The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 237,110, and spans 55 square miles. The borough is named after its largest town, Oldham, but also includes the outlying towns of Chadderton, Failsworth, Royton and Shaw and Crompton, the village of Lees, and the parish of Saddleworth.
Although a 20th-century creation, the borough has Neolithic, Bronze Age and Roman heritage. It encompasses several former mill towns, which expanded and coalesced during the late 19th century as a result of population growth and advances in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. Although some parts contiguous with the city of Manchester are highly industrialised and densely populated, about two-thirds of the borough is composed of rural open space; the eastern half stretches across the South Pennines.
For its first 12 years the borough had a two-tier system of local government; Oldham Council shared power with the Greater Manchester County Council.