NORTH YORKSHIRE - Geography and history
The North Yorkshire sub-region comprises the North Yorkshire County Council area and the York unitary authority area and has a total area of 8,300 km2. .The county of North Yorkshire is the largest county in England, and the least densely populated county after Cumbria, with 71 inhabitants per km2, in 2002. Much of the north and west of North Yorkshire is mountainous and remote, the Pennine hills in the west rising, in places, to over 700 m in height. To the north-east are the Cleveland hills and the North Yorkshire moors. The two upland areas are separated by the vale of York, which runs north to south through the middle of the county.
The largest towns are all situated on the flatter, lower ground to the south: Harrogate in the west is located on the edge of the Pennines; York is located in the centre of the county, and Scarborough on the east coast.
The main east coast railway line connecting London to Edinburgh runs through the county via the vale of York, and the city of York thus became an important railway junction in the nineteenth century. From York, railway lines also run eastwards to Scarborough and Hull on the east coast, and westward to Harrogate and West Yorkshire. The main road route through North Yorkshire is the A1 trunk road, which also runs from London to Edinburgh. It passes close by Harrogate, and is linked to York and Scarborough by the A64 trunk road.
Agriculture and tourists
As a large predominantly rural county, North Yorkshire's natural resources play an important part in its economy. Most notable is agriculture which plays an important role in the economy of much of the county, pigs, milk, soft wheat and spelt being the main agricultural products.
The land is also important as a recreational resource and there are two national parks based in the county (covering about a quarter of the county's total area): the Yorkshire Dales National Park for the Pennine region, and the North York Moors National Park, in the east. Tourism is thus an important and growing sector of the economy in these areas. It is also an important industry in York, and in Scarborough and other coastal resorts.
Another resource that has been exploited is the North Yorkshire coalfield. One of the country's largest and most modern coal-mines began production in the south of the county at Selby in the 1980s, but in July 2002 UK Coal announced that the three-pit Selby complex was uneconomic and would close by the first quarter of 2004, with the loss of 2,000 jobs,
Good national communications together with large-scale investment in facilities have lead to both Harrogate and Scarborough becoming important as venues for conferences and conventions.
North Yorkshire does not possess a history of large-scale manufacturing industry, and industries tend to be fairly localised: brewing at Tadcaster; confectionery at York and fishing at Whitby, Scarborough and Filey. York was once a major centre of rail engineering although the industry has declined in recent years. There is also a growing high-technology sector centred around York University.
Both York and North Yorkshire county (despite the decline in the coal industry) enjoy low levels of unemployment and in 2001/02 unemployment rates were 3.9 and 2.7 per cent respectively, considerably below the UK rate.
A sharp increase in population
The population of the North Yorkshire sub-region increased by 12 per cent between 1981 and 2002, reaching 755 thousand inhabitants. In common with other rural areas of Britain, North Yorkshire has experienced a sharp increase in population in recent years as people choose to move out of inner cities and from more urban areas to suburban and rural locations. The exception to the general decline in the population of urban areas, however, is York whose population increased by 10 per cent during the same period. Similarly, all districts in North Yorkshire County experienced a population increase between 1982 and 2002, with Selby experiencing the largest growth with an increase of 25 per cent. The district with the smallest population growth was Scarborough, increasing by 5 per cent.
The population density of the sub-region was 91 inhabitants per km2 in 2002, although it varies from 670 inhabitants per km2 in York, to 34 inhabitants per km2 in Ryedale. Ryedale also stands out as most dependent on agriculture, forestry and fishing for employment, with one in 10 employed in the industry in 2001. In Selby, those employed in these industries accounts for 5 per cent of the total, but employment is currently dominated by the mining, manufacturing, energy and water supply industry, with a 31 per cent share of total employment, due to the presence of the Selby coal-mining complex and the associated Drax power station which is the largest power station in the country. The Selby coalfield, however, is due to close in early 2004.
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