Northern England

Northern England North of England / the North
The three current Northern England statistical regions combined shown within England. Other definitions of the North vary and have changed over time.
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Regions	North East England • North West England • Yorkshire & The Humber
Counties	Cheshire Cumbria County Durham Greater Manchester Lancashire Lincolnshire (northern part) Merseyside Northumberland Tyne and Wear Yorkshire (North, East Riding, South and West)
Devolved regions	Greater Manchester Liverpool City Region North East South Yorkshire Tees Valley West Yorkshire York and North Yorkshire
10 largest settlements in order of population	List Leeds Liverpool Sheffield Manchester Newcastle-upon-Tyne Kingston upon Hull Bolton Warrington Sunderland Huddersfield
Area
• Total	37,331 km2 (14,414 sq mi)
Population  (2011 census)[1]
• Total	14,933,000
• Density	400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
• Urban	12,782,940
• Rural	2,150,060
Demonym	Northerner
Time zone	GMT (UTC)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)

Northern England, or the North of England, is a region that forms the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire.^[2][3] The region also coincides with the medieval era borders of Anglian Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the Brythonic Celtic Hen Ogledd kingdoms.

The North is a grouping of three statistical regions: the North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber. These had a combined population of 15.5 million at the 2021 census,^[4] an area of 37,331 km² (14,414 square miles) and 17 cities.

Northern England is culturally and economically distinct from both the Midlands and Southern England. The area's northern boundary is the border with Scotland, its western the Irish Sea and a short border with Wales, and its eastern the North Sea. Its southern border is often debated, and there has been controversy in defining what geographies or cultures precisely constitute the 'North of England' — if, indeed, it exists as a coherent entity at all.

Many Industrial Revolution innovations began in Northern England, and its cities were the crucibles of many of the political changes that accompanied this social upheaval, from trade unionism to Manchester Liberalism. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the economy of the North was dominated by heavy industry. Centuries of immigration, invasion, and labour have shaped Northern England's culture, and it has retained countless distinctive accents and dialects, music, arts, and cuisine. Industrial decline in the second half of the 20th century damaged the North, leading to greater deprivation than in the South. Although urban renewal projects and the transition to a service economy have resulted in strong economic growth in parts of the North, the North–South divide remains in both the economy and culture of England.