Essex

Essex ( /ˈɛsɨks/) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is one of the home counties located northeast of the city of London. It borders the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent and the estuary of the River Thames to the south and London to the southwest. Essex County Council is the principal local authority for much of the county, sharing functions with twelve district and borough councils. The county town is Chelmsford. Essex is also a region at the second level for statistical purposes. It is the southernmost of three constituent parts of the East of England - a first level region. The Essex region and ceremonial county comprises three areas of local government: the two-tiered non-metropolitan county of Essex and the unitary authority areas of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea.

The historic county can be considered the oldest as Wessex and Mercia were replaced for administration since before the Norman period and a vestige of the term Northumbria exists in Northumberland, Essex occupies the eastern portion of the pre-England Kingdom of Essex. Large swathes of the county which are closer to London are part of the Metropolitan Green Belt, which prohibits urban development in its green spaces. It is the location of the regionally significant Lakeside Shopping Centre and London Stansted Airport; and the new towns of Basildon and Harlow.