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County Durham (, locally ) is a county in North East England.〔North East Assembly - (About North East England ). Retrieved 30 November 2007.〕 The county town is Durham, a cathedral city, whilst the largest settlement in the ceremonial county is Darlington. Four unitary authorities cover the ceremonial county — Durham County Council and the councils of the boroughs of Darlington, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees. The ceremonial county borders Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, Cumbria and North Yorkshire; the borough of Stockton-on-Tees is unique in England in being divided between two ceremonial counties, with the part of the borough north of the River Tees being in Durham and the part south of the Tees being in North Yorkshire.〔(Lieutenancies Act 1997 ). Retrieved 27 October 2014.〕 Historically, the county of Durham included the southern area of the modern county of Tyne and Wear, including Gateshead and the city of Sunderland, but excluded the former Startforth Rural District around Romaldkirk and Cotherstone from the North Riding of Yorkshire. It bordered Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland and the North Riding of Yorkshire. The county has a mixture of mining and farming heritage, as well as a heavy railway industry, particularly in the southeast of the county in Darlington, Shildon and Stockton. Its economy was historically based on coal and iron mining.〔Durham County Council - (History and Heritage of County Durham ). Retrieved 30 November 2007.〕 It is an area of regeneration and promoted as a tourist destination; in the centre of the city of Durham, Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral are UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site. ==Etymology== Many counties are named after their principal town, and the expected form here would be ''Durhamshire'', however this form has never been in common use. The ceremonial county is officially named Durham,〔 however the county has long been commonly known as ''County'' Durham and as such is the only English county name to be prefixed with "County" in common usage — a practice more common in Ireland. Its unusual naming (for an English county) is explained to some extent by the relationship with the Bishops of Durham, who for centuries governed Durham as a county palatine (the County Palatine of Durham), outwith the usual structure of county administration in England. Thus "County Durham" is a shortened form of "County of Durham". The situation regarding the formal name with regards to present-day local government is less clear. The structural change legislation〔(County Durham (Structural Change) Order 2008 )〕 which in 2009 created the present unitary council (that covers a large part — but not all — of the ceremonial county) refers to "the county of County Durham" and named the new unitary district "County Durham" too. However, a later amendment to that legislation,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Local Government (Structural Changes) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Other Provision) Order 2009 )〕 refers to the "county of Durham"; the amendment allows for the unitary council to name itself "The Durham Council", however the council has retained the name of Durham County Council — with either option, the name does not include ''County'' Durham. The former postal county was named "County Durham" to distinguish it from the post town of Durham. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「County Durham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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