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'''Wigan''' is a market town in [[Lancashire]], [[England]], approximately sixteen miles north-west of [[Manchester]] city centre and approximately sixteen miles north-east of [[Liverpool]] city centre.
'''Wigan''' is a market town in [[Lancashire]], [[England]], approximately sixteen miles north-west of [[Manchester]] city centre and approximately sixteen miles north-east of [[Liverpool]] city centre.
Wigan North Western railway station is on the West Coast Main Line. Local services to [[Manchester]] use Wigan Wallgate railway station. Wigan Pier is situated close to the town centre on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
Wigan North Western railway station is on the West Coast Main Line. Local services to [[Manchester]] use Wigan Wallgate railway station. Wigan Pier is situated close to the town centre on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Areas of the town include Kitt Green, Orrell, Pemberton, Scholes and Winstanley.
[[Wigan Athletic F.C.|Wigan Athletic Football Club]] ([[soccer]]) and [[Wigan Warriors]] rugby league club share the DW Stadium.
[[Wigan Athletic F.C.|Wigan Athletic Football Club]] ([[soccer]]) and [[Wigan Warriors]] rugby league club share the Brick Community Stadium in Robin Park.
The population of Wigan is 107,732, as of the 2011 UK Census.
The population of Wigan is 107,732, as of the 2011 UK Census.
It is referred to in the title of [[George Orwell|George Orwell's]] 1930s polemic on Lancashire working class life, 'The Road To Wigan Pier'.
It is referred to in the title of [[George Orwell|George Orwell's]] 1930s polemic on Lancashire working class life, 'The Road To Wigan Pier'. To the south of the town centre is the nature reserve Wigan Flashes ("flash" is a word for a body of water, related to [[French]] ''flaque''). It consists of an area of wetlands, lakes and ponds which are the result of early 20th century mining subsidence. It is known for its bird population, supporting around 2% of the UK's total willow tits.
==Geography==
Wigan is in south-central Lancashire and a part of the West Derby Hundred.
==History==
==History==
There was an influx of Scandinavians into the area in the early 10th century following their expulsion from Ireland in 902 AD. Their mark is left on the modern town in the form of the place-name ''Scholes'' (now a suburb of Wigan) which is from Old Norse ''skalli'' ("huts") and in the street names which end in ''-gate'' (Millgate, Hallgate, Standishgate and Wallgate); ''gata'' having been Norse for "street" (it appears in street-names in [[Denmark]], [[Norway]] and [[Sweden]]).
There was an influx of Scandinavians into the area in the early 10th century following their expulsion from Ireland in 902 AD. Their mark is left on the modern town in the form of the place-name ''Scholes'' (now a suburb of Wigan) which is from Old Norse ''skalli'' ("huts") and in the street names which end in ''-gate'' (Millgate, Hallgate, Standishgate and Wallgate); ''gata'' having been Norse for "street" (it appears in street-names in [[Denmark]], [[Norway]] and [[Sweden]]).