Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county of eastern England situated north of London. The county population is 749,000 (2005 est). The county town is Cambridge; other major centres include Peterborough, March, Wisbech, Huntingdon and Ely. Both Peterborough and Ely have famous medieval cathedrals.

Cambridgeshire is largely agricultural, and the terrain is extremely flat: much of the northern part of the county forms part of Fenland, rich, low-lying farmland reclaimed from marshland. The lowest point in Great Britain, Holme Fen (9 metres below seal level) is in Cambridgeshire.

Historically, Cambridgeshire is formed of four older county units. These are Cambridgeshire 'proper', centred on Cambridge; the Isle of Ely; Huntingdonshire; and the Soke of Peterborough (formerly attached to Northamptonshire and from 1889-1974 attached to Huntingdonshire). The four districts were united in 1974 to form modern Cambridgeshire. In the 1990s both Cambridge and Peterborough gained Unitary Authority status and are independent of Cambridgeshire County Council but form part of the ceremonial county.