General Information

The East of England incorporates six counties:

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

The unitary local authorities of Luton, Peterborough, Southend and Thurrock are also within the region.

The East of England is one of the largest of the English regions at just over 19,000 square kilometres. It extends from the fringes of London in the south to the North Norfolk coast. It is mainly low-lying with parts at or below sealevel. 

It is a region of diverse landscapes with a rich built environment and archaeological heritage, extensive sites of national heritage importance and ecological and landscape value, including the Chiltern Hills, the Broads, wetlands, fens and heritage coast. 

Nearly 5½ million people live in the East of England.  There are no major conurbations but the region has many historic towns and cities, and centres of  academic and cultural heritage as well as a network of county and market towns and villages. About a quarter of England’s market towns are located in the East of England. 

The largest urban areas are Southend and Castle Point, with a population of 250,000 and Luton/Dunstable/Houghton Regis with a population of 230,000. 

Basildon, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and Peterborough all have populations between 100,000 and 200,000 and Bedford (including Kempston) is fast approaching a population of 100,000. 

The majority of the region’s larger towns (over 25,000 population) are located along the region’s southern fringes in Hertfordshire and South Essex. By contrast the more rural and coastal areas are more sparsely populated and a pattern of small towns, villages and hamlets predominates. There are more than 1,800 Parishes across the region and 43% of people live in rural areas.