The northern part of this seat is in County Londonderry and the southern part is in County Tyrone. It is bordered on the west by the Sperrin Mountains, and on the east by Lough Neagh.
It is a rural constituency where farming is important, with some fine agricultural land. The tourist industry has great potential, based on Lough Neagh and the varied countryside, ranging from a gently rolling landscape to mountains. There are three main urban centres: Cookstown, Magherafelt and Coalisland, which is a centre for the brick-making industry.
This seat is demographically and electorally quite similar to its neighbour, West Tyrone: the majority (over 60%) of electors are Catholic, but a split in the nationalist vote against one unionist candidate has meant that a unionist has in the past been able to win the day.
In 1983 the DUP's Reverend Willie McCrea won the seat, but in 1997 Sinn Féin won it with Martin McGuinness. He has never taken his seat in the commons.