West Riding of Yorkshire

The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three Ridings that comprise the county of Yorkshire in England. Geographically, it is the largest of the Ridings and, with a population of around 3.9 million, it is by far the most populous too. The West Riding is the most geographically diverse Riding of Yorkshire; it stretches from the mountainous Howgill Fells in the north-western Pennines to the low-lying marshlands of Trent Falls, the confluence where the rivers Ouse and Trent form the Humber.

Most of Yorkshire's major cities and conurbations are in the West Riding, particularly in the Pennine foothills. The West Yorkshire Built-up Area has around 1.8 million inhabitants and contains the cities Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield, as well as several major towns such as Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield and Keighley. In the south of the Riding is the Sheffield urban area (which contains a small part of northern Derbyshire), centred on the city of Sheffield and the major town Rotherham, in which around 700,000 people live.

Administration

As of 2024, the West Riding of Yorkshire is administered by 14 councils, of all bar one which are unitary authorities. The largest area is administered by North Yorkshire Council; the part of the Riding under that council is largely rural, covering parts of the Pennines (including the around half of the Yorkshire Dales), as well as towns including Selby, Ripon, Harrogate and Knaresborough. The extreme north-west of the Riding around Sedbergh is under Westmorland and Furness Council. Part of the Riding centred on the Forest of Bowland is under Lancashire County Council (Pendle district), the only non-unitary council area to cover the Riding. The extreme south-east of the Riding around Goole is under East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Between the years 1889 and 1974, the West Riding County Council (WRRC) was a council area covered a similar (but not identical) area to the West Riding of Yorkshire.