It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, and Staffordshire to the west.

The remainder of the county is largely rural, and the next-largest settlements are Loughborough (65,000), Hinckley (50,000), Market Harborough (24,000) and Coalville (22,000).

For local government purposes Leicestershire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with seven districts, and the unitary authority area of Leicester.

It is bisected by the River Soar, which rises near the Warwickshire border south of Hinckley and flows north through Leicester and Loughborough before reaching the Trent at the county boundary.

To the west of the river is Charnwood Forest, an upland area which contains Bardon Hill, which at 278 m (912 ft) is the county's highest point.

The region was settled by the Angles in the sixth century and became part of the Kingdom of Mercia, and the county existed at the time of the Domesday Survey in the 1080s.

The county has had a relatively settled existence; however, it was the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, which established the Tudor dynasty's position as monarchs of England.

The Measham-Donisthorpe exclave of Derbyshire has been exchanged for the Netherseal area, and the urban expansion of Market Harborough has caused Little Bowden, previously in Northamptonshire to be annexed.

The lowest point, at an altitude of about 20 metres (66 ft), is located at the county's northernmost tip close to Bottesford where the River Devon flowing through the Vale of Belvoir leaves Leicestershire and enters Nottinghamshire.

Other large towns include Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Coalville, Hinckley, Lutterworth, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Oadby, Shepshed and Wigston.

Norman & Underwood have been making sand cast sheet lead roofing and stained glass since 1825 working on many of England's major cathedrals and historic buildings, including Salisbury Cathedral, Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey, Hampton Court Palace, and Chatsworth House.

Engineering companies today include sports car makers Noble Automotive Ltd in Barwell and Ultima Sports Ltd in Hinckley, Triumph Motorcycles in Hinckley, Jones & Shipman (machine tools), Caterpillar Redford (Plant machinery), Plant manufacturers Metalfacture Ltd (sheet metal work), Richards Engineering (foundry equipment), Transmon Engineering (materials handling equipment), Trelleborg Industrial AVS in Beaumont Leys (industrial suspension components), Parker Plant (quarrying equipment), Aggregate Industries UK (construction materials), Infotec in Ashby-de-la-Zouch (electronic information display boards), Alstec in Whetstone, Leicestershire (airport baggage handling systems), and Brush Traction (railway locomotives) in Loughborough.

Automotive and aerospace engineers use the test facilities at Mallory Park, and Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and proving ground.

Bakewell's Leicester Longwool sheep was much prized by farmers across the British Empire and is today a heritage breed admired.

Field sports remain an important part of the rural economy of Leicestershire, with stables, kennels and gunsmiths based in the county.

Walkers Midshire Foods, part of the Samworth Brothers group, makes sausages and pies in its Beaumont Leys factories.

[citation needed] Leicestershire food exported abroad includes cheese from the Long Clawson dairy, which is sold in supermarkets in Canada and the United States via a network of distributors coordinated by Taunton-based company Somerdale.

[citation needed] Belvoir Fruit Farms cordials and pressé drinks are sold on the United States east coast in Wegmans Food Markets, World Market, Harris Teeter, Dean & DeLuca, and in specialised British food stores such as Myers of Keswick (New York City) and the British Pantry (near Washington, D.C.).

[citation needed] Leicester and Leicestershire has had a traditional industry of knitwear, hosiery and footwear, and the sheep on the county's coat of arms is recognition of this.

Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical instrument manufacturing companies include 3M, Bridgehead International in Melton, Fisher Scientific in Loughborough, and Ashfield Healthcare in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

DHL Aviation have a large purpose-built facility at EMA, and courier companies UPS and TNT also use the airport as a base.

Lufthansa Cargo is also a regular user of East Midlands, and the airport is a primary hub for Royal Mail.

The Widdowson Group make use of J21a of the M1 to provide warehousing, transportation, freight forwarding, garage services and LGV/HGV training.

Leicester's Cultural Quarter is an ambitious plan to drive the regeneration of a large run-down area of the city.

It has delivered: a new venue for the performing arts, Curve; creative workspaces for artists and designers, LCB Depot; and a Digital Media Centre.

As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the foxglove as the county flower.

The European Association of Trade Mark Owners and the Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI) are based in Leicestershire.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire and Rutland (it does not include the City of Leicester) at current basic prices published (pp.

Following these elections[20] the current political composition of the council is 42 Conservatives, 9 Liberal Democrats and 4 Labour councillors.

Following the 2024 United Kingdom general election, Leicestershire is represented by eleven members of parliament (MPs).