Cumbria (English pronunciation: /ˈkʌmbriə/ KUM-bree-ə; locally [ˈkʊmbɾiə] KUUM-bree-ə) is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle and the only other major urban area is Barrow-in-Furness on the south-western tip of the county which has a population just slightly smaller than Carlisle. The county of Cumbria consists of six districts (Allerdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Copeland, Eden and South Lakeland), and in 2008 had a population of just under half a million. Cumbria is one of the most sparsely populated counties in the United Kingdom, with 73.4 people per km2 (190/sq mi).
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or (particularly as an adjective) Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or fells), but also for its associations with the early nineteenth-century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the other Lake Poets.
Historically shared by the counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, the Lake District now lies entirely within the modern county of Cumbria. All the land in England higher than three thousand feet above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest lakes in England, Wastwater and Windermere, respectively.