About Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2008, the population of the city was estimated to be 464,200, making it the seventh-most populous local authority district in England. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas; the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester had an estimated population of 2,562,200, the Greater Manchester Urban Area a population of 2,240,230, and the Larger Urban Zone around Manchester, the second-most-populous in the UK, had an estimated population in the 2004 Urban Audit of 2,539,100. The demonym of Manchester is Mancunian.

Manchester has the largest UK office market outside London. Greater Manchester represents over £42 billion of the UK GVA, the third largest of any English county and more than Wales or North East England.

Manchester's buildings display a variety of architectural styles, ranging from Victorian to contemporary architecture. The widespread use of red brick characterises the city. Much of the architecture in the city harks back to its days as a global centre for the cotton trade.

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.

Manchester today is a centre of the arts, the media, higher education and commerce, factors all contributing to Manchester polling as the second city of the United Kingdom in 2002. In a poll of British business leaders published in 2006, Manchester was regarded as the best place in the UK to locate a business.

Manchester is well-known for being a city of sport. Two Premiership football clubs bear the city's name, Manchester United and Manchester City. Manchester City's ground is at the City of Manchester Stadium (near 48,000 capacity); Manchester United's Old Trafford ground, the largest club football ground in the United Kingdom, with a capacity of 76,000, is just outside the city, in the borough of Trafford.

Manchester and North West England are served by Manchester Airport. The airport is the busiest in terms of passenger traffic in the UK outside London, serving 21.06 million passengers in 2008. Airline service exists to many destinations in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia (with more destinations from Manchester than from London Heathrow).

Manchester is well served by trains. In terms of passengers, Manchester Piccadilly was the busiest English railway station outside London in 2005 and 2006.

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