Tadcaster is a market town and civil church in the Selby area of North Yorkshire, England, 3 miles (5 kilometres) eastern of the Great North Road, 12 miles (19 km) north-east of Leeds, and 10 miles (16 kilometres) south-west of York. The River Wharfe joins the River Ouse regarding 10 miles (16 kilometres) downstream from it. Tadcaster is twinned with Saint-Chély-d'Apcher in France. For city government purposes, the River Wharfe separates the town into eastern as well as western selecting wards. The consolidated population of Tadcaster East and Tadcaster West in 2004 was 7,280, 3,800 in Tadcaster East as well as 3,480 in Tadcaster West (resource: Workplace for National Statistics). The regional authority is Selby District Council. Tadcaster gave its name to a much larger rural area council, Tadcaster Rural District and also other management areas. This may lead to complication when comparing the size and extent of the present town with information for earlier periods. For example, the population in 1911 of the Tadcaster sub-district was 6831 compared with that of the Tadcaster Registration Area, 32052 (resource: A Vision of Britain via time).