Wiltshire

Map of the Wiltshire Area

Wiltshire is located in the south west of the UK and is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county. It is bordered by Hampshire, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The county spans an area of 3485 (source: link) square kilometres and has a population of 635300 (source: link) with a density of 182 per square km. Wiltshire was named after the previous county town Wilton which derived its name from one of the 8 rivers that the region is drained by, the river Wylye. Trowbridge is its modern county town.

The county is famed for its pre-Roman archaeology including settlements that date back to the Neolithic, Mesolithic and the Bronze Age. It is the home to the Stonehenge stone circle which is located in Salisbury Plain. Avebury is another famous Neolithic site that is located in Wiltshire. Wiltshire was largely Parliamentarian during the 17th century the English Civil War. A decisive victory for the Royalists was fought in the county in the Battle of Roundway Down. The Kennet and Avon Canal is a man-made waterway that was built in the 1800s to provide a route for cargo transport between Bristol and London.

The landscape of Wiltshire is mostly rural in geography. Two thirds of the county is part of the South England Chalk Formation, the largest area of which being on Salisbury Plain. The Plain is mainly used as a training range for the British Army and for arable agriculture. A 1730 kilometres squared portion of the county called the Marlborough Downs is part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Although the landscape is primarily chalk down land there are also clay vales and valleys, the biggest of which is Avon Vale.

The county has a mainly temperate climate, with predominant winds stemming from the South West. The rainfall average of the county if between 800-900mm and the typical amount of snowfall in a year is about 8-15 days (source: "About south-west England". Met Office. Retrieved on 2006-05-28.). Due to its proximity of the M4 which attracts business to the area, Wiltshire has a mainly prosperous economy. However, the northern region of the county is richer then the southern part. This is mainly due to the town Swindon being home to corporations such as Intel, Motorola, Honda and Nationwide. A considerably higher number of people are employed in the manufacturing than the UK average which gives the county's employment a distinctive structure. The main forms of manufacturing that the economy is involved in include food products, electrical equipment, furniture, beverages, rubber and plastic goods.