Merseyside
Shown within England
Geography
Status	Metropolitan county & Ceremonial county
Origin	1974 (Local Government Act 1972)
Region	North West England
Area - Total	Ranked 43rd 645 km2 (249 sq mi)
ONS code	2B
NUTS 2	UKD5
Demography
Population - Total (2004) - Density	Ranked 9th 1,365,900 2,118/km2 (5,490/sq mi)
Ethnicity	97.1% White British 2.9% Black British, British Asian, British Chinese, British Mixed
Politics
No county council
Members of Parliament	Peter Dowd (L) Ben Chapman (L) Claire Curtis-Thomas (L) Angela Eagle (L) Maria Eagle (L) Louise Ellman (L)/(Co-op) Frank Field (L) Stephen Hesford (L) George Howarth (L) Jane Kennedy (L) Peter Kilfoyle (L) Edward O'Hara (L) John Pugh (LD) Robert Wareing (L) David Watts (L) Shaun Woodward (L)
Districts
Liverpool Sefton Knowsley St Helens Wirral

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. Taking its name from the River Mersey, the title "Merseyside" came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974.

Merseyside is divided into two parts by the Mersey estuary: the Wirral is on the west side of the estuary upon the Wirral Peninsula; the rest of the county is on the east side. The northern part of Merseyside borders onto Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, both parts border Cheshire to the south.