Humberside, England, United Kingdom

:ENG: Humberside was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1974 until 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of Yorkshire, and the northern part of Lindsey, Lincolnshire. The county council's headquarters was County Hall at Beverley, inherited from East Riding County Council. Its largest settlement and only city was Kingston upon Hull. Other notable towns included Goole, Beverley, Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Bridlington. The county stretched from Wold Newton at its northern tip to a different Wold Newton at its southernmost point.

Humberside bordered North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire to the south-west, and Lincolnshire to the south. It faced east towards the North Sea.

On 1 April 1996, Humberside was abolished, and replaced with four unitary authority areas: North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Kingston upon Hull, and East Riding of Yorkshire. The name has continued in use as a geographical term, mainly in the media, and in the names of institutions such as Humberside Police and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service. These institutions did not change their names mainly due to costs. There were proposals to merge the police force with other Yorkshire forces and then change all the forces' names accordingly. However, these proposals were later ruled out.

Humber Enterprise Zone was launched in 2012 to encourage industrial development at 16 sites around the estuary.

Name The name "Humberside" was very rarely used, as an informal name and a geographical term, for the area surrounding the Humber before the creation of the ceremonial county. However, by the mid-20th century the industrial development of both sides of the Humber Estuary was becoming increasingly integrated, and "Humberside" was being widely applied to the ports of Hull, Grimsby and Goole and their hinterland. The use of the term to unify the two sides of the river was also driven by the desire of the local authorities in the area to promote the construction of a suspension bridge.

Unlike "Merseyside", which was used colloquially, "Humberside" was adopted as an official term in 1964, when the planning region of Yorkshire and The Humber was created. It consisted of the majority of the former East Riding of Yorkshire and some eastern parts of the former West Riding of Yorkshire and Parts of Lindsey from Lincolnshire. From that time onwards "Humberside" was actively used to market the area. In 1971 the newly launched local BBC radio station was named Radio Humberside, but since the abolition of the county the broadcasters have referred to people of East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

Districts The county was divided into nine non-metropolitan districts: 1 North Wolds, renamed East Yorkshire in 1981; 2 Holderness; 3 Kingston upon Hull; 4 Beverley, renamed East Yorkshire Borough of Beverley in 1981; 5 Boothferry; 6 Scunthorpe; 7 Glanford; 8 Grimsby, renamed Great Grimsby in 1979; 9 Cleethorpes.