The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, Greater Manchester, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Greater Manchester, Swinton, Greater Manchester-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over 35,000. The city has a population of 218,000, and is administered from the Salford Civic Centre in Swinton.
The current city boundaries were set as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, and cover an Amalgamation (politics) of five former local government districts. It is bounded on the south east by the River Irwell, which forms its boundary with the Manchester, on the east by Crumpsall, Cheetham Hill and Strangeways, and by the Manchester Ship Canal to the south, which forms its boundary with Trafford. The metropolitan boroughs of Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton and Metropolitan Borough of Bury lie to the west, northwest and north respectively. Some parts of the city, which lies directly west of Manchester, are highly industrialised and densely populated, but around one third of the city consists of rural open space. This is because the western half of the city stretches across an ancient bog known as Chat Moss.
Salford has a history stretching back to the Neolithic age. There are over 250 listed buildings in the city, including Salford Cathedral, and three Scheduled Ancient Monuments. With the Industrial Revolution, Salford and its neighbours grew along with its textile industry. The former County Borough of Salford was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1926. The city and its industries experienced decline throughout much of the 20th century, until the 1990s. Since then, parts of Salford have undergone regeneration, especially Salford Quays which will become the home of the BBC in the north of England. The University of Salford, situated in the city, is undergoing a £150 million redevelopment as of 2008. The Salford City Reds play rugby league in Super League.
