North Down was the name of a district council area—a kind of local government area—in eastern Northern Ireland from 1973 to 2015. In 2015, most of North Down was combined with the Ards district to form the Ards and North Down local government district. Bangor, the administrative center for North Down, became the headquarters of the Ards and North Down Borough Council.
The area that made up North Down lies along the southern shore of Belfast Lough, northwest of the Ards Peninsula. Yachting is popular on Belfast Lough, an inlet of the North Channel. Just outside the town of Holywood is the Ulster Folk Museum. Local industries in the area have included light engineering, the production of packaging materials, and shipbuilding.
