Editing North West England (section)

==Demographics==
[[File:North West population pyramid 2020.svg|thumb|202x202px|Population pyramid in 2020]]

===Population, density, and settlements===
''Source: [[Office for National Statistics]] Mid Year Population Estimates in 2008''<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15106 |title=Office for National Statistics |website=Statistics.gov.uk |access-date=17 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216083533/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15106 |archive-date=16 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Region/County
! Population
! Population Density
! Largest town/city
! Largest urban area
|-
| [[Greater Manchester]]
| 2,629,400
| 2,016/km<sup>2</sup>
| [[Manchester]] (510,700) (2012 est.)
| [[Greater Manchester Urban Area]] (2,240,230)
|-
| [[Lancashire]]
| 1,449,600
| 468/km<sup>2</sup>
| [[Blackpool]] (147,663)
| [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]/[[Chorley]]/[[Leyland, Lancashire|Leyland]] Urban Area (335,000)
|-
| [[Merseyside]]
| 1,353,600
| 2,118/km<sup>2</sup>
| [[Liverpool]] (491,500)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/1946157104/report.aspx#tabrespop |title=Labour Market Profile – Liverpool |date=5 October 2018 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=5 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213020732/http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/1946157104/report.aspx#tabrespop |archive-date=13 February 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| [[Liverpool Urban Area]] (816,000)
|-
| [[Cheshire]]
| 1,003,600
| 424/km<sup>2</sup>
| [[Warrington]] (202,228)
| [[Warrington]] (202,228)
|-
| [[Cumbria]]
| 496,200
| 73/km<sup>2</sup>
| [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]] (71,773)
| [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]] (71,773)
|}

North West England's population accounts for just over 13% of England's overall population. 37.86% of the North West's population resides in Greater Manchester, 21.39% in Lancashire, 20.30% in Merseyside, 14.76% in Cheshire and 7.41% live in the largest county by area, Cumbria.<ref name=":0" />

===Ethnicity===
[[File:Chinese Arch - geograph.org.uk - 1021559.jpg|thumb|right|[[Chinatown, Liverpool|Liverpool Chinatown]] is the oldest Chinese community in Europe.]]

According to 2009 [[Office for National Statistics]] estimates,<ref name="2009ethnicity">{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/lad-tables-2009.xls |title=Current Estimates – Population Estimates by Ethnic Group Mid-2009 (experimental) |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=21 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810102910/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/lad-tables-2009.xls |archive-date=10 August 2011}}</ref> 91.6% (6,323,300) of people in the region describe themselves as 'White': 88.4% (6,101,100) [[White British]], 1.0% (67,200) [[White Irish]] and 2.2% (155,000) [[White Other (United Kingdom Census)|White Other]]. During the [[Industrial Revolution]] hundreds of thousands of [[Welsh people]] migrated to the North West of England to work in the coal mines. Parts with notably high populations with Welsh ancestry as a result of this include [[Liverpool]], [[Chester]], [[Skelmersdale]], [[Widnes]], [[Halewood]], [[Wallasey]], [[Ashton-in-Makerfield]] and [[Birkenhead]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/st-davids-day-liverpools-welsh-8738182 |title=St David's Day: why are Liverpool's Welsh links so strong? |first=Dawn |last=Collinson |date=28 February 2015 |access-date=29 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221011313/http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/st-davids-day-liverpools-welsh-8738182 |archive-date=21 February 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ashtoninmakerfieldanddistrictu3a.co.uk/About%20Ashton-in-Makerfield.html |title=About Ashton-in-Makerfield |access-date=29 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805203420/http://www.ashtoninmakerfieldanddistrictu3a.co.uk/About%20Ashton-in-Makerfield.html |archive-date=5 August 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[British Mixed|Mixed Race]] population makes up 1.3% (93,800) of the region's population. There are 323,800 [[British Asian|South Asians]], making up 4.7% of the population, and 1.1% [[Black British|Black]] (80,600). 0.6% of the population (39,900) are [[British Chinese|Chinese]] and 0.5% (36,500) of people belong to another ethnic group.

North West England is a very diverse region, with Manchester and Liverpool amongst the most diverse cities in Europe. 19.4% of [[Blackburn with Darwen]]'s population are Muslim, the third-highest among all local authorities in the United Kingdom and the highest outside London. Areas such as [[Moss Side]] in Greater Manchester are home to a 30%+ [[Black British]] population. In contrast, the town of St. Helens in Merseyside, unusually for a city area, has a very low percentage of ethnic minorities with 98% identifying as White British.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-areas-in-england-and-wales/urban-areas-in-england-and-wales-ks06--ethnic-group.xls |title=UK Government Web Archive |access-date=19 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316031524/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-areas-in-england-and-wales/urban-areas-in-england-and-wales-ks06--ethnic-group.xls |archive-date=16 March 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> The City of Liverpool, over 800 years old, is one of the few places in Britain where ethnic minority populations can be traced back over dozens of generations: being the closest major city in England to Ireland, it is home to a significant ethnic Irish population, with the city being home to one of the first ever [[British African-Caribbean people|Afro-Caribbean]] communities in the UK, as well as the oldest Chinatown in Europe.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="3" |Ethnic group
! colspan="12" |Year
|-
! colspan="2" |1971 estimations<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1t8915s |title=Explaining ethnic differences: Changing patterns of disadvantage in Britain |date=2003 |publisher=Bristol University Press |edition=1|doi=10.2307/j.ctt1t8915s |jstor=j.ctt1t8915s }}</ref>
! colspan="2" |1981 estimations<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1985 |title=Ethnic minorities in Britain: statistical information on the pattern of settlement |url=https://jstor.org/stable/community.28327806 |journal=Commission for Racial Equality|pages=Table 2.1|last1= Equality|first1= Commission for Racial}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |1991<ref name=":412">Data is taken from United Kingdom [http://casweb.ukdataservice.ac.uk/index.htm Casweb Data services] of the United Kingdom [http://casweb.ukdataservice.ac.uk/step1.cfm 1991 Census on Ethnic Data for England, Scotland and Wales] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405213012/http://casweb.ukdataservice.ac.uk/step1.cfm |date=5 April 2022 }} (Table 6)</ref>
! colspan="2" |2001<ref>{{Cite web |title=Office of National Statistics; 2001 Census Key Statistics |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/local-authorities-ks06--ethnic-group.xls |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |2011<ref>{{Cite web |title=2011 Census: Ethnic Group, local authorities in England and Wales |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/rft-table-ks201ew.xls |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |2021<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ethnic group – Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/1/filter-outputs/d2f0a39a-75b6-4995-b4bd-a5b68ff79027#get-data |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=ons.gov.uk}}</ref>
|-
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
![[White people in the United Kingdom|White]]: Total
!–
!98.7%
!6,580,840
!97.5%
!6,480,131
!96.3%
!6,355,495
!94.43%
!6,361,716
!90.2%
!6,347,394
!85.6%
|-
|White: [[White British|British]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|6,203,043
|92.17%
|6,141,069
|87%
|6,019,385
|81.2%
|-
|White: [[Irish Briton|Irish]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|77,499
|
|64,930
|
|61,422
|0.8%
|-
|White: [[Irish Traveller]]/[[Romani people|Gypsy]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
| –
| –
|4,147
| –
|5,741
|0.1%
|-
|White: Roma
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|7,359
|0.1%
|-
|White: [[White Other (United Kingdom Census)|Other]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|74,953
|
|151,570
|
|253,487
|3.4%
|-
![[British Asian|Asian or Asian British]]: Total
!–
!–
!–
!–
!174,878
!2.6%
!256,762
!3.81%
!437,485
!6.2%
!622,685
!8.4%
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|55,823
|
|72,219
|
|107,353
|
|140,413
|1.9%
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[British Pakistani|Pakistani]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|77,150
|
|116,968
|
|189,436
|
|303,611
|4.1%
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[British Bangladeshi|Bangladeshi]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|15,016
|
|26,003
|
|45,897
|
|60,859
|0.8%
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[British Chinese|Chinese]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|17,803
|
|26,887
|
|48,049
|
|54,051
|0.7%
|-
|Asian or Asian British: [[British Asian|Asian Other]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|9,086
|
|14,685
|
|46,750
|
|63,751
|0.9%
|-
![[Black British people|Black or Black British]]: Total
!–
!–
!–
!–
!47,478
!0.7%
!41,637
!0.61%
!97,869
!1.38%
!173,918
!2.3%
|-
|Black or Black British: [[Black British|African]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|9,417
|
|15,912
|
|59,278
|
|126,608
|1.7%
|-
|Black or Black British: [[British African-Caribbean community|Caribbean]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|21,763
|
|20,422
|
|23,131
|
|25,919
|0.3%
|-
|Black or Black British: [[Other Black|Other]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|16,298
|
|5,303
|
|15,460
|
|21,391
|0.3%
|-
![[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|Mixed]]: Total
!–
!–
!–
!–
!–
!–
!62,539
!0.92%
!110,891
!1.57%
!163,245
!2.1%
|-
|Mixed: [[White people|White]] and [[British African-Caribbean community|Caribbean]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|22,119
|
|39,204
|
|46,962
|0.6%
|-
|Mixed: [[White people|White]] and [[Black British|African]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|9,853
|
|18,392
|
|30,011
|0.4%
|-
|Mixed: [[White people|White]] and [[British Asian|Asian]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|17,223
|
|30,529
|
|47,829
|0.6%
|-
|Mixed: [[Multiracial|Other Mixed]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|13,344
|
|22,766
|
|38,443
|0.5%
|-
!Other: Total
!–
!–
!–
!–
!24,373
!0.4%
!13,331
!0.19%
!44,216
!0.62%
!110,156
!1.5%
|-
|Other: [[Arab people|Arab]]
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
|–
| –
| –
|24,528
|
|43,865
|0.6%
|-
|Other: Any other ethnic group
|–
|–
|–
|–
|24,373
|0.4%
|13,331
|0.19%
|19,688
|
|66,291
|0.9%
|-
!Non-White: Total
!–
!1.3%
!168,695
!2.5%
!246,729
!3.7%
!374,269
!5.6%
!690,461
!9.8%
!1,070,004
!14.4%
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!Total
!–
!100%
!6,749,535
!100%
!6,726,860
!100%
!6,729,764
!100%
!7,052,177
!100%
!7,417,398
!100%
|}

===Place of birth===

The table below is not how many people belong to each ethnic group (e.g. a BBC News article in 2008 claimed there are over 25,000 ethnic [[Italians in the United Kingdom|Italians]] in Manchester alone whilst only 6,000 Italian-born people live in the North West).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3223776.stm |title=Italians revolt over church closure |last=Green |first=. David |date=29 November 2003 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=27 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122111600/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3223776.stm |archive-date=22 November 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> The proportion of people residing in North West England born outside the UK was 11.7% in 2021, compared with 8.2% in 2011 and 5.1% in 2001. Below are the fifteen largest overseas-born groups in the region according to the 2021 census, alongside the two previous censuses:

[[File:Jodrell Bank (1).jpg|thumb|right|The [[Jodrell Bank Observatory|Jodrell Bank]] [[Lovell Telescope|Lovell]] 76-m [[radio telescope]] in [[Lower Withington]], built in August 1957, is the world's third largest steerable telescope, and was the largest until 1971. It was designed by Sheffield's Sir [[Charles Husband]] and built of steel from [[Scunthorpe]] ]]
{| class="wikitable collapsible sortable"
|-
!  style="text-align:center; background:#9dbec3;"|Place of birth
!  style="text-align:center; background:#9dbec3;"|2021<ref name="E&W_CoB22">{{cite web |title=TS012: Country of birth (detailed) |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS012/editions/2021/versions/2/filter-outputs/ba18881b-a88f-432f-89be-af1fee321107#get-data |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=28 March 2023}}</ref>
!  style="text-align:center; background:#9dbec3;"|2011<ref>{{cite web |title=QS203EW: Country of birth (detailed) |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/qs203ew |website=nomisweb.co.uk |publisher=Nomis |access-date=30 January 2013}}</ref>
!  style="text-align:center; background:#9dbec3;"|2001<ref>{{cite web |title=UV008: Country of birth |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2001/uv008 |website=nomisweb.co.uk |publisher=Nomis |access-date=30 January 2013}}</ref>
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Pakistan}}
|align="right"|125,110
|align="right"|79,289
|align="right"|46,529
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|Poland}} [[Poles in the United Kingdom|Poland]]
|align="right"|76,688
|align="right"|51,999
|align="right"|4,864
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|India}}
|align="right"|60,180
|align="right"|48,676
|align="right"|34,600
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|Ireland}} [[Irish people in Great Britain|Ireland]]
|align="right"|38,379
|align="right"|48,456
|align="right"|56,887
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|Romania}} [[Romanians in the United Kingdom|Romania]]
|align="right"|33,918
|align="right"|3,052
|align="right"|484
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|Nigeria}} [[Nigerians in the United Kingdom|Nigeria]]
|align="right"|29,092
|align="right"|13,903
|align="right"|3,011
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|Bangladesh}}
|align="right"|23,876
|align="right"|19,485
|align="right"|13,746
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Italians in the United Kingdom|Italy]]
|align="right"|23,305
|align="right"|7,434
|align="right"|6,325
|-
|border = "1"|{{flag|China}}
|align="right"|22,792
|align="right"|20,561
|align="right"|6,439
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Germans in the United Kingdom|Germany]]
|align="right"|22,169
|align="right"|22,094
|align="right"|19,931
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|Spain}} [[Spaniards in the United Kingdom|Spain]]
|align="right"|17,237
|align="right"|5,673
|align="right"|3,473
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|Iran}} [[Iranians in the United Kingdom|Iran]]
|align="right"|14,724
|align="right"|8,436
|align="right"|3,473
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|South Africa}} [[South Africans in the United Kingdom|South Africa]]
|align="right"|12,981
|align="right"|10,500
|align="right"|7,740
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|Hong Kong}} [[Hong Kongers in the United Kingdom|Hong Kong]]
|align="right"|12,770
|align="right"|9,692
|align="right"|9,052
|-
|border = "1"|{{flagicon|United States}} [[Americans in the United Kingdom|United States]]
|align="right"|10,995
|align="right"|9,028
|align="right"|7,037
|-
!border = "1"|Overall – all overseas-born
!align="right"|865,445
!align="right"|577,232
!align="right"|341,593
|-
|}

===Religion===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Religion in North West England
|-
! rowspan="2" |Religion
! colspan="2" |[[2021 United Kingdom census|2021]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=TS030 – Religion Edit query|url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/datasets/c2021ts030|access-date=2022-11-29|website=nomisweb.co.uk}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |[[2011 United Kingdom census|2011]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=KS209EW (Religion) – Nomis – 2011 |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks209ew |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=nomisweb.co.uk}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |[[2001 United Kingdom census|2001]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=KS007 – Religion – Nomis – 2001 |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/datasets/ks007 |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=nomisweb.co.uk}}</ref>
|-
!Number
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!Number
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!Number
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
|-
| style="background:#E0E0FF;" |[[History of Christianity in Britain|Christianity]]
| 3,895,779
| 52.5%
| 4,742,860
| 67.3%
| 5,249,686
| 78.0%
|-
| style="background:#E0FFD0;" |[[Islam in the United Kingdom|Islam]]
| 563,105
| 7.6%
| 356,458
| 5.1%
| 204,261
| 3.0%
|-
| style="background:#FFE0C0;" |[[Hinduism in the United Kingdom|Hinduism]]
| 49,749
| 0.7%
| 38,259
| 0.5%
| 27,211
| 0.4%
|-
| style="background:#E0F0FF;" |[[History of the Jews in the United Kingdom|Judaism]]
| 33,285
| 0.4%
| 30,417
| 0.4%
| 27,974
| 0.4%
|-
| style="background:#FFFFC0;" |[[Buddhism in the United Kingdom|Buddhism]]
| 23,028
| 0.3%
| 20,695
| 0.3%
| 11,794
| 0.2%
|-
| style="background:#F0F0C0;" |[[Sikhism in the United Kingdom|Sikhism]]
| 11,862
| 0.2%
| 8,857
| 0.1%
| 6,487
| 0.1%
|-
| style="background:#F0E0F0;" |Other religion
| 28,103
| 0.4%
| 19,166
| 0.3%
| 10,625
| 0.2%
|-
| style="background:#F5F5F5;" |[[Irreligion in the United Kingdom|No religion]]
| 2,419,624
| 32.6%
| 1,397,916
| 19.8%
| 705,045
| 10.5%
|-
| style="background:#DCDCDC;" |Religion not stated
| 392,862
| 5.3%
| 437,549
| 6.2%
| 486,681
| 7.2%
|-
!Total population
! '''7,417,397'''
! '''100%'''
! '''7,052,177'''
! '''100%'''
! '''6,729,764'''
! '''100%'''
|-
|}

One in five of the population in the North West is [[Catholic Church|Catholic]],<ref>{{cite news |title=The Catholic Vote in Britain Helped Carry Blair To Victory |quote=There are considerable regional variations, of course, Catholics being most widespread in London, Scotland and particularly the North-West (where one in five is Catholic) |url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/newsevents/ca/247/The-Catholic-Vote-In-Britain-Helped-Carry-Blair-To-Victory.aspx |work=Ipsos MORI |date=23 May 2005 |access-date=16 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104203539/https://www.ipsos-mori.com/newsevents/ca/247/The-Catholic-Vote-In-Britain-Helped-Carry-Blair-To-Victory.aspx |archive-date=4 January 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> a result of large-scale [[Irish migration to Great Britain|Irish emigration]] in the nineteenth century<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/scgb1.html |title=Great Britain, Statistics by Diocese, by Catholic Population [Catholic-Hierarchy] |first=David M. |last=Cheney |access-date=19 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115214456/http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/scgb1.html |archive-date=15 January 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Kevin Phillips, ''The Cousins' Wars'' (New York: Basic Books, 1999), 480–84. Phillips notes: "The subjugation [of the Irish] of the seventeenth century was almost complete.... During the first quarter of the eighteenth century [after the Treaty of Union], Catholic bishops were banned and priests required to register. Catholics lost their right to vote, hold office, own a gun or a horse worth more than 5 pounds, or live in towns without paying special fees... Once again the Irish were pushed west to poorer lands, an exodus that prefigured the disposition of the American Indians over the next two centuries."</ref> as well as the high number of English [[Recusancy|recusants]] in [[Lancashire]].{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

===Social deprivation===
Of the nine regions of England, the North West has the [[Countries of the United Kingdom by GVA per capita|fourth-highest GVA per capita]]—the highest outside southern England. Despite this the region has above average [[Multiple deprivation index|multiple deprivation]] with wealth heavily concentrated on very affluent areas like rural Cheshire, rural Lancashire, and south Cumbria. As measured by the [[Indices of deprivation 2007]], the region has many more [[ONS coding system|Lower Layer Super Output Areas]] in the 20% most deprived districts than the 20% least deprived council districts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/576659.pdf |title=LSOA data 2007 |access-date=17 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206165428/http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/576659.pdf |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref> Only [[North East England]] shows more indicators of deprivation than the North West, but the number of affluent areas in the North West is very similar to [[Yorkshire and the Humber]].

The most deprived local authority areas in the region (based on specific wards within those borough areas) are, in descending order—Liverpool, Manchester, Knowsley, Blackpool, Salford, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Rochdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Halton, Hyndburn, Oldham, Pendle, St Helens, Preston, Bolton, Tameside, Wirral, Wigan, Copeland, Sefton, and Rossendale.

In 2007 when Cheshire still had district councils, the least deprived council districts in the region by council district, in descending order, were—Congleton, Ribble Valley, Macclesfield, and South Lakeland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/576659.pdf |title=2007 deprivation data |access-date=17 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206165428/http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/576659.pdf |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref> These areas have Conservative MPs, except South Lakeland has a Lib Dem and Labour MPs. At county level, before it was split into two, Cheshire was the least deprived, followed by Trafford, and by Warrington and Stockport.

In March 2011, the overall [[Jobseeker's Allowance|unemployment claimant]] count was 4.2% for the region. Inside the region the highest was Liverpool with 6.8%, followed by Knowsley on 6.3%, Halton with 5.5% and Rochdale with 5.1%. The lowest claimant count is in [[Eden (district)|Eden]] (Cumbria) and [[Ribble Valley]] (Lancashire) each with 1.3%, followed by [[South Lakeland]] with 1.4%.<ref>[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/elmr/downloads/Table6-18.xls Claimant count] {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

===Elections===
[[File:2019 UK General Election in Northwest England.svg|thumb|right|General election results in 2019]]

In the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]], the Conservatives gained ten seats, from the Labour Party, with no other seats changing hands. Labour held 42 of their 52 seats, albeit many with slimmed down majorities. They remain the dominant party in the region by seat count, with the Conservatives total now standing at 27. The Conservatives made two gains in Cheshire, three gains in Lancashire, five gains in Greater Manchester, notably including [[Andy Burnham]]'s former seat of Leigh.

In the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]], the area was dominated by the Labour Party. Fifty-five per cent of the region's electorate voted Labour, 36.3% Conservative, 5.4% Liberal Democrat, 1.9% UKIP and 1.1% Greens; however, by number of parliamentary seats, Labour have 54, the Conservatives have 20, and the Liberal Democrats have 1. The Lib Dems' North West seat is in south Cumbria; Labour dominates Greater Manchester, and the Conservatives' vote is concentrated in affluent suburban areas such as [[Cheadle (UK Parliament constituency)|Cheadle]], [[Hazel Grove (UK Parliament constituency)|Hazel Grove]] and [[Altrincham and Sale West (UK Parliament constituency)|Altrincham and Sale West]]. Labour seats also predominate in Merseyside. In Cheshire the 2015 result was reversed, with Labour winning seven seats and the Conservatives four, whilst Lancashire is competitive between Labour and Conservative (8 seats each); the Labour seats in Lancashire are concentrated in the south of the county along the [[M65 motorway|M65]]. For the region, the Labour gained 3 seats; there was a 5.2% swing from Conservative to Labour.

In the 2015 general election, [[Liverpool Walton (UK Parliament constituency)|Liverpool Walton]] was the safest seat in the UK, with a 72% majority, and in 2017 this was repeated with a 77% majority for [[Dan Carden]] (Labour), when an astonishing 85.7% of the electorate voted for him (the Conservatives came second with 8.6%). In the [[2012 Manchester Central by-election|by-election of 2012]], [[Manchester Central (UK Parliament constituency)|Manchester Central]] has the record for the lowest turnout in the UK—18%. [[Gwyneth Dunwoody]], for Crewe and Nantwich, was the longest serving female MP until her death in 2008.

In the final [[2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|European Elections]] in the UK in 2019, 31.23% voted for the Brexit Party, with Labour polling 21.91%, the Liberal Democrats 17.15% and the Green Party 12.48%. The Conservatives came fifth in the region with 7.55% of votes cast.<ref>{{Cite web |last=votes |first=North west |title=North west votes Results Information |url=http://www.northwestvotes.gov.uk/info/11/results |access-date=2020-12-17 |website=northwestvotes.gov.uk|archive-date=9 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509203250/http://www.northwestvotes.gov.uk/info/11/results |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Constituencies in North West England}}

===Language and dialect===
The earliest known language spoken in the North West was a dialect of the [[Common Brittonic|Brythonic language]] spoken across much of Britain from at least the [[Iron Age]] up to the arrival of English in the first millennium AD. Fragments of this early language are seen in the inscriptions and place names of the Roman era. In some parts of the region, the Brythonic dialect developed into the medieval language known today as [[Cumbric]], which continued to be spoken perhaps as late as the 12th century in the north of Cumbria. This early Celtic heritage remains today in place names such as [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]], [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]] and [[Eccles, Greater Manchester|Eccles]], and many river names such as [[River Cocker, Cumbria|Cocker]], [[River Kent|Kent]] and [[River Eden, Cumbria|Eden]].

English may have been spoken in the North West from around the 7th century AD, when the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of [[Northumbria]] first appears to have made inroads west of the Pennines. The language at this time would have been the Northumbrian dialect of [[Old English]]. The high percentage of English place names in the region as a whole suggests English became almost ubiquitous over the coming centuries, particularly in the area south of the Lake District. Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Blackburn and Preston are among the region's many English place names. In the 9th to the 11th centuries, Danes from the east and Norsemen from Ireland and Scotland began settling in the area. The North West is really the only area of England where Norse settlement was significant and their influence remains in the place names and dialect of the region. Elements like ''fell'', ''thwaite'' and ''tarn'', which are particularly common in Cumbria, are all Norse. The numerous Kirkbys and place names with "holm" and "dale" show the [[Scandinavia]]n influence throughout the North West.

Through the [[Middle Ages]] the dialects of the North West would have been considerably different from those spoken in the Midlands and south. It was only with the spread of literacy (particularly with the publication of the [[King James Version|King James Bible]]) that [[Standard English]] spread to the region. Even so, local dialects continued to be used and were relatively widespread until the 19th and 20th centuries.

In modern times, English is the most spoken language in the North West, with a large percentage of the population fluent in it, and close to 100% conversational in it. To the north-east of the region, within the historic boundaries of [[Cumberland]], the [[Cumbrian dialect]] is dominant. The historical county of [[Lancashire]] covered a vast amount of land, and the [[Lancashire dialect]] and accent is still predominant throughout the county, and stretches as far north as [[Furness]] in South Cumbria to parts of north [[Greater Manchester]] and [[Merseyside]] in the south of the region. The region boasts some of the most distinctive accents in the form of the [[Scouse]] accent, which originates from [[Liverpool]] and its surrounding areas, and the [[Manchester dialect|Manc]] accent, deriving from the central [[Manchester]] district. Both of these descend from the Lancashire dialect but have some distinctions from it, especially Scouse. The region's accents are among those referred to as '[[English language in Northern England|Northern English]]'.

Large immigrant populations in the North West result in the presence of significant immigrant languages. South Asian languages such as [[Urdu language|Urdu]], [[Hindi]] and [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] are widespread, with the largest number of speakers residing in [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]], [[Blackburn]] and Manchester. The [[British Chinese|Chinese]] once made up the largest minority in the region (as Liverpool has one of the oldest Chinese settlements in Europe), and still do to the far north where Chinese is spoken by small but significant communities. Since the enlargement of the EU, over one million [[Polish people|Poles]] have immigrated to the UK, a large number of them settling in the North West. Places such as [[Crewe]] as well as larger cities make [[Polish language|Polish]] written information available for the public, to much controversy. Other immigrant languages with a presence in the North West are Spanish, mainly amongst the [[Latin American Briton|Latin American]] communities in [[Liverpool]] and [[Manchester]],{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}} as well as various other Eastern European and Asian languages.

The most taught languages in schools across the North West are English, French and Spanish. German and Italian are available at more senior levels and, in cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, even Urdu and Mandarin are being taught to help maintain links between the local minority populations.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

===Eurostat NUTS===
In the [[Eurostat]] [[Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics]] (NUTS), North West is a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKD", which (since 2015) is subdivided as follows:<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/nomenclatures/index.cfm?TargetUrl=LST_NOM_DTL&StrNom=NUTS_2013L&StrLanguageCode=EN&IntPcKey=33916483&StrLayoutCode=HIERARCHIC NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics), by regional level, version 2013] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312072721/http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/nomenclatures/index.cfm?TargetUrl=LST_NOM_DTL&StrNom=NUTS_2013L&StrLanguageCode=EN&IntPcKey=33916483&StrLayoutCode=HIERARCHIC |date=12 March 2016 }} accessed 11 March 2016</ref><ref>[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/eurostat/north-west--england-/index.html NUTS: North West (England) Directory] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016085250/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/eurostat/north-west--england-/index.html |date=16 October 2015 }}, Office for National Statistics, accessed 11 March 2016</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:gold; text-align:left;"
! NUTS 1
! Code
! NUTS 2
! Code
! NUTS 3
! Code
|- 
| North West
| UKD
| rowspan=2 | [[Cumbria]]
| rowspan=2 | UKD1
| West Cumbria ([[Allerdale]], [[Barrow-in-Furness (borough)|Barrow-in-Furness]], [[Copeland, Cumbria|Copeland]])
| UKD11
|-
| rowspan=19 colspan=2 align="center" | [[File:NUTS 3 regions of North West England 2015 map.svg|155px]]
| East Cumbria ([[City of Carlisle|Carlisle]], [[Eden, Cumbria|Eden]], [[South Lakeland]])
| UKD12
|-
| rowspan=3 | [[Cheshire]]
| rowspan=3 | UKD6
| [[Borough of Warrington|Warrington]]
| UKD61
|-
| [[Cheshire East]]
| UKD62
|-
| [[Cheshire West and Chester]]
| UKD63
|-
| rowspan=5 | [[Greater Manchester]]
| rowspan=5 | UKD3
| [[City of Manchester|Manchester]]
| UKD33
|-
| Greater Manchester South West ([[City of Salford|Salford]] and [[Trafford]])
| UKD34
|-
| Greater Manchester South East ([[Metropolitan Borough of Stockport|Stockport]] and [[Tameside]])
| UKD35
|-
| Greater Manchester North West ([[Bolton (borough)|Bolton]] and [[Wigan (borough)|Wigan]])
| UKD36
|-
| Greater Manchester North East ([[Bury (borough)|Bury]], [[Oldham (borough)|Oldham]] and [[Rochdale (borough)|Rochdale]])
| UKD37
|-
| rowspan=6 | [[Lancashire]]
| rowspan=6 | UKD4
| [[Blackburn with Darwen]]
| UKD41
|-
| [[Borough of Blackpool|Blackpool]]
| UKD42
|-
| [[City of Lancaster|Lancaster]] and [[Borough of Wyre|Wyre]]
| UKD44
|-
| Mid Lancashire ([[Borough of Fylde|Fylde]], [[City of Preston, Lancashire|Preston]], [[Ribble Valley]] and [[South Ribble]])
| UKD45
|-
| East Lancashire ([[Borough of Burnley|Burnley]], [[Hyndburn]], [[Borough of Pendle|Pendle]] and [[Borough of Rossendale|Rossendale]])
| UKD46
|-
| [[Borough of Chorley|Chorley]] and [[West Lancashire]] 
| UKD47
|-
| rowspan=4 | [[Merseyside]]
| rowspan=4 | UKD7
| East Merseyside ([[Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley|Knowsley]], [[Metropolitan Borough of St Helens|St. Helens]] and [[Halton (borough)|Halton]])
| UKD71
|-
| [[Liverpool]]
| UKD72
|-
| [[Metropolitan Borough of Sefton|Sefton]]
| UKD73
|-
| [[Wirral (borough)|Wirral]]
| UKD74
|}