Understand
This modern county was formed in local government reforms in the 1970s, and comprises the traditional counties of Cumberland to the north and the west, Westmorland to the east, and parts of Lancashire to the south. Geographically, it is dominated by the Lake District at its centre, England's only true mountain range that presents a natural barrier to travel across the county.
To the west of the county, the towns of Workington and Whitehaven lie on a disused coalfield, which in the last twenty years has led to relatively high unemployment and low property values. Farther south, along the coast, are the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant and the shipbuilding town of Barrow-in-Furness.
To the east lies the Eden Valley and the western slopes of the Pennine Hills.
To the north is a low-lying plain containing the border city of Carlisle before the Solway Firth forms the natural border with Scotland.
