Cambridgeshire

This article is about the county. For other uses, see Cambridgeshire (disambiguation).
"Cambs" redirects here. For the municipality of Germany, see Cambs, Germany.

Cambridgeshire
Non-metropolitan and ceremonial county

Ceremonial Cambridgeshire within England

Historic Cambridgeshire in the British Isles
Coordinates: 52°20′N 0°0′W / 52.333°N -0.000°E / 52.333; -0.000
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionEast of England
Established1 April 1974
Established byLocal Government Act 1972
Preceded byCambridgeshire and Isle of Ely
Huntingdon and Peterborough
OriginAncient
Time zoneUTC+0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
UK ParliamentList of MPs
PoliceCambridgeshire Constabulary
Ceremonial county
Lord LieutenantJulie Spence[1]
High SheriffDr Bharatkumar N Khetani (2023-24)
Area3,390 km2 (1,310 sq mi)
 • Rank15th of 48
Population 
(2022)[2]
906,814
 • Rank26th of 48
Density268/km2 (690/sq mi)
Ethnicity
94.6% White
2.6% S.Asian
Non-metropolitan county
County councilCambridgeshire County Council
ControlNo overall control
Admin HQNew Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald
Area3,046 km2 (1,176 sq mi)
 • Rank8th of 21
Population 
(2022)[3]
689,109
 • Rank17th of 21
Density226/km2 (590/sq mi)
ISO 3166-2GB-CAM
GSS codeE10000003
ITLUKH12
Websitecambridgeshire.gov.uk
Unitary authorities
CouncilsPeterborough City Council
Districts

Districts of Cambridgeshire
  Unitary   County council area
Districts
  1. City of Peterborough
  2. Fenland
  3. Huntingdonshire
  4. East Cambridgeshire
  5. South Cambridgeshire
  6. City of Cambridge

Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, Northamptonshire to the west and Bedfordshire to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Peterborough, and the city of Cambridge is the county town.

The county has an area of 3,389 km2 (1,309 sq mi) and a population of 852,523. Peterborough and Cambridge, located in the north-west and south respectively, are by far the largest settlements. The remainder of the county is rural, and contains the city of Ely, and towns such as Wisbech and St Neots.

For local government purposes, Cambridgeshire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with five districts, and the unitary authority area of Peterborough. The local authorities collaborate through Cambridgeshire and Peterbrough Combined Authority. The county did not historically include Huntingdonshire or the Soke of Peterborough, which was part of Northamptonshire.

The north and east of the county are dominated by the Fens, an extremely flat, drained marsh maintained by drainage ditches and dykes. Holme Fen is the UK's lowest physical point, at 2.75 m (9 ft) below sea level. The flatness of the landscape makes the few areas of higher ground, such as that Ely is built on, very conspicuous. The landscape in the south and west is gently undulating. Cambridgeshire's principal rivers are the Nene, which flows through the north of the county and is canalised east of Peterborough; the Great Ouse, which flows from west to east past Huntingdon and Ely; and the Cam, a tributary of the Great Ouse which flows through Cambridge.[4]

  1. ^ "Lord Lieutenant". Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Mid-2022 population estimates by Lieutenancy areas (as at 1997) for England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Cambridgeshire" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 97–99.