoining parts of Salford and Trafford, but Greater Manchester is also a polycentric county with ten metropolitan districts, each of which has at least one major town centre and outlying suburbs. For the 12 years following 1974 the county had a two-tier system of local government; district councils shared power with the Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) effectively became unitary authority areas. However, the metropolitan county has continued to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, and as a ceremonial county, has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. Several county-wide services were co-ordinated through the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities until April 2011, when the Greater Manchester Combined Authority was established as the strategic county-wide authority for Greater Manchester, taking on functions and responsibilities for economic development, regeneration and transport. A further devolution of powers to Greater Manchester is set to take place upon the election of the inaugural Mayor of Greater Manchester scheduled for 2017. Before the creation of the metropolitan county, the name SELNEC was used for the area, taken from the initials of "South East Lancashire North East Cheshire". Greater Manchester is an amalgamation of 70 former local government districts from the former administrative counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, the West Riding of Yorkshire and eight independent county boroughs. Since deindustrialisation in the mid-20th century, Greater Manchester has emerged as an exporter of media and digital content, guitar and dance music, and association football."