Riding (division)

In the United Kingdom, a riding is a division of certain large historic counties. It is usually one of three parts; the word itself comes from Old English trithing (itself from Old Norse thrithjungr) which means 'third part'.

Several counties are divided into ridings, but are usually governed by a council bearing the same name as the county. However, the ridings of Yorkshire are so large that each riding was given its own county council. Thus there were county councils for the East Riding, the North Riding and the West Riding. In 1974 when all the administrative counties of England and Wales were reorganised, these councils were replaced by six new ones within Yorkshire (either wholly or in part) called North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Cleveland, Durham and Humberside.

In Canada, a riding is a federal constituency, or electoral division as they are known in Canada.