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Essex is a County in the East Of England . It borders Greater London to the south west, Hertfordshire by the River Stort to the west, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk by the River Stour to the north and Kent by the River Thames to the south. The County Town is Chelmsford and the highest point of the county is Chrishall Common near the village of Langley near the Hertfordshire border, which reaches 147m/482ft. HISTORY See Also: History of Essex The name Essex derives from the Kingdom Of Essex or ''Kingdom of the East Seaxe'' which was founded around 500 AD, occupying territory to the north of the River Thames , incorporating much of what would later become Middlesex and Hertfordshire , though its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lee . Essex County Council was formed in 1889. Until 1965, the county additionally included parts of East London ; the area that now forms the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge, Waltham Forest and most of Newham. Charles Dickens coined the term 'London Over the Border' for this area, and since 1965 it is sometimes referred to as Metropolitan Essex. Before 1965 the County Borough Of West Ham and the County Borough Of East Ham formed part of the county but were not under county council control. Southend on Sea formed a county borough until 1974. The boundaries of the Ceremonial County cover a larger area than the present Shire County , including the Unitary Authorities of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea which split from county council control in 1998. POPULATION AND SETTLEMENT Because of its proximity to London and the economic magnetism which that city exerts, many of Essex's settlements function as Dormitory Town s or villages where London workers raise their families. Essex is known for being the origin of the political term Essex Man , and of the Essex Girl joke. The traditional nickname for a person from Essex is an Essex Calf, so named because the county was famous for rearing beef cattle for sale in London meat markets; calves from the county were famed for their large size and known as 'Essex lions' {Link without Title} . Essex has recently overtaken Lancashire as England's most populous county. The pattern of settlement in the county is diverse. The London Green Belt has effectively prevented of the further sprawl of the metropolis into the County, although it contains the New Town s of Basildon and Harlow , originally developed to resettle Londoners following the destruction of London housing in World War II but since much expanded. Part of the south east of the county, already containing the major population centres of Southend and Thurrock , is within the Thames Gateway and designated for further development. To the north of the Green Belt, with the exception of major towns such as Chelmsford , the county is rural, with many small towns, villages and hamlets largely built in the traditional materials of timber and brick, with clay tile or thatched roofs. Colchester in the north east of the county is Britain's oldest recorded town, dating back to Roman times, and has a rich history. A book has been recently published called '350 miles: An Essex Journey' by photographer Jason Orton and writer Ken Worpole, detailing a journey by foot and bicycle along the full length of the distinctive Essex coastline (ExDRA 2005). In 1998 the districts of Southend-on-Sea (pop. 160,300) and Thurrock (pop. 143,000) separated from the administrative county of Essex becoming Unitary Authority Area s. TRANSPORT The main airport in Essex is . {Link without Title} The port of Tilbury is one of Britain's three major ports, while the port of Harwich links the county to the Hook Of Holland and Esbjerg A service to Cuxhaven closed in December 2005 . Despite the Road Crossing to Dartford in Kent across the River Thames , a pedestrian ferry to Gravesend, Kent still operates from Tilbury during limited hours, and there are foot ferries operating across some of the county's rivers and estuaries during the summer months. The and several routes operated by One including the Great Eastern Main Line and the West Anglia Main Line . The Epping Forest district, near London, is served by the London Underground Central Line . Towards London , routes operated by one and c2c terminate to the east of the City Of London at London Liverpool Street and London Fenchurch Street stations, respectively. INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE The gross domestic product of Essex for 2005 was estimated at £20,250 million. The Lakeside Shopping Centre at Thurrock was one of England's first out-of-town shopping centres; it remains popular despite congestion on the nearby M25 motorway and direct competition from Bluewater Shopping Centre . Industry is largely limited to the south of the county, with the majority of the land elsewhere being given over to Agriculture . Harlow is a centre for electronics, science and Pharmaceutical companies, while Chelmsford is the home of Marconi and Brentwood home to the Ford Motor Company's European HQ. Chelmsford has been an important location for Electronics companies since the industry was born, and is also the location for a number of insurance and financial services organisations, and is the home of the soft drinks producer Britvic . Other businesses in the county are dominated by Light Engineering and the Service Sector . COUNTY EMBLEMS The traditional county flower of Essex is the Cowslip , locally known as the paigle or peggle, and frequently mentioned in the writings of Essex bucolic authors such as Samuel Bensusan and C. H. Warren. As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Common Poppy as the County Flower . . Samuel Bensusan and others have suggested that if Essex had a county bird, it would be the Lapwing , known locally as the peewit, whose lonely cry characterises the Essex marshes known as saltings. TOWNS AND VILLAGES ''See the List Of Places In Essex PLACES OF INTEREST
TOWN TWINNING SEE ALSO
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