Manchester, Bolivia  Manchester is a remote town in the Pando Department of northern Bolivia, on the banks of the Manuripi River in Bolivian Amazonia. Manchester is about from the Department capital, Cobija. Anthony Webster-James, a metallurgical engineer from Manchester, England, set up a rubber smelter in the area, in association with Simon Patino, towards the end of the 19th century. A workers' settlement grew up around the facility, which Webster-James named Manchester, after his hometown. As there are few metalled roads in the region, most goods and people are transported by river.