The metropolitan borough was formed on 1 April 1974, by the merger of the County Borough of Bolton and the following districts from the administrative county of Lancashire:

• Municipal Borough of Farnworth
• Urban District of Blackrod
• Urban District of Horwich
• Urban District of Kearsley
• Urban District of Little Lever
• Urban District of Westhoughton
• the southern part of Turton Urban District, specifically the villages of Bradshaw, Bromley Cross, Dunscar, Egerton and Harwood. This area is now known as South Turton.

Bolton Council unsuccessfully petitioned Elizabeth II for the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton to be granted city status in 1992 (the Queen's 40th year as monarch), in 2000 (for the Millennium celebrations), in 2002 (Queen's Golden Jubilee), and 2012 (Queen's Diamond Jubilee).^[2]

Horwich, Westhoughton and Blackrod are now constituted as civil parishes. There are three Town Councils in the metropolitan borough, Westhoughton Town Council, Horwich Town Council and Blackrod Town Council. The rest of the metropolitan borough, Bolton, Farnworth, Kearsley, Little Lever, and South Turton, have remained unparished areas since 1974.

According to the 2011 census, of the 276,787people living in Bolton Metropolitan Borough, the following ethnicities have been recorded:

• 81.9% White
  • 79.4% White British
  • 0.6% White Irish
  • 0.1% White Traveller
  • 1.8% Other White
• 14.0% Asian
  • 7.8% Indian
  • 4.3% Pakistani
  • 0.2% Bangladeshi
  • 0.5% Chinese
  • 1.1% Other Asian
• 1.8% Mixed Race
  • 0.7% White and Asian
  • 0.6% White and Black Caribbean
  • 0.2% White and Black African
  • 0.3% Other Mixed
• 1.7% Black
  • 1.2% Black African
  • 0.2% Black Caribbean
  • 0.2% Other Black
• 0.7% Other
  • 0.3% Arab
  • 0.4% Other

Population changeEdit

The table below details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data. Although the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton has only existed since 1974, figures have been generated by combining data from the towns, villages, and civil parishes that would later be constituent parts of the borough.

The Bolton metropolitan area is served by the following railway stations:

• Bolton Trinity Street
• Bromley Cross
• Hall i' th' Wood
• Blackrod
• Horwich Parkway (for the University of Bolton Stadium – Bolton Wanderers)
• Lostock
• Westhoughton
• Moses Gate
• Farnworth
• Kearsley
• Daisy Hill

In 2007, Bolton was ranked 69th out of the 149 Local Education Authorities – and sixth out of ten in Greater Manchester – for its National Curriculum assessment performance.^[4] Measured on the percentage of pupils attaining at least 5 A*–C grades at GCSE including maths and English, the Bolton LEA was 111th out of 149: 40.1% of pupils achieved this objective, against a national average of 46.7%.^[5] Unauthorised absence from Bolton's secondary schools in the 2006/2007 academic year was 1.4%, in line with the national average, and authorised absence was 6.0% against the national average of 6.4%.^[6] At GCSE level, Bolton School (Girls' Division) was the most successful of Bolton's 21 secondary schools, with 99% of pupils achieving at least 5 A*–C grades at including maths and English.^[7]

The University of Bolton is one of Greater Manchester's four universities. In 2008, The Times Good University Guide ranked it 111th of 113 institutions in Britain.^[8] There are 4,440 students (83% undergraduate, 17% postgraduate); 2.6% come from outside Britain. In 2007 there were 8.8 applications for every place, and student satisfaction was recorded as 74.4%. It is one of Britain's newest universities, having been given this status in 2005.^[9]

GCSE Examination Performance 2009Edit

• The table on the left shows the percentage of students gaining five A* to C grades, including English and Maths, for secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton.
• The table on the right shows the Average Total Point Score per Student for secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton.
• Schools highlighted in yellow are above the LEA average; those highlighted in orange are below the average.
• Another secondary school, Bolton Muslim Girls' School, has opened since January 2007; no results are available.
• Source: Department for Children, Schools and Families^{[permanent dead link]}

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton has two twin towns, one in France and another in Germany.^[10]

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Merton.

IndividualsEdit

• William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme: 10 November 1902.
• John Pennington Thomasson: 10 November 1902.
• Andrew Carnegie: 29 September 1910.
• FM Rt Hon Lord Montgomery : 5 November 1949.
• Nat Lofthouse: 2 December 1989.
• Robert Howarth: 16 June 2001.
• Sir Jason Kenny: 16 March 2022.^[11]

Military unitsEdit

• 253rd Regiment Royal Artillery (TA): 18 April 1964.
• 5th Battalion Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) (TA): 18 April 1964.
• HMS Dido, RN: 14 April 1973.
• 216 (The Bolton Artillery) Battery 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment Royal Artillery: 18 May 1994.
• 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 14 March 2009.

^[12]

• Bolton local elections
• List of Mayors of Bolton
• List of people from Bolton