Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England and it lies within one of the United Kingdom's largest metropolitan areas.

The city is situated in the south-central part of North West England, fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south and the Pennines to the north and east. The recorded history of Manchester began with the civilian vicus associated with the Roman fort of Mamucium, which was established c. AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Historically, most of the city was a part of Lancashire, although areas south of the River Mersey were in Cheshire. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but began expanding "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century as part of a process of unplanned urbanisation brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. The urbanisation of Manchester largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era, resulting in it becoming the world's first industrialised city. As the result of an early-19th century factory building boom, Manchester was transformed from a township into a major mill town, borough and was later granted honorific city status in 1853.

Forming part of the English Core Cities Group, Manchester today is a centre of the arts, the media, higher education and commerce. Manchester was the host of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and among its other sporting connections are its two Premier League football teams, Manchester United and Manchester City. The former has had a long-running rivalry with near neighbours Liverpool, which it is currently losing having won two fewer European Cups than the Merseyside club.

Manchester is one of the most dynamic and lively places in Europe. It is a big city with a compact and friendly centre, a trendsetting music and style capital that still has a place for traditional street markets and local pubs. Manchester is a place with an illustrious past that's always at the cutting edge of what's new.

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