The city of Leeds – West Yorkshire, England has a population of over 771,000 people. In the English system of classification it is also referred to as a metropolitan borough and it is considered to be the heart of the wider West Yorkshire Urban Area. Currently, this urban area exceeds over 1. 6 million people, with the Leeds city region counting also nearly 3,000,000 people in total.

Of all cities in the United Kingdom, Leeds is growing the fastest of all metropolitan areas. Additionally, it is one of the largest financial centers in the UK, not counting London. It is a vibrant town full of life and also a great deal of history, beginning as it did way back in the 400s, as the historic and ancient kingdom of Elmet, which was almost completely surrounded by forest.

The city’s name comes from the name for this ancient forest, which was “Loidis.” By the 17th and 18th centuries, Leeds was a major center for the wool trade and it played a prominent role during the Industrial Revolution. Iron foundries, engineering concerns and printing presses — among other industries — all took on some prominence during this era.

In the 16th century, Leeds began growing steadily by annexing and absorbing smaller villages, towns and other municipalities around it, expanding outward as it did so. It came to reach its present population largely by the mid-20th century. It can also boast of a number of significant landmarks as well as several world-class universities that call the city their home.

Leeds was a prominent market town in the Middle Ages and was responsible for over 1/6 of the total wool exports from the United Kingdom by 1770. The growth of the city was helped by the addition of a railway and two separate canals, all of which had begun operating by 1834 at the latest. The Corn Exchange — a very large commodities trading exchange — had opened in the city in 1864.

Nowadays, the Leeds city council has stuck to an intelligent urban planning concept that has seen the city become what it calls a “24-hour European city” and a major financial, commercial and cultural nexus for the north of England. It fits in well in the super modern global economy and an expanding retail presence has meant the availability of a large number of luxury goods for all.

West Yorkshire, the metropolitan and ceremonial county in which much of the city of Leeds resides, boasts of a current population of around 2. 2 million people. It is a vibrant part of the northern region of England and is one of the prime financial and commercial centers in all of the United Kingdom. Both the city and the county are emblematic of today’s English economy.

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