Folkestone and Hythe District

Folkestone and Hythe District
Non-metropolitan district
Folkstone skyline and surrounding coastline
Folkestone and Hythe shown within Kent
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Folkestone
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Folkestone & Hythe District Council
• MPs	Tony Vaughan
Area
• Total	137.7 sq mi (356.7 km2)
• Rank	100th (of 296)
Population  (2022)
• Total	110,237
• Rank	220th (of 296)
• Density	800/sq mi (310/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 92.6% White 3.9% Asian 1.9% Mixed 1% other 0.6% Black
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 48% Christianity 41.8% no religion 5.7% not stated 1.5% Hinduism 1% Islam 1% Buddhism 0.9% other 0.2% Judaism 0.1% Sikhism
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	29UL (ONS) E07000112 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TR2233835912

Folkestone and Hythe is a local government district in Kent, England. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the coast of the English Channel. The district was formed in 1974 and was originally named Shepway after one of the ancient lathes of Kent, which had covered a similar area. The district was renamed in 2018. The council is based in Folkestone, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Hawkinge, Hythe, Lydd and New Romney, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

The North Downs hills extend into the north of the district, parts of which fall within the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty of the Kent Downs. Much of the south of the district forms the low-lying Romney Marsh, an area of land partly reclaimed from the sea. The district contains the Eurotunnel Folkestone Terminal, the main interchange for road vehicles at the UK end of the Channel Tunnel.

The neighbouring districts (anti-clockwise from north-east) are Dover, Canterbury, Ashford and Rother. The latter is in East Sussex, the rest are in Kent. To the south-east is the sea.