Bedfordshire ( /ˈbɛdfərdʃər/ or /ˈbɛdfərdʃɪər/; abbreviated Beds.) is a ceremonial county of historic origin in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. For statistical purposes it is part of the region of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire (code UKH2) at the level of NUTS 2. It borders the non-metropolitan counties of Cambridgeshire to the northeast, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the southeast.
The highest elevation point is 243 metres (797 ft) on Dunstable Downs in the Chilterns.
As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Bee Orchid as the county flower.
The traditional nickname for people from Bedfordshire is "Bedfordshire Bulldogs" or "Clangers", this last deriving from a local dish comprising a suet crust dumpling filled with meat and jam.
It is the 14th most densely populated county of England and the fifth most densely populated non-metropolitan county with over half the population of the county living in the two largest built up areas of Bedford (102,000) and Luton (236,000).
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