It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The county is also notable for its coastline to the North Sea in the east, which is characterised by tall limestone cliffs and wide beaches.

[3] Roughly 150 years ago, in the village of Marsden in South Shields, Souter Lighthouse was built, the first electric structure of this type.

[5] The three commissioners were to: examine the system of local government in the areas of local government north and south of the river Tyne from the sea to the boundary of the Rural District of Castle Ward and Hexham in the County of Northumberland and to the Western boundary of the County of Durham, to consider what changes, if any, should be made in the existing arrangements with a view to securing greater economy and efficiency, and to make recommendations.

[7] A minority report proposed amalgamation of Newcastle, Gateshead, Wallsend, Jarrow, Felling, Gosforth, Hebburn and Newburn into a single "county borough of Newcastle-on-Tyneside".

The Local Government Commission for England came back with a recommendation to create a new county of Tyneside based on the review area, divided into four separate boroughs.

Tyne and Wear either has or closely borders two official Met Office stations, neither located in one of the major urban centres.

There are some clear differences between the stations temperature and precipitation patterns even though both have a cool-summer and mild-winter oceanic climate.Tyne and Wear contains green belt interspersed throughout the county, mainly on the fringes of the Tyneside/Wearside conurbation.

Although Tyne and Wear County Council was abolished in 1986, several joint bodies exist to run certain services on a county-wide basis.

Also through Nexus, the authority subsidises socially necessary transport services (including taxis) and operates a concessionary fares scheme for the elderly and disabled.

There have been occasional calls for Tyne and Wear to be abolished and the traditional border between Northumberland and County Durham to be restored.

Historically, the area has been a Labour stronghold; South Shields is the only Parliamentary constituency that has never returned a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons since the Reform Act of 1832.

Newcastle was the first large city to declare, and 50.6% of voters voted to Remain; this proportion was far lower than predicted by experts.

Birtley Blaydon Low Fell Rowlands Gill Ryton Sheriff Hill Whickham Byker Blakelaw ElswickFenhamGosforth Jesmond Heaton Newburn North Kenton Throckley Walbottle Walker Westerhope West Moor Annitsford Backworth Benton Cullercoats Dudley Earsdon Fordley Forest Hall Killingworth Longbenton Monkseaton North Shields Preston Tynemouth Whitley Bay Wideopen Boldon Cleadon Harton Hebburn Jarrow Westoe Whitburn Castletown Fulwell Hendon Herrington Hetton-le-Hole Houghton-le-Spring Hylton Red House Newbottle Penshaw Rainton Ryhope Seaburn Shiney Row Silksworth South Hylton Southwick Springwell Village Warden Law Washington Two campuses of Sunderland University are in Sunderland, while Newcastle contains the two campuses of Northumbria University as well as the Newcastle University main campus.

The Government National Insurance Contributions Office in Longbenton, demolished and replaced in 2000, had a 1 mile (1.6 km) long corridor.

BAE Systems Land & Armaments in Scotswood, formerly Vickers-Armstrongs, is the main producer of British Army tanks such as the Challenger 2.

[19] Siemens Energy Service Fossil make steam turbines at the CA Parsons Works in South Heaton.

Domestos, a product whose main ingredient is sodium hypochlorite, was originated in Newcastle in 1929 by William Handley, and was distributed from the area for many years.

Soil Machine Dynamics in Wallsend on the Tyne makes Remotely operated underwater vehicles, and its Ultra Trencher 1 is the world's largest submersible robot.

Calsonic Kansei UK, formerly Magna, make automotive instrument panels and car trim at the Pennywell Industrial Estate.