The county is largely urbanised, with an area of 540 square kilometres (210 sq mi) and a population of 1,178,389 in 2024. Newcastle is located on the north bank of theRiver Tyne in the centre of the county, andGateshead opposite on the south bank.South Shields lies in the east at the river's mouth, and the city ofSunderland in the south-east at the mouth of theRiver Wear. Nearly all of the county's settlements belong to theTyneside orWearside conurbations, the latter of which extends into County Durham. Forlocal government purposes Tyne and Wear comprises fivemetropolitan boroughs:Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland,North Tyneside andSouth Tyneside. The borough councils collaborate through theNorth East Combined Authority, which also includesDurham County Council andNorthumberland County Council. The county was created in 1974 from south-east Northumberland and north-east County Durham.
The most notable geographic features of the county are theRiver Tyne andRiver Wear, after which it is named and along which its major settlements developed. The county is also notable for its coastline to theNorth Sea in the east, which is characterised by talllimestone cliffs and wide beaches.
The need to reform local government on Tyneside was recognised by the government as early as 1935, when aRoyal Commission to Investigate the Conditions of Local Government on Tyneside was appointed.[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.
Population density map
The report of the Royal Commission, published in 1937,[6] recommended the establishment of a Regional Council for Northumberland and Tyneside (to be called the "Northumberland Regional Council") to administer services that needed to be exercised over a wide area, with a second tier of smaller units for other local-government purposes. The second-tier units would form by amalgamating the various existing boroughs and districts. The county boroughs in the area would lose their status. Within this area, a single municipality would be formed covering the four county boroughs of Newcastle, Gateshead, Tynemouth, South Shields and other urban districts and boroughs.[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 1937 proposals never came into operation: local authorities could not agree on a scheme and the legislation of the time did not allow central government to compel one.[8]
The white paper that led to theLocal Government Act 1972 proposed as "area 2" a metropolitan county including Newcastle and Sunderland, extending as far south down the coast as Seaham and Easington, and bordering "area 4" (which would becomeTees Valley). The Bill as presented in November 1971 pruned back the southern edge of the area, and gave it the name "Tyneside". The name "Tyneside" proved controversial onWearside, and a government amendment changed the name to "Tyne and Wear" at the request of Sunderland County Borough Council.[9]
Tyne and Wear either has or closely borders two officialMet Office stations, neither located in one of the major urban centres. The locations for those are inTynemouth, where the river Tyne meets the North Sea, east of Newcastle; and inland atDurham, around 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-west of Sunderland. There are some clear differences between the two stations' temperature and precipitation patterns, even though both have a cool-summer and mild-winteroceanic climate.
Tyne and Wear containsgreen belt interspersed throughout the county, mainly on the fringes of theTyneside/Wearside conurbation. There is also an inter-urban line of belt helping to keep the districts of South Tyneside, Gateshead, and Sunderland separated. It was first drawn up from the 1950s. All the county's districts contain some portion of belt.
There have been occasional calls for Tyne and Wear to be abolished and the traditional border between Northumberland and County Durham to be restored.[17][18]
Newcastle and Sunderland are known for declaring their election results early on election night.[19] Therefore, they frequently give the first indication of nationwide trends. An example of this was at the 2016 European Union referendum. 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. Sunderland declared soon after and gave a 62% vote to Leave, much higher than expected. These two results were seen as an early sign that the United Kingdom had voted to Leave.
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