South East England

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South East
Region
From top, left to right: Brighton; Oxford; Southampton; Canterbury; Windsor Castle; Blenheim Palace; White Cliffs of Dover
South East region shown within England
Coordinates: 51°18′N 0°48′W / 51.3°N 0.8°W / 51.3; -0.8
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
GO established	1994
RDA established	1998
GO abolished	2011
RDA abolished	31 March 2012
Subdivisions	9 counties Berkshire Buckinghamshire East Sussex Hampshire Isle of Wight Kent Oxfordshire Surrey West Sussex 64 districts 13 unitary 51 non-metropolitan in 6 non-metropolitan counties
Government [1]
• Type	Local authority leaders' board
• Body	South East Councils
• MPs	84 MPs (of 650)
Area [2]
• Total	7,500 sq mi (19,400 km2)
• Land	7,364 sq mi (19,072 km2)
• Rank	3rd
Population  (2022)[3]
• Total	9,379,833
• Rank	1st
• Density	1,270/sq mi (492/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [4]
• Ethnic groups	List 86.3% White 7.0% Asian 2.8% Mixed 2.4% Black 1.5% other
Religion (2021) [4]
• Religion	List 46.5% Christianity 40.2% no religion 3.3% Islam 1.7% Hinduism 0.8% Sikhism 0.6% Buddhism 0.2% Judaism 0.6% other 6.1% not stated
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ITL code	TLJ
GSS code	E12000008

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South East England is one of the nine official regions of England that are in the top level category for statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. South East England is the third-largest region of England, with a land area of 19,072 square kilometres (7,364 sq mi), and is also the most populous with a total population of 9,379,833 in 2022.^[3]

South East England contains nine legally chartered cities: Brighton and Hove, Canterbury, Chichester, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Portsmouth, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea and Winchester. Officially it does not include London, which is a separate region. The geographical term for "South East England" may differ from the official definition of the region, for example London, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex are sometimes referred to as being in the south east of England.^[5][6] This article only considers the South East as being the official statistical region.

In medieval times, South East England included much of the Kingdom of Wessex, which was the precursor to the modern state of England. Winchester was the capital of England after unification of the various states, including the kingdoms of Kent, Sussex and Mercia. Winchester stopped being the administrative capital of England some time in the 13th century as its influence waned while the City of London dominated commerce. The last monarch to be crowned at Winchester was Richard II in 1377, although the last monarch to be crowned by the Bishop of Winchester was Queen Mary I in 1553.

Today, the region's close proximity to London has led to South East England becoming a prosperous economic hub with the largest economy of any region in the UK, after London. The region is home to Gatwick Airport and Heathrow Airport (the UK's two busiest airports). The coastline along the English Channel provides numerous ferry crossings to mainland Europe. South East England is also known for its countryside, which includes two national parks: the New Forest and the South Downs, as well as the North Downs, the Chiltern Hills and part of the Cotswolds. The River Thames flows through the region and its basin is known as the Thames Valley.

It is also the location of a number of internationally known places of interest, such as HMS Victory in Portsmouth, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, Thorpe Park and RHS Wisley in Surrey, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Windsor Castle in Berkshire, Leeds Castle, the White Cliffs of Dover and Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, Brighton Palace Pier, and Hammerwood Park in East Sussex, and Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. The region has many universities; the University of Oxford is the oldest in the English-speaking world, and ranked among the best in the world.

South East England is host to various sporting events, including the annual Henley Royal Regatta, Royal Ascot and The Derby, and sporting venues include Wentworth Golf Club and Brands Hatch. Some of the events of the 2012 Summer Olympics were held in the south east, including the rowing at Eton Dorney and part of the cycling road race in the Surrey Hills.