North Yorkshire (district)
North Yorkshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It covers the majority of the North York Moors, the Vale of Mowbray and Vale of York, and the Yorkshire Dales. It does not include the north-east of the ceremonial county or the unitary authority area of York. The largest settlement is Harrogate, and the administrative centre is Northallerton. North Yorkshire is the largest local government area in England, with an area of.
The unitary authority area was formed on 1 April 2023 during a local government restructure. Prior to this, North Yorkshire was a non-metropolitan county containing seven non-metropolitan districts, and was governed by a county council and seven district councils. The creation of the unitary authority area was achieved by abolishing the seven districts and their councils, creating a new district covering the entire area of the non-metropolitan county, and giving North Yorkshire County Council the responsibilities of a district council in addition to its existing county council responsibilities. The county council chose to rename itself North Yorkshire Council as part of the restructure. The first elections to the reconstituted authority took place on 5 May 2022, and it took on district council responsibilities on 1 April 2023.
History
The unitary authority is made up of the following former districts of the former administrative county of North Yorkshire:| # | Local authority | 2011 census | 2021 census |
| 1 | Harrogate | 157,869 | 164,105 |
| 2 | Scarborough | 108,793 | 108,959 |
| 3 | Hambleton | 89,140 | 91,037 |
| 4 | Selby | 83,449 | 92,401 |
| 5 | Craven | 55,409 | 57,090 |
| 6 | Richmondshire | 51,965 | 50,358 |
| 7 | Ryedale | 51,751 | 54,897 |
The non-metropolitan county became a unitary authority area on 1 April 2023, following the merger of the above boroughs and districts as part of the 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England.
Governance
North Yorkshire Council has 90 councillors which elect a council leader, who in turn appoints up to nine councillors to form an executive cabinet. It replaces the former non-metropolitan county which had a cabinet-style council of 72 councillors.Geography
The area is the largest local authority area in England. Larger towns and settlements include Harrogate, Scarborough, Northallerton, Selby, Skipton, Richmond, Malton, Thirsk, Stokesley, Great Ayton, Norton-on-Derwent, Catterick Garrison, Pickering, Helmsley and Knaresborough while Ripon is the only city in the area.| Local authority | In relation to North Yorkshire |
| County Durham | North |
| Darlington | North |
| Stockton-on-Tees | North east |
| Middlesbrough | North east |
| Redcar and Cleveland | North east |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | South east |
| City of York | South east |
| City of Doncaster | South |
| City of Wakefield | South west |
| City of Leeds | South west |
| City of Bradford | South west |
| Pendle | West |
| Ribble Valley | West |
| City of Lancaster | West |
| Westmorland and Furness | North west |