Northumberland role in the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century on. Many coal mines operated in Northumberland until the widespread closures in the 1970s and 1980s. Collieries operated at Ashington, Bedlington, Blyth, Choppington, Netherton, Ellington and Pegswood. The region's coalfields fuelled industrial expansion in other areas of Britain, and the need to transport the coal from the collieries to the Tyne led to the development of the first railways. Shipbuilding and armaments manufacture were other important industries before the deindustrialisation of the 1980s. Northumberland remains largely rural, and is the least-densely populated county in England. In recent years the county has
Vulkaneifel Vulkaneifel Vulkaneifel () is a district ("Kreis") in the northwest of the state Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the least densely populated district in the state and the fourth most sparsely populated district in Germany. The administrative centre of the district is in Daun. Neighboring districts are Euskirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Ahrweiler, Mayen-Koblenz, Cochem-Zell, Bernkastel-Wittlich, and Bitburg-Prüm. The county of Vulkaneifel lies in the western part of the eponymous region which lies at heights between 150 and 700 metres above sea level. As a result of former volcanism numerous mineral springs ("Sauerbrunnen") have formed. The Kyll flows through the county from north