is one of the nine official
Regions Of England . The current boundaries include Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. In common usage the area may widely vary.
The highest point of the region is
Walbury Hill in
Berkshire at 297m/974 ft.
The region is divided into the following geographic
Counties (shown in ) and their
Local Government areas:
(
Ceremonial County )
''All of Berkshire's districts are Unitary Authorities''
Until the late
1990s the counties of
Essex ,
Hertfordshire ,
Bedfordshire and
Greater London were also included for official purposes — excluding London left an area called "ROSE" (''rest of South East'').
In unofficial usage the South East can refer to a varying area - sometimes only to
Kent ,
East Sussex ,
West Sussex , and
Surrey , but more usually to the former official region referred to above, which corresponds approximately to the
London Commuter Belt .
Traditionally the
Middle Class inhabitants of the South East have spoken
Received Pronunciation (also known as "RP", BBC English and Queen's English). Nowadays a form of the
English Language influenced by working class
London Accent s and known as
Estuary English is more prevalent in the region, even among the higher social classes. The name derives from the
Estuary of the River
Thames which runs through East London and past
Essex and
Kent , which is the area where this accent is said to have originated.
