North West England is one of the nine official regions of England. Its highest point, Scafell Pike in Cumbria, is also England's highest peak, at 3,209 ft (978 m).
Two large conurbations, centred on the cities of Liverpool and Manchester, dominate the south of the region. The north of the region (that is, north Lancashire and Cumbria) is largely rural, but includes a number of towns such as Kendal and Blackpool. Greater Manchester is the third largest conurbation in England, after Greater London and West Midlands respectively. The combined population of Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire (which are largely rural) and the two metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside, which are the counties that make up North West England, is 6,853,200 (2006 estimate).