Portal:Yorkshire/Intro

Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Although Yorkshire is not a current unit of civil administration, it is included in the name of a number of contemporary subdivisions such as Yorkshire and the Humber. The name is familiar and well-understood across the United Kingdom and is in common use. Throughout much of history Yorkshire has played a prominent role in Great Britain. The Brigantes, who were the largest Celtic Briton tribe, held it as their heartland. The Romans made York (from which the county derives its name) one of the two capitals of all Roman Britain. The area was an independent Viking kingdom known as Jórvík for around a century, before being taken by England. Most of the modern day large cities were founded during the Norman period.

The county covered just under 6,000 square miles (15,000 km²) in 1831 and the modern day Yorkshire and the Humber region has a population of around five million. Yorkshire is widely considered to be the greenest area in England, due to both the vast rural countryside of the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and some of the major cities, this has led to Yorkshire being nicknamed God's Own County. (read more) . . .