Durham is the county town and contains the headquarters of Durham County Council , the unitary authority which governs the district.
The built-up area had a population of 50,510 at the 2021 Census.
The city was built on a meander of the River Wear, which surrounds the centre on three sides and creates a narrow neck on the fourth. The surrounding land is hilly, except along the Wear’s floodplain to the north and southeast.
Durham was founded in 995 by Anglo-Saxon monks seeking a place safe from Viking raids to house the relics of St Cuthbert. The church the monks built lasted only a century, as it was replaced by the present Durham Cathedral after the Norman Conquest together with Durham Castle it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The name “Durham” comes from the Brythonic element dun, signifying a hill fort , and the Old Norse holme, which translates as island.
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