Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. It consists of the five metropolitan districts of Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland. The county is bordered to the north by Northumberland, to the south by County Durham and to the east of the county lies the North Sea.
Prior to the 1974 reforms, the territory now covered by the county of Tyne and Wear straddled the border between the counties of Northumberland and Durham, the border being marked by the river Tyne; that territory also included five county boroughs.
Tyne and Wear County Council, based at Sandyford House, was abolished in 1986 along with the other metropolitan county councils in England by the Local Government Act 1985, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) have since functioned effectively as unitary authorities. However, the metropolitan county continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, and as a ceremonial county.