Greater Manchester is a county in North West England. It has 2.7 million people living there. It was created on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. It is made up of ten Metropolitan boroughs: the cities of Manchester and Salford and the large towns of Oldham, Bury, Rochdale, Ashton-Under-Lyne, Stockport, Wigan and Bolton.
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Unofficial_County_Flag_of_Greater_Manchester.svg/640px-Unofficial_County_Flag_of_Greater_Manchester.svg.png)
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Greater_Manchester_County_Council_Arms.png/640px-Greater_Manchester_County_Council_Arms.png)
It has had a combined authority since 1 April 2011. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has the political leaders from each of the ten metropolitan borough councils, plus a directly elected mayor, with responsibility for economic development, regeneration and transport. Andy Burnham is the first Mayor of Greater Manchester, elected in 2017.[1]
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