The City of Sunderland is a metropolitan borough with city status in North East England. It is named after its largest settlement, Sunderland, but spans a far larger area, including nearby towns including Hetton-le-Hole and Houghton-le-Spring, as well as the surrounding suburban villages.
The district was formed in 1974, titled the Metropolitan Borough of Sunderland, as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 and is an amalgamation of four former local government districts of County Durham. It was granted city status in 1992, the 40th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne. The borough had a population of 275,400 at the time of the 2011 census, with the majority of the population residing in Sunderland.