Leicestershire (pop. 609,579) is a county in the East Midlands of England. The county is highly industrialized in the area around Leicester. The county covers an area of 985 square miles (2,550 square kilometers).
From 1974 until 1997, Leicestershire included Rutland, which had been the smallest county in England. The people of Rutland fought off an attempt to combine the two counties in 1963. But in a reorganization of England's local government in 1974, Rutland became part of Leicestershire. In 1996, Leicester and Rutland became unitary authorities (separate administrative areas).
