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Cumbria

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Cumbria
File:EnglandCumbria.png
Geography
Status Ceremonial & Non-metropolitan county
Origin 1974
Local Government Act 1972
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 (2006 est.)
- Density
- Admin. Council
Ranked 41st Image:Wp_globe_tiny.gif
496,200


73

/ km²
Ranked 28th Image:Wp_globe_tiny.gif
Ethnicity
96.7% White British
1.7% White Other
0.6% S.Asian
0.5% Mixed Race
0.2% Chinese
0.2% Afro-Carib.
0.1% Other
Politics
File:Arms-cumbria.jpg
Cumbria County Council
http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/
Executive Conservative / Liberal Democrats
Members of Parliament
Districts
  1. Barrow-in-Furness
  2. South Lakeland
  3. Copeland
  4. Allerdale
  5. Eden
  6. Carlisle

Cumbria (IPA: /ˈkʊmbriə/), is a shire county in the extreme North West of England. Cumbria came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. The county consists of six districts, and has a total population of 498,800.

Cumbria, the third largest county in England, is bound to the west by the Irish Sea, to the south by Lancashire, to the southeast by North Yorkshire, and to the east by County Durham and Northumberland. Scotland lies directly to the north.

A predominantly rural county, Cumbria is home to the Lake District National Park, considered one of the most beautiful areas of the United Kingdom. The area has provided inspiration for generations of British and foreign artists, writers and musicians. Much of the county is mountainous, with the highest point of the county (and of England) being Scafell Pike at 978 m (3210 ft). All the territory in England that is over 3,000 feet above sea level is in Cumbria.

Parts of Hadrian's Wall can be found in the northernmost reaches of the county, in and around Carlisle.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries and divisions

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

The boundaries are along the Irish Sea to Morecambe Bay in 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.

It is made up of six districts: Allerdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden and South Lakeland. For many administrative purposes Cumbria is divided into 3 areas - East, West and South. East being the districts of Carlisle and Eden, West - Allerdale and Copeland and South Lakeland and Barrow making up South Cumbria.

In January 2007, Cumbria County Council voted in favour of an official bid to scrap the current two-tier system of county and district councils in favour of a new unitary Cumbria Council, to be submitted for consideration to the Department for Communities and Local Government.[1]

The county returns 6 Members of Parliament to the House of Commons, representing the constituencies of Carlisle, Penrith & The Border, Workington, Copeland, Westmorland and Lonsdale and Barrow & Furness.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Cumbria

The county of Cumbria was created in 1974. It was a combination of the area of the administrative counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, the Cumberland county borough of Carlisle, along with the North Lonsdale or Furness part of Lancashire (including the county borough of Barrow-in-Furness), and from the West Riding of Yorkshire, the Sedbergh Rural District. The name "Cumbria" has been used for the territory for centuries.

Following the creation of Cumbria as a non-metropolitan county, some people, particularly those born or brought up in the area, continue to refer to some parts of Cumbria as part of the ancient county boundaries; this includes the Furness area as a part of Lancashire, and the Kendal and surrounding area as a part of Westmorland.

Local papers The Westmorland Gazette and Cumberland and Westmorland Herald are continue to be named on this pre-1974 county basis. 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". A MORI poll in the county found 79% of those polled identified "very strongly" or "strongly" to Cumbria throughout the county, but dropping to 55% and 71% in Barrow and South Lakeland districts, which incorporate part of historic Lancashire.[2]

[edit] Culture

Cumbria as an English county on the border with Scotland has faced repeated invasion. Resisting such attacks and many attepts by the Kingdom of Scotland to annex it has given Cumbria a strong sense of pride and a very strong Northern English culture, shared with its neighboring counties, particularly Lancashire and Northumberland.

The culture of the area was predominantly Celtic until fairly late after the annexation by the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria (see Rheged), and the name for the area derives from its name in the Cumbric language. It is etymologically connected to the Welsh term Cymru, meaning "Land of brothers", which is now used as the Welsh name for Wales itself. The Cumbric language has been extinct since about the 11th century.

Cumbria also had very strong links with Norse culture due to Viking invasions. Leaving behind evidence particularly in the genetics of the local population. Studies have shown that the county of Cumbria has one of the most striking signs of Scandinavian genetics in England.

[edit] Dialect

The Cumbrian dialect is spoken throughout the region. There is quite a large variation in accent and words, especially between north and south and west coast.

Many of the traditional dialect words are remnants of Norse settlement, with Norwegian settlers probably arriving in Cumbria in the 10th century via Ireland and the Isle of Man.

[edit] Sport

Carlisle United are the only professional football team in Cumbria. They attract support from across Cumbria. However, Barrow A.F.C., has been one of the best supported non-league football teams in the UK since their relegation in the 1970s. Recently Workington Reds have also made a rapid rise up the non league ladder and now compete with Barrow in the Conference North.

Rugby league is a very popular sport in West Cumbria. Whitehaven RLFC, Workington Town and Barrow Raiders all compete in the National Leagues. Carlisle RLFC played in the national competitions between 1981 and 1997, Carlisle today has Carlisle Centurions in the Rugby League Conference. There are amateur BARLA teams playing in the National Conference, notablely Wath Brow Hornets and Millom as well as a Cumberland League and Barrow & District League.

Rugby union is very popular in the east of the county with teams such as Carlisle RUFC, Kendal RUFC, Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC, Keswick RUFC, Upper Eden RUFC and Penrith RUFC (who have recently been promoted to the National Leagues) competing in many local and national competitions.

'Wrestling

Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling is an ancient and well-practised tradition in the county with a strong resemblance to Scottish Backhold.

In the 21st century Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling along with other aspects of Lakeland culture are practiced at the Grassmere Sports and Show, an annual meeting held every year since 1852 on the August Bank Holiday.

The origin of this form of wrestling is a matter of debate, with some describing it as having evolved from Norse wrestling brought over by Viking invaders,[3][4] while other historians associate it with the Cornish and Gouren styles[5] indicating that it may have developed out of a longer-standing Celtic tradition.[6]

[edit] Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of East Cumbria at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year Regional Gross Value Added[7] Agriculture[8] Industry[9] Services[10]
1995 2,679 148 902 1,629
2000 2,843 120 809 1,914
2003 3,388 129 924 2,335

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of West Cumbria at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year Regional Gross Value Added[7] Agriculture[8] Industry[9] Services[10]
1995 2,246 63 1,294 888
2000 2,415 53 1,212 1,150
2003 2,870 60 1,420 1,390

[edit] Education

Although Carlisle has a comprehensive system almost in toto, it has one state grammar school in Penrith. There are 42 state secondary schools and 10 independent schools. Sixth-form provision is good (mainly as schools in the county's rural areas are far apart, so education has to be less geographically spread out). The exception is Barrow-in-Furness district where no schools have sixth forms, and this is the same for three schools in Allerdale and South Lakeland, and one in the other districts. Carlisle, Allerdale and South Lakeland all have the largest school population by year of about 1250, with Eden the smallest. In general, year sizes are low, with six schools having year sizes under 50. In England, 45.8% of pupils gain 5 good GCSEs including Englsh and Maths; for Cumbria LEA's 6100 pupils taking GCSE at 16, it is 45.3% - slightly under the average. This is misleading as in the rural areas, the schools generally get good results. The best comprehensive school at GCSE is the Cockermouth School with 68%, followed by the Queen Elizabeth School in Kirkby Lonsdale with 64% and the William Howard School in Brampton with 61%. The worst is the Alfred Barrow School in Barrow in Furness with 17%. The catholic schools in Whitehaven and Barrow-in-Furness are the best schools by far in the towns, as most are underperforming in these two towns. The school system in Carlisle has five underperforming schools, with the rest doing much better; not unlike a selective system. The same could be said for Allerdale district. At A-level, like at GCSE, Cumbria performs exactly at the England average. The best state school (in 2006), understandably is the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. The better comprehensive schools do very well at A-level, with the Queen Katherine School in Kendal being the best, followed by Keswick School. The best overall at A level is Casterton School, a girls school in Casterton.


[edit] GCSE results by district council (%)

2006 results for % of state school pupils gaining grades A-C at GCSE including English and Maths; compare to average house price.

  • South Lakeland 54.9
  • Eden 54.8
  • Allerdale 47.4
  • Carlisle 39.8
  • Barrow-in-Furness 38.4
  • Copeland 38.0

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Towns and Villages

File:Cumbria outline map with UK.png

Carlisle is the largest and only city in the county, whilst Barrow-in-Furness (the largest town) is between 2 and 3 times larger than the second largest town (Kendal).

The twelve most populated settlements in Cumbria are listed below:

RankTownPopulationDistrictPercentage of Cumbria's population
1Carlisle105,200Carlisle21.1%
2Barrow-in-Furness71,980Barrow-in-Furness14.4%
3Workington32,849Allerdale5.5%
4Kendal27,521South Lakeland5.1%
5Whitehaven25,500Copeland5.0%
6Penrith14,756Eden3.0%
7Maryport11,275Allerdale2.3%
8Ulverston11,210South Lakeland2.2%
9Dalton-in-Furness11,000Barrow-in-Furness2.2%
10Cockermouth7,787Allerdale1.6%
11Cleator Moor6,963Copeland1.4%
12Harrington5,000Copeland1.0%
13Brampton4,001Carlisle0.8%
14Grange-over-Sands4,000South Lakeland0.8%
15Bowness-on-Windermere3,814South Lakeland0.8%
16Egremont3,707Copeland0.7%
17Sedbergh3,691South Lakeland0.7%
18Silloth3,305Allerdale0.7%
19Aspatria3,266Allerdale0.7%
20Longtown3,000Carlisle0.6%

[edit] Density

Cumbria as a whole is the second least densely populated county in England with only 73 people per square kilometre. Despite it being the third largest in area (6,768 km²), about a third of the county is taken up by the Lake District National Park. Below is a table listing each district by population density.

District Population Density Population Area
Barrow-in-Furness 924 / km² 71,980 77.87 km²
Carlisle 101 / km² 105,200 1,039.97 km²
Copeland 97 / km² 71,500 737.59 km²
Allerdale 77 / km² 96,300 1,553.39 km²
South Lakeland 66 / km² 102,900 1,257.79 km²
Eden 24 / km² 52,800 2,156.45 km²

[edit] Ethnicity

The data below is based on recent available 2005 estimates.

District White British White Other Mixed Race S. Asian Chinese Afro-Caribbean Other
Allerdale [1] 97.3% 1.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%
Barrow-in-Furness [2] 96.7% 1.8% 0.5% 0.6% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2%
Carlisle [3] 96.5% 1.7% 0.4% 0.6% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1%
Copeland [4] 97.1% 1.3% 0.4% 0.6% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1%
Eden [5] 97.1% 1.6% 0.4% 0.5% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%
South Lakeland [6] 95.6% 2.3% 0.6% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2%
Cumbria Average 96.7% 1.7% 0.5% 0.6% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1%

Increase
Cumbria has previosuly been considered an almost all white county, however since the millenium, the county has experienced one of the UK's largest increases in the population of non-indigenous communities. Below is a table noting the percentage change for each respective ethnic group between 2004 and 2005 compared to England as a whole. Altough please note that this table does not reflect how many people of each race recide in each district, large percentage increases in such places as Copeland and Eden often mean that a community could have just increased from 30 to 37 [7].

Ethnic Group  % Change for Cumbria  % Change for England District with smallest increase District with largest increase
White British -0.1% 0.0% Allerdale -0.4% Eden 0.1%
White Irish 1.7% -1.7% Barrow-in-Furness -0.4% Eden 6.5%
Other White 12.3% 7.2% Copeland 9.1% Barrow-in-Furness 15.9%
White and Black Caribbean 11.5% 3.2% Barrow-in-Furness 9.1% Eden 16.0%
White and Black African 11.1% 6.4% South Lakeland 6.7% Eden 20.4%
White and Asian 11.0% 6.0% Allerdale 9.1% Copeland 14.9%
Other Mixed 9.3% 5.6% South Lakeland 7.7% Copeland 14.0%
Indian 22.3% 5.1% Allerdale 18.7% Copeland 27.0%
Pakistani 21.2% 3.8% Allerdale 16.4% Copeland 23.6%
Bangladeshi 11.9% 3.6% Copeland 6.0% Eden 23.7%
Other Asian 17.1% 6.4% Barrow-in-Furness 8.4% Copeland 28.4%
Black Caribbean 18.9% 0.7% South Lakeland 15.1% Allerdale 27.1%
Black African 27.4% 6.1% Barrow-in-Furness 21.8% Copeland 32.0%
Other Black 15.4% 3.2% Barrow-in-Furness 10.5% Allerdale 24.5%
Chinese 14.8% 10.2% Allerdale 8.2% South Lakeland 17.8%
Other Ethnic Group 17.8% 8.2% Copeland 14.7% Eden 21.9%

Notable Non-Indigenous Ethnic Communities

[edit] People of interest

[edit] Places of interest

Key
Image:AP_Icon.PNG Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
Accessible open space Accessible open space
Amusement/Theme Park
Image:CL_icon.PNG Castle
Country Park Country Park
Image:EH icon.png English Heritage
Image:FC icon.png Forestry Commission
Heritage railway Heritage railway
Historic house Historic House
Museum (free)
Museum
Museums (free/not free)
National Trust National Trust
Zoo

See also: List of castles in Cumbria

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ County council votes to pursue a single council for Cumbria. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
  2. ^ [http://www.boundarycommittee.org.uk/files/dms/REPCUMB_12840-9355__E__.pdf Local Government Review in the Cumbria County Council Area]. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
  3. ^ Kronos; A Chronology of the Martial Arts and Combative Sports. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
  4. ^ Cinaet Scothack. Wrestling in Gaelic Culture. Retrieved on 2--7-02-24.
  5. ^ Amateur Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
  6. ^ Kronos; A Chronology of the Martial Arts and Combative Sports. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
  7. ^ a b Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
  8. ^ a b includes hunting and forestry
  9. ^ a b includes energy and construction
  10. ^ a b includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
  11. ^ Polish immigrants in Carlisle
  12. ^ Chinese immigrants in Carlisle
  13. ^ Filipino immigrants in Barrow
  14. ^ Kosovan immigrants in Barrow

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Template:County




This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Cumbria. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.