Tyne and Wear

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Metropolitan county of northeast England, created in 1974; in 1986, most of the functions of the former county council were transferred to the metropolitan borough councils.

Area
540 sq km/208 sq mi

Towns and cities
Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Sunderland (administrative centres for the districts of the same name), South Shields (administrative centre of South Tyneside district), North Shields (administrative centre of North Tyneside district)

Physical
rivers: Tyne and Wear

Features
part of Hadrian's Wall; Newcastle and Gateshead, linked with each other and with the coast on both sides by the Tyne and Wear Metro (a light railway using existing suburban lines, extending 54 km/34 mi); Tyneside International Film Festival

Industries
once a centre of heavy industry, Tyne and Wear's industry is now being redeveloped and diversified, with car manufacturing on Wearside, electronics, offshore technology (floating production vessels), automobile components, pharmaceuticals, and computers

Population
(2001) 1,075,900

Famous people
Thomas Bewick, Harry Patterson (‘Jack Higgins’), Robert Stephenson

White stands for Islam, peace, optimism, light, and love. Red recalls the martyrs of Sudan and the people's struggle. Black stands for Sudan and the Mahdiya revolution of the 1880s. Effective date: 20 May 1970. >>