Kent

**Kent** is a county in England. It is just to the south-east of London and is on the coast.

The sea to the East of Kent is the North Sea. The sea south of Kent is the English Channel.

France is opposite Kent on the other side of The Channel. At the most narrow point, between Dover, Calais and Cape Gris-Nez, the Channel is only 21 miles (34 km) wide. Dover is one of the main ports in Kent. From here many ferries sail to and from France.

## Ports

Main ports in Kent are: Folkestone,  Sheerness and Ramsgate.  The Channel Tunnel goes from Folkestone in Kent to Calais in France. It was built in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is only for trains, but some of the trains carry cars and freight.

## History

Kent is a very ancient county. In the 6th and 7th centuries it was ruled by its own kings. It is often called 'the garden of England' because its countryside is very green and because it produces much fruit. A lot of fruit such as strawberries are grown in Kent, and the county is famous for growing hops which are used to make beer. Maidstone is the county town so the local government for Kent is based there.

## Places

Another important town is the city of Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church of England. Hundreds of years ago many Christian people would travel to the Cathedral at Canterbury from their homes in other parts of Britain. This was called making a pilgrimage. Canterbury Cathedral is a World Heritage site.

## Infobox (england county)

- **name**: Kent
- **flag image**:
- **arms image**:
- **motto**: ***Invicta (motto), Invicta***
- **map**:
- **status**: Ceremonial counties of England, Ceremonial and (smaller) Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England, Non-metropolitan county
- **region**: South East England
- **arearank**: List of Ceremonial counties of England by Area, Ranked 10th
- **area km2**: 3736
- **adminarearank**: List of Administrative shire counties of England by Area, Ranked 10th
- **adminarea km2**: 3544
- **adminhq**: Maidstone
- **iso**: GB-KEN
- **ons**: 29
- **nuts3**: UKJ42
- **poprank**: List of ceremonial counties of England by population, Ranked
- **adminpoprank**: List of non-metropolitan counties of England by population, Ranked
- **ethnicity**: 96.9% White
1.9% Asian
- **council**:
"CANTIA"
 Kent County Council
http://www.kent.gov.uk/
Medway Council
http://www.medway.gov.uk/
- **mps**: *Julian Brazier Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Greg Clark Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Paul Clark (politician), Paul Clark Labour Party (UK), (L)
* Michael Fallon Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Roger Gale Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Damian Green Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Adam Holloway Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Michael Howard Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Stephen Ladyman Labour Party (UK), (L)
* Bob Marshall-Andrews Labour Party (UK), (L)
* Gwyn Prosser Labour Party (UK), (L)
* Hugh Robertson (politician), Hugh Robertson Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Jonathan Shaw Labour Party (UK), (L)
* John Stanley (politician), John Stanley Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Howard Stoate Labour Party (UK), (L)
* Ann Widdecombe Conservative Party (UK), (C)
* Derek Wyatt Labour Party (UK), (L)
- **subdivmap**:
- **subdivs**: #Sevenoaks (district), Sevenoaks
# Dover (district), Dover