Essex
- This article is about the county of Essex in England. For other places named Essex, see Essex (disambiguation).
{| border=1 cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" width=300\n|-\n!colspan=2 align=center bgcolor="#ff9999"|Essex\n|-\n|colspan=2 align=center|
\n|-\n!colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Geography\n|-\n|width="45%"|Status:||
Ceremonial & (smaller)
Administrative County\n|-\n|Region:||
East of England\n|-\n|
Area:
- Total
- Admin. council
- Admin. area||
Ranked 11th3,670 km²Ranked 11th3,465 km²\n|-\n|Admin HQ:||
Chelmsford\n|-\n|
ISO 3166-2:||GB-ESS\n|-\n|
ONS code:||22\n|-\n|
NUTS 3:||UKH33\n|-\n!colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Demographics\n|-\n|
Population:
- Total (
2002 est.)
-
Density- Admin. council
- Admin. pop.||
Ranked 6th1,622,403
442 / km²
Ranked 2nd1,318,408\n|-\n|Ethnicity:||96.8% White
1.2% S.Asian\n|-\n!colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Politics\n|-\n|colspan=2 align=center|
Essex County Council
Members of Parliament\n|-\n|colspan=2|
David Amess,
John Baron,
Simon Burns,
Mark Francois,
Alan Haselhurst,
Ivan Henderson,
Alan Hurst,
Bernard Jenkin,
Eleanor Laing,
Andrew Mackinlay,
Eric Pickles,
Bill Rammell,
Bob Russell,
Angela Smith,
Bob Spink,
Teddy Taylor,
John Whittingdale\n|-\n!colspan=2 bgcolor="#ff9999"|Districts\n|-\n|colspan=2|
\n#
Harlow\n#
Epping Forest\n#
Brentwood\n#
Basildon\n#
Castle Point\n#
Rochford\n#
Maldon\n#
Chelmsford\n#
Uttlesford\n#
Braintree\n#
Colchester\n#
Tendring\n#
Thurrock (Unitary)\n#
Southend-on-Sea (Unitary)\n|}
\n
Essex is a
county located northeast of
London, part of the
East of England region. Because of its proximity to
London and the economic magnetism which that city exerts, many of Essex's settlements function as dormitory towns or villages where London workers raise their families. As well as
Greater London it borders on
Hertfordshire,
Cambridgeshire and
Suffolk, and has a defined boundary with
Kent in the centre of the
River Thames.
The name of the county is derived from the ancient
Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Essex.
In 1998 the districts of \n
Southend-on-Sea (pop. 160,300) and
Thurrock (pop. 143,000) separated from the county of Essex becoming unitary authority areas. Until 1965 the county included also the present-day
London boroughs of
Havering,
Barking and Dagenham,
Redbridge,
Waltham Forest and
Newham (except for the small enclave of
North Woolwich, formerly in Kent).
The
Lakeside Shopping Centre at
Thurrock was one of England's first out-of-town shopping centres; it remains popular despite congestion on the nearby
M25 motorway and competition from newer, more glamorous destinations.
Essex also contains
Stansted Airport and several smaller aerodromes that have evolved from bomber or fighter bases constructed during
World War II.
The port of
Tilbury remains important and, despite the
road crossing to
Dartford in
Kent across the
River Thames, a pedestrian ferry to
Gravesend still operates from Tilbury during limited hours.
The reputation of the County has been maligned in recent years by rather unfortunate associations. White stilettos and a garish fashion sense have come to represent the vulgar "Essex Girl", while the Ford Escort has come to represent the carnal
Essex Man. The Essex stereotype was coined in the 1980s as the County homed the many upwardly-mobile children of the
Thatcher generation, parodied by the
Harry Enfield character "Loadsa Money". These stereotypes do not reflect the County's history or its "Little England" atmosphere.
Towns and villages
\n*Basildon\n*Billericay\n*Braintree\n*Brentwood\n*Chelmsford (the county town)\n*Chigwell\n*Colchester (the home of the University of Essex)\n*Epping\n*Grays\n*Great Baddow\n*Great Dunmow \n*Harlow\n*Harwich\n*Maldon\n*Rayleigh\n*Rochford\n*Saffron Walden\n*Shelley\n*Shenfield\n*Shoeburyness\n*Southend-on-Sea\n*Witham\n*Wivenhoe
\nPlaces of Interest
\n* Waltham Abbey\n* Colchester Castle
See also
\n*Earl of Essex\n*GHQ Line - World War II fortification\n*UK topics\n*Association of British Counties
\n
\n\n\n
Category:Essex
