A ceremonial county and (smaller) unitary district in North East England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county (in its own unitary Borough) is the town of Darlington. The county has a mixture of mining and farming heritage, as well as a heavy railway industry, particularity in the southwest of the county in Darlington, Shildon and Stockton. Its economy was historically based on coal and iron mining. It is an area of regeneration and promoted as a tourist destination.