Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in the context of "National parks of England and Wales"

South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire to the east, Nottinghamshire to the south-east, and Derbyshire to the south and west. The largest settlement is the city of Sheffield.

The county is largely urban, with an area of 1,552 km (599 sq mi) and a population of 1,430,623 in 2024. Sheffield is located in the south, with Rotherham immediately to the north-east. The city of Doncaster lies in the east, and Barnsley in the north. The far east and the west of the county are predominantly rural. For local government purposes the county comprises four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield. They collaborate through the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

Barnsley (/ˈbɑːrnzli/ ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider borough had a population of 244,600 in the 2021 census.

Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Barnsley is located on the M1 corridor between the cities of Sheffield to the south and Wakefield to the north. Doncaster is to the east, Huddersfield to the north-west, and Manchester lies west across the Peak District to which it is connected to via the A628 road.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is the combined authority for South Yorkshire in England, with powers over transport (public transport and major trunk roads only), economic development and regeneration. It covers a total area of 3,484 km (1,345 sq mi) with a population of 1.4 million. The four metropolitan boroughs of South Yorkshire – Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley – are full members of the authority, while the Derbyshire Dales, North East Derbyshire, Chesterfield and Bolsover districts of Derbyshire, and the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, are non-constituent members.

The authority's first mayoral election took place on Thursday 3 May 2018, coinciding with the 2018 United Kingdom local elections.