, (abbr.
. The county borders
. The county has an area of 1,455
) and at its widest points is approximately 55 miles (90 km) east-west and 40 miles (65 km) north-south. The
. The
gave the population of the administrative county as 1.24 million; the ceremonial county also includes the cities of
, which are administratively independent, and has a total population of 1.6 million.
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
. The
, which is also scheduled to become a National Park. Hampshire has a long maritime history and two of England's largest ports lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of the writers
.
Main article: History of Hampshire History Hampshire is a relatively affluent county, with a
Gross domestic product (GDP) of
£22.9 billion (£16.3 billion when excluding Southampton and Portsmouth). This makes it the sixth largest economy in England, and is equal in size to the economy of
Northern Ireland, making up 2% each of the economy of the UK as a whole.
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. The docks have traditionally been large employers in these cities, though again mechanisation has forced diversification of the economy.
Economy 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. Eastleigh and Winchester grew fastest at 9% each. The age structure of the population is similar to the national average.
96.73% of residents were indigenous, falling to 92.37% in Southampton. The significant ethnic minorities are Asian at 1.34% and mixed race at 0.84%. 0.75% of residents were migrants from outside the UK. 73.86% stated their religion as
Christianity and 16.86% were not religious. Significant minority religions were
Islam (0.76%) and
Hinduism (0.33%).
Demographics Hampshire is divided into eighteen
parliamentary constituencies. Ten of these are represented by
Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs), four by the
Liberal Democrats and three by
Labour. Labour represent the large cities, including both Southampton constituencies (
Test and
Itchen) and
Portsmouth North. The Conservatives represent the most rural constituencies,
New Forest West,
New Forest East,
Hampshire North West,
Hampshire North East,
Hampshire East and the constituencies of
Aldershot,
Basingstoke,
Havant,
Gosport and
Fareham, which are centred on towns. The Liberal Democrats represent
Winchester,
Portsmouth South and
Eastleigh, all centred around towns, and the largely rural constituency of
Romsey. There is a new parliamentary constituency to be contested at the next general election as part of the new boundary changes. The
Meon Valley constituency is
notionally a Conservative seat.
The
Isle of Wight returns its own Member to the
House of Commons and, in this way, it is often said
Politics Hampshire's
county town is
Winchester, a historic city that was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of
Wessex and of England. 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.
Fareham,
Gosport and
Havant have grown into a
conurbation that stretches along the coast between the two main cities. 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; King Alfred's College).
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.
Aldershot,
Portsmouth, and
Farnborough have strong military associations with the
Army,
Royal Navy and
Royal Air Force respectively. The county also includes several
market towns:
Alton,
Andover,
Bishop's Waltham,
Lymington,
Petersfield,
Ringwood,
Romsey, and
Whitchurch.
Towns by population size: (2004 est.)
For the complete list of settlements see List of places in Hampshire. Southampton - 221,100
Portsmouth - 188,700
Basingstoke - 152,573
Eastleigh - 116,177
Havant - 115,300
Fareham - 109,619
Andover - 52,000
Winchester - 35,200
Cities, towns, and villages Due to Hampshire's long association with pigs and boars, natives of the county have been known as
Hampshire hogs since the 18th century. Hampshire has
literary connections, being the birthplace of authors including
Jane Austen and
Charles Dickens, and the residence of others, such as
Charles Kingsley. 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 also has many
visual art connections, claiming the painter
John Everett Millais as a native, and the cities and countryside have been the subject of paintings by
L. S. Lowry and
J. M. W. Turner. Hampshire is also the birthplace of explorer
Lawrence Oates, and entertainers
Peter Sellers,
Benny Hill and
Craig David.
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. The sport
cricket was largely developed in south-east England, with one of the first teams forming at
Hambledon in 1750.
Hampshire County Cricket Club today is a successful
first-class team, captained by
Shane Warne. Hampshire has several
association football teams, the most successful being
Premier League side
Portsmouth F.C. and
Championship side
Southampton F.C., which have traditionally been fierce rivals.
Aldershot F.C. also played in the Football League until the club's closure in 1992.
Thruxton Circuit is Hampshire's premier motor racing course with the
National Motor Museum being located in the
New Forest adjacent to
Beaulieu Palace House. The
Farnborough Air Show is a popular international event, held biennially.
Culture, arts and sport Southampton Airport, with an accompanying main line
railway station, is an international
airport situated in the
Borough of Eastleigh, close to
Swaythling in the city of
Southampton. Cross-
channel and cross-
Solent 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 construction of the
Twyford Down cutting near Winchester caused major controversy by cutting through a series of ancient trackways (the Dongas) and other features of archaeological significance. The
M27 motorway serves a bypass for the major conurbations and as a link to other settlements on the south coast. Other important roads include the
A3,
A31 and
A36.The roads in the county are known for their heavy traffic,especially around Southampton and
Portsmouth and the
M27 and
A27.
The county has a high level of car ownership, with only 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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