Southern England

Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of London, the South East, the South West and the East. Altogether, it forms a population of nearly 28 million and an area of .
Southern England has cultural, economic and political differences from both the Midlands (which borders it to its north) and the North of England; the Midlands form a dialect chain in a notable north–south divide of England. Within the South itself, multiple influences shape geographic and political divisions, defined by closeness to the capital; Greater London itself, the Home Counties and outer areas. 
==Definitions==
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.
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%). 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.
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.
== Geography ==
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 , located in Devon within Dartmoor National Park.
=== Largest cities and settlements ===
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.
The table below shows the urban areas in the region with a population of at least 250,000.
Largest urban areas in the South, South West, and East Anglia (2011 census) (needs a more direct citation)
Rank	Area 	Population	Area (km2)	Density (People/km2)	Primary settlements
1 	Greater London 	9,787,426 	1,737.9 	5,630 	London boroughs and City of London, Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Harlow, Bracknell, Guildford, Woking, St Albans
2 	South Hampshire 	855,569 	192.0 	4,455 	Southampton, Portsmouth, Eastleigh, Gosport, Horndean, Havant, Locks Heath, Fareham
3 	Bristol 	617,280 	144.4 	4,274 	Bristol, Filton, Kingswood
4 	Brighton and Hove 	474,485 	89.4 	5,304 	Brighton, Hove, Worthing, Littlehampton, Shoreham
5 	Bournemouth/Poole 	466,266 	131.0 	3,559 	Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch
6 	Reading 	318,014 	83.7 	3,800 	Reading, Wokingham, Woodley
7 	Southend-on-Sea 	295,310 	71.8 	4,111 	Southend-on-Sea, Rayleigh
8 	Plymouth 	260,203 	59.7 	4,356 	Plymouth
9 	Luton 	258,018 	50.7 	5,088 	Luton, Dunstable
10 	Farnborough/Aldershot	252,397 	78.5 	3,217 	Farnborough, Aldershot, Camberley, Farnham
==Demographics==
=== Language ===
==== English ====
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.
The north-east fenlands for example have been affected by London's expansion; 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.
==== Cornish ====
Cornish is a revived language spoken in Cornwall and is an important part of the identity and culture of the Cornish people.
===People===
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".
===Health===
One major manifestation of the North–South divide is in health and life expectancy statistics. All three Northern England statistical regions have lower than average life expectancies and higher than average rates of cancer, circulatory disease and respiratory disease. 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.
==Education==
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.
==Sport==
===Football===
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 and from Southampton respectively – gained promotion to the Premier League, with some media outlets marketing fixtures against them as a South Coast derby;AFC Bournemouth: What should we call the derby between Cherries and Southampton?, Bournemouth Daily Echo, 30 October 2015Southampton snatch equaliser against Brighton in the south coast derby but remain in the relegation zone, The Independent, 31 January 2018Bournemouth 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.
===Rugby===
Rugby union is the dominant code played in the south with a minor rugby league presence. One of the biggest derbies is the West Country derby (Bath v Gloucester).
==Divisions==
===Regions and ceremonial counties===
Southern England consists of four regions and 22 counties: the East of England, London, South East and South West. Ceremonial counties are:
 	
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
===Devolution===
There is a network of local enterprise partnerships, some areas are further devolved:
* 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
===Historic counties===
The historic counties ceased to be used for any administrative purpose in 1899 but remain important to some people, notably for county cricket.
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
*	
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
*
===Other===
* 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)
==See also==
* 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
==Notes==
==References==
 
Category:Regions of England