Leeds is the largest city in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Leeds is to the east of Bradford, north-northeast of Sheffield, northwest of Wakefield, south-west of York and west of Kingston upon Hull. In 2020 the built up area subdivision had a population of 516,298. The city forms the main area of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, which also includes the towns of Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell and Wetherby. The district has a population of 793,139 (mid-2019 est.).

Leeds was a small manorial borough in the 13th century, becoming a major centre for the production and trading of wool in the 17th and 18th centuries, then a major mill town during the Industrial Revolution; wool was still the dominant industry, but flax, engineering, iron foundries, printing, and other industries were also important. From being a market town in the valley of the River Aire in the 16th century, Leeds expanded and absorbed the surrounding villages to become a populous urban centre by the mid-20th century. Leeds attained City status in 1893.