Hampshire

Hampshire
Spinnaker Tower and Portsmouth Harbour (top), Winchester Cathedral (bottom left), and ponies in the New Forest (bottom right)

Ceremonial Hampshire within England

Historic Hampshire in the British Isles
Coordinates: 51°03′27″N 1°18′27″W / 51.0575°N 1.3075°W / 51.0575; -1.3075
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionSouth East
EstablishedAncient
Time zoneUTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Members of ParliamentList of MPs
PoliceHampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary
Ceremonial county
Lord LieutenantNigel Atkinson
High SheriffLady Edwina Grosvenor [1] (2022–23)
Area3,769 km2 (1,455 sq mi)
 • Ranked9th of 48
Population (2021)1,844,245
 • Ranked6th of 48
Density489/km2 (1,270/sq mi)
Non-metropolitan county
County councilHampshire County Council
ExecutiveConservative
Admin HQWinchester
Area3,678 km2 (1,420 sq mi)
 • Ranked5th of 21
Population1,406,199
 • Ranked3rd of 21
Density382/km2 (990/sq mi)
ISO 3166-2GB-HAM
ONS code24
GSS codeE10000014
ITLUKJ33
Websitehants.gov.uk
Unitary authorities
CouncilsSouthampton
Portsmouth
Districts

Districts of Hampshire
Unitary County council area
Districts
  1. Test Valley
  2. Basingstoke and Deane
  3. Hart
  4. Rushmoor
  5. City of Winchester
  6. East Hampshire
  7. New Forest
  8. Southampton
  9. Eastleigh
  10. Fareham
  11. Gosport
  12. Portsmouth
  13. Havant

Hampshire (/ˈhæmpʃər/, /-ʃɪər/ ; abbreviated to Hants.)[a] is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, Dorset to the west, and Wiltshire to the north-west. The cities of Portsmouth and Southampton are the largest settlements and the county town is the city of Winchester.

The county has an area of 3,769 km2 (1,455 sq mi) and a population of 1,844,245, making it the 5th-most populous in England.[2] The South Hampshire built-up area in the south-east of the county has a population of 855,569 and contains the cities of Southampton (269,781) and Portsmouth (208,100). In the north-east, the Farnborough/Aldershot conurbation extends into Berkshire and Surrey and has a population of 252,937. The next-largest settlements are Basingstoke (113,776), Andover (50,887), and Winchester (45,184). The centre and south-west of the county are rural. For local government purposes Hampshire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with eleven districts, and two unitary authority areas: Portsmouth and Southampton. The county historically contained the towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch, which are now part of Dorset, and the Isle of Wight.

Undulating hills characterise much of the county. A belt of chalk crosses the county from north-west, where it forms the Hampshire Downs, to south-east, where it is part of the South Downs. The county's major rivers rise in these hills; the Loddon and Wey drain north, into the Thames, and the Itchen and Test flow south into Southampton Water, a large estuary. In the south-east are Portsmouth Harbour, Langstone Harbour, and the western edge of Chichester Harbour, three large rias. The south-west contains the New Forest, which includes pasture, heath, and forest and is of the largest expanses of ancient woodland remaining in England.

Settled about 14,000 years ago, Hampshire's recorded history dates to Roman Britain, when its chief town was Venta Belgarum (now Winchester). The county was recorded in Domesday Book as divided into 44 hundreds. From the 12th century, the ports settlements grew due to increasing trade with the European mainland resulting from the wool and cloth, fishing, and shipbuilding industries. This meant by the 16th century, Southampton had become more populous than Winchester. In 20th century conflicts, including World War One and Two, Hampshire played a crucial military role due to its ports.

  1. ^ "No. 63644". The London Gazette. 16 March 2022. p. 5082.
  2. ^ "English Counties by Population and Area 2021/2022 – UK Population Data". populationdata.org.uk. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022.


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