Leeds
- North
Leeds is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire,
England. It is the urban core and administrative centre
of the wider metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds.
The county borough of Leeds was awarded city status
in 1893, but in 1974 this status was transferred to
the larger new metropolitan borough named "City of Leeds".
Thus Leeds, although commonly referred to as a "city",
does not have this legal status unless the wider area
is being discussed. Historically a part of the West
Riding of Yorkshire, the recorded history of Leeds can
be traced to the 5th century when the Kingdom of Elmet
was covered by the forest of "Loidis", the origin of
the name Leeds. During the Industrial Revolution, Leeds
developed into a major industrial centre for the production
and trade of wool, before emerging as a centre for commerce
and higher education, being the location of the University
of Leeds, Leeds Trinity and All Saints and Leeds Metropolitan
University. Today the city is one of the largest financial
and legal centres outside London. According to the 2001
UK census, the population of the Leeds urban area was
443,247, whereas the wider City of Leeds metropolitan
district has a population of 750,200 (mid-2006 estimate)
and is one of the eight largest English cities outside
London that form the English Core Cities Group. It is
at the centre of the West Yorkshire metropolitan county
with a population of over 2.1 million.
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