County Durham, the "Land of the Prince Bishops", is a county in
northern England, lying between Cleveland, North Yorkshire,
Cumbria, Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear (many of which
contain portions of the historical county, which was
considerably larger). Historically, the Bishop of Durham ruled
the county as his personal principality, a custom only ended in
1836. The county town is Durham, also the site of a famous
cathedral and university; other important towns are Bishop
Auckland, Easington, Consett, Chester-le-Street, and Barnard
Castle. The traditional county of Durham includes Gateshead,
South Shields and Sunderland (since 1974 in Tyne and Wear), and
Hartlepool and Stockton (since 1974 in Cleveland); Darlington
was removed from the county to become a Unitary Authority in the
1990s. Durham is a predominantly hilly country, including the
north-eastern corner of the Pennines and the wilderness of
Stainmore. The rivers Wear and Tees flow through it, and the
largest waterfall in England, High Force. is in t