Kent
Kent is a county in England. It is just to the south-east of London and is on the coast.
Kent | |
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Motto of County Council: ''Invicta'' | |
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Geography | |
Status | Ceremonial and (smaller) Non-metropolitan county |
Region | South East England |
Area - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area |
Ranked 10th 3,736 km2 (1,442 sq mi) Ranked 10th 3,544 km2 (1,368 sq mi) |
Admin HQ | Maidstone |
ISO 3166-2 | GB-KEN |
ONS code | 29 |
NUTS 3 | UKJ42 |
Demography | |
Population - Total (2005 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop. |
Ranked 7th 1,621,000 434/km2 (1,120/sq mi) Ranked 1st 1,369,900 |
Ethnicity | 96.9% White 1.9% Asian |
Politics | |
![]() "CANTIA" Kent County Council http://www.kent.gov.uk/ Medway Council http://www.medway.gov.uk/ | |
Executive | Conservative |
Members of Parliament |
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Districts | |
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The sea to the East of Kent is the North Sea. The sea south of Kent is the English Channel.
France is opposite Kent on the other side of The Channel. At the most narrow point, between Dover, Calais and Cape Gris-Nez, the Channel is only 21 miles (34 km) wide. Dover is one of the main ports in Kent. From here many ferries sail to and from France.
Ports
Main ports in Kent are: Folkestone, Sheerness and Ramsgate. The Channel Tunnel goes from Folkestone in Kent to Calais in France. It was built in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is only for trains, but some of the trains carry cars and freight.
History
Kent is a very ancient county. In the 6th and 7th centuries it was ruled by its own kings. It is often called 'the garden of England' because its countryside is very green and because it produces much fruit. A lot of fruit such as strawberries are grown in Kent, and the county is famous for growing hops which are used to make beer. Maidstone is the county town so the local government for Kent is based there.
Places
Another important town is the city of Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church of England. Hundreds of years ago many Christian people would travel to the Cathedral at Canterbury from their homes in other parts of Britain. This was called making a pilgrimage. Canterbury Cathedral is a World Heritage site.
Kent Media
- Kent UK district map (blank).svg, Nilfanion.
Kent, as it appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle between 11th and 12th centuries
Title page of William Lambarde's Perambulation of Kent (completed in 1570 and published in 1576), a historical description of Kent and the first published county history
A map of Romney Marsh "The history of imbanking and drayning" by William Dugdale (1662).