Cumbria
Geography
Status:	Ceremonial & Administrative 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 (2002 est.) - Density - Admin. council	Ranked 41st 488,513 72 / km² Ranked 28th
Ethnicity:	99.3% White
Politics
Cumbria County Council http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/
Executive:	Conservative & Liberal Democrat
Members of Parliament
Tim Collins, Jack Cunningham, Tony Cunningham, John Hutton, David Maclean, Eric Martlew
Districts
Barrow-in-Furness South Lakeland Copeland Allerdale Eden Carlisle

Cumbria is a administrative county located in the northwest area of England. The boundaries are along the Irish Sea to the west, and along the Pennines to the east. Cumbria's northern boundary stretches from the Solway Firth to Morecambe Bay along the Scotland border.

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-in-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 area was inhabited by Celts 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 is home to the Lake District National Park, considered one of the most beautiful areas of Great Britain.

Towns and Villages

• Alston, Ambleside, Appleby-in-Westmorland, Arnside, Aspatria
• Barrow-in-Furness, Bowness-on-Windermere, Brampton (town), Brampton (village) , Brough , Burneside , Burton-in-Kendal
• Carlisle, Cartmel, Cockermouth
• Dalton-in-Furness
• Glenridding , Gosforth , Grange-over-Sands, Grasmere
• Kendal, Keswick, Kirkby Lonsdale, Kirkby Stephen
• Longsleddale (was the inspiration for the village of Greendale in Postman Pat)
• Maryport, Millom, Milnthorpe, Muncaster
• Oulton , Oxenholme
• Patterdale , Penrith
• Ravenglass, Rheged
• Sedbergh , Sellafield, Shap , Silloth , St Bees , Staveley, Swarthmoor
• Temple Sowerby , Thornhill
• Ulverston, Upton
• Walton , Wetheral , Whitehaven, Windermere, Workington

People and Places of Interest

• Bassenthwaite Lake
• Brantwood
• Buttermere
• Donald Campbell
• Cartmel Priory
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Coniston Water
• Crummock Water
• Cumbria Way long distance footpath
• Dales Way long distance footpath
• Derwent Water
• Eden Valley Railway - heritage railway
• Ennerdale Water
• Fisher Tarn Reservoir
• Furness Abbey
• Hartley Castle
• Haweswater
• Holker Hall
• Killington Reservoir
• Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway - heritage railway
• Windermere (the lake)
• Lanercost Priory
• Levens Hall
• The former site of the Beast Banks post office in Longsleddale.
• National Nature Reserves in Cumbria
• Pennine Way long distance footpath
• Beatrix Potter
• Quaker tapestry, Kendal
• Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway - heritage railway
• Rydal Water
• Seathwaite Tarn
• Sizergh Castle
• Thirlmere
• Ullswater
• Alfred Wainwright
• Wast Water
• Whinfell Forest
• William Wordsworth