Yorkshire

historic county of England

Yorkshire is a historic county in Northern England. It covers a large area of the Pennines and its east coast borders the North Sea. The River Humber separates Yorkshire from Lincolnshire and the River Ouse flows into it.

Yorkshire
Flag of Yorkshire.svg
Yorkshire in England
Yorkshire within England, showing ancient extent
Area
 • 183114,850 km2 (5,734 sq mi)[1]
 • 190115,718 km2 (6,069 sq mi)[1]
 • 199111,903 km2 (4,596 sq mi)[1]
Population
 • 18311,371,359[1]
 • 19013,512,838[1]
 • 19913,978,484[1]
Density
 • 1831239.2/km2
 • 1901223.5/km2
 • 1991334.2/km2
History
 • OriginKingdom of Jórvík
 • CreatedIn antiquity
 • Succeeded byVarious
Chapman codeYKS
Subdivisions
 • TypeRidings
 • Units1 North2 West3 East
Ridings of Yorkshire

Main placesEdit

The main towns and cities in Yorkshire are Leeds, York, Sheffield, Bradford, Middlesbrough, and Hull. It is the largest county in the United Kingdom. It covers just under 11,903 km2 (4,596 sq mi) with a population of around 5 million.

 
York Minster

HistoryEdit

Yorkshire was historically split up into three parts known as the East, North, and West Ridings while the county town York was in the middle. In the local government reorganization of England in 1974 the counties of West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire were established instead. Humberside included the former East Riding and Cleveland included part of the former North Riding.

RivalryEdit

The people of Yorkshire are traditional rivals of the people of Lancashire; they sometimes call Yorkshire the "County of Broad Acres" (because its land area is so large) or "God's Own Country".

LandscapesEdit

It has a wide range of landscapes: the green hills and valleys of the Yorkshire dales, the rugged heather of the Yorkshire moors, the coast which includes the resorts of Whitby or Bridlington. It also has several large cities including York (county town), Leeds, Sheffield (the greenest city in Europe and built on seven hills), Hull, Bradford, Doncaster, Harrogate and Wakefield.

ReferencesEdit

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "200 years of the Census in Yorkshire" (PDF). National Statistics. 2001. Retrieved 15 July 2008. Note that the area of Yorkshire increases slightly from 3,669,510 acres (14,850 km2) in 1831 to 3,883,979 acres (15,718 km2) in 1901 and then reduces to 2,941,247 acres (11,903 km2) in 1991, so that these three figures relate to different areas.