Sussex

Map of the Sussex Area

Sussex is located in the south east of the UK and is bordered by Kent to the east, Surrey to the north, the English Channel to the south and to the west by Hampshire. It is divided into the distinct districts of East Sussex, West Sussex and the City of Brighton and Cove for local government purposes. The county has an area of 3783 square kilometres (source: link) and originated from the Kingdom of Sussex. It has a population of about 1392737 (source: link) and was created in antiquity.

The geography of the county consists of clays, sands, chalks and marshlands. The South Downs is predominately made up of lowlands with some rolling hills which terminate at Beachy Head on the coast of the English Channel. The county is drained by a series of short rivers including the Arun, the Ouse and the Cuckmere. The climate is in line with the rest of the south east of the UK in that it combines the highest daytime temperatures with the highest average sunshine hours of all the regions of England. Sussex has an average of between 635 and 760mm of rainfall per year (source: link).

The modern county has retained much of its rural nature and there are few large towns. Fishing was historically a large part of the industry of the region and there are still working harbours at Hasting, Shoreham and Rye. The fact that there is a large amount of clay under the surface of the soil means that clay working, such as pottery, bricks and tiles, has been a focus industry in the past. Although this industry has declined in modern times there is still a main tile works in the district. However, today the main base for the economics of the county is tourism and the many resorts and attractions allow tourism to thrive in the area.

The first casino in England was built at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton in 1962 and the Newmarket racecourse, the "Rowley Mile", is the longest horseracing straight in the world. The Importance of Being Ernest was written by Oscar Wilde while he was living in Worthing in 1895.