Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire.

It is divided into five local government districts: Oxford, Cherwell, Vale of the White Horse (after the Uffington White Horse), West Oxfordshire and South Oxfordshire.

The county has a major tourism industry. The area is noted for the concentration of performance motorsport companies and facilities. Oxford University Press has headed a concentration of print and publishing firms; the university is also linked to the concentration of local biotechnology companies.

The main centre of population is the city of Oxford. Other significant settlements are Bicester, Banbury, Kidlington, and Chipping Norton to the north of Oxford; Witney to the west; Thame and Chinnor to the east; and Abingdon, Wantage, Didcot and Henley-on-Thames to the south. Future population growth in the county is hoped to be concentrated around Banbury, Bicester, Didcot and Witney, near the South Midlands growth area.

The highest point of the county is Whitehorse Hill, in the Vale of White Horse, reaching 856 feet (261m).

Oxfordshire's county flower is the Snake's-head Fritillary.

Oxfordshire has become internationally renowned as a place of architectural and natural beauty, and a centre of excellence for academia and research. Oxfordshire is currently home to around 619,800 people (as of mid-2004) and, like other areas of England, has an increasing number of people aged over 75. Oxfordshire is the most rural county in the South East region with over half the people in the county living in settlements of less than 10,000 people.

Oxfordshire is the south east of England’s most rural county. With over 615,000 residents across 1,006 square miles, the county has the lowest population density in the South East region. Over three quarters of the land is devoted to agricultural management and almost 40 per cent of the county, including the Chiltern Hills, the Cotswolds and the North Wessex Downs, is designated as an 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty' or an 'Area of High Landscape Value'. Oxfordshire’s beautiful patchwork quilt landscape has been created by a mix of grazing, arable fields and woodland. It provides habitats for a great range of different plants and animals. The Oxfordshire Wildlife & Landscape Study (OWLS) shows the results of an investigation of landscape character and biodiversity across the county right down to parish level.