Lancashire

Lancashire
Ceremonial county
Central Pier and the Tower, Blackpool; the Ashton Memorial, Lancaster; and a view of Clitheroe with the Forest of Bowland beyond
Coordinates: 53.8°N 2.6°W / 53.8; -2.6
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	North West England
Established	c. 1182
Origin	Honour of Lancaster
Time zone	UTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Members of Parliament	16 MPs
Police	Lancashire Constabulary
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Amanda Parker
High Sheriff	David Taylor
Area
• Ranked	of 48
Population (2005 est.)	1,439,200
• Ranked	8th of 48
Density	468/km2 (1,210/sq mi)
Ethnicity	82.2% White 9.2% Asian 3.8% Black 2.8% mixed 2.0% other
Non-metropolitan county
County council	Lancashire County Council
Executive	Labour
Admin HQ	Preston
Area
• Ranked	of 26
Population	1,156,100
• Ranked	4th of 26
Density	398/km2 (1,030/sq mi)
ISO 3166-2	GB-LAN
GSS code	E10000017
ITL	TLD43
Website	lancashire.gov.uk
Largest settlement	Preston
Unitary authorities
Councils	Blackpool Council Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
Districts
Districts of Lancashire   Unitary   County council area
Districts	List Lancaster Wyre Blackpool Fylde Preston Ribble Valley South Ribble Hyndburn Burnley Pendle West Lancashire Chorley Blackburn with Darwen Rossendale

Lancashire is a ceremonial county in the North West of England. Its two cities are Lancaster and Preston. Before 1974, Liverpool and Manchester were part of the administrative county of Lancashire.

Rivalry

The county has developed a fierce rivalry with Yorkshire, the next county east. This comes from rivalry in sport, such as in cricket, and comes from the War of the Roses.

Places

A big attraction in Lancashire is Blackpool, an English seaside resort, which has a theme park called Blackpool Pleasure Beach. It has the second largest rollercoaster in Europe ("The Big One") and Blackpool Tower, a tower which was made to look like the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Lancashire has market towns (like Chorley) and small villages (like Bretherton, Croston and Eccleston). It is just south of an area of outstanding natural beauty called the Lake District. Lancashire also has a lot of pleasant countryside such as White Coppice and the Rivington Moors.

Food

A famous food from Lancashire is "Lancashire hotpot" which is made of meat, onion or other vegetables and potatoes. It is often found on many pub menus in the county and in other places in Britain.

People

The people of Lancashire are known for their friendly nature. Humour is also an important part of Lancashire life.