Today, they will go a step further – as "God's own county" becomes visible to anyone passing overhead in a space shuttle.

To try to boost the region's visitor appeal, a giant white square, bearing the website address "Yorkshire.com" is to be unveiled in a North Yorkshire field.

The 54,300 sq ft tarpaulin square is so big that it will join the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian Pyramids as landmarks that can be seen from space.

It will be unveiled in a field in Cattal, found to be the exact geographical centre of Yorkshire following research by academics at Leeds University.

The land is owned by one of Europe's largest nursery growers, Johnsons of Whixley, which employs 150 people and produces more than 10m plants a year.

Joanna Royle, marketing director at Yorkshire Tourist Board, said: "With such a large, rich and diverse region, it became clear that the only way we could put the whole of Yorkshire on the map was through, quite literally, a big idea.

"So, we're trying just that. We don't know of any city or region in the world which has gone to such lengths and made their place visible from space.

"We hope this fun stunt will raise our profile further and help drive visitors not just to the centre of our region, but to all points north, south, east and west."

Tourism is worth an estimated £6.1bn a year to Yorkshire's economy, with more than 104m UK and international travellers visiting the region annually.

The total cost of the tarpaulin exercise is less than £3,000.

Steve Carver, senior geography lecturer at Leeds University, pinpointed the specific geographical centre of Yorkshire.

"The method used...was based on boundary distances and finding the centre of gravity of 'God's own county' based on its shape and area using the Government's boundary data and low water mark for the coastline sections," Prof Carver said.

"By finding the balancing point of a region, we can accurately pinpoint the centre, and that's exactly what we did."