[14] In 2002 the borough of Preston was awarded city status to mark the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

[32] Following boundary changes introduced for the 2024 General Election, the City of Preston is divided between two Parliamentary constituencies.

The City of Preston district is a transitional region between coastal plain, river valley and moorland.

The southern border is the River Ribble which meanders through a flood plain in a wide, steep-sided valley.

The course of the river west of Preston was artificially straightened in the 19th century, to ease passage of shipping to the docks.

The southern one-third of the district, most of which is covered by Preston and its suburbs, drains into Savick Brook running east-to-west and then turning south into the Ribble.

The Brock forms part of the district boundary on the west and north sides of Beacon Fell.

A small part of the district along the eastern boundary drains into the east-flowing River Loud, a tributary of the Hodder.

Like most of inland Lancashire, Preston receives a higher than UK average total of rainfall, and is slightly colder.

On 10 August 1893 Preston entered the UK Weather Records, with the Highest 5-min total rainfall of 32 mm.

The two worst affected areas of the city were the Deepdale and St George's wards, where 75% and 77% of children respectively were said to be living in poverty.

It now serves as the seat of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Great Britain[43][44] The 2001 Census recorded 72% of the population as Christians, 10% as having no religion, and 8% as Muslim.

[45] The Hindu and Sikh populations were smaller at 3% and 0.6% respectively, but in both cases this represented the highest percentage of any local authority area in the North West.

The 2021 census showed the proportion of respondents describing themselves as Christian as 47.6%, Muslim 16.1%, Hindu 3.0%, Sikh 0.7%, Buddhist 0.3%, Jewish 0.1% and other religions 0.4%.

The remainder of the district is divided into nine civil parishes: Freedom of the City has been granted to:[47] The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) was adopted on 7 August 1952.