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	County Town: York County Population: 600,000 (estimate)
	North Yorkshire stretches from the Pennine Hills in the west (dissected by deep river valleys known as the Yorkshire Dales) to the Vale of York at its centre and the North York Moors and Wealds to the east. The area of moorland and woodland in the east known as the North York Moors covers 1,432 sq km (553 sq miles) and was designated as a National Park in 1952. The Yorkshire Dales cover an area of 1,761 sq km (680 sq miles) to the west, and were designated as a National Park two years later.
	Stone Age people first settled the upland areas of North Yorkshire, then Iron Age people followed, building defensive hill forts. The Romans later settled the lowland region, where Eboracum (York), became the military headquarters from which operations against invaders from the north were coordinated. In the 7th century, long after the departure of the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons penetrated the area, coming up the Humber estuary from the North Sea. The Saxons cleared many valley woodlands in order to establish settlements, as well as developing York into the capital of the Kingdom of Northumbria. York was then captured by the Danes in 867 AD, who renamed the city Jorvik. Following the Norman Conquest, baronial power grew strong and many castles were erected in the area, including those at Richmond, Helmsley, Pickering, and Scarborough.
	By the 12th century the port of York was prospering as a "staple", a town given a charter to deal in wholesale trade. Although York had been an ecclesiastical centre since Saxon times it was not until the 13th century that York Minster was built. Monasticism flourished in the area with Cistercian foundations at Fountains Abbey and Rievaulx Abbey, both growing rich from sheep farming.
	North Yorkshire is the largest county in England, with farmland and moors covering the majority of the land, it is a scenic and historic region.
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