Londonderry was until 1973 one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. Its border with Antrim to the east is the river Bann, the river Foyle marks it off from Donegal in the Irish Republic to the west, and the border with Tyrone to the south runs through the Sperrin Mountains. It is dominated by Londonderry itself, near the mouth of the Foyle, with a population of nearly 100,000. As Derry, it was a see from 1254; there is also a Roman catholic bishopric. In 1610 the city of London took over the area for colonization and began building the walls. In 1689, as a protestant bastion, it withstood the famous siege by James II's troops. Later it became a centre for linen manufacture and in the 20th cent. diversified into chemicals and light industry. The naval facilities of Lough Foyle were of great importance during the Second World War since the Irish Republic had reneged on its treaty obligations. Civil rights demonstrations and disorder in the city in 1969 were the beginning of the renewed troubles that have haunted Northern Ireland for many years. The county is divided between catholic and protestant. In 2001 the Foyle division returned a Social Democratic and Labour Party member to Westminster, and in Londonderry East a Democratic Unionist took the seat from the Ulster Unionists. At the general election of 2005, there was no change.

J. A. Cannon

Londonderry See Derry