pop (2001e) 1 240 000; area 3777 km²/1458 sq mi. County of S England, UK; bounded S by the Isle of Wight and English Channel; crossed by the North Downs in the NW and W; drained by Test and Itchen Rivers; W of Southampton is the New Forest; county town, Winchester; chief towns, Portsmouth, Southampton (new unitary authorities from 1997); agriculture, livestock, shipbuilding, oil refining, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electronics, tourism; naval bases at Portsmouth and Gosport.
Hants) is a county on the south coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county borders (clockwise from West), Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex. The county has an area of 1,455 square miles (3,769 km²) and at its widest points is approximately 55 miles (90 km) east-west and 40 miles (65 km) north-south. The county town is Winchester situated at 51°03′35″N, 1°18′36″W. The 2001 census gave the population of the administrative county as 1.24 million; the ceremonial county also includes the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton, which are administratively independent, and has a total population of 1.6 million. Christchurch and Bournemouth, within the historic borders of the county, were made part of the non-metropolitan county of Dorset in 1974.Hampshire is a popular holiday area, with tourist attractions including its many seaside resorts, the maritime area in Portsmouth, and the motor museum at Beaulieu.
Physical geography
Hampshire's geology falls into two categories. In the south, along the coast is the "Hampshire Basin", an area of relatively non-resistant Eocene and Oligocene clays and gravels which are protected from sea erosion by the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, and the Isle of Wight.
In the north and centre of the county the substrate is the Southern England Chalk Formation of Salisbury Plain and the South Downs. The highest point in the county is Pilot Hill, which reaches the height of 286 m (938 ft). A large area of the downs are now protected from further agricultural damage by the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The Itchen and Test are trout rivers that flow from the chalk through wooded valleys into Southampton Water.
Hampshire has a milder climate than most areas of the British Isles, being in the far south with the climate stabilising effect of the sea, but protected against the more extreme weather of the Atlantic coast.
History
The chalk downland of the South Downs and southern edges of Salisbury Plain were settled in the neolithic, and these settlers built hill forts such as Winklebury and may have farmed the valleys of Hampshire. The county was occupied by Jutish tribes until Saxon times.
After the Norman Conquest the county was favoured by Norman kings who established the New Forest as a hunting forest. From the 12th century the ports grew in importance, fuelled by trade with the continent, wool and cloth manufacture in the county, and the fishing industry, and a shipbuilding industry was established.
Over several centuries a series of castles and forts were constructed along the coast of the Solent to defend the harbours at Southampton and Portsmouth. Southampton has been host to many famous ships, including the Mayflower and the Titanic, the latter being staffed largely by Hampshire natives.
Hampshire played a large role in World War II due to its large Royal Navy harbour at Portsmouth, the army camp at Aldershot and the military Netley Hospital on Southampton Water, as well as its proximity to the army training ranges on Salisbury Plain and Purbeck.
The county has in the past been called "Southamptonshire" and appears as such on some Victorian maps. The name of the administrative county was changed from 'County of Southampton' to 'County of Hampshire' on April 1, 1959.
The Isle of Wight has traditionally been treated as part of Hampshire for some purposes, but has been administratively independent for over a century, obtaining a county council of its own in 1890. The Isle of Wight became a full ceremonial county in 1974. Apart from a shared police force and health authority there are now no formal administrative links between the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, though many organisations still combine Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
The towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch also fall within the traditional county of Hampshire, but were ceded to Dorset in the local government reorganisation of 1974.
Economy
Hampshire is a relatively affluent county, with a Gross domestic product (GDP) of £22.9 billion (£16.3 billion when excluding Southampton and Portsmouth).
Portsmouth and Winchester have the highest job densities in the county, and there is therefore a high level of commuting into the cities. The county has a lower level of unemployment than the national average, at 1.9% when the national rate was 3.3%, and as of March 2005 has fallen to 1.1%.
Many rural areas of Hampshire have traditionally been reliant on agriculture, though the county was less agricultural than most surrounding counties, and was mostly concentrated on dairy farming. The county has a long association with wild boar, and the domesticated Hampshire hog breed of pig, from which bacon is produced.
The New Forest area is a National Park, and tourism is a significant economic segment in this area, with 7.5 million visitors in 1992. The South Downs and the cities of Southampton and Winchester also attract tourists to the county. Southampton Boat Show is one of the biggest annual events held in the county, and attracts visitors from throughout the country. In 2003 the county had a total of 31 million day visits, and 4.2 million longer stays.
The cities of Southampton and Portsmouth are both significant ports, with Southampton handling a large proportion of the national container freight and Portsmouth housing a large Royal Navy base.
Demographics
At the Census 2001 the ceremonial county recorded a population of 1,644,249, of which 1,240,103 were in the administrative county, 217,445 were in the unitary authority of Southampton, and 186,701 were in Portsmouth. The population of the administrative county grew 5.6% from the 1991 census, Southampton grew 6.2% while Portsmouth remained unchanged, compared with 2.6% for England and Wales as a whole.
96.73% of residents were indigenous, falling to 92.37% in Southampton.
Politics
Hampshire is divided into seventeen parliamentary constituencies. The Conservatives represent the most rural constituencies, Aldershot, New Forest West, New Forest East, Hampshire North West, Basingstoke, Hampshire North East, Hampshire East, Havant, Gosport and Fareham.
At the 2005 local elections for Hampshire County Council the Conservative Party had a 43.69% share of the votes, the Liberal Democrats had 36.01% and Labour 16.08%. Therefore 46 Conservatives, 28 Liberal Democrats and four Labour councillors sit on the County Council.
Cities, towns, and villages
Hampshire's county town is Winchester, a historic city that was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Wessex. The port cities of Southampton and Portsmouth were split off as independent unitary authorities in 1997, although they are still included in Hampshire for ceremonial purposes. The three cities are all university cities, Southampton being home to the University of Southampton and Southampton Solent University (formerly Southampton Institute), Portsmouth to the University of Portsmouth, and Winchester to the University of Winchester (formerly known as University College Winchester;
Hampshire lies outside the green belt area of restricted development around London, but has good railway and motorway links to the capital, and in common with the rest of the south-east has seen the growth of dormitory towns since the 1960s. Basingstoke, in the north of the county, has grown from a country town into a business and finance centre. The county also includes several market towns: Alton, Andover, Bishop's Waltham, Lymington, Petersfield, Ringwood, Romsey, and Whitchurch.
Towns by population size: (2004 est.)
Southampton - 221,100 Portsmouth - 188,700 Basingstoke - 152,573 Eastleigh - 116,177 Havant - 115,300 Fareham - 107,977 Winchester - 35,200For the complete list of settlements see List of places in Hampshire.
Culture, arts and sport
Due to Hampshire's long association with pigs and boars, natives of the county have been known as Hampshire hogs since the 18th century. Austen lived most of her life in Hampshire, where her father was rector of Steventon, and wrote all of her novels in the county.
Hampshire's relatively safe waters have allowed the county to develop as one of the busiest sailing areas in the country, with many yacht clubs and several manufacturers on the Solent. Hampshire County Cricket Club today is a successful first-class team, captained by Shane Warne.
Hampshire's county flower is the Dog Rose according to the British charity Plantlife.
Transport
There is an international airport with its own rail station situated between Southampton and Eastleigh, Southampton Airport, and cross-channel ferries link the county to the Isle of Wight and European continent. The South Western Main Line railway from London to Weymouth runs through Winchester and Southampton, and the Wessex Main Line from Bristol to Portsmouth also runs through the county. The M3 motorway connects the county to London.
The county has a high level of car ownership, with 15.7% having no access to a private car compared to 26.8% for England and Wales. The county has a lower than average use of trains (3.2% compared to 4.1% for commuting) and buses (3.2% to 7.4%) but a higher than average use of bicycles (3.5% to 2.7%) and cars (63.5% to 55.3%).
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