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Manchester

City in United KingdomInland in north-west England, Manchester stands on the east bank of the River Irwell. It sits in a bowl of low land with the Pennine hills to the north and east.

What it's known for

Manchester is called the world's first industrialised city, and its cotton mills earned it the nickname Cottonopolis. In 1830 it became one end of the world's first intercity passenger railway, and it is the home of the football clubs Manchester City and Manchester United.

Fun facts

  1. The Manchester Ship Canal, opened in 1894, let ocean-going ships sail inland to the city from the Irish Sea, 58 km to the west.
  2. The Manchester Baby, the first electronic stored-program computer, ran its first program at the university in Manchester on 21 June 1948.
  3. Chetham's Library, opened in 1653, is the oldest free public reference library in the UK.

Finding it on the globe

Start at Liverpool on the coast and move about 56 km inland to the north-east: Manchester sits at the foot of the Pennines, the hills that run down the middle of northern England.

Easy to mix up

Manchester and Liverpool are close neighbours: Manchester is the inland one. Neither is the capital; the United Kingdom's capital is London, far to the south-east.

Sources: Wikipedia: Manchester, Wikipedia: Manchester Baby, Wikipedia: Manchester derby