The North East is made up of four geographic areas: Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear and the Tees Valley and 12 local authority administrative areas. 70 % of the 2.6 million population is concentrated in the urban centres of the Tees Valley and Tyne & Wear, but the majority of the region is rural.
Local authorities, universities, charitable trusts, private organisations and individuals, and volunteers operate more than 220 museums, libraries and archives in the region, receiving over 18m visits per year.
- The region has 67 Accredited museums and 10 Designated Collections of national significance
- The public libraries deal with almost 3 million enquiries for information every year and provide 2,048 free public access PCs
- The region has 67 archive-holding organisations and the 4 county record offices manage 30 miles of archives and records
- More than 95% of all schools use museums and archive resources to enhance their pupil’s learning experience
The North East has a strong tradition of partnership working with regional cultural agencies and regional partners. MLA, Arts Council England, North East, English Heritage and Sport England North East work together on embedding culture within the regional strategy, local government delivery, Living Places and 2012.