Leeds ( , listen) is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. 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 internationally acclaimed University of Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University and Leeds Trinity and All Saints. Today Leeds is the UK's largest centre for business and financial services outside London, Leeds is the largest legal centre outside London, and according to the most recent Office for National Statistics estimates, Leeds is the fastest growing city in the UK.
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Leeds ( , listen) is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. 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 internationally acclaimed University of Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University and Leeds Trinity and All Saints. Today Leeds is the UK's largest centre for business and financial services outside London, Leeds is the largest legal centre outside London, and according to the most recent Office for National Statistics estimates, Leeds is the fastest growing city in the UK.
Leeds has a population of ( ), and forms the cultural, financial and commercial heart of the wider West Yorkshire Urban Area, which at the 2001 census was shown to have a population of 1.5 million. Leeds is part of the Leeds-Bradford Larger Urban Zone (LUZ), the third largest in the UK after London and Manchester, with an estimated population in the 2004 Urban Audit of 2.4 million, and along with 10 other local government districts is a component of the Leeds city region, which has a population of 2.9 million.
Leeds has the second highest population of any local authority district in the UK (after Birmingham), and the second greatest area of any English metropolitan district (after Doncaster), extending 15 miles from east to west, and 13 miles from north to south. Over 65% of the Leeds district is covered with green belt land and the city centre is less than twenty miles from the Yorkshire Dales National Park, offering some of the most spectacular scenery and countryside in the UK.
The historic urban core and administrative centre that lies at the heart of Leeds has a subdivision population of 443,247 (2001 UK census), and sometimes Leeds is used to refer to just this historic core, which excludes the wider city and contiguous urban and suburban areas that became a part of the city in 1974, such as Horsforth and Pudsey, as well as the outlying element of the city that contains towns such as Otley and Wetherby.
History
main: History of Leeds The name "Leeds" is thought to be derived from "Loidis", a word of Celtic origin. Bede wrote: "...regione quae vocatur Loidis" — region known as Loidis. This root also survives in the nearby place names of Ledston and Ledsham. Leeds was mentioned as "Ledes" in the Domesday Book of 1086, after which the name evolved into "Leedes" and finally "Leeds".
