Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the 1974 reform, the city status has belonged to the larger City of Bradford metropolitan borough. According to the 2021 census, the city itself had a population of 352,317, making it the second-largest subdivision of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area after Leeds, which is approximately 9 mi (14 km) to the east. The wider metropolitan borough had a population of 546,976 at the same census, making it one of the most populous districts in England.