Hampshire

Map of the Hampshire Area

Hampshire is a county on the south coast of the UK and borders with Wiltshire, Berkshire, Dorset, Surrey and West Sussex. It has an area of 1455 miles squared and the county town is Winchester. The total population of the ceremonial county is 1.6 million people (source: link) and it is a popular holiday destination due to its many tourist attractions such as seaside resorts, Portsmouth's maritime area and its museums.

Within its borders lies the New Forest National Park and two of the largest ports in the UK are on its coasts. The county has the largest free roaming herd of stag in the eastern hemisphere which reaches top numbers of 6500 (source: link) stags during breeding seasons. The population of stag is protected by the English government and punishment for hunting them can be up to 15 years in prison. There are about 1691000 people living in Hampshire with a population density of 449 people per square km (source: link).

The New Forest has a large amount of diverse wildlife and as it is protected as a national park both the animals and the landscape are protected from too much agricultural development. However, much of the open common lands in the Forest are kept as grasslands for domestic cattle, pig and sheep grazing. Not the whole of the county is composed of forest, the north and centre is made up of the Southern England Chalk Formation which form high hills that border with the southern clays of the UK.

The position of Hampshire allows it to be milder in climate than most of the UK (source: "Season of mists? How autumn lost its cool". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.) as it is far enough south to receive the stabilizing effect of the sea without being exposed to the harsher weather of the Atlantic coast. The average temperature in the county is higher than the England average at 9.8°C-12°C (source: Met Office, 2000. Annual average temperature for the United Kingdom.). The amount of sunshine is also higher then average at just over 1541 hours per year (source: Met Office, 2000. Annual average sunshine for the United Kingdom.), its rainfall however is in line with the UK average at 741-1060 mm per year (source: Met Office, 2000. Annual average rainfall for the United Kingdom.).

The county is famed for being the home of the writers Charles Dickens and Jane Austin. Jane Austin was born in and spent most of her life in Hampshire and wrote all of her novels while she was there. The county also boasts a premiere racing course, the Thruxton Circuit and one of the main events of the county is the Farnborough Air show which is held biannually and is attended by international pilots and viewers.