North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region covers an area of 8,592 km2 and in 2019 had a recorded population of nearly 2.7 million. There are four counties in the region: County Durham; Tyne and Wear; Northumberland and part of North Yorkshire. The largest settlements are Newcastle upon Tyne, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Gateshead, Darlington and Hartlepool. There are three conurbations in the region: Tyneside ; Wearside ; and Teesside. Only three settlements in the region have city status: Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland and Durham.