Geography of Sussex

Geography Of Sussex

Sussex is a historic county and cultural region in the south of England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, north-east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West Sussex and East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove. The city of Brighton & Hove was created a unitary authority in 1997, and was granted City status in 2000. Until then Chichester had been Sussex's only city.

Sussex has a population of over one and a half million and encompasses approximately 3,783 square kilometres (1,461 sq mi). It is 120 km (75 mi) long and is between 35 km (22 mi) and 40 km (25 mi) wide. For comparison, Sussex is slightly larger than the English county of Cornwall or 50 per cent larger than Luxembourg.

Sussex has three main geographic sub-regions, each orientated approximately east to west. In the south-west of the county lies the fertile and densely-populated coastal plain. North of this lie the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, beyond which lies the well-wooded Sussex Weald.