1. To start, the north east is hands down one of the most beautiful places in the country. Just check out the coastline at Tynemouth Priory...
2. ...where trawlermen bring in the freshest catch of the day straight from the North Sea, fried up in some of the country's best fish and chip shops.
3. We're also the birthplace for some of the best people in the world. Like Earl Grey, after whom the tea was named.
4. Our culture's been ahead of the curve since the 8th century when we produced the Lindisfarne Gospels.
5. How about explorer Captain James Cook, Middlesbrough's most famous son, who charted Australia and New Zealand for the first time.
6. Slag it off if you want, but we're still pretty proud of our shipbuilding heritage.
7. Oh and we're still proud to make things. Drive a Nissan Qashqai? Yep, that's one of ours.
8. And now we've got a vibrant tech startup sector.
9. We also innovate. The Centre for Life is one of the main cornerstones of Newcastle's science sector, which produces world-class medical research that's seen across the world.
10. Cultures come together in the north east. Newcastle has an Irish Centre sitting at the end of Stowell Street in Newcastle, the city's Chinatown.
11. And we've got cool castles like Warkworth.
12. The Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge, whose majestic majesty managed to bring back Auf Wiedersehen, Pet from a long hiatus.
13. Or the trusty Tyne & Wear Metro.
14. The Hoppings, the region's travelling fun fair, which makes its return after a hiatus later this year.
15. Thousands gather for the Sunderland Air Show every year.
16. We love our football more than anyone else in the world – win or lose.
17. We like our football heroes to be local, just like Peter Beardsley...
18. ...or Bob Stokoe.
19. But we'll make the odd exception for the likes of Juninho.
20. But wherever they're from, people in the north east know how to pay tribute to our heroes.
21. We do culture, too. There's this place, The Sage Gateshead, an internationally-acclaimed concert hall.
22. And this place: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, a converted flour mill that hosted a record-breaking year for the Turner Prize for art.
23. For the bookworms, there's Barter Books in Alnwick.
24. And though our regional press has been through tough times, it's fiercely loyal and hardworking.
25. Don't go thinking we're all pretentious, mind. A couple of brothers and their mate keep us firmly rooted in the vulgar: Viz was born here.
26. We do good, honest food that people crave when they move away. Who wouldn't want a stottie filled with pease pudding and ham?
27. You can buy them from Greggs, the local bakery chain started on Gosforth High Street that's taking over the country.
28. We have Teesside to thank for the parmo, sweet salvation to many drunks from Lands End to John O'Groats.
29. And how about that nightlife? The region's known for a good party, regardless of where you are.
30. Admittedly, sometimes we take it too far (and we're very sorry about that).
31. There's nothing better than passing through Durham on the train and seeing the cathedral in all its glory.
32. Head north and you'll see Holy Island, a secluded place off the mainland.
(Which is brilliant because people from outside the area get trapped on the causeway between the island and the mainland.)
View this video on YouTube
33. We're proud that this is frontier country, which is why we have Hadrian's Wall.
34. We're pretty amazing at music, too. From the Animals...
View this video on YouTube
35. ...To Sting...
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36. ...To Maximo Park.
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37. Or prefer banging pop songs? We're the home of Cheryl Cole.
View this video on YouTube
38. For years we were the hub of music, art and culture on a nightly basis. The Tube came from Tyne Tees' City Road studios every week.
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If you were a child of the 80s, you needed to watch this. Jools Holland, Paula Yates and Leslie Ash barely keeping control of a manic riot of live TV.
39. But we can also be pretty dumb. Students from the north east started what the Daily Mail called "the most pointless craze yet": milking.
View this video on YouTube
40. We're endlessly inventive with words -- so much so that we have our own unique dialect.
41. But it's not just the accent that makes us welcoming -- we actually are. Geordie, Mackem or Smoggy, you're sure to receive a warm welcome.
