Hampshire
Geography
Status:	Ceremonial & (smaller) Administrative County
Region:	South East England
Area: - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area	Ranked 9th 3,769 km² Ranked 8th 3,679 km²
Admin HQ:	Winchester
ISO 3166-2:	GB-HAM
ONS code:	24
NUTS 3:	UKJ33
Demographics
Population: - Total (2002 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 5th 1,654,802 439 / km² Ranked 3rd 1,245,108
Ethnicity:	96.7% White 1.3% S.Asian
Politics
Hampshire County Council http://www.hants.gov.uk/hcc/
Executive:	Conservative
Members of Parliament
James Arbuthnot, David Chidgey, John Denham, Sandra Gidley, Mike Hancock, Mark Hoban, Gerald Howarth, Andrew Hunter, Julian Lewis, Michael Mates, Mark Oaten, Syd Rapson, Desmond Swayne, Peter Viggers, Alan Whitehead, David Willetts, George Young
Districts
Gosport Fareham Winchester Havant East Hampshire Hart Rushmoor Basingstoke and Deane Test Valley Eastleigh New Forest Southampton (Unitary) Portsmouth (Unitary)

Hampshire is a county on the south coast of England. Its county town is Winchester. The cities of Southampton and Portsmouth were split off as separate unitary authorities in 1997, although they are still included in Hampshire for ceremonial purposes. Other towns in the county include Basingstoke, Andover, Aldershot and Farnborough.

Aldershot, Portsmouth, and Farnborough have strong military associations with the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force respectively.

The county has in the past been called "Southamptonshire" and appears as such on some Victorian maps. Its name was officially changed from 'County of Southampton' to 'County of Hampshire' in 1959. The short form of the name, often used in postal addresses, is Hants. It borders on Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex.

Hampshire County Council is based in Winchester, a historic city that was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Wessex. Southampton and Portsmouth are both major ports. There is an international airport with its own rail station between Southampton and Eastleigh. 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. The New Forest lies within the borders, as does a large chunk of the South Downs - there are plans to make both of these areas into national parks.

The Isle of Wight is traditionally part of the county, but obtained a county council of its own in 1890, and became a full ceremonial county in 1974. Bournemouth was ceded to Dorset at the same time.

The 2001 census gave the population of the administrative county as 1.24 million; the population including Portsmouth and Southampton was around 1.6 million.

Cities, towns, and villages

• Aldershot, Alresford, Alton, Andover, Ansty
• Barton on Sea, Basingstoke, Beaulieu, Bishop's Waltham, Blackwater, Bordon, Brockenhurst
• Dibden Purlieu
• East End, Lymington, Hampshire, East End, Petersfield, Hampshire, Eastleigh, Easton, Emsworth, Exton
• Fareham, Farnborough, Fawley, Fleet, Fordingbridge, Fyfield
• Gosport, Greatham
• Hambledon, Havant, Hayling Island, Highcliffe, Holt End, Hook, Hursley, Hythe
• Langley, Lee-on-the-Solent, Liphook, Liss, Little London, Andover, Hampshire, Little London (Tadley), Long Common, Lymington, Lyndhurst
• Marchwood, Martin, Milford on Sea, Mount Pleasant
• Netherton, New Alresford, Newbridge, New Milton
• Nursling
• Odiham, Overton
• Petersfield, Portsmouth
• Ringwood, Romsey, Ropley
• Shirrell Heath, Southampton, Stockbridge, Southsea
• Tadley, Totton, Turgis Green, Twyford
• Waterlooville, Whitchurch, Wickham, Winchester
• Yateley

Places of interest

• Beaulieu Abbey and the National Motor Museum
• HMS Victory
• Mottisfont Abbey
• New Forest Museum
• River Avon
• River Hamble
• Portchester Castle
• River Meon
• River Test
• Silchester
• Southampton Water
• South Downs Way, a long distance footpath

External Links:

• Hampshire & thereabouts (http://www.thereabouts.co.uk/hampshire/)

United Kingdom | England | Ceremonial counties of England

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Hampshire is also a village in the State of Illinois in the United States of America; see Hampshire, Illinois.