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Dudley

Dudley is a market town in the West Midlands, England, 6 mi southeast of Wolverhampton and 8 mi northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the 2011 census, it had a population of 79,379. The Metropolitan Borough, which includes the towns of Stourbridge and Halesowen, had a population of 312,900. In 2014, the borough council adopted a slogan describing Dudley as the capital of the Black Country,  a title by which it had long been informally known.

Originally a market town, Dudley was one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution and grew into an industrial centre in the 19th century with its iron, coal, and limestone industries before their decline and the relocation of its commercial centre to the nearby Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the 1980s. Tourist attractions include Dudley Zoo and Castle, the 12th century priory ruins, and the Black Country Living Museum.

Early history

Dudley has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, its name deriving from the Old English Duddan Leah, meaning Dudda's clearing, and one of its churches being named in honour of the Anglo-Saxon king and saint, Edmund.

Mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Dudelei, in the hundred of Clent in Worcestershire, the town was listed as being a medium-sized manor in the possession of Earl Edwin of Mercia prior to the Norman Conquest, with William Fitz-Ansculf as Lord of the Manor in 1086. Dudley Castle, constructed in 1070 by William's father Ansculf de Picquigny after his acquisition of the town, served as the seat of the extensive Barony of Dudley, which possessed estates in eleven different counties across England.

Of historical significance, the town was attacked by King Stephen in 1138, after a failed siege of the castle following the baron's decision to support Empress Matilda's claim to the throne during The Anarchy.

The castle provided the centre from which the town and borough grew, with early coal and iron workings helping establish Dudley as a major market town during the Middle Ages, selling not only agricultural produce, but also iron goods at a national level. Working iron and mining for coal was in practice as early as the 13th century. The first mention of Dudley's status as a borough dates from the mid-13th century, when Roger de Somery, then Baron of Dudley, approved of the establishment of a market in nearby Wolverhampton. An inquisition after his death further established the value and importance of the borough, with mentions of the town's growing coal industry.

Early modern and Industrial Revolution
By the early 16th century the Dudley estate, now held by the Sutton family, had become severely in debt and was first mortgaged to distant relative John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, before being sold outright in 1535. Following Dudley's execution in 1553, the estate returned to the Sutton family, during whose ownership the town was visited by Queen Elizabeth during a tour of England.

In 1605, conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot fled to Holbeche House in nearby Wall Heath, where they were defeated and captured by the forces of the Sheriff of Worcestershire.

During the English Civil War Dudley served as a Royalist stronghold, with the castle besieged twice by the Parliamentarians and later partly demolished on the orders of the Government after the Royalist surrender. It is also from around this time that the oldest excavated condoms, found in the remains of Dudley Castle, were believed to have originated.

Dudley had become an incredibly impoverished place during the 16th and 17th centuries, but the advent of the Industrial Revolution began to reverse this trend. In the early 17th century, Dud Dudley, an illegitimate son of Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley and Elizabeth Tomlinson, devised a method of smelting Iron ore using coke at his father's works in Cradley and Pensnett Chase, though his trade was unsuccessful due to circumstances of the time. Abraham Darby was descended from Dud Dudley's sister, Jane, and was the first person to produce iron commercially using coke instead of charcoal at his works in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire in 1709. Abraham Darby was born near Wrens Nest Hill near the town of Dudley and it is claimed that he may have known about Dud Dudley's earlier work.

Dud Dudley's discovery, together with improvements to the local road network and the construction of the Dudley Canal, made Dudley into an important industrial and commercial centre. The first Newcomen steam engine, used to pump water from the mines of the Lord Dudley's estates, was installed at the Conygree coal works a mile east of Dudley Castle in 1712, though this is challenged by Wolverhampton, which also claims to have been the location of the first working Newcomen engine.

Dudley's population grew dramatically during the 18th and 19th centuries because of the increase in industry, with the main industries including coal and limestone mining. Other industries included iron, steel, engineering, metallurgy, glass cutting, textiles and leatherworking.

During this time living conditions remained very poor, with Dudley being named "the most unhealthy place in the country" in 1851. Health Inspector William Lee stated that "In no other part of England and Wales is the work of human extermination effected in so short a time as ... in Dudley". The report led to the installation of clean water supplies and sewage systems. Later the extensive development of council housing during the early 20th century relocated the occupants of local slum housing.

Following the Reform Act of 1832, Dudley returned one Member of Parliament (MP), a privilege first enacted in the Parliament of 1295. The town was re-incorporated as a Municipal Borough in 1865, later becoming a County Borough in 1889.

Modern day
Dudley was developed substantially in the early 20th century, with the construction of many entertainment venues including a theatre and cinemas, with two indoor shopping centres being added later in the century. The grounds of Dudley Castle were converted into a zoo in 1937 by the Earl of Dudley, with buildings designed by architect Berthold Lubetkin. A reported 250,000 people attempted to visit the site upon the first day of opening.

In World War II, Dudley was bombed on several occasions. On 19 November 1940 a Luftwaffe bomb demolished a public house in the town centre and damaged several nearby buildings including St Thomas's Church and the new Co-Operative department store, but there were no fatalities. However, on the same night a landmine was dropped in the Oakham area of the town and demolished a section of council houses in City Road, resulting in the deaths of 10 people and injuring many others. On 12 August 1941, four people were killed when another landmine was dropped in nearby Birch Crescent. These were the only fatal air raids on Dudley.

Following local government reforms in 1966, Dudley was expanded to include the majority of the former urban districts of Brierley Hill and Sedgley, along with parts of Coseley, Amblecote and Rowley Regis; an area in the eastern section of the town was also transferred into the new borough of Warley. Most of this land had been held by the Lords of Dudley, and contained within the Dudley registration district and parliamentary borough. In 1974, further reorganization led to the creation of the present-day metropolitan borough, which included the nearby towns of Stourbridge and Halesowen.

Dudley was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. The tornado touched down in Woodsetton, subsequently passing through Dudley town centre, causing moderate damage, before dissipating.

The declining industry in Dudley has given rise to high unemployment, resulting in the closure of many businesses in the town. The development of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre between 1985 and 1990 also saw the loss of most of the town centre's leading name stores, which relocated to take advantage of the tax incentives offered by Merry Hill's status as an Enterprise Zone. The financial crisis and recession resulted in even more of the retail units in the town centre becoming vacant, with the Woolworths store on Market Place closing in December 2008 when the company went bankrupt, and Beatties closing its store – the last department store in the town – in January 2010, after more than 40 years due to falling trade.

Local government
The town had been a manorial borough from the end of the 13th century, and from at least the 16th century until the passing of the Dudley Town Act 1791 (31 Geo. 3. c. 79), was governed by the Court Leet of the Lords of Dudley. From 1791, the Town Commissioners were the main local authority although the Court Leet continued to meet until 1866. In 1836 the Dudley Poor Law Union was formed, consisting of Dudley itself, and the parishes of Sedgley, Tipton, and Rowley Regis. In 1853 the Town Commissioners were superseded by the Board of Health, before the town was eventually incorporated into a municipal borough in 1865. It became a county borough in 1888 under the Local Government Act.

For many years the town (but not the castle, which was outside the boundary in Staffordshire) formed part of an exclave of the county of Worcestershire. Despite the more recent changes in county boundaries, the town and borough still remain part of the Anglican Diocese of Worcester.

Dudley Council House in Priory Road was financed by the then Earl of Dudley, and was officially opened by Duke of Kent in December 1935. Dudley Town Hall (an events venue) opened on St James's Road in 1928; it stands next to council offices which were converted from the old Police Station in 1939, after the construction of a new building on nearby New Street.

Dudley is the administrative centre of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, governed by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. The borough, which also includes the towns of Halesowen and Stourbridge, had a population of 312,925 as of the 2011 census. In 2012 the Dudley Metropolitan Borough made an unsuccessful bid to receive city status, losing out to Chelmsford, Perth, and St. Asaph.

National government
Dudley presently has two parliamentary constituencies, Dudley North and Dudley South, which cover the town and its surrounding area. In October 2017, proposals to revise constituency boundaries were published that would reduce Dudley to just one constituency. The town itself would be divided between multiple constituencies, including ones predominantly based in neighbouring council areas such as Wolverhampton and Sandwell. The proposals were criticised by then MP for Dudley North, Ian Austin As of the 2019 general election, the current Members of Parliament (MPs) elected from these seats to the House of Commons are Marco Longhi and Mike Wood, both Conservatives.

Landmarks
The 13th-century ruins of Dudley Castle overlook the town; it is a Grade I listed structure. Dudley Zoo is built into the castle grounds, and houses a large collection of endangered species, and also the largest collection of Tecton buildings in the world. Under proposals by Dudley Zoo, in partnership with Dudley Council, St. Modwen, and Advantage West Midlands, the zoo is to be regenerated, which will see a former freightliner site redeveloped with a tropical dome, Asiatic forest, two aquatic facilities and walkthrough aviaries. It was expected to cost £38.7 million in 2007.

There are many canals in and around Dudley, the main one being the Dudley Canal – most of which passes beneath the town in the Dudley Tunnel and is accessible only by boat because there is no towpath. The open sections of canal are popular with walkers, cyclists, fishermen, and narrowboat users. Many of the canalside towpaths have been upgraded for cycling, and some sections are part of the National Cycle Network.

St James's Church at Eve Hill had a church school from the mid-19th century, but this was closed during the 1970s and was used as a community centre for several years before being transferred to the Black Country Museum in 1989. The site of the school remained undeveloped until 2008, when work began on a new health centre.

There are 11 scheduled ancient monuments in Dudley and the surrounding district, and 260 listed buildings, including 6 Grade I listed and 19 Grade II* listed buildings.

Entertainment
The town was formerly home to a number of cinemas and theatres, including the Criterion, Gaumont, Odeon, and Plaza. The Dudley Hippodrome was one of the largest theatres in the West Midlands, built along with the adjacent Plaza Cinema just prior to the Second World War in 1938. The 1,600-seat Art Deco venue was constructed to replace the earlier Opera House, which had burned down in 1936. After its closure in 1964, the building was in use as a bingo hall until 2009, when it was purchased by Dudley Council with a view for demolition. After long public opposition the building was leased to campaigners in December 2016, with the intent to restore it to theatre use; however the lease was revoked by the council in February 2018, citing a lack of progress. It was demolished in 2023 despite a campaign to save it.

The Plaza Cinema remained open until October 1990. The building was then taken over by Laser Quest, until its closure and demolition in 1997. As of January 2017 the site remains undeveloped.

The Odeon Cinema was converted into a Kingdom Hall for Jehovah's Witnesses in 1976. A present-day Odeon currently exists at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre.

Dudley is currently home to a multiplex Showcase Cinema and Tenpin bowling alley, located in the Castle Gate complex north-east of the town centre. The Town Hall also acts as an entertainment venue, hosting dances, theatrical performances, and concerts.

Until 2011, the JB's nightclub was situated on Castle Hill, after relocating from an earlier site in King Street (behind Pathfinders clothes store) in the 1990s. Claimed to have been the longest-running live music venue in the UK, the club hosted early performances by acts such as U2, Dire Straits, and Judas Priest. It closed after going into administration and has since reopened as a banqueting centre.

Museums and galleries
The museums in Dudley celebrate the geological and industrial heritage of the town and the surrounding Black Country region, and its role in the Industrial Revolution. The Black Country Living Museum is an open-air living museum, which consists of reconstructed buildings from the surrounding area forming a living replica of an industrial village, with demonstrators portraying life in the region from that time. Work began in 2022 to recreate a typical Black Country town centre using original buildings such as the Woodside Library and replicas of other lost buildings such as the Elephant & Castle pub which stood at the junction of Stafford Street and Cannock Road in Wolverhampton. The pub, whose lower section is clad in traditional Victorian glazed tiles, opened within the museum's village in Autumn 2022.

The Dudley Museum and Art Gallery was formerly located in the town centre, having first opened in 1912, but was closed by Dudley Council in 2016 as part of cost-cutting measures, despite widespread public opposition. Some of the museum collections were later relocated to a permanent exhibit at the local archives centre on Tipton Road, adjacent to the Black Country Living Museum.

Rail
According to ONS, there are two railway stations in Dudley, both just over a mile from Dudley town centre, these are Dudley Port and Tipton. They are within the town of Dudley but outside the borough boundary as parts of Sandwell are considered within Dudley Town. The nearest station to the town within the Dudley borough is Coseley. All of these stations are on the same line, served by local services operated by West Midlands Trains. The nearest regular intercity services run from the Sandwell & Dudley in Oldbury, which was rebuilt in 1984 to serve the two boroughs.

Dudley railway station located in the town centre was closed under the Beeching cuts in 1964. It opened in 1860 on the junction between the South Staffordshire and the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton lines, and in its heyday was a hub of services east to Birmingham (via a junction at Great Bridge), Walsall and Lichfield; north to Wolverhampton, Tipton and Coseley; and south-west to Stourbridge, as well as a line that served the small communities on the way to Old Hill and Halesowen. The site was later used as a Freightliner terminal by Freightliner, until an unpopular closure on 26 September 1989.

A proposal to re-open the segment of line between Dudley and Dudley Port was unveiled in December 2014, to allow for a light rail link from the town centre to the main line, but this plan was scrapped in May 2016 as Dudley Council favoured keeping the line available for the now confirmed West Midlands Metro extension to Brierley Hill, then later Stourbridge.

Bus
Dudley bus station is in the town centre and has many connections to surrounding towns, cities, and communities, including Birmingham, Halesowen, Smethwick, Stourbridge, Walsall, West Bromwich, and Wolverhampton, amongst others. The bus station also has coach services run by National Express, mostly to and from London or Wolverhampton. Other places served include holiday destination Blackpool, and London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports. There are also small bus stations located at Russells Hall Hospital and the Merry Hill Shopping Centre.

Dudley town centre has been served by a bus station at the junction of Birmingham Street and Fisher Street since 1952. The original bus station was cleared in 1984 and replaced by the current bus station, which became fully operational in 1987. The original bus station was on the slope at right angles to the current bus station. It was replaced by a "temporary car park" which remained in use until work began on the Midland Metro extension in 2020 which will also see the current bus station demolished. Work on a replacement bus station is set to start in January 2024 with buses using stops in nearby roads for around eighteen months.

Midland Red used to operate bus services in the town, mostly from its own bus depot, which opened in 1929. This depot was located on Birmingham Road and passed to West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive in 1973, along with operation of all bus services in Dudley. The depot was closed in 1993 and demolished a year later to make way for the Castle Gate roundabout, at the eastern end of the town's new southern by-pass. The island was built in 1997 and the bypass opened on 15 October 1999.

Road
Dudley is served by main roads which give a direct route to neighbouring towns. The longest of these roads are the B4176 (which runs to Wombourne, Bridgnorth and Telford) and the A461 (which passes through Wednesbury and Walsall, finally reaching Lichfield).

The nearest motorway is the M5, with the closest junction situated in Oldbury, 3 mi south-east of the town.

Air
The nearest international airport is Birmingham Airport, around 19 mi to the east. The nearest local airport is Wolverhampton Airport, which is about 10 mi to the west of the town.

Tram
Dudley was the terminus point of two tram routes which opened in the later part of the 19th century. The first route, linking the town with Tipton and Wednesbury, opened on 21 January 1884 operating steam trams, the route being electrified in 1907 before being closed in March 1930 and replaced by Midland Red buses along the route. The second route opened a year later, linking the town with Birmingham and heading through the centre of nearby Tividale village on the Dudley-Tipton border. This line was electrified in 1904 and remained open until 30 September 1939, when it too was replaced by Midland Red buses.

An 11 km long line bringing 2 new lines of the West Midlands Metro, running from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill via Dudley, will re-instate a tram service through the town centre and was due to open in stages on two metro lines to Birmingham and Wolverhampton from 2022 to 2023. However lack of funds have put the opening date back to 2024–2025.

Geology
Dudley covers an area of the South Staffordshire Coalfield, which contributed heavily to its growth and industrialisation during the 18th century Industrial Revolution.

North-west of the town centre lies the Wren's Nest Nature Reserve, the first British nature reserve in an urban area and a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), considered to be one of the most notable geological locations in the British Isles. A part of the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation, it was heavily mined for centuries because of its large limestone deposits, and is also the location of one of the largest fossil sites in England. The town lends its name to the "Dudley locust", (also 'Dudley Bug'), a trilobite with the scientific name Calymene blumenbachii that was found in these limestone pits in 1749 by Charles Lyttleton.

In the 1830s, Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Murchison visited the Wren's Nest to collect fossils as part of his research. 65% of his palaeontological evidence featured in the 1839 publication "The Silurian System" was from Dudley.

Demography
The current figure for the population of Dudley is 79,379. This figure differs considerably from that given at the 2001 census (194,919), which led to it being considered one of the largest towns in Britain without city status. However, this change is not due to large population movements but to a redefinition of the town's boundaries (for example, Kingswinford with a population of over 50,000, included as Dudley in the 2001 census, is now considered a separate town ). In addition, the 2001 Urban Subdivision included Brierley Hill, which the local authority considers a separate town. It also included other local centres such as Sedgley and Gornal.

Primary education
Dudley is served by a range of primary schools. Several of these are church schools. For example, Jesson's Church of England Primary School, St Chads Roman Catholic School, St Edmund's and St John's Church of England Primary School and Netherton Church of England Primary School are all Church of England primary schools.

Other primary schools in the town include Dudley Wood Primary School, Priory Primary School, Kates Hill Primary School, Sledmere Primary School, Russells Hall Primary School, Milking Bank Primary School, Highgate Primary School, Northfield Road Primary School, Dudley Wood Primary School, Foxyards Primary School, Netherbrook Primary School (in Netherton), Blowers Green Primary School and Wrens Nest Primary School. Many of these schools are named after the housing estates they are located within.

Primary schools throughout the Dudley borough all provide education for pupils aged 5 to 11 years. Some schools also have nursery units for pupils aged 3 and 4 years. From 1972 to 1990, schoolchildren in Dudley, Sedgley, Coseley and Brierley Hill stayed at primary school until the age of 12. Halesowen ran a 5–13 first and middle school system from 1972 to 1982, while Stourbridge and Kingswinford have always had a traditional 5–11 infant and junior system.

Secondary education
There are several secondary schools in and around Dudley. The Dudley Academies Trust, created in association with Dudley College, runs four of these: Beacon Hill Academy in Sedgley, The Link Academy in Netherton, Pegasus Academy in Holly Hall, and St James Academy near the town centre.

Bishop Milner Catholic College is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the town. Opened in 1960, it became one of the first Roman Catholic secondary schools in the region and is the oldest existing secondary school – by name – in Dudley.

All of the town's grammar schools were changed to comprehensives in 1975. Casualties of this change included Dudley's girls and boys grammar schools, which merged with the nearby Park Secondary School to form The Dudley School (which in turn became Castle High upon a merger with The Blue Coat School in 1989, and now comprises the St James Academy). Several other grammar schools, such as the High Arcal School (now Beacon Hill Academy), survived merely with a change in status.

Dudley traditionally ran a system of 5–7 infant, 7–11 junior and 11+ secondary schools, but in September 1972 the system was altered to create 5–8 first, 8–12 middle and 12+ secondary schools; though this system was not introduced in the Kingswinford area. The traditional school system was restored in September 1990, since Stourbridge (which had become part of the borough in 1974) had retained the traditional system, and Halesowen (also part of the borough since 1974) had reverted in 1982. At this time all of the town's remaining sixth forms were closed in favour of concentrating post-16 education in the borough's further education colleges.

Special schools
There are several special schools within Dudley, to cater for students with special educational needs. The Old Park School serves pupils from the age of 3 to 19, and was originally located in the Russells Hall Estate, but relocated to new premises in Quarry Bank in 2011. The Rosewood School also caters for children within the age range. It was built on the Russells Hall Estate during the 1960s, but relocated to the former Highfields Primary School site in Coseley in March 2008.

The Woodsetton School near Sedgley caters to pupils from ages 4–11.

Sutton School, built in 1962 in Russells Hall, caters only for pupils from 11 to 16.

Defunct schools
As well as The Dudley School, Sir Gilbert Claughton School and The Blue Coat School, which merged to form Castle High School, other defunct schools in the town include Rosland Secondary School, which became part of The Blue Coat School in 1970, and Park Secondary School. The Mons Hill School also shut down as a result of falling pupil numbers; it had originally opened in 1965 to replace the Wolverhampton Street School.

Primary schools that no longer exist include St James' School (erected in 1842), St John's Primary School and St Edmund's Primary School, which merged to form St Edmund's and St John's Church of England Primary School in the 1970s. The St Edmund's building still exists on the corner of Castle Hill and Birmingham Street, and is now used as a mosque.

Sycamore Green Primary School shut down in July 2006 as a result of falling pupil numbers. Staff and pupils were transferred to the nearby Wrens Nest Primary School, and the school buildings are now used as a Pupil Referral Unit for students studying at Key Stage 3.

Further and Higher Education
Originally established as a Mechanics' Institute in 1862, Dudley College of Technology provides further education for the town. Plans to establish a 'learning quarter' saw several new campuses built in the town centre in 2012, replacing previous sites elsewhere in the borough.

Dudley Training College for Teachers was opened in 1909 on a site on Eve Hill. In 1965 it was renamed Dudley College of Education, a period when it trained over 600 students a year. It was taken over by Wolverhampton Polytechnic in 1977, which then became the University of Wolverhampton. The campus was closed in 2002 and the main college building was demolished, leaving the town and borough without higher education provision. A new Institute of Technology, offering higher education courses, was due to open in 2021 in the Castle Hill area.

Libraries
Dudley Library is situated on St. James's Road, in the town centre. The present building, a Grade II listed Edwardian baroque, was designed by George H. Wenyon, and opened in 1909 to replace the older site in Priory Street. The statuary above the main entrance depicts "philosophy, science and the arts" and was put in place by H.H. Martyn & Co. The town has had a public library since 1878. The library underwent a major expansion in 1966, and significant refurbishment in 2002 and 2012.

The library service also operates eight branch libraries and four self-service 'Library Links', along with four other main libraries situated throughout Dudley Borough, including Netherton Library, which moved buildings to the Savoy centre in 2012. A controversial re-structuring and modernisation of the service between 2006 and 2009 lead to the closure of several smaller borough libraries in favour of the 'Library Links'.

Medical
Dudley is served by several National Health Service facilities. The main general hospital is Russells Hall, located to the south of the town. It was constructed in 1976, though financial difficulties prevented it from opening until 1983. A major expansion of the hospital was completed in 2005 when it incorporated all inpatient services from the other hospitals in the borough.

The Guest Hospital was initially created as a charity hospital by the Earl of Dudley in 1849 to accommodate blinded miners. It was taken over by local chainmaker Joseph Guest in 1871, and converted for general hospital use. It remained in use throughout the twentieth century, but was downgraded to an outpatient-only centre in the 2000s following the construction of a new block; the original hospital site was re-developed for private housing in 2018.

Bushey Fields Hospital provides psychiatric care for the area. It was developed adjacent to Russells Hall Hospital in the 1980s and early 1990s to replace facilities at Burton Road Hospital. Approximately one mile west of the town centre, Burton Road Hospital was built in the mid-19th century, initially as a workhouse, before becoming a hospital in 1859. It closed in December 1993, and was demolished the following year for re-development.

The town's ambulance station was opened on land adjacent to Burton Road Hospital in 1986.

Emergency services
Law enforcement in Dudley is carried out by West Midlands Police, with the borough's sole police station located in Brierley Hill. Closure of Dudley Police Station was announced in 2017 as part of cost-cutting measures, though a small number of officers are set to remain in the town centre from a shared base with the local council. The police station had originally opened in 1939 to replace a 19th-century structure on Priory Street, which now forms part of the civic centre.

In 2019 plans were put forward to build a new police station in the town centre, although disputes between Dudley Council and West Midlands Police have delayed the project.

Fire and rescue services are provided by the West Midlands Fire Service, with the fire station situated on Burton Road on land previously occupied by Burton Road Hospital. The former fire station site on Tower Street now forms part of a campus of Dudley College. West Midlands Ambulance Service provides emergency medical care, with the ambulance station also on Burton Road, near to the fire station.

There is also a Dudley Detachment of the Army Cadet Force, Air Cadet Squadron, and Sea Cadet unit based in Dudley. The Army Reserve Centre on Vicar Street houses both Army Cadets and Air Cadets.

Religion
Part of the Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Dudley has its own Archdeaconry and suffragan bishop. The town is served by numerous parish churches, including the Church of St. Edmund, Church of St. James, and Church of St. Thomas within the town centre. In the Kate's Hill area of Dudley, one can find St John's church, whose graveyard contains the burial place of William Perry a 19th-century Prizefighter, known as the Tipton Slasher.

The oldest church in the town is St. Edmund's, dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, although the present building was not constructed until 1724, following its demolition during the English Civil War. St. Thomas' church dates from the 12th century, and was rebuilt in the 1815 after the original building was declared 'unsafe'. Both sites are now Grade II* listed.

Dudley Priory was a Cluniac priory founded circa 1160 by the Lord of Dudley, Gervase de Paganel, and controlled several churches in the surrounding area. After its initial dissolution in 1395, it reopened as a denizen priory, and remained in use until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Today the ruins form part of the surrounding Priory Park.

The Revd Robert Jones, present Archdeacon of Worcester, inducted in November 2014, was previously Vicar of St. Francis Church in Dudley for eight years.

Roman Catholics in the town are served by a church dedicated to Our Blessed Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury situated in St Joseph Street near the bus station. The church, designed by architect Augustus Pugin, dates from 1842 and has been Grade II listed since 1949. There are two Methodist Churches in Dudley: Central Church is at Cross Street near the town centre and there is another church at Dixon's Green. Dudley Baptist Church is on Priory Road in the centre of town. There is also a thriving Salvation Army Church in Dudley on North Street.

Dudley also has places of worship for other religious groups and Christian denominations, including a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall, two Sikh gurdwaras, and a Hindu temple. The old St Edmund's Church School, which closed in 1970 on a merger with St John's Church School, was converted into a mosque for the town's Islamic community, with an additional mosque also opening in the Queen's Cross area of the town.

Proposed mosque
In 2003, plans were unveiled for the construction of a new mosque (which become known as the "Super Mosque" locally) in Hall Street, a site that had been leased by Dudley Council to the Dudley Muslim Association, in exchange for a site impacted by a proposed bypass. The mosque proposals were scrapped in May 2010, after a long dispute, in favour of an expansion to the existing Dudley Central Mosque in Castle Hill, an appeal was made by the Dudley Muslim Association against the High Court ruling, and failed in February 2014.

Media
Dudley is served by a number of local newspapers. The town has its own version of the Express & Star, published daily Monday to Saturday. There are also Dudley News, which is published weekly, and (based at Dudley Archives and Local History Centre on Tipton Road in Dudley) the Black Country Bugle, which looks at the history of Dudley and the rest of the Black Country. Dudley was also served by the Dudley Evening Mail until its absorption into the Birmingham Evening Mail in late 1986. Televised local news is provided through Midlands Today and Central Tonight, which also serve the wider area of the West Midlands.

BBC Radio WM, Free Radio (formerly Beacon Radio), Heart West Midlands, Greatest Hits West Midlands, and Smooth Radio 105.7 are some of the local radio stations that can be received in Dudley, also serving the wider West Midlands. Black Country Community Radio broadcasts online from its Dudley Studios serving The Central and Northern Black Country. The Kates Hill Press, founded in 1992 and named after a famous Dudley landmark, is a small press concentrating on the publishing of fiction and non-fiction of mainly local and regional interest.

Retail
As a commercial centre, Dudley's town centre has become increasingly run down; in 2012 nearly a third of its shop units lay vacant, the highest figure for a centre of its size in England. Retailing was particularly hard hit by the opening of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre 2.5 mi away, between 1985 and 1990. This led to the exit of the majority of major retailers, including British Home Stores (June 1990), Marks & Spencer (August 1990), Sainsbury's (August 1989), C&A (January 1992), and Littlewoods (January 1990), all of which closed before or soon after new stores opened at Merry Hill. Although the town was already in slight decline at the time following the recession of the early 1980s, the opening of the Merry Hill Centre resulted in a 70% decline of the town's market share in retail between 1985 and 1990.

Successive economic downturns have led to most remaining major retailers leaving the town centre. Department store Beatties closed in 2010, WH Smith in 2013, River Island in 2020, and Argos in 2021; the town centre is now largely occupied by take-away restaurants, charity shops, and gambling centres. The variety of businesses left led to Dudley being named 'the worst place to shop in the UK' in a 2014 study, which drew condemnation from the local council.

The town's market remains a prominent local shopping destination. Established in the 12th century, it is situated on a wide part of the High Street. It has undergone numerous developments in its history, including pedestrianisation in 1982, removal of 12th-century cobblestone paving, and a large-scale redevelopment scheme in 2015.

Industry
The Bean Cars factory was opened in the first years of the twentieth century and remained in use until the 1930s, but survives to this day for other industrial use.

early times to 1800

 * Sir John de Sutton II (1310–1359) the first Baron Sutton of Dudley
 * Sir John de Sutton IV (1361–1396) the 3rd Baron Sutton of Dudley and heir of Dudley Castle
 * John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, KG (1400–1487) English nobleman, diplomat and councillor of Henry VI
 * Sir Edmund Sutton (1425 in Dudley – c.1485) the eldest son of John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley KG, fought in wars of the roses
 * Sir Henry Dudley (1517 in Dudley Castle – 1568) English soldier, sailor, diplomat, and conspirator of the Tudor period.
 * Abraham Darby I (1678 in Woodsetton – 1717), industrial pioneer, developed the first practical method to produce iron using coke instead of charcoal
 * Henry Sanders (1727 in Dudley – 1785) English curate and local historian, curate of Shenstone, Staffordshire
 * Catherine Payton Phillips (1727 in Dudley – 1794) Quaker Minister, travelled the UK, Holland and the American colonies
 * Rev. Luke Booker (1762 in Nottingham – 1835). Vicar of St. Edmunds, Dudley and author
 * Ben Boucher (1769 in Horseley Heath – 1851), folk poet, wrote about Dudley life in the 19th century
 * Thomas Phillips RA (1770 in Dudley – 1845) leading English portrait and subject painter
 * Rev. Joseph Cooke (1775 in Dudley – 1811), a Free Christian, expelled by the Wesleyan Methodists on doctrinal grounds, became the inspiration of the Methodist Unitarian movement
 * John Badley (1783 in Dudley – 1870) FRCS, surgeon of Dudley and medical pioneer.
 * Samuel Cook (1786–1861), moved to Dudley in 1819, prominent local political campaigner against social inequality and for workers' and women's rights
 * Theophillus Dunn (c. 1790 – 1851) Fortune teller and magical healer from Netherton, known as the "Dudley Devil".
 * Robert Wallace (1791 in Dudley – 1850) English Unitarian minister

1800 to 1900

 * Thomas William Booker-Blakemore (1801 in Dudley – 1858), MP, industrialist, landowner, and politician, son of Rev. Luke Booker
 * Joseph William Moss M.D. (1803 in Dudley – 1862) was an English physician
 * John Berryman (VC) (1825 in Dudley – 1896) British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross for action in the Crimean War
 * Brooke Robinson (1836 in Dudley – 1911) solicitor, county coroner and Conservative MP for Dudley from 1886 to 1906
 * Frank Evers Beddard FRS FRSE (1858 in Dudley – 1925) English zoologist, he became a leading authority on annelids, including earthworms and oligochaetes.
 * Genie Sheppard (1863 in Dudley – 1953), militant force-fed suffragette and medical doctor
 * John Haden Badley (1865 in Dudley – 1967), Educator, founded (1893) and Headmaster (1893–1935) of Bedales School
 * Sir William Charles Angliss (1865 in Dudley – 1957) butcher, pastoralist, pioneer meat exporter, politician and philanthropist in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, knighted in 1939
 * Capt H. J. Round (1881 in Kingswinford – 1966) English engineer, pioneer of radio, reported observation of electroluminescence from a diode
 * James Whale (1889 in Dudley – 1957), Horror film director, known for his films Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein
 * Sir Cedric Hardwicke (1893 in Lye – 1964) stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly fifty years

1900 to 1950

 * Bert Bissell (1902 in Dudley – 1998), mountain climber, peace campaigner. Dudley was twinned with Fort William in his honour.
 * Percy Shakespeare (1906 in Kates Hill – 1943), artist with a talent for figure drawing and portraits
 * Charles Coulson FRS FRSE (1910 in Dudley – 1974) British applied mathematician, theoretical chemist and religious author
 * John Metcalfe Coulson (1910 in Dudley – 1990) British chemical engineering academic and twin of Charles Alfred Coulson
 * John English, OBE, MA (1911 in Dudley – 1998), theatre director and founder of the Midlands Arts Centre
 * Sir Maurice Wilkes FRS, FREng, DFBCS (1913 in Dudley – 2010) a significant British computer scientist
 * Ian Messiter (1920 in Dudley – 1999) BBC Radio producer and the creator of a number of panel games, including most famously Radio 4's Just a Minute
 * Billy Dainty (1927 in Dudley – 1986) British comedian, dancer, physical comedian and pantomime and television star
 * Roger Cashmore CMG (born 1944) went to school in Dudley, Chair of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, previously the Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford and Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Oxford
 * Sue Lawley OBE (born 1946 in Sedgley) is an English TV and radio broadcaster.

1950 to modern times

 * Nigel Mazlyn Jones (born 1950 in Dudley) English guitarist, singer and songwriter, also did part-time work at Dudley Zoo
 * Professor Rosemary Hollis (born 1952 in Dudley - 2020) political scientist, professor Middle East Policy Studies City University London
 * Norman Pace (born 1953 in Dudley) English actor and comedian, one half of the comedy duo Hale and Pace
 * Will Duckworth (born 1954 in Dudley) Green Party of England and Wales politician
 * Susan Price (born 1955 in Dudley) English author, she mainly writes children's literature and young adult fiction
 * Sir Lenny Henry, CBE (born 1958 in Dudley), stand-up comedian, actor, blues singer, writer and TV presenter
 * John Barnes (born 1961 in Dudley) radio broadcaster and journalist for the BBC.
 * Jim MacCool (born 1963) British dramatic poet in the shanachie or travelling bard tradition, also poet-in-residence for Dudley
 * Jason Bonham (born 1966 in Dudley), drummer, son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham
 * Carl Trueman (born 1967 in Dudley), Reformed theologian and historian, professor at Grove City College, Pennsylvania
 * Andrew Griffiths (born 1970 in Dudley) Conservative MP for Burton since 2010
 * Jas Mann (born 1971 in Dudley) British songwriter, singer, record producer, film producer and lead singer of Babylon Zoo
 * Shafiq Rasul (born 1977 in Dudley) a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay
 * Warren Nettleford (born 1982 in Dudley) television presenter and reporter

Sport up to 1950

 * Joe Darby (1861 in Windmill End, Netherton – 1937), Champion spring jumper (jumping starting from a stationary position)
 * Bert Baverstock (1883 in Dudley – 1951) English footballer, spent sixteen years with Bolton Wanderers F.C. making 369 appearances
 * Charles Mayo (1884 in Dudley – 1977) English professional golfer
 * Joe Smith (1889 in Dudley – 1971), footballer and football manager of Blackpool for the 1953 FA Cup final victory over Bolton, dubbed the "Matthews Final"
 * Herbert Homer (1895 in Dudley – 1977) cricketer and cricket administrator, 85 appearances for Staffordshire
 * Dorothy Round (1909 in Dudley – 1982), tennis player and Wimbledon women's singles champion in 1934 and 1937
 * Gladys Morcom (1918 in Dudley – 2010) British swimmer in the women's 400 metre freestyle at the 1936 Summer Olympics
 * Audrey Hancock (born 1919 in Dudley - 2017) British swimmer in the women's 100 metre backstroke at the 1936 Summer Olympics
 * Dennis Stevens (1933 in Dudley – 2012) English footballer, played mainly for Bolton Wanderers F.C. and Everton F.C.
 * Albert Broadbent (1934 in Dudley – October 2006) footballer, scored 99 goals in 485 appearances mainly for Doncaster Rovers
 * Duncan Edwards (1936 in Woodside – 1958), England footballer who died in the Munich air disaster. One of the members of Manchester United's popular Busby Babes The Dudley Southern Bypass was renamed 'Duncan Edwards Way' in his memory, and a statue of him was erected in the town Market Place in 1999
 * George Andrews (born 23 April 1942) English former professional footballer, making over 400 appearances, scoring 149 goals mainly at Southport F.C., Shrewsbury Town F.C. and Walsall F.C.
 * Phil Parkes (born 1950 in Sedgley) is a former football goalkeeper for Queens Park Rangers F.C. and West Ham United F.C. making 743 appearances

Sport from 1950

 * Sam Allardyce (born 1954 in Dudley), English football player and manager as well as a former England football manager.
 * Clive Allen (born 1961 in Dudley) British basketball coach and former player with Birmingham Bullets
 * Adrian Rollinson (born 1965 in Dudley) British strongman competitor, repeat competitor at the World's Strongest Man
 * Michael Rosswess (born 1965 in Dudley) retired English sprinter, in the 200 metres event at the 1988 Summer Olympics
 * David Burrows (born 1968 in Dudley), retired professional footballer, played mainly for Liverpool and Coventry City
 * Richard Forsyth (born 1970 in Dudley) English footballer, made nearly 250 appearances for Stoke City F.C. Peterborough United F.C. and Cheltenham Town F.C.
 * Robert Norton (born 1972 in Dudley) British professional boxer, southpaw cruiserweight
 * Chris Westwood (born 1977 in Dudley) footballer, made over 500 appearances, most for Hartlepool United F.C.
 * Darren McDermott (born 1978 in Dudley) English middleweight boxer and the current holder of the English middleweight title
 * Reanne Evans (born 1985 in Dudley) English former professional snooker player, won WLBSA Ladies World Snooker Championship ten times between 2005 and 2014
 * Russell Penn (born 1985 in Dudley) professional footballer, mainly played for Kidderminster Harriers, Cheltenham Town and York City
 * Kaleigh Grainger (born 1986 in Dudley) is a British unicyclist, learning her many skills from her father, a circus skills veteran
 * Matthew Barnes-Homer (born 1986 in Dudley) English professional footballer who mainly played for Kidderminster Harriers F.C., Luton Town F.C. and Macclesfield Town F.C.
 * Asa Hall (born 1986 in Dudley) professional footballer, mainly played for Luton Town, Oxford United and Cheltenham Town
 * Luke Tilt (born 1986 in Dudley), footballer
 * Reece Brown (born 1996 in Dudley) English footballer who plays for Peterborough United F.C., on loan from Huddersfield Town A.F.C.
 * Tyler Bate (born 1997 in Dudley) British professional wrestler currently signed to WWE

In popular culture

 * The front and inner photographs for the 1971 Led Zeppelin IV album were taken in the Eve Hill area of the town; the main tower block, shown side on, is Butterfield Court off Salop Street, and still stands. The two other blocks were demolished in 1999.
 * The borehole in local author Hugh Walters' juvenile science fiction story The Mohole Mystery was sited in Dudley.
 * The television comedy series The Grimleys was set in Dudley, and was filmed approximately 80 mi away in Salford.
 * Dudley is the home town of a famous comedy TV character, Barry, in the 1980s series Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

Association football
The town's key football teams, Dudley Town F.C. and Dudley Sports F.C. have never progressed beyond the Southern League.

Dudley Town is the older of the town's two clubs, and have enjoyed the most success. Their most notable success came in 1985 when they won promotion to the Southern Premier League, but in the same year they were forced to quit Dudley Sports Centre (at the junction of Tipton Road and Birmingham Road) due to mining subsidence. They played at Round Oak Sports Ground in Brierley Hill for the next 11 years, and then spent a season ground-sharing at Halesowen Town, before resigning from the Southern League due to financial difficulties. The club was reformed in 1999 to compete in the West Midlands Regional League, and ground-share with Stourbridge at the War Memorial Athletic Ground.

In 1981, when still playing at Dudley Sports Centre, Dudley Town played a prestigious game against Wolverhampton Wanderers to commemorate a refurbishment of the stadium, with the new floodlights being switched on by legendary former Wolves player Billy Wright.

For some time after leaving Dudley Sports Centre, there were hopes that it could be made safe for Dudley Town to return, but these plans never materialised and the site was instead redeveloped as a business and leisure complex which has been developing since 2000. The club play at the Dell Stadium in Pensnett.

Rugby football
The Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club is the local rugby team, which play at their grounds in Wall Heath.

Motor sports
For a short period, a speedway team called Dudley Heathens attempted to find a site to race in Dudley. The team plays in Wolverhampton and Birmingham due to the lack of a speedway track within the Dudley borough. The team were originally called the Cradley Heath Heathens, due to the proximity of their home track at Dudley Wood Stadium to the Cradley Heath/Dudley boundary. The stadium was demolished in the mid-1990s to make way for housing development, with the club disbanding shortly afterwards, before it re-formed with the name Dudley Heathens in 2010. Though there have been attempts by the club to move back into the town, they have so far been rejected by the local authority. The team re-adopted the name Cradley Heathens in 2013. Former World Champion riders from the team include Erik Gundersen and Bruce Penhall.

Volleyball
Following a merger with the Coseley Volleyball Club, Wombourne V.C. play at the Evolve campus of Dudley College, in the town centre. They compete in the West Midlands Volleyball Association.

Twin towns
Dudley is twinned with:
 * Fort William, Scotland

title: Dudley


text:
Handkerchief

A handkerchief (also called a hankie or, historically, a handkercher or a  ) is a form of a kerchief or bandanna, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric which can be carried in the pocket or handbag for personal hygiene purposes such as wiping one's hands or face, or blowing one's nose. A handkerchief is also sometimes used as a purely decorative accessory in the breast pocket of a suit; it can then be called a pocket square. A handkerchief is also an important accessory in many folk-dances in many regions like the Balkans and the Middle East; an example of a folk-dance featuring handkerchiefs is the Greek Kalamatianós.

Modern usage
The material of a handkerchief can be symbolic of the socio-economic class of the user, not only because some materials are more expensive, but because some materials are more absorbent and practical for those who use a handkerchief for more than style. Handkerchiefs can be made of cotton, cotton-synthetic blend, synthetic fabric, silk, or linen. Handkerchiefs are also used as an impromptu way to carry around small items when a bag or basket is unavailable. They could also serve as a substitute for a bandage over a small injury. In the United Kingdom, the habit of wearing a handkerchief with tied corners on one's head at the beach has become a seaside postcard stereotype. From the late 18th century white handkerchiefs were waved, generally by women (men usually waved their hats), to demonstrate approval at public events such as processions or political rallies.

Using handkerchiefs to accentuate hand movements while dancing is a feature of both West African and African-American traditional dance, in the latter case especially in wedding celebrations. Handkerchiefs are also traditional accoutrements in certain kinds of English folk dance, such as the Morris dance.

Besides their intended use, they could be used for cleaning equipment, polishing shoes, cleaning hands and face, signaling for attention, as a sweat band, neckerchief, as protection from dust inhalation, to repair footwear, cut out pieces to patch clothes, cut up as emergency firearms cleaning patches, Molotov cocktail wick (fire-bomb), hot cooking utensil holder, a makeshift bandage, tourniquet, or arm sling.

Origin
In the times of ancient Greece and Rome, handkerchiefs were often used the way they are today.

The word handkerchief derives from the word kerchief which came from two French words: couvrir, which means "to cover", and chef, which means "head"; so a handkerchief is a similar cloth in the hand rather than on the head. (In the Middle Ages, kerchiefs were often used to cover the head.)

Then in the 16th century, people in Europe began to carry kerchiefs in their pockets to wipe their foreheads or their noses. To distinguish this kind of kerchief from the one used to cover the head, the word "hand" was added to "kerchief". This was then preferred to wiping the nose on a sleeve.

King Richard II of England, who reigned from 1377 to 1399, is widely believed to have invented the cloth handkerchief, as surviving documents written by his courtiers describe his use of square pieces of cloth to wipe his nose. Certainly they were in existence by Shakespeare's time, and a handkerchief is an important plot device in his play Othello.

A handkerchief was sometimes used by Indian thugs: to take advantage of their victims, the thugs would join travellers and gain their confidence, which would allow them to surprise and strangle the travellers with a handkerchief or noose.

Pocket square

In addition to carrying for practical purposes, handkerchiefs have long been displayed in the chest pocket of men's jackets. Used in this way, they are referred to as a pocket handkerchief or pocket square. The trend of pocket squares as a fashion accessory really started during the 1920s, and continued until the 1960s. During that period, actors such as Cary Grant, Fred Astaire and Gary Cooper wore them regularly. The pocket square subsequently fell into disuse until the late 2000s when it made a comeback thanks in part to popular television shows such as Mad Men.

Pocket squares are usually made in fabrics such as silk, cotton, linen or wool.

As a visible fashion item there are a wide variety of ways to fold a pocket square, ranging from the austere to the flamboyant:
 * The Presidential, or Flat Fold, perhaps the simplest, is folded at right angles to fit in the pocket.
 * The Winged Puff, a simple and elegant fold.
 * The Puff or the Cooper is simply shaped into a round puff.
 * The Reverse Puff, or The Crown Fold, is like the Puff, except with the puff inside and the points out, like petals.
 * The Westo Four Point fold, the quickest way to achieve a four-point fold effect.
 * The TV Fold looks similar but is folded diagonally with the point inside the pocket.
 * The One-point Fold is folded diagonally with the point showing.
 * The Two-point Fold is folded off-center so the two points do not completely overlap.
 * The Three-point Fold is first folded into a triangle, then the corners are folded up and across to make three points.
 * The Four-point Fold is an off-center version of the Three-point Fold.
 * The Cagney is basically a backwards version of the Four-point Fold.
 * The Astaire is a puff with a point on either side.
 * The Straight Shell is pleated and then folded over to give the appearance of nested shells.
 * The Diagonal Shell is pleated diagonally and then folded.

Although it is very common practice for weddings, proms, etc., many style authorities do not recommend wearing a matching (i.e., identical) pocket square and tie, as it tends to look contrived, draws attention away from the wearer's face, and displays sartorial uncertainty. Instead, the two items should coordinate without matching; for example, by matching a secondary color in the necktie's pattern to a secondary color in the pocket square's pattern.

Rumāl

A rumāl is a small loose piece of cloth, similar to a handkerchief used to cover the head by Sikh boys, sportspersons and other guests who visit a Gurdwara. In Sikhism, the rumal is held in the same regard as the turban.

Chamba Rumal
Chamba Rumal is an embroidered handicraft handkerchief of Chamba.

In popular culture
The hero of 2023 comedy horror film Hanky Panky is a talking handkerchief named Woody.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Handkerchief


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Greater Toronto Area

The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater Toronto Area begins in Burlington in Halton Region to the west, and extends along Lake Ontario past downtown Toronto eastward to Clarington in Durham Region.

According to the 2021 census, the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) of Toronto has a total population of 6.202 million residents, making it the nation's largest, and the 10th-largest in North America. However, the Greater Toronto Area, which is an economic area defined by the Government of Ontario, includes communities which are not included in the CMA as defined by Statistics Canada. Extrapolating the data for all 25 communities in the Greater Toronto Area from the 2021 Census, the total population for the economic region included 6,711,985 people.

The Greater Toronto Area is a part of several larger areas in Southern Ontario. The area is also combined with the city of Hamilton to form a conurbation known as the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). The GTHA combined with Niagara Region form the core of the Golden Horseshoe.

Etymology
The term "Greater Toronto" was first used in writing as early as the 1900s, although at the time, the term only referred to the old city of Toronto and its immediate townships and villages, which became Metropolitan Toronto in 1954 and became the current city of Toronto in 1998. The use of the term involving the four surrounding regional municipalities came into formal use in the mid-1980s, after it was used in a widely discussed report on municipal governance restructuring in the region and was later made official as a provincial planning area. However, it did not come into everyday usage until the mid- to late 1990s.

In 2006, the term began to be supplanted in the field of spatial planning as provincial policy increasingly began to refer to either the "Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area" (GTHA) or the still-broader "Greater Golden Horseshoe". The latter includes the Greater Toronto Area's satellite municipalities, such as Peterborough, Barrie, Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Niagara Region. The GTA continues, however, to be in official use elsewhere in the Government of Ontario, such as the Ministry of Finance.

Census metropolitan area

Some municipalities considered part of the GTA are not within the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), which is smaller than the land area and population of the GTA planning area. For example, Oshawa is the centre of its own CMA, yet deemed part of the Greater Toronto Area, while other municipalities, such as New Tecumseth in southern Simcoe County and Mono Township in Dufferin County are included in the Toronto CMA but not in the GTA. These different border configurations result in the GTA's population being higher than the Toronto CMA by nearly one-half million people, often leading to confusion amongst people when trying to sort out Toronto's urban population.

Other nearby urban areas, such as Hamilton, Barrie, St. Catharines-Niagara or Kitchener-Waterloo, are not part of the GTA or the Toronto CMA, but form their own CMAs near the GTA. Ultimately, all the aforementioned places are part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe metropolitan region, an urban agglomeration, which is the sixth most populous in North America. It is part of the Great Lakes megalopolis, containing an estimated 59.1 million people in 2011.

Extended area
The term "Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area" (GTHA) refers to the GTA, and the city of Hamilton, located along the western border of the Greater Toronto Area. The term has been adopted by several organizations, including Metrolinx and the Ministry of Energy) due to growing commuter population in the combined region. The GTHA and the Regional Municipality of Niagara form the inner ring of the larger Greater Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration and secondary region of Ontario.

Early history
Historically the Greater Toronto Area was home to a number of First Nations who lived on the shore of Lake Ontario long before the first Europeans arrived in the region. At various times, the Neutral, the Seneca, the Mohawk and the Huron nations were living in the vicinity. The Mississaugas arrived in the late 17th or early 18th century, driving out the occupying Iroquois. While it is unclear as to who was the first European to reach the Toronto area, there is no question it occurred in the 17th century. The area would later become very crucial for its series of trails and water routes that led from northern and western Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Known as the "Toronto Passage", it followed the Humber River, as an important overland shortcut between Lake Ontario, Lake Simcoe and the upper Great Lakes. For this reason the area, under French fur traders, became a major part of the North American fur trade. The French would later establish three trading forts, Magasin Royal in the 1720s, although abandoned within the decade, Fort Toronto in 1750 and Fort Rouillé in 1751. During the Seven Years' War both forts were abandoned but Fort Toronto was later renovated. Fort Rouillé was burnt down after the Battle of Fort Niagara in 1759 by the French garrison during the French and Indian War.

The first large influx of European settlers to settle the region were the United Empire Loyalists arriving after the American Revolution, when various individuals petitioned the Crown for land in and around the Toronto area. In 1787, the British negotiated the purchase of more than a quarter million acres (1,000 km2) of land in the area of Toronto with the Mississaugas of New Credit. York County, would later be created by Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1792, which would at its largest size, comprise all of what is now Halton Region, Toronto, Peel Region, York Region and parts of Durham Region.

The GTA saw three American incursions during the War of 1812. The Town of York (present-day Toronto) was attacked by American forces at Battle of York, on April 27, 1813; and was subsequently occupied until May 8. The second incursion occurred several months later, in July 1813, with two landings in the GTA. On July 29, American forces landed at Burlington Beach (present-day Burlington) in an attempt to dislodge British forces at the adjacent Burlington Heights. However, finding the British forces too well-entrenched for any assault to be successful, the American naval force withdrew and proceeded east towards York. The American landings at York on July 31 went unopposed, with most of the soldiers garrisoned at York directed to defend Burlington Heights. The third incursion occurred a year later, when an American naval squadron arrived outside of York's harbour on August 6, 1814. The squadron dispatched USS Lady of the Lake (1813) to enter the harbour in order to gauge the town's defences, where it briefly exchanged cannon fire with Fort York before withdrawing to rejoin the American squadron outside the harbour. American forces did not attempt a landing during this incursion, although remained outside York's harbour for three days before departing.

In 1816, Wentworth County (which would later become the city of Hamilton) and Halton County were created from York County. York County would later serve as the setting for the beginnings of the Upper Canada Rebellion with William Lyon Mackenzie's armed march from Holland Landing towards York Township on Yonge Street, eventually leading up to the battle at Montgomery's Tavern. In 1851, Ontario County (present-day Durham Region) and Peel County were separated from York.

Since 1901
The idea towards a streamlined local government to control local infrastructure was made as early as 1907 by, William Findlay Maclean, a member of parliament and founder of The Toronto World, who called for the expansion of the government of the former City of Toronto in order to create a Greater Toronto. The idea for a single government municipality would not be seriously explored until the late 1940s when planners decided the city needed to incorporate its immediate suburbs. However, due to strong opposition from suburban politicians, a compromise was struck, which resulted in the creation of Metropolitan Toronto. In 1953, the portion of York County south of Steeles Avenue, a concession road which formed a common boundary between several townships across the width of the county, was severed from it and incorporated as the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. With the concession of Metro Toronto, the offices of York County were moved from Toronto to Newmarket.

Originally, the membership in Metropolitan Toronto included the City of Toronto and five townships: East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York; as well as seven villages and towns, which became amalgamated into their surrounding townships in 1967. The early Metro Toronto government debated over the annexation of surrounding townships of Markham, Pickering and Vaughan. Frederick Goldwin Gardiner, the first Metro Toronto Chairman, planned on the conversion of these townships into boroughs of the Metro Toronto government. In 1971, the remaining areas of York County was replaced by the Ontario government with the Regional Municipality of York. In 1974, Ontario and Durham Counties were reorganized to become the Regional Municipality of Durham; Pickering west of Rouge River was transferred to Scarborough at that time. Peel County became Peel Region in 1974 as well. In 1980, North York would be incorporated into a city, with York following suit in 1983 and Etobicoke and Scarborough in 1984, although still part of the Metropolitan Toronto municipal government.

In 1992, the Ontario government passed legislation requiring Metropolitan Toronto to include the rest of the Greater Toronto Area into its planning. Despite this however, there was fear different parts of the municipal system were working against one another. Because of this, Bob Rae, then the Premier of Ontario, appointed Anne Golden to head a GTA task force to govern the region's quality of life, competitiveness and governance. During this time, the Metro Toronto government advocated to the task force the creation of a new GTA authority, which would be made up of 21 of the 30 existing municipalities in the GTA at the time. The proposal from Metro Toronto would have resulted in 15 new municipalities. The City of Mississauga argued consolidation should only take place in such a way the new municipalities would have a population between 400,000 and 800,000. The Town of Markham had similarly advocated municipal consolidation in York Region, although it was opposed to complete consolidation into a single municipality. Municipal consolidation faced stiff opposition however from smaller communities such as Ajax, Milton, and the borough of East York. The task force's recommendation to eliminate the Metro Toronto government, and consolidate its remaining municipalities into an enlarged City of Toronto was completed in 1997 and became official in 1998, under the Common Sense Revolution of the then premier, Mike Harris. However, the task force's recommendation to create a GTA-tier municipality was not taken up by the Harris government, fearing a GTA-wide municipality would recreate the inter-municipal competitiveness that was believed to have impaired the former Metro Toronto government.

Metrolinx, an agency of the Government of Ontario, was established to oversee public transit development across the Greater Toronto Area.

The Greater Toronto Area hosted the 2015 Pan American Games.

Geography
The Greater Toronto Area covers an area of 7125 km2. The region itself is bordered by Lake Ontario to the south, Kawartha Lakes to the east, the Niagara Escarpment to the west, and Lake Simcoe to the north. The region creates a natural ecosystem known as the Greater Toronto Bioregion. The Greater Toronto Area forms part of the neck of the Ontario Peninsula.

Vast parts of the region remain farmland and forests, making it one of the distinctive features of the geography of the GTA. Most of the urban areas in the GTA hold large urban forest. For the most part designated as parkland, the ravines are largely undeveloped. Rouge Park is also one of the largest nature parks within the core of a metropolitan area. Much of these areas also constitute the Toronto ravine system, which consists of deep and steep valleys, and a number of conservation areas in the region which are managed by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. The Cheltenham Badlands in Caledon is an example of environmental degradation due to poor agricultural practice. The Scarborough Bluffs are part of the Glacial Lake Iroquois shoreline.

In 2005, the Government of Ontario also passed legislation to prevent urban development and sprawl on environmentally sensitive land in the Greater Toronto Area, known as the Greenbelt, many of these areas including protected sections of the Oak Ridges Moraine, Rouge Park and the Niagara Escarpment. Nevertheless, low-density suburban developments continue to be built, some on or near ecologically sensitive and protected areas. The provincial government attempted to address this issue through the "Places to Grow" legislation passed in 2005, which emphasizes higher-density growth in existing urban centres over the next 25 years (i.e., until 2030).

Climate
The climate of the Greater Toronto Area is classified as humid continental, according to the Köppen climate classification. Much of the Greater Toronto Area is under Köppen Dfb (warm summer subtype) zone, while Old Toronto (excluding the Toronto Islands) and some areas between there and Burlington to the southwest, are under the Köppen Dfa climate zone, the hot summer subtype. Precipitation averages 832 mm annually, fairly distributed through the year but driest in later winter with higher average totals in the later summer. In winter, typical high temperatures will range from -5 to 3 C and low temperatures from -12 to -5 C. Cold arctic outbreaks keep daytime highs below -10 C for several days but this does not occur in every winter, while low temperatures sometimes drop below -18 C, accompanying wind chill makes this feel much colder. Annual snowfall averages between 80 and 150 cm across the area. Mild and snow-free spells are also a feature of Toronto's winter, with temperatures surpassing 5 C for several days, to occasionally above 15 C. Spring is short and often cool to mild, snow can sometimes fall well into April, rarely accumulating. The transition from spring into summer can be rapid. Summer is warm on average to hot and moderately humid with high temperatures usually between 24 and 31 C, while low temperatures average between 15 C in the suburbs and 18 to 20 C downtown and near the lake. Although fairly sunny, summers do feature occasional heavy, thundery showers. Heat wave conditions with temperatures between 32 and 35 C are not uncommon but very rarely does the temperature exceed 38 C. Immediate lakeshore locations have generally lower average maximum temperatures but they can also experience hot conditions when offshore winds prevail. Normally in autumn it alternates between wet and dry with lengthy periods of mild and calm weather. Temperatures fall and windspeeds increase sharply in November and by December, cold and snowy weather are more common as the temperature average falls below 0 C.

Economy
The Greater Toronto Area is a commercial, distribution, financial and economic centre, being the second largest financial centre in North America. The region generates about a fifth of Canada's GDP and is home to 40 per cent of Canada's business headquarters. The economies of the municipalities in Greater Toronto are largely intertwined. The work force is made up of approximately 2.9 million people and more than 100,000 companies The Greater Toronto Area produces nearly 20 percent of the entire nation's GDP with $323 billion, and from 1992 to 2002, experienced an average GDP growth rate of 4.0 per cent and a job creation rate of 2.4 per cent (compared with the national average GDP growth rate of 3 per cent and job creation rate of 1.6 per cent). The Greater Toronto Area has the largest regional economy in Canada, with its GDP surpassing the province of Quebec in 2015. In 2010, over 51 per cent of the labour force in the Greater Toronto Area is employed in the service sector, with 19% in the manufacturing, 17% of the labour force employed in wholesale & retail trade, 8% of the labour force involved in transportation, communication and utilities, and 5% of the workforce is involved in construction. Despite the fact the service industry makes up only 51% of Greater Toronto's workforce, over 72% of the region's GDP is generated by service industries.

The largest industry in the Greater Toronto Area is the financial services in the province, accounting for an estimated 25% of the region's GDP. Notably, the five largest banks in Canada all have their operational headquarters in Toronto's Financial District. Toronto is also home to the headquarters of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Standard and Poor TSX Composite Index and offices of the TSX Venture Exchange. The TMX Group, the owners and operators of TSX Exchanges as well as the Montreal Exchange, are also headquartered in Toronto. The TSX and the TSX Venture Exchange represent 3,369 companies, including more than half of the world's publicly traded mining companies.

Markham also attracted the highest concentration of high tech companies in Canada, and because of it, has positioned itself as Canada's High-Tech Capital. The Greater Toronto Area is the second largest automotive centre in North America (after Detroit). Currently, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler run six assembly plants in the area, with Honda and Toyota having assembly plants just outside the GTA. General Motors, Ford, Honda, KIA, Mazda, Suzuki, Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Subaru, Volvo, BMW, and Mitsubishi have chosen the Greater Toronto Area for their Canadian headquarters. Magna International, the world's most diversified car supplier, also has its headquarters in Aurora. The automobile industry within the region accounts for roughly 10% of the region's GDP.

Agriculture
While it was once the most dominant industry for residents in the Greater Toronto Area, agriculture now occupies a small percentage of the population, but still a large part of land in the surrounding four regional municipalities. Census data from 2006 has shown there are 3,707 census farms in the GTA, down 4.2% from 2001 and covering 274,363 ha. Almost every community in the GTA is currently experiencing a decrease in the acreage of farmland, with Mississauga seeing the most significant. The only communities in the GTA that are experiencing a growth in the acreage of farmland are Aurora, Georgina, Newmarket, Oshawa, Richmond Hill and Scugog, with Markham experiencing neither any growth nor decline. Most of the GTA's farmland is in Durham Region, with 55% of their total land area being farmland. This is followed by York Region with 41% of their lands being farmland, Peel Region with 34%, and Halton Region with 41%. Toronto's remaining farmland is completely within Rouge Park in the Rouge Valley. The average size of the farm in the GTA (183 acre) is much lower than the farms in the rest of Ontario (averaging 233 acre). This has been attributed to the shift of farm types in the GTA from the traditional livestock and cash crop farms (requiring an extensive land base), towards more intensive enterprises including greenhouse, floriculture, nursery, vegetable, fruit, sheep and goats.

The most numerous farm types in the GTA are miscellaneous specialty farms (including horse and pony, sheep and lamb, and other livestock specialty), followed by cattle, grain and oilseed, dairy and field crop farms. Although the output of dairy production has dropped with farms from within the GTA, dairy has remained the most productive sector in the agricultural industry by annual gross farm receipts. Despite the decreased amount of farmland around the region, farm capital value increased from $5.2 billion in 1996 to $6.1 billion in 2001, making the average farm capital value in the GTA continued to be the highest in the province.

Transportation
There are several public transportation operators within the Greater Toronto Area, providing services within their jurisdictions. While these operators are largely independent, provisions are being made to integrate them under Metrolinx, which manages transportation planning including public transport in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. GO Transit, which merged with Metrolinx during the late 2000s, is Ontario's only intra-regional public transit service, linking the communities in the GTA and the city of Hamilton, as well as the rest of the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Implementation of a 'Presto card' by Metrolinx has created a common means for all fare payments and allows for seamless connection between these and other transit operators.

Public transit operators in the GTA include Brampton Transit, Burlington Transit, Durham Region Transit, GO Transit, Milton Transit, MiWay (serving Mississauga), Oakville Transit, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), and York Region Transit. The TTC operates the Toronto subway system, which consists of three heavy rail lines and runs in Toronto and in Vaughan, the latter of which began to be served by the system in December 2017 with an extension of Line 1 Yonge–University to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station on Highway 7 at Jane Street. The GTA also consists of several King's Highways and supplemented by municipal expressways. One of the principal highways in the GTA, Highway 401, is also the longest in Ontario and is also one of the busiest highways in the world. Notably, a segment of the highway passing through the GTA is North America's busiest highway. The GTA is laced with a number of limited-access highways including the 400-series highways. These include:

Note: "York", "Peel", "Durham" and "Halton" here refer to the regional municipalities.

 * Ontario 400.svg Highway 400 – York, Toronto
 * Ontario 401.svg Highway 401 – Durham, Toronto, Peel, Halton
 * Ontario 403.svg Highway 403 – Peel, Halton
 * Ontario 404.svg Highway 404 – York, Toronto
 * Highway407crest.svg / Ontario 407.svg 407 ETR / Highway 407 – Durham, Peel, York, Halton (toll route)
 * Ontario 409.svg Highway 409 – Toronto, Peel
 * Ontario 410.svg Highway 410 – Peel
 * Ontario 412.svg Highway 412 – Durham
 * Ontario 418.svg Highway 418 – Durham
 * Ontario 427.svg Highway 427 – York, Toronto, Peel
 * Ontario QEW.svg Queen Elizabeth Way – Peel, Halton, Toronto
 * Gardiner Shield.svg Gardiner Expressway – Toronto
 * DVP Shield.svg Don Valley Parkway – Toronto
 * Allen Road Shield.svg William R. Allen Road – Toronto

The main airport serving the GTA is Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, which is Canada's largest and busiest airport. It processed over 47 million passengers in 2017 and nearly 50 million passengers in 2018. Toronto Pearson International Airport is operated by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in nearby Hamilton also handles international flights, handles some discount flights and charters, and acts as an alternative to Pearson. The Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands near downtown is used for civil aviation, air ambulance traffic and regional scheduled airlines (it handled nearly two million passengers in 2012). There are also a number of smaller airports scattered throughout the GTA. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) uses YTO as a code for multiple airports in the area, including those without passenger service.

The Greater Toronto Airport Authority has also placed a tentative proposal to develop a new airport in Pickering (which also extends over into Markham and Uxbridge). As the GTAA predicts Toronto Pearson would be unable to be the sole provider for the bulk of Toronto's commercial air traffic in the next 20 years from the report's publication in 2004 (i.e. in 2024), they believe a new airport in Pickering would address the need for a regional/reliever airport east of Toronto Pearson, as well as complement the airport in Hamilton, Ontario. The GTAA also stated the new airport would create more opportunities for economic development in the eastern region of the Greater Toronto Area.

The region also has significant maritime infrastructure being on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system. The Port of Oshawa and Port of Toronto handle between 2 and 4 million tonnes of cargo annually. The Port of Toronto also has an International Marine Passenger Terminal, which had 12,000 cruise passengers in 2019.

Communication
The Greater Toronto Area is served by seven distinct telephone area codes. Before 1993, the GTA used the 416 area code. In a 1993 zone split, Metropolitan Toronto retained the 416 code, while the other municipalities of the Greater Toronto Area were assigned the new area code 905. This division by area code has become part of the local culture to the point where local media refer to something inside Toronto as "the 416" and outside of Toronto as "the 905". For example, the Raptors 905 basketball team in the NBA G League is named after the area code the team represents. Though for the most part, the use of the area 905 as shorthand for the suburban areas outside Toronto city limits was correct, it is not entirely true as some portions of Durham and York Regions use the 705 area code. Furthermore, there are areas, such as Hamilton, the Regional Municipality of Niagara and Port Hope (in Northumberland County) that use the 905 area code, but are not part of the GTA. The unincorporated community of Acton (in Halton Hills), is the only community in the GTA that uses the 519 area code, which covers most of Southwestern Ontario.

To meet the increased demand for phone numbers, two overlay area codes were introduced in 2001. Area code 647 (supplementing the 416 area code) was introduced in March 2001 and area code 289 (supplementing the 905 area code) was introduced in July 2001. Some individuals within the 905 area code region may have to dial long distance to reach each other; although residents of Mississauga and Hamilton share the same area code (905), an individual from Toronto, for example, would have to dial "1" to reach Hamilton, but not to reach Mississauga. Ten-digit telephone dialling, including the area code for local calls, is required throughout the GTA. In March 2013, two additional area codes were introduced to the GTA: area code 437 in Toronto and area code 365 in the area served by 905 and 289.

Government
Since the 2015 election, the Greater Toronto Area has been represented by 58 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada. Forty-six Members of the Provincial Parliament also represent the GTA in the Ontario Legislature. Five Senators from Ontario have also designated themselves as representatives of certain areas in the GTA in the Canadian Senate.

Federal politics
Federally, the Conservatives, Liberals, and the New Democrats (NDP) all hold several electoral districts in the GTA. The City of Toronto has often been supportive of the Liberal Party. Traditionally, Liberal support is strongest in Downtown Toronto, while Conservative support is stronger in the surrounding communities outside Toronto. The NDP also has a strong base within the GTA. The Greater Toronto Area has the ability to influence election results and determine the governing party in Canada, due in part to its large population and riding count.

From 1993 to 2011, a centre-right party failed to win a single seat in the former Metro Toronto. In the 2011 election, however, a surge in NDP support combined with a collapse in Liberal support allowed the Conservatives to win eight seats in Toronto itself, and another 24 in the suburbs. Toronto's political leanings now appeared to mirror those of surrounding communities that leaned toward the Conservatives.

The election of 2011 showed Liberal support, based on votes in the GTA, had collapsed from 43.7% to 30.6%, giving the Liberals only 14.9% of the local seats in the House of Commons. However, the support of the Conservatives and NDP increased accordingly, with the Conservatives increasing their vote share from 31.5% to 42.2% (and capturing 68.1% of the GTA seats) and the NDP increasing from 14.6% to 23.2% of the vote and 17% of the local Federal ridings.

In the 2015 federal election, the Liberals regained their dominance of the GTA after suffering devastating losses there four years earlier. They defeated a number of prominent incumbents from both the NDP and the Conservatives. The Liberals took all of Toronto itself. They also took back almost all of the suburban ridings they had lost in 2011. Both the NDP and the Conservatives suffered heavily as their support collapsed in the inner city and the suburbs respectively. Only a few Conservatives held onto their seats in the outer ring of the GTA, while the NDP failed to elect any MPs in this area. The 2019 and 2021 federal elections have similar results.

Provincial politics
Toronto is the capital of Ontario with the Ontario Legislative Building, often metonymically known as Queen's Park after the street and park surrounding it, being located in Downtown Toronto. Most of the provincial government offices are also located in downtown Toronto.

On the provincial level of government, the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, Ontario Liberals, and the Ontario New Democrats all hold electoral districts in the GTA. While the GTA provided a strong base of support for the Progressive Conservative government between 1995 and 2003, the Ontario Liberal Party achieved a major victory in the GTA during the 2003 election and has enjoyed strong support from the region ever since. In the 2011 election, the Liberals won 33 of the 44 available seats in the GTA, allowing Premier Dalton McGuinty to hold onto a minority government. The 2014 election under McGuinty's successor, Kathleen Wynne, was an even bigger electoral landslide for the Liberals, as they won 38 seats in the region. They even took several ridings in territory that had voted PC for decades, like Durham, Burlington, Newmarket-Aurora and Halton. The PCs hold no seats in Peel Region, and only one seat in each of the Halton, York, and Durham regions. While the NDP has been weak in the GTA since the 1995 election, they have seen some successes in Brampton and Durham Region, where they hold one seat each.

The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario has not won a riding in the city of Toronto during a general election from 1999 to 2018. On the other end of the spectrum, the NDP saw major losses in Toronto during the 2014 election, and only hold two seats in the city. This is no longer the case since the 2018 provincial election, as the Progressive Conservatives and the NDP made significant gains at the expense of the Liberals and this continues to hold true in the 2022 provincial election.

Municipal politics
In 2011, 244 politicians govern the Greater Toronto Area below the provincial and federal levels, holding offices in cities, towns, and regional municipalities. Unusual for a large North American urban agglomeration, the GTA has very few agencies with powers that can cross boundaries. Attempts to create an interregional organization have been made, such as the Province of Ontario's Office of the Greater Toronto Area (OGTA) in 1988 and the Greater Toronto Services Board (GTSB) in 1998, but have failed due to a lack of real authority in these agencies.

Consequently, there are few interregional public authorities: Metrolinx, an agency of the provincial government, manages the GTA-wide GO Transit system, while the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority manages some of the GTA's watersheds and natural areas. Notably, there is no organization with broad powers as in other Canadian cities, such as the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and Metro Vancouver Regional District.

Population
According to the latest census data from 2021 from Statistics Canada, the population of this area is 6,712,341. Population growth studies have projected the City of Toronto's population in 2031 to be 3,000,000 and the Greater Toronto Area's population to be 7,450,000, while the Ontario Ministry of Finance states it could reach 7.7 million by 2025. Statistics Canada identified in 2001 that four major urban regions in Canada exhibited a cluster pattern of concentrated population growth among which included the Greater Golden Horseshoe Census Region, which includes all of the Greater Toronto Area (which includes Oshawa), as well as other Southern Ontario cities including Hamilton, Guelph, Barrie, and the cities in Niagara Region and Waterloo Region. Combined, the Greater Golden Horseshoe has a population of 9,765,188 in 2021, containing over 20 per cent of Canada's population.

Ethnicity
Statistics Canada found in 2006, there were 31,910 Indigenous people living in the Greater Toronto Area, which represented 2.7 per cent of all Indigenous peoples in Canada and 13.2 per cent of those in Ontario. Most of them, however, are not registered with the Indian reserves within the Greater Toronto Area, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation and the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

Immigration
The Toronto CMA also has one of the largest proportions of foreign-born residents (46 per cent) as a share of the total population out of all metropolitan areas in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Toronto region is also unusually diverse in the composition of its ethnicities. The four largest foreign-born populations of Toronto only constitute 15 per cent of the total foreign-born population. This is opposed to the four largest foreign-born populations of other metropolitan areas such as New York and London, where they make up 25 per cent of their respective foreign-born populations.

Education
Education in the Greater Toronto Area is managed by the provincial Ministry of Education, who manages preschool, elementary and secondary education, while the provincial Ministry of Colleges and Universities administers laws relating to tertiary education, including colleges, universities, and vocational schools.

Primary and secondary education
There are presently twelve public English first language school boards, and two French first language school boards operating within the GTA. Seven of these school boards operate secular schools, whereas the other seven operate separate schools; the seven separate school boards in the Greater Toronto Area all serve the Roman Catholic faith. In addition to public schools, there are also a number of private schools that operate within Greater Toronto.

Three of these GTA-based public school boards also manage institutions outside Greater Toronto, the two French first language school boards, based in Toronto, as well as the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB). Conversely, English first language public schools in Clarington, a municipality within Durham Region, are managed by school boards based outside the GTA.

Colleges
The Greater Toronto Area is also home to six publicly funded colleges that have campuses spread in and around the metropolitan area. The six publicly funded colleges based in the Greater Toronto Area include:

 * Centennial College (Toronto, Pickering)
 * Durham College (Pickering, Brock, Scugog, Oshawa, Uxbridge)
 * George Brown College (Toronto)
 * Humber College (Toronto)
 * Seneca Polytechnic (King, Markham, Toronto, formerly Seneca College)
 * Sheridan College (Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville)

Another publicly funded college, Collège Boréal, also maintains a satellite campus in Toronto. However, Collège Boréal's main campus and administration is based outside the GTA, in Greater Sudbury. In addition to publicly funded colleges, there are also many private career colleges spread throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

Universities
The Greater Toronto Area is home to six publicly funded universities. Universities based within Greater Toronto include:

 * OCAD University (Toronto)
 * Ontario Tech University (Oshawa)
 * Toronto Metropolitan University (Toronto, formerly Ryerson University)
 * Université de l'Ontario français (Toronto)
 * University of Toronto (Toronto, Mississauga)
 * York University (Toronto, Markham)

Three publicly funded universities based outside of the GTA operate satellite campuses within the GTA, including the Hamilton-based McMaster University, Peterborough-based Trent University, and the Guelph-based University of Guelph. The McMaster's DeGroote School of Business operates the Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington; Trent University operates a satellite campus in Oshawa, referred to as Trent in Oshawa; The University of Guelph operates an affiliated institution alongside Humber College, the University of Guelph-Humber, in Toronto.

There also are eleven private religious universities spread throughout the GTA.

title: Greater Toronto Area