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
Tongdao Dong Autonomous County Tongdao Dong Autonomous County Tongdao (the full name: ""Tongdao Dong Autonomous County"", ; usually referred to as ""Tongdao County"", ) is an autonomous county of Dong people in Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Huaihua. Tongdao is also the 5th least-populous county of the province (after Shaoshan, Guzhang, Shuangpai and Yanling). Located on the south western corner of Hunan province, Tongdao borders Guizhou to the west and Guangxi to the south. The county lies in the southernmost part of Huaihua, it is the least populous and least densely populated county-level division of Huaihua.