Merseyside

A metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northwest England, Merseyside is home to 1.38 million people. Knowsley, St. Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool are the five metropolitan boroughs that make up the metropolitan region centered on both sides of the lower parts of the Mersey Estuary. On 1 April 1974, as a result of the Local Government Act of 1972, the new county of Merseyside was established; it is named after the Mersey River and is located between the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.

Merseyside covers an area of around 645 square kilometers, or 249 square miles. Lancashire is to the north-east, Greater Manchester is to the east, Cheshire is to the south and south-east, and the Irish Sea is to the west. The border with North Wales is the Dee Estuary. Merseyside's land use is mostly urban, however it does feature several high-density cities and suburbs as well as some semi-rural and rural spots. Though Liverpool City Centre serves as the county's central business district, Merseyside is actually a polycentric county with five metropolitan districts, each of which include at least one large town center and outlying suburbs. The county's physical heart is occupied by the Liverpool Urban Area, the sixth most populous conurbation in England, while the Wirral Peninsula is dominated by the Birkenhead Urban Area to the south.

In the decade following 1974, Merseyside County Council shared authority with district councils. Since the county council was eliminated in 1986, the districts it once oversaw (the metropolitan boroughs) have virtually become unitary authority territories. Merseyside is a ceremonial county with a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff; however, the metropolitan county continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, and several county-wide services are coordinated by authorities and joint-boards, such as Merseytravel (for public transportation), Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, and the Merseyside Police. The High Sheriffs of Merseyside, Lancashire, and Greater Manchester are all appointed "within the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster," as these boundaries are identical to the historic boundaries of Lancashire.

The Liverpool City Region is a local enterprise partnership and combined authority area consisting of the boroughs of Merseyside and the neighboring borough of Halton in Cheshire.

Geography

The Wirral Peninsula, on the western side of the Mersey Estuary, is where the city of Wirral is located, whereas the remainder of Merseyside is located on the eastern side. Bordering counties to the south and southwest are Cheshire and Greater Manchester, while to the north and east are Lancashire and the Greater Manchester metropolitan area. Until 1974, the area now known as Merseyside was split between the counties of Lancashire (to the east of the Mersey) and Cheshire for administrative purposes (west of the River Mersey). The two Mersey Tunnels, the Merseyrail's Wirral Line, and the Mersey Ferry all connect the two halves.