Cheshire is a county in North West England. In 1974 parts of the historical county of Cheshire were transferred to Greater Manchester and to Merseyside, and parts of the historical county of Lancashire were incorporated into Cheshire, including the towns of Widnes and Warrington. The unitary authorities of Halton and Warrington were created in 1998, and in 2009 the rest of the county was divided into two further unitary authorities: Cheshire East, and Cheshire West and Chester. The ceremonial county of Cheshire consists of those four unitary authorities.