Kent

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County of southeast England, known as the ‘garden of England’ (since April 1998 Medway Towns has been a separate unitary authority).

Area
3,730 sq km/1,440 sq mi

Towns and cities
Maidstone (administrative headquarters), Ashford, Canterbury, Deal, Dover (ferry terminus), Gravesend, Hythe, New Ash Green (a new town), Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells; Folkestone, Margate, Ramsgate, Whitstable (resorts)

Physical
the North Downs; White Cliffs of Dover; rivers: Thames, Darent, Medway (traditionally, a ‘man of Kent’ comes from east of the Medway and a ‘Kentish man’ from west Kent), Stour; marshes (especially Romney Marsh); the Isles of Grain, Thanet and Sheppey (on which is the resort of Sheerness, formerly a royal dockyard); the Weald (an agricultural area); Dungeness (peninsula and headland)

Features
Leeds Castle (converted to a palace by Henry VIII); Ightham Mote; Hever Castle (where Henry VIII courted Anne Boleyn); Chartwell (Churchill's country home), Knole, Sissinghurst Castle (16th-century) and gardens; Brogdale is home to the national Fruit Collections; the former RAF Manston became Kent International Airport in 1989; Dungeness nuclear power station

Agriculture
cereals, hops, apples, soft fruit, vegetables; livestock production

Industries
cement, paper, shipbuilding, tourism. The East Kent coalfield ceased production in 1989

Population
(2001) 1,329,700

Famous people
Edward Heath (British politician), Christopher Marlowe (author and poet)

Green stands for agriculture. Red recalls the struggle for independence. White denotes peace. Yellow symbolizes mineral wealth. Effective date: April 1983. >>