It covers seven former districts: Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Scarborough, Richmondshire, Ryedale and Selby.

[5] The non-metropolitan county has an area of 2,483 square miles (6,430 km2), and, with the City of York and the boroughs of Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees (south of the River Tees), forms the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire.

The non-metropolitan county became a unitary authority area on 1 April 2023, following the merger of the above boroughs and districts as part of the 2019–2023 structural changes to local government in England.

Larger towns and settlements include Harrogate, Scarborough, Northallerton, Selby, Skipton, Richmond, Malton, Thirsk, Stokesley, Great Ayton, Norton-on-Derwent, Catterick Garrison, Pickering, Helmsley and Knaresborough while Ripon is the only city in the area.

North Yorkshire LEA has a mostly comprehensive education system with 42 state schools secondary (not including sixth form colleges) and 12 independent schools.