Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield. There were about 45,106 people living there in 2021. It used to be in the West Riding of Yorkshire. To the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the River Aire and the Aire and Calder Navigation. It is north east of Wakefield, north of Pontefract and south east of Leeds. Castleford is the largest town in the Wakefield district after Wakefield itself.