southern England

For official purposes, the UK government does not refer to Southern England as a single entity, but the Office for National Statistics divides UK into twelve regions. In England, the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber make up the North ("centre-north"); the West Midlands and East Midlands (as well as Wales) make up the Midlands ("centre-south") and the rest of England make up the South.{{Cite web|title=United Kingdom, NUTS 2013|url=http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/345175/7451602/nuts-map-UK.pdf|website=Eurostat}}

Culturally speaking, the majority of people think that the South consists of the South East (92%), Greater London (88%), South West (87%), and to lesser extent the East of England (57%).{{Cite web|title=What regions make up the North and South of England? {{!}} YouGov|url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2018/01/04/what-regions-make-north-and-south-england|access-date=19 December 2020|website=yougov.co.uk}} However, 35% of people surveyed placed the East of England as part of the Midlands. Generally people in the North tend to put the East of England in the South more than people in the South or Midlands.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The Home Counties identify in a similar way to the neighbouring Midlands, in this case sharing culture with London and the outer areas yet identifying as separate from each.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

{{Further|Geography of England}}

The South contains approximately a quarter of the United Kingdom's area. The geographic split is north-east (fenlands), south (downlands and a coastal plain) and west (following the River Thames to the Bristol channel and a peninsula).

The South has land borders with Wales and the English Midlands and a sea border with France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The South is generally more low-lying than the North. There are a number of hill ranges, such as the Cotswolds and the Chilterns. The highest point in the South is High Willhays {{convert|621|m|ft|0|order=flip|abbr=on}}, located in Devon within Dartmoor National Park.

London is the largest city in the South of England and is the capital of the United Kingdom. The London Metropolitan Area has a population of 14.2 million (2019), making it the largest metropolitan area in Europe.{{Cite web|date=2020|title=Eurostat - Data Explorer|url=http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do|access-date=19 December 2020}}

{{Largest cities|country=Southern England|stat_ref=2021 Census{{cite web|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc2257a/fig1/datadownload.xlsx|title=Figure 1: Explore population characteristics of individual BUAs|access-date=7 August 2021}}|list_by_pop=|kind=cities and towns|div_link=Counties of England{{!}}Counties|img_1=Trafalgar Square by Christian Reimer.jpg|img_2=2023-09-15 Bristol Cathedral 01.jpg|img_3=Clock Tower Brighton 2016-06-05.jpeg|img_4=National Marine Aquarium Building.jpg|city_1=London|div_1=Greater London|pop_1=8,776,535|city_2=Bristol|div_2=Bristol|pop_2=425,215|city_3=Brighton and Hove|div_3=East Sussex|pop_3=277,105|city_4=Plymouth|div_4=Devon|pop_4=266,955|city_5=Southampton|div_5=Hampshire|pop_5=249,620|city_6=Luton|div_6=Bedfordshire|pop_6=233,525|city_7=Portsmouth|div_7=Hampshire|pop_7=223,305|city_8=Reading, Berkshire{{!}}Reading|div_8=Berkshire|pop_8=203,795|city_9=Norwich|div_9=Norfolk|pop_9=200,770|city_10=Milton Keynes|div_10=Buckinghamshire|pop_10=197,340|city_11=Bournemouth|div_11=Dorset|pop_11=196,455|city_12=Peterborough|div_12=Cambridgeshire|pop_12=190,605|city_13=Swindon|div_13=Wiltshire|pop_13=183,680|city_14=Southend-on-Sea|div_14=Essex|pop_14=182,305|city_15=Oxford|div_15=Oxfordshire|pop_15=170,805|city_16=Slough|div_16=Berkshire|pop_16=160,270|city_17=Cambridge|div_17=Cambridgeshire|pop_17=152,740|city_18=Ipswich|div_18=Suffolk|pop_18=151,565|city_19=Poole|div_19=Dorset|pop_19=141,005|city_20=Watford|div_20=Hertfordshire|pop_20=131,325}}

The table below shows the urban areas in the region with a population of at least 250,000.

File:Map of Southern England with settlements and traditional counties.png

{{See also|North–South divide in England}}

Broadly speaking, Southern England is considerably wealthier than the Midlands and the North. The South East England region was found to have the highest concentration of high-wealth families in the country, followed by London. Studies have shown that the areas making up Surrey and Sussex are the wealthiest in Britain based on the value of assets owned by the average resident.{{Cite web |date=2022-01-07 |title=Map shows the richest area of Great Britain - and how much wealth people there have |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/map-richest-area-uk-how-much-wealth-150957367.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFT19pwgSdma_TnEwR-TXQICTGYdKaUN_An4Ze9g82C7jk1NKaRAOap1ToaeTIr3-CXi-21O3BbgHnYzaifhl0O4lCdSRpfxbY999uD6EURWEthPOYAax__w3P4_plErGJss6jePYtzTNVrnGBsqVXiAfTcIoJqCvtpPCq98OoxZ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-GB}} Many of the home counties in particular have been considered to be "posh", including Surrey, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire, based on factors such as number of golf clubs, independent schools, and noted "beautiful" countryside villages.{{Cite web |date=2021-06-10 |title=Surrey named as 'poshest' home county in England |url=https://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/19364165.revealed-surrey-englands-poshest-home-county/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Surrey Comet |language=en}} Additionally, the single wealthiest district in Britain, based on residents's income, is London's Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. As many as eight of the top ten are districts of London, with the remaining two being Borough of Guildford and Borough of Elmbridge, both within the London commuter belt.{{Cite web |last=Sleigh |first=Sophia |date=2019-07-26 |title=Capital wealth: eight of the UK's 10 richest areas are in London |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/kensington-and-chelsea-richest-area-in-uk-with-residents-earning-three-times-the-national-average-a4198796.html |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=The Standard |language=en}} The "least deprived" neighbourhood in England has been found to be near Amersham in the county of Buckinghamshire, in the South of England.{{Cite news |date=2019-09-26 |title=England's most deprived areas named as Jaywick and Blackpool |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49812519 |access-date=2025-01-31 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

However, despite overall higher wealth in the regions of Southern England, there also exist highly impoverished areas here. Cornwall, in the South West, is one of the poorest counties in England based on income.{{Cite web |title=Forget the North/South Divide: Poverty in the South of England is Being Ignored - Shout Out UK |url=https://www.shoutoutuk.org/2021/09/10/forget-the-north-south-divide-poverty-in-the-south-of-england-is-being-ignored/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=www.shoutoutuk.org/ |language=en-GB}} The town of Jaywick, in Essex, was found to be England's single most deprived neighbourhood. Many London boroughs were also found to be highly deprived, including Kensington and Chelsea where significant wealth inequality exists. Numerous other districts in the South also ranked among the country's most deprived in these statistics including Swale, Thanet, Hastings and Great Yarmouth.{{Cite web | url=https://20schemesequip.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/LLL-ENGLAND-RESEARCH-1.pdf | title=Locating England’s most deprived | website=20schemesequip.com | author=Timothy P Hein | date=November 2021}}

{{Further|British English in Southern England}}

English is the native language of the English people and the main language spoken in the South. The South of England has a dialect and accent distinct from that of other parts of the UK. Due to the prominence of the South in media and politics, Standard British English is largely based on the English spoken in the South. For example, the standard British accent, Received Pronunciation, is very similar to the educated speech of London, Oxford and Cambridge.{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Jonnie |title=Received Pronunciation |url=https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/received-pronunciation |website=British Library |access-date=22 November 2019 |archive-date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226203030/https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-dialects/articles/received-pronunciation |url-status=dead }}

Standard Southern British English, a "modern" form of Received Pronunciation, is now considered to be the most commonly spoken form of English in much of the South.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-31 |title=English accents have changed so much that two big ones are brown bread |url=https://metro.co.uk/2023/10/31/english-accents-have-changed-so-much-that-two-big-ones-are-brown-bread-19749653/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Metro |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2023-11-02 |title=Cockney and King's English becoming less common, researchers find |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-67289519 |access-date=2025-01-31 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Estuary English has grown to become one of the most spoken dialects in London and counties including Kent and Essex.{{Cite web |date=2021-12-19 |title=How well do you know your Kentish words? |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/how-well-do-you-know-your-kentish-words-227535/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Kent Online |language=en}} London's expansion has also affected language and dialect in surrounding areas of Southern England, such as the north-east fenlands in East Anglia; the traditional Cockney dialect's population of London's East End has moved out to the north and east Home Counties with a knock on effect to East Anglia's population, which itself has had its own long time dialect, East Anglian English.

In the South West of England, West Country English is a common regional dialect and is the only rhotic dialect spoken in Southern England.

Cornish is a revived language spoken in Cornwall and is an important part of the identity and culture of the Cornish people.{{Cite web|title=Funding boost to safeguard Cornish language announced|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-boost-to-safeguard-cornish-language-announced|access-date=19 December 2020|website=GOV.UK}}

People often apply the terms "southern" and "south" loosely, without deeper consideration of the geographical identities of Southern England. This can cause confusion over the depth of affiliation between its areas. As in much of the rest of England, people tend to have a deeper affiliation to their county or city. Thus, residents of Essex are unlikely to feel much affinity with people in Oxfordshire. Similarly, there is a strong distinction between natives of the south-west and south-east. The broadcaster Stuart Maconie has noted that culturally "there's a bottom half of England [...] but there isn't a south in the same way that there's a north".{{cite book |author-link=Stuart Maconie|last=Maconie|first=Stuart|year=2007|title=Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North|publisher=Ebury Press|isbn=978-0-09-191022-8 |page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AFL7O5nj0bUC}}

File:EWHealthMap.svg

One major manifestation of the North–South divide is in health and life expectancy statistics.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11865790/Life-expectancy-increases-to-81-years-old-but-north-south-divide-remains.html |title=Life expectancy increases to 81 years old - but north-south divide remains |first=Ashley |last=Kirk |date=15 September 2015 |access-date=14 March 2017 |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315000932/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11865790/Life-expectancy-increases-to-81-years-old-but-north-south-divide-remains.html |archive-date=15 March 2017 }} All three Northern England statistical regions have lower than average life expectancies and higher than average rates of cancer, circulatory disease and respiratory disease.{{cite web|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/regional-trends/regional-trends/no--42--2010-edition/regional-health-inequalites-in-england-and-wales.pdf|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/regional-trends/regional-trends/no--42--2010-edition/regional-health-inequalites-in-england-and-wales.pdf|archive-date=5 January 2016|year=2010|first1=Amy|last1=Ellis|first2=Robert|last2=Fry|access-date=14 March 2017|publisher=Office for National Statistics|title=Regional health inequalities in England}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/lifeexpectancyatbirthandatage65bylocalareasinenglandandwales/2015-11-04 |title=Life Expectancy at Birth and at Age 65 by Local Areas in England and Wales: 2012 to 2014 |first=Olugbenga |last=Olatunde |date=4 November 2015 |access-date=14 March 2017 |publisher=Office of National Statistics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315001636/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/lifeexpectancyatbirthandatage65bylocalareasinenglandandwales/2015-11-04 |archive-date=15 March 2017 }} The South of England has a higher life expectancy than the North, however, regional differences do seem to be slowly narrowing: between 1991–1993 and 2012–2014, life expectancy in the North East increased by 6.0 years and in the North West by 5.8 years, the fastest increase in any region outside London, and the gap between life expectancy in the North East and South East is now 2.5 years, down from 2.9 in 1993. Furthermore, all such figures represent an average – affluent northern towns such as Harrogate have higher life expectancies than less affluent areas of the South such as Southampton or Plymouth.

The South of England has a number of world-renowned universities, such as the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and many Russell Group universities, such as Imperial College London, University of Exeter and the London School of Economics.

The South Coast Derby is used to describe football matches played mainly between Portsmouth Football Club and Southampton Football Club. However, in Portsmouth's absence from top flight football, AFC Bournemouth and Brighton and Hove Albion – based about {{convert|30|miles}} and {{convert|60|miles}} from Southampton respectively – gained promotion to the Premier League, with some media outlets marketing fixtures against them as a South Coast derby;[https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/13926409.afc-bournemouth-what-should-we-call-the-derby-between-cherries-and-southampton/ AFC Bournemouth: What should we call the derby between Cherries and Southampton?], Bournemouth Daily Echo, 30 October 2015[https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/southampton-1-brighton-1-premier-league-match-report-goals-glenn-murray-jack-stephens-a8188301.html?amp Southampton snatch equaliser against Brighton in the south coast derby but remain in the relegation zone], The Independent, 31 January 2018[https://bournemouth.vitalfootball.co.uk/bournemouth-against-southampton-the-other-south-coast-derby/ Bournemouth against Southampton the “other” South Coast Derby], Vital Football, 18 October 2018

Other major derbies in Southern England are West Country derbies and London derbies.{{cite web |work=TalkSport |url=http://talksport.com/football/london-derbies-ranked-ferocity-rivalry-including-tottenham-v-arsenal-and-west-ham-v-chelsea|title=London derbies ranked on ferocity of rivalry, including Tottenham v Arsenal and West Ham v Chelsea|date=25 November 2016 |access-date=21 February 2017 }}{{cite web |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/02/08/the-10-biggest-rivalries-in-london-football/tottenham-fans-at-a-match-against-arsenal/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/02/08/the-10-biggest-rivalries-in-london-football/tottenham-fans-at-a-match-against-arsenal/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The 10 biggest rivalries in London football |access-date=22 February 2017 }}{{cbignore}}

{{See also|History of rugby union}}

Rugby union is the dominant code played in the south with a minor rugby league presence.{{efn|The sport of rugby experienced a schism in 1895 with many teams based in Yorkshire, Lancashire and surrounding areas breaking from the Rugby Football Union and forming their own rugby code. The disagreement was over the professional payments and "broken time" or injury payments.}} One of the biggest derbies is the West Country derby (Bath v Gloucester).{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26994615|title=Gloucester v Bath: The legend of the West County derby|date=11 April 2014|work=BBC Sport|access-date=23 April 2015}}

Southern England consists of four regions and 22 counties: the East of England, London, South East and South West. Ceremonial counties are:

{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}

South West:

• Bristol
• Cornwall
• Devon
• Dorset
• Gloucestershire
• Somerset
• Wiltshire

South East:

• Berkshire
• Buckinghamshire
• West Sussex
• East Sussex
• Kent
• Oxfordshire
• Hampshire
• Isle of Wight
• Surrey

London:

• City of London
• Greater London

East:

• Bedfordshire
• Cambridgeshire
• Hertfordshire
• Essex
• Norfolk
• Suffolk

{{div col end}}

{{main|Historic counties of England}}

The historic counties ceased to be used for any administrative purpose in 1899 but remain important to some people, notably for county cricket.

{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}

• {{flag|Bedfordshire}}
• {{flag|Berkshire}}
• {{flag|Buckinghamshire}}
• {{flag|Cambridgeshire}}
• {{nowrap|{{flag|Cornwall}}}}
• {{flag|Devon}}
• {{flag|Dorset}}
• {{flag|Essex}}
• {{flag|Gloucestershire}}
• {{flag|Hampshire}}
• {{flag|Hertfordshire}}
• {{flag|Huntingdonshire}}
• {{flag|Kent}}
• {{flag|Middlesex}}
• {{flag|Norfolk}}
• {{flag|Oxfordshire|historic}}
• {{flag|Somerset}}
• {{flag|Suffolk}}
• {{flag|Surrey}}
• {{flag|Sussex}}

{{div col end}}

There is a network of local enterprise partnerships, some areas are further devolved:

{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}

• Buckinghamshire
• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (combined authority)
• Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
• Dorset
• London (enterprise panel)
• New Anglia
• Oxfordshire
• Swindon and Wiltshire
• West of England (combined authority)
• Greater Brighton City Region (economic board)

Catalyst South (strategic alliance):

• Coast to Capital
• Enterprise M3
• Hertfordshire
• South East
• Solent
• Thames Valley Berkshire
• GFirst
• Heart of the South West

{{div col end}}

• Home Counties (areas adjoining Greater London)
• East Anglia (former kingdom)
• Thames Valley (upper valley)
• Wessex (former kingdom)
• West Country (demonym of area with a specific dialect)

• Constitutional status of Cornwall
• European Parliament constituencies in the United Kingdom
• Home Counties
• North–South divide in England
• North–South divide in the United Kingdom
• Regions of England
• Subdivisions of England
• Lloegyr

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Regions of England