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County Durham is aunitary authority area in the ceremonial county ofCounty Durham, England. It is governed byDurham County Council.[5] The district has an area of 2,226 square kilometres (859 sq mi), and contains 135civil parishes.[6] It forms part of the largerceremonial county ofDurham, together with boroughs ofDarlington,Hartlepool, and the part ofStockton-on-Tees north of theRiver Tees.
Between 1974 and 1 April 2009, County Durham was governed as a two-tiernon-metropolitan county, with a county council and district councils. The original eight districts wereChester-le-Street,Darlington,Derwentside,Durham (city),Easington,Sedgefield,Teesdale, andWear Valley.[7] In 1997 Darlington was removed from the non-metropolitan county and became a separate unitary authority.[8] In 2009 the remaining districts were abolished and replaced by a single district covering the non-metropolitan county, with Durham County Council as the sole local authority.[9]
The district has multiple hamlets and villages. Settlements with town status includeConsett,Barnard Castle,Peterlee,Seaham,Bishop Auckland,Newton Aycliffe,Middleton-in-Teesdale,Shildon,Chester-le-Street,Crook,Stanley,Willington,Stanhope,Spennymoor,Ferryhill andSedgefield whileDurham is the only city in the district.[citation needed]
| Local authority | In relation to the district |
|---|---|
| Northumberland | North |
| Gateshead | North east |
| City of Sunderland | North east |
| Hartlepool | South east |
| Stockton-on-Tees | South east |
| Darlington | South |
| North Yorkshire | South |
| Westmorland and Furness | West |
Following the2025 Durham County Council election, the council is under control ofReform UK.
The main industries that people in County Durham work in are retail, health and social work, and manufacturing.[10]: 54 The three largest industry groups[i] for jobs based in the district are education, health, and manufacturing,[10]: 57 while the three largest for businesses[ii] are construction, retail, and professional, scientific, and technical services.[10]: 58
DurhamLEA has a comprehensive school system with 36 state secondary schools (not includingsixth form colleges) and five independent schools (four in Durham and one in Barnard Castle). Easington district has the largest school population by year, and Teesdale has the smallest with two schools. Only one school in Easington and Derwentside districts have sixth forms, with about half the schools in the other districts having sixth forms.[citation needed]
Local TV coverage is provided byBBC North East and Cumbria andITV Tyne Tees. Local radio stations includeBBC Radio Newcastle,BBC Radio Tees,Capital North East,Heart North East,Smooth North East,Greatest Hits Radio North East,Nation Radio North East,TFM; and community radio stationsDurham On Air, Bishop FM in Bishop Auckland,[11]and Darlo Radio serving Darlington.[12]
