Tyne and Wear

Metropolitan county created in 1974 in northeastern England; the county council was abolished in 1986 and administrative powers passed to the unitary authorities of Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Gateshead, South Tyneside, and Sunderland; it is bounded by Northumberland to the north and west, Durham to the south, and the North Sea to the east; named for two bisecting rivers; noted for Hadrian's Wall (122 CE) and Norman fort (1080); coalfields exploited since the 13th century.