[2] The borough was abolished on 31 March 2023, and its functions were transferred to the new unitary North Yorkshire Council on 1 April 2023.

The district was part of the Leeds City Region, and bordered seven other areas; the Craven, Richmondshire, Hambleton, Selby and York districts in North Yorkshire and the boroughs of Bradford and Leeds in West Yorkshire.

It was previously the county's second largest district until 1 April 1996, when the parishes of Nether Poppleton, Upper Poppleton, Hessay and Rufforth were transferred from the Borough of Harrogate to become part of the newly formed York unitary authority area.

In July 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that in April 2023, the non-metropolitan county would be reorganised into a unitary authority.

Harrogate Borough Council was abolished on 31 March 2023 and its functions were transferred on 1 April 2023 to a new single authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire.