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Tyne and Wear (pronounced weir) is a metropolitan (city) area of some 1.1 million people located in the North East Region of England. It covers some 54,014 hectares which is only 6% of the North East Region's land but contains 43% of the Region's population. The conurbation straddles the larger River Tyne to the north of the county and smaller River Wear to the south. The county area is split into 5 administrative areas.
The City of Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside lie to the north bank of the Tyne while Gateshead and South Tyneside lie on the south bank. The City of Sunderland straddles both sides of the River Wear. Together they form the county area of Tyne and Wear which ceased to exist as a statutory administrative tier of government (Metropolitan County Council) in 1986.
Tyne and Wear borders with Northumberland County to the North and Durham County to the South. Along with the other urban areas of Tees Valley, these four county areas constitute the North East Government Office Region. (GO-NE)
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Key Facts for Tyne and Wear and its constituent districts