Southern England
| Southern England South of England | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s): The South | |
 In this image, Southern England and East Anglia is shown as yellow, Northern England as blue, and The Midlands as green | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | England |
| Largest settlements | |
| Area | |
| • Total | 23,955 sq mi (62,042 km2) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 27,945,000 |
| Time zone | GMT (UTC) |
| • Summer (DST) | BST (UTC+1) |
Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, refers roughly to the southern counties of England. The extent of this area can take a number of different interpretations depending on the context, including geographical, cultural, political and economic.
Geographically, the extent of the south of England may vary from the southern one-third of the country (excluding central England), to the southern half, bordering northern England. The South is often considered a principal cultural area of England, along with the Midlands and Northern England. Many consider the area to have a distinct identity from the rest of England, however without universal agreement on what cultural, political, and economic characteristics of the South are.
For statistical purposes, Southern England is divided into four regions: South West England, South East England, London, and the East of England. Combined, these have a total area of 62,042 square kilometres (23,955 sq mi), and a population of 28 million.
People
People often apply the term "southern" 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.
Sport
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 League. The disagreement that led to the split was over the issue of professional payments, and "broken time" or injury payments. There is a perception that league is the code of rugby played in the north, whilst union is the code played in the south.
Divisions
In most definitions, Southern England includes all the counties on/near the English Channel. In terms of the current ceremonial counties:
Despite the general acceptance of these counties as Southern, those that comprise the West Country are occasionally considered mutually exclusive to Southern England.
The exact northern extent varies and, as with most cultural regions, people sometimes debate the exact boundaries. In the west, Southern England is generally taken to include Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire; in central Southern England, the counties of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Hertfordshire; and to the east, Essex and the counties of East Anglia (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk).
Despite these varying boundary definitions, however, the northern boundary is generally taken to correspond to an imaginary line from the Severn Estuary to the Wash (or, expressed in terms of towns, from Gloucester to King's Lynn).
See also
- European Parliament constituencies in the United Kingdom
- Home Counties
- Constitutional status of Cornwall
- North–South divide in England
- North–South divide in the United Kingdom
- Regions of England
- Subdivisions of England