Cumbria

From Freepedia

**Cumbria**
Image:EnglandCumbria.png
Geography
Status	Ceremonial & Non-metropolitan county
Region	North West England
Area - Total - Admin. council	Ranked 3rd 6,768 km² Ranked 2nd
Admin HQ	Carlisle
ISO 3166-2	GB-CMA
ONS code	16
NUTS 3	UKD11/12
Demographics
Population - Total (2003 est.) - Density - Admin. council	Ranked 41st 489,829 72 / km² Ranked 28th
Ethnicity	99.3% White
Politics
Image:Arms-cumbria.jpg Cumbria County Council http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/
Executive	Conservative & Liberal Democrat
Members of Parliament	Tony Cunningham Tim Farron John Hutton David Maclean Eric Martlew Jamie Reed
Districts
Image:CumbriaNumbered.png Barrow-in-Furness South Lakeland Copeland Allerdale Eden Carlisle

Cumbria is a county in the North West region of England. The boundaries are along the Irish Sea to Morecambe Bay in the the west, and along the Pennines to the east. Cumbria's northern boundary stretches from the Solway Firth along the border with Scotland to Northumberland. Parts of Hadrian's Wall can be found in the northernmost reaches of the county, in and around Carlisle.

Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy areas of Dumfries and Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale in Scotland.

It is made up of six districts: Allerdale, Barrow and Furness, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden and South Lakeland.

Cumbria was created in 1974, and covers the traditional counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, plus the Furness part of Lancashire, and a protrusion of Yorkshire. The name "Cumbria" has been used for the region for centuries.

Following the creation of Cumbria as an (administrative) county, some people, particularly those born or brought up in the area, prefer to refer to the Furness area by its traditional county name of "Lancashire". Others, including local government, promotional material for the area, the Lake District National Park Authority, and most visitors describe the area as being in "Cumbria".

The culture of the area was Celtic until quite late (see Rheged), and the name derives from their name for the area, in the Cumbric language. It is etymologically connected to the Welsh term Cymru, meaning "Wales". Cumbria remains one of the most Celtic areas of England.

Cumbria is home to the Lake District National Park, considered one of the most beautiful areas of Great Britain. The highest point of the county (and of the whole of England) is Scafell Pike at 978m/3209ft. The area has provided inspiration for generations of British and foreign artists, writers and musicians.