North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan county and the largest lieutenancy area in England. The ONS estimated that the population of the Shire was 602,300 in mid-2016, excluding unitary authorities.Created by the Local Government Act 1972, it covers an area of 8,654 square kilometres (3,341 sq mi), making it the largest county in England. The majority of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors lie within North Yorkshire's boundaries, and around 40% of the county is covered by National Parks.
Within the ceremonial county, the most populous is Middlesbrough built-up area (at 174,700), York built-up area (at 152,841) is second. The largest settlement in the administrative county is Harrogate (at 73,576), the second largest is Scarborough (at 61,749) and Northallerton has a population of 16,832.