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Wigan

Wigan the area.

Wigan is the most westerly district of the county of Greater Manchester although many local people (and Royal Mail) prefer to consider the area part of Lancashire. The borough is based around the two main towns of Wigan and Leigh, and several smaller towns and villages of the former Lancashire coalfield. Several railway lines cross the borough and the M6 motorway passes through it running through the west of the borough. The A580 (East Lancashire Road) Liverpool to Manchester link, passes through the south of the borough.

Wigan Metropolitan Borough was created in 1974 is an amalgamation of several former local government districts and parishes. The borough has three civil parishes and lies directly to the west of the City of Salford and southwest of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The borough is divided into 25 electoral wards, each of which elect three councillors. The present wards were adopted in 2003.

Wigan Council has divided the borough into ten areas by the name of townships, with a Township Manager and a Township Forum each. The townships are: Ashton-in-Makerfield / Bryn, Atherton, Hindley / Abram, Leigh, Lowton / Golborne, Orrell / Higher End / Winstanley, Standish / Aspull / Shevington, Tyldesley / Astley, Wigan North, Wigan South.

Local Confidence Survey Data for Wigan (March 2010) Use the plus and minus icons on the top of this document to increase/decrease the font size

Demographics

Population (based on data from the Office of National Statistics April 2001) 301,415
Population (based on mid 2008 estimates) 306,800
Male: 49.1%
Female: 50.9%
   
Race Profile (based on data from the Office of National Statistics April 2001)  
White: 98.7%
Minority Ethnic: 1.3%
   
Age: (based on data from the Office of National Statistics April 2001)  
0 - 19 years 76,533
20 - 30 years 40,807
31 - 40 years 47,815
41 - 50 years 38,806
50 - 65 years 56,885
65 + years 40,569
     

To access crime statistics for Wigan, visit the national crime mapping service and enter Wigan in the search bar. 

Useful Links

Wigan MBC Website

Political Information about Wigan

Wigan Neighbourhood Policing Team website

This page was last updated on 6 October 2010