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Communications.—Apart from the Manchester Ship Canal, canal-traffic plays an important part in the industrial region. In 1760 the Sankey canal, 10 m. long, the first canal opened in Britain (apart from very early works), was constructed to carry coal from St Helens to Liverpool. Shortly afterwards the duke of Bridgewater projected the great canal from Manchester across the Irwell to Worsley, completed in 1761 and bearing the name of its originator. The Leeds and Liverpool canal, begun in 1770, connects Liverpool and other important towns with Leeds by a circuitous route of 130 m. The other principal canals are the Rochdale, the Manchester (to Huddersfield) and the Lancaster, connecting Preston and Kendal. A short canal connects Ulverston with Morecambe Bay. A network of railways covers the industrial region. The main line of the London and North Western railway enters the county at Warrington, and runs north through Wigan, Preston, Lancaster and Carnforth. It also serves Liverpool and Manchester, providing the shortest route to each of these cities from London, and shares with the Lancashire and Yorkshire company joint lines to Southport, to Blackpool and to Fleetwood, whence there is regular steamship communication with Belfast. The Lancashire and Yorkshire line serves practically all the important centres as far north as Preston and Fleetwood. All the northern trunk lines from London have services to Manchester and Liverpool. The Cheshire Lines system, worked by a committee of the Great Northern, Great Central and Midland companies, links their systems with the South Lancashire district generally, and maintains lines between Liverpool and Manchester, both these cities with Southport, and numerous branches. Branches of the Midland railway from its main line in Yorkshire serve Lancaster, Morecambe, and Heysham and Carnforth, where connexion is made with the Furness railway to Ulverston, Barrow, Lake Side, Coniston, &c.

Population and Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 1,203,365 acres. Its population in 1801 was 673,486; in 1891, 3,926,760; and in 1901, 4,406,409. The area of the administrative county is 1,196,753 acres. The distribution of the industrial population may be best appreciated by showing the parliamentary divisions, parliamentary, county and municipal boroughs and urban districts as placed among the four divisions of the ancient county. In the case of urban districts the name of the great town to which each is near or adjacent