Northern England

Northern England (also known as the North of England, or simply the North, or sometimes the North Country), is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Anglian Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik and the Brythontic Celtic Hen Ogledd kingdoms.

The North is a grouping of three statistical regions: the North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber. These had a combined population of 14.9 million at the 2011 census, an area of 37,331 km² (14,414 square miles) and 17 cities.

Northern England is culturally and economically distinct from both the Midlands and the South of England. The area's northern boundary is the border with Scotland, its western the Irish Sea and a short border with Wales, and its eastern the North Sea. Its southern border is often debated and there has been a significant challenge in defining what geographies precisely constitutes the 'North of England'.

Many Industrial Revolution innovations began in Northern England, and its cities were the crucibles of many of the political changes that accompanied this social upheaval, from trade unionism to Manchester Liberalism. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the economy of the North was dominated by heavy industry. Centuries of immigration, invasion, and labour have shaped Northern England's culture, and it has retained countless distinctive accents and dialects, music, arts, and cuisine. Industrial decline in the second half of the 20th century damaged the North, leading to greater deprivation than that of the South. Although urban renewal projects and the transition to a service economy have resulted in strong economic growth in parts of the North, the North–South divide remains in both the economy and culture of England.