Tyne and Wear (/ˌtaɪn  ...  ˈwɪər/) is ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The county is heavily urbanised, with a population of 1.14 million in 2021. After Newcastle (300,125) the largest settlements are Sunderland (170,134), Gateshead (120,046), and South Shields (75,337). Nearly all of the county's settlements belong to either the Tyneside or Wearside conurbations, the latter of which also extends into County Durham. The county is governed by five metropolitan boroughs: Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside. The boroughs collaborate through two combined authorities: North of Tyne consists of Newcastle, North Tyneside, and Northumberland, and North East consists of the remaining boroughs and County Durham. The county was historically part of Northumberland and County Durham, with the River Tyne forming the border. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)