A county on the south coast of
England.
Major cities include
Southampton,
Portsmouth, Winchester, Basingstoke, Andover, Aldershot and Farnborough.
The
isle of Wight was part of the county until ... when it was split off to form a new county on its own.
Population is about 1.6 Million.
The short form of the county name is Hants.
It has in the past been called '
Southamptonshire' and appears as such on some Victorian
? maps.
The county council is based in Winchester
?, an historic city that was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of
Wessex.
The [New Forest]
? lies with in the borders, as does a large chunk of the South Downs.
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