North Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber and North East regions of England. It borders County Durham to the north, the North Sea to the east, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the south-east, South Yorkshire to the south, West Yorkshire to the south-west, and Cumbria and Lancashire to the west. Northallerton is the county town.

The county is the largest in England by land area, at 8,654 km² (3,341 sq mi), and had a population of 1,158,816 in 2021. The largest settlements are Middlesbrough (148,215) in the north-east and the city of York (141,685) in the south. Middlesbrough is part of the Teesside built-up area, which extends into County Durham and has a total population of 376,663 in 2011. The remainder of the county is rural, and the largest towns are Harrogate (75,515) and Scarborough (59,505). For local government purposes the county comprises four unitary authority areas—North Yorkshire, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and York—and part of a fifth, Stockton-on-Tees. The unitary authorities of York and North Yorkshire form the a combined authority of the same name, and the local authorities of the other three areas are part of the Tees Valley Combined Authority. The county was historically part of Yorkshire.