Hampshire

A county with a population of over 1,500,000) covering 1,503 square miles (3,893 sq km), in South central England. Winchester is the county town.

In Hampshire there are the popular towns of Oakley, Christchurch,  Southsea, Hook, Whitchurch, Farnborough,  Alton,  Ashurst,   Basingstoke,  Lyndhurst, Romsey, Petersfield,  Lymington, Portsmouth, Aldershot, Southampton, Andover,  Winchester, Yateley and Fleet.
 

Geography

The terrain is undulating and is crossed by two chalk downs, rising in places to more than 800 feet above sea level (244 metres). The major rivers are the Avon, the Test and the Itchen.

 

Industry

Hampshire is mainly an agricultural county, producing corn and dairy produce. Market gardening is also an important sector of the economy. There is an oil refinery at Fawley and computer technology and aircraft engineering at Farnborough, which is one of the county’s major centres. There are three major ports at Gosport, Southampton, and Portsmouth.

 

History

Evidence of prehistoric and Roman settlement can be found throughout the county. Hampshire was once part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex.