Borgomanero borders the following municipalities: Bogogno, Briga Novarese, Cressa, Cureggio, Fontaneto d'Agogna, Gargallo, Gattico-Veruno, Gozzano, Invorio, Maggiora.

The same legend also tells the origin of Tapulon, the local traditional dish, created with the poor ingredients that the group had at its disposal: the meat of the only donkey who carried their luggage, wine and little else.

From the "Paper of Romagnano" of 1198, we learn that Burgus Sancti Leonardi already enjoyed the status of a free village at the time.

Borgomanero took an active part in the Italian Risorgimento: the brothers Ercole and Antonio Maioni paid with exile raising the Italian flag in Turin in 1821; Maddalena Zoppis lost an eye during the Five Days of Milan in 1848; Costantino Pagani was one of the volunteers participating in the Expedition of the Thousand led by Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Twentieth-century figures of note include Mora and Gibin, gold medals of the Italian resistance movement, and Achille Marazza, member of the National High Liberation Committee of Italy, who in 1967 donated the villa and library to the town, now home to the foundation that bears his name.