Cumbria

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County of northwest England, created in 1974 from Cumberland, Westmorland, the Furness district of northwest Lancashire, and the Sedbergh district of northwest Yorkshire.

Area
6,810 sq km/2,629 sq mi

Towns and cities
Carlisle (administrative headquarters), Barrow, Kendal, Penrith, Whitehaven, Workington

Physical
Scafell Pike (978 m/3,210 ft), the highest mountain in England; Helvellyn (950 m/3,118 ft); Lake Windermere, the largest lake in England (17 km/10.5 mi long, 1.6 km/1 mi wide), and other lakes (Derwentwater, Grasmere, Haweswater, Ullswater); the rivers Eden and Derwent

Features
Lake District National Park; Grizedale Forest sculpture project; Furness peninsula; western part of Hadrian's Wall

Agriculture
in the north and east there is dairy farming; sheep are also reared; the West Cumberland Farmers is England's largest agricultural cooperative

Industries
the traditional coal, iron, and steel industries of the coast towns have been replaced by newer industries including chemicals, plastics, marine engineering, electronics, and shipbuilding (at Barrow-in-Furness, nuclear submarines and warships); tourism; salmon fishing

Population
(2001) 487,600

Famous people
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Stan Laurel, Beatrix Potter, Thomas de Quincey, John Ruskin, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth

Red stands for strength. White symbolizes faithfulness. Green represents hope. Effective date: 1 October 1957. >>