| County Durham | |
| Settlement Type: | Unitary authority area |
| Coordinates: | 54.7143°N -1.7976°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Sovereign state |
| Subdivision Name: | United Kingdom |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | England |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | North East |
| Subdivision Type3: | Ceremonial county |
| Subdivision Name3: | County Durham |
| Subdivision Type4: | City region |
| Subdivision Name4: | North East |
| Subdivision Type5: | Historic counties |
| Established Title: | Created |
| Established Date: | 1 April 2009 |
| Named For: | County Durham |
| Seat Type: | Administrative HQ |
| Seat: | County Hall, Durham |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Government Type: | Unitary authority |
| Governing Body: | Durham County Council |
| Leader Title: | Executive |
| Leader Name: | Leader and cabinet |
| Leader Title1: | Control |
| Leader Title2: | Leader |
| Leader Name2: | Amanda Hopgood (LD) |
| Leader Title3: | Chair |
| Leader Name3: | Joan Nicholson |
| Leader Title4: | MPs |
| Area Rank: | |
| Population Rank: | |
| Demographics Type1: | Ethnicity (2021) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Ethnic groups |
| Demographics Type2: | Religion (2021) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Religion |
| Timezone1: | GMT |
| Utc Offset1: | +0 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | BST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +1 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postcode areas |
| Postal Code: | DH1–99 |
| Area Code Type: | Dialling codes |
| Area Code: | 0191 |
| Iso Code: | GB-DUR |
| Blank1 Name: | GSS code |
| Blank1 Info: | E06000047 |
County Durham is a local government district in the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is governed by Durham County Council, a unitary authority.[2] The district has an area of NaNGSS=E06000047}}, and contains 135 civil parishes.[3] It forms part of the larger ceremonial county of Durham, together with boroughs of Darlington, Hartlepool, and the part of Stockton-on-Tees north of the River Tees.
Between 1974 and 1 April 2009, County Durham was governed as a two-tier non-metropolitan county, with a county council and district councils. The original eight districts were Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Derwentside, Durham (city), Easington, Sedgefield, Teesdale, and Wear Valley.[4] In 1997 Darlington was removed from the non-metropolitan county and became a separate unitary authority.[5] In 2009 the remaining districts were abolished and replaced by a single district covering the non-metropolitan county, with Durham County Council as the sole local authority.[6]
The district has multiple hamlets and villages. Settlements with town status include Consett, Barnard Castle, Peterlee, Seaham, Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Shildon, Chester-le-Street, Crook, Stanley, Willington, Stanhope, Spennymoor, Ferryhill and Sedgefield while Durham is the only city in the district.
| Northumberland | North | |
| Gateshead | North east | |
| City of Sunderland | North east | |
| Hartlepool | South east | |
| Stockton-on-Tees | South east | |
| Darlington | South | |
| South | ||
| Westmorland and Furness | West |
Following the 2021 United Kingdom local elections, the council is now under control of a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Conservative Party, Independents and North East Party.
The main industries where people in County Durham work are retail, health and social work, and manufacturing.[7] The three largest industry groups for jobs based in the district are education, health, and manufacturing, while the three largest for businesses are construction, retail, and professional, scientific, and technical services.
Durham LEA has a comprehensive school system with 36 state secondary schools (not including sixth form colleges) and five independent schools (four in Durham and one in Barnard Castle). Easington district has the largest school population by year, and Teesdale has the smallest with two schools. Only one school in Easington and Derwentside districts have sixth forms, with about half the schools in the other districts having sixth forms.
Local TV coverage is provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees. Television signals are received from either the Pontop Pike[8] or Bilsdale TV transmitters.[9]
Radio stations for the area are: