Yorkshire

Yorkshire is an English county, formerly an administrative county. It was divided administratively until 1974 into the West, North and East Ridings (from Old Norse þriðing, "third part", a legacy of the area's ninth-century Scandinavian settlers).

It now consists of West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, and the City of York.

In 1974 most of the area was reorganised as West, North and South Yorkshire, based respectively on the cities of Leeds, York and Sheffield (although Barnsley was the administrative centre for S.Yorks). Most of the former East Riding became the northern part of the new county of Humberside (based on the city of Hull), while Middlesbrough and neighbouring districts became the southern part of Cleveland. A part of the North Riding was incorporated in County Durham while part of the West Riding went to Lancashire and a smaller district to Cumbria.

The metropolitan counties of West and South Yorkshire were abolished as administrative entities in 1986 and broken up into their constituent districts, to be followed a decade later by Humberside and Cleveland. The city of York also became a unitary authority at the latter reorganisation, incorporating parts of neighbouring North Yorkshire districts.

Much of the former Yorkshire is now represented by the region of Yorkshire and the Humber.

The former undivided Yorkshire covers some 15,000 sq km with a population of some five million.

The emblem of Yorkshire is the white rose of the House of York, and there is a Yorkshire Day: August 1. There is also an "anthem" for the county in the form of the folk song On Ilkley Moor Bah 'Tat[?].

The Yorkshire dialect is colloquially known as "Tyke", and this is also the affectionate term for a Yorkshireman. The social stereotype of a Yorkshireman has a tendency to include such accessories as a flat cap and a whippet.