Northumberland

Northumberland (nôrthŭm`bərlənd), county (1991 pop. 300,600), 2,019 sq mi (5,229 sq km), NE England. Northernmost of the English counties, it is separated from Scotland by the Cheviot Hills and the Tweed River, and borders on the North Sea. The terrain is level along the rugged coast line and hilly in the interior, where high moorlands alternate with fertile valleys. Other rivers are the Tyne, the Derwent, the Wansbeck, the Till, the Alno, and the Coquet. In the past the economy was dominated by coal mining, shipping, shipbuilding and repairing, and the production of heavy electrical machinery, but these have suffered a heavy decline. Sheep and cattle are raised. Hadrian's Wall was built in Roman times. In the 6th cent. the Angles established themselves in the region, which later became the kingdom of Northumbria. The area suffered severely during the border wars between England and Scotland. In 1974, Northumberland was reorganized as a nonmetropolitan county; the small but populous and industrialized southeast (including Newcastle upon Tyne) became part of the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear; this area is now divided between the metropolitan districts of Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside.

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Northumberland

Administrative (pop., 2001: 307,186) and historic county, northeastern England. It includes several islands, including Lindisfarne (Holy Island), and much of the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. The landscape is varied, with coastal plains in the east, the rugged Cheviot Hills and moors in the west, and industrial areas in the southern River Tyne valley. It was the site of prehistoric settlement before the Roman domination began in AD 122, when Hadrian's Wall was built. It was the scene of border warfare with Scotland until the union of Scotland with England in 1603. Good farmland is limited; industrial complexes produce heavy machinery.

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Northumberland¹

1st Duke of, title of John Dudley. 1502--53, English statesman and soldier, who governed England (1549--53) during the minority of Edward VI. His attempt (1553) to gain the throne for his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, led to his execution

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Northumberland²

the northernmost county of England, on the North Sea: hilly in the north (the Cheviots) and west (the Pennines), with many Roman remains, notably Hadrian's Wall; shipbuilding, coal mining. Administrative centre: Morpeth. Pop.: 309 200 (2003 est.). Area: 5032 sq. km (1943 sq. miles)

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Northumberland 

a county in the extreme northeastern part of England, along the North Sea coast, in the basins of the Tyne and Tweed rivers. Area, 5,200 sq km. Population, 794,900 (1971). In 1974 the southeastern part of Northumberland, including the county seat, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was made part of the new county of Tyne and Wear. Northumberland is part of the northeast economic region of England. There is coal mining, lumbering, and animal husbandry (sheep and cattle). Vegetables are grown in the Cheviot Hills and the spurs of the Pennines.