Claim: Luxembourg is about the same size as an English town.

Northamptonshire -LRB- -LSB- nɔːrˈθæmptənʃər -RSB- or -LSB- nɔːrθˈhæmptənʃɪər -RSB- abbreviated Northants . -RRB- , archaically known as the County of Northampton , is a county in the East Midlands of England . In 2015 it had a population of 723,000 . The county is administered by Northamptonshire County Council and by seven non-metropolitan district councils .   Covering an area of 2,364 square kilometres -LRB- 913 sq mi -RRB- , Northamptonshire is landlocked between eight other counties : Warwickshire to the west , Leicestershire and Rutland to the north , Cambridgeshire to the east , Bedfordshire to the south-east , Buckinghamshire to the south , Oxfordshire to the south-west and Lincolnshire to the north-east -- England 's shortest county boundary at 19 m. Northamptonshire is the southernmost county in the East Midlands region .   Apart from the county town of Northampton , other major population centres include Kettering , Corby , Wellingborough , Rushden and Daventry . Northamptonshire 's county flower is the cowslip .