metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, historic county of Northumberland, northeastern England. The borough lies just east of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and is bordered by the River Tyne to the south and the North Sea to the east. North Tyneside includes the River Tyne industrial towns of North Shields and Wallsend, the port and coastal resort town of Tynemouth, and the coastal resort and residential town of Whitley Bay on the North Sea coast. North Shields has oil-storage facilities, ship-repair yards, and fish canneries, and shipbuilding and the manufacture of marine parts and equipment are important at Wallsend. The northwestern and northeastern portions of North Tyneside are largely suburban. Area 32 square miles (84 square km). Pop. (2001) 191,659.