South West England

one of nine official regions of England, United Kingdom

South West England is one of the regions of England. It has the largest area of all regions, and reaches from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. This includes the area often known as the West Country, and much of Wessex. The size of the region is shown by the fact that the northern part of Gloucestershire, near Chipping Campden, is as close to the Scottish border as it is to the tip of Cornwall.

South West England
High Willhays on Dartmoor, Devon: the region's highest point

Agriculture and tourism are the important industries of the region. Mining of tin and copper was also formerly very important in Devon and Cornwall. Traditionally, the South West of England has been well known for producing Cheddar cheese, named after Cheddar, Somerset in the Mendip Hills, for Devon cream teas, and for Somerset cider. It is now probably equally well known as the home of the Eden Project (in Cornwall), Aardman Animations, the Glastonbury festival (in Somerset), trip hop music, Cornwall's seafood restaurants, and surfing beaches. Two National Parks (Dartmoor and Exmoor) and four World Heritage Sites lie in this region.

Local government

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The official region consists of the following geographic counties and local government areas:

Map Ceremonial county Shire county / unitary Districts
  Somerset 1. Bath and North East Somerset
2. North Somerset
11. Somerset South Somerset, Taunton Deane, West Somerset, Sedgemoor, Mendip
3. Bristol
Gloucestershire 4. South Gloucestershire
5. Gloucestershire Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Cotswold, Stroud, Forest of Dean
Wiltshire 6. Swindon
7. Wiltshire Salisbury, West Wiltshire, Kennet, North Wiltshire
Dorset 8. Dorset Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, East Dorset, Christchurch
9. Poole
10. Bournemouth
Devon 12. Devon Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, Torridge, West Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge
13. Torbay
14. Plymouth
Cornwall Isles of Scilly
15. Cornwall Penwith, Kerrier, Carrick, Restormel, Caradon, North Cornwall

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Photographs