York city is sited at the convergence the two rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city is known for its rich heritage and it has played an important role for almost 2,000 years of its existence. The city was founded by the Romans and was made the capital Britannia Inferior. Roman Empire was entirely governed from York for two years.

The city was renamed Eoforwic and served as the capital of the Kingdom of Nothumbria. Vikings captured the city in 866, renaming it Joryik, the capital of a wider kingdom of the same name covering much of Northern England.

The name 'York' gradually first used in the 13th century after the Norman Conquest. York housed the Council of the North and was regarded as the capital of North after the Wars of Roses. The declination of political importance of the city only began after the restoration. Alongside of Canterbury, the province of York is one of the two English ecclesiastical provinces. The term City of York describes a unitary authority which includes rural areas beyond the old city boundaries in 1996.