Lancashire is a county of England, in the northwest of the country. The county did not exist in 1066 and was apparently first created in 1182 making it one of the youngest of the traditional counties. In 1974 the administrative Lancashire was created, which lost substantial parts to new creations. Since then, Preston has served as the seat of the county council, although the historic county palatine boundaries are still recognized and unmoved with Lancaster still being recognised as the county town. Traditional borders are still followed by organisations such as the Lancashire FA.

The historic county consisted of two separate parts. The main part runs along the northwestern coast of England. When it included Manchester and Liverpool it had a greatest length of 76 miles, and breadth of 45 miles, and an area of 1,208,154 acres. The northern detached part of the old county palatine, consisting of Furness and Cartmell was 25 miles in length, 23 miles in breadth and was separated from the main portion of Lancashire by Morecambe Bay and the Kendal district of Westmorland. Administratively it has now joined Westmorland as part of modern Cumbria. This district reaches a peak height of 2633ft at Old Man of Coniston, the highest in England.

Lancashire (/ˈlæŋkəʃər/, /ˈlæŋkəʃɪər/ or, locally, [ˈɫaŋkɪʃə(ɻ)]; archaically the County Palatine of Lancaster; abbreviated Lancs.) is a county in north west England. Although Lancaster is still the county town, the county's administrative centre is Preston. The county has a population of 1,449,300 and an area of 1,189 square miles (3,080 km²). People from the county are known as Lancastrians.

The history of Lancashire begins with its founding in the 12th century. In the Domesday Book of 1086, some of its lands were treated as part of Yorkshire. The land that lay between the Ribble and Mersey, Inter Ripam et Mersam was included in the returns for Cheshire. When its boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire and Cheshire.

Lancashire emerged as a major commercial and industrial region during the Industrial Revolution. Manchester and Liverpool grew into its largest cities, dominating global trade and the birth of modern capitalism. The county contained several mill towns and the collieries of the Lancashire Coalfield. By the 1830s, approximately 85% of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire.Accrington, Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, Chorley, Colne, Darwen, Nelson, Oldham, Preston, Rochdale and Wigan were major cotton mill towns during this time. Blackpool was a centre for tourism for the inhabitants of Lancashire's mill towns, particularly during wakes week.

Lancashire is a county in England.

Lancashire may also refer to:

Places

People

Food

Sport

Lancashire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1290, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament, traditionally known as Knights of the Shire until 1832.

The ancient county of Lancashire covered a much larger area than the modern county of Lancashire. The county town of Lancaster was in the north of the county. The county boundary was further north beyond Carnforth and followed approximately the same boundary as the modern county. The old county of Lancashire also included land on the opposite side of Morecambe Bay. Barrow and Furness and the area between Lake Windermere and the River Duddon, and the area west of the River Winster were considered parts of Lancashire. Most of the modern district of Ribble Valley was at this time part of Yorkshire. In the south the county extended to the River Mersey and Liverpool and followed the Mersey and the River Tame to Ashton-under-Lyne. Most of the southern area of the ancient county now forms the modern metropolitan counties of Merseyside and Greater Manchester.