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East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of
England in the United Kingdom. This region was created in East of England
1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It Region
includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire,
Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Essex has the highest population in the region.[6]

The population of the East of England region in 2018 was

6.24 million.[7] Bedford, Luton, Basildon, Peterborough,
Southend-on-Sea, Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford
and Cambridge are the region's most populous settlements.[8]
The southern part of the region lies in the London commuter
belt.

Geography
The East of England region has the lowest elevation range in
the UK. Twenty percent of the region is below mean sea level,
most of this in North Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and on the
Essex Coast.[9][10] Most of the remaining area is of low
elevation, with extensive glacial deposits.[11] The Fens, a large
area of reclaimed marshland, are mostly in North
Cambridgeshire.[12] The Fens include the lowest point in the
country in the village of Holme: 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) below
mean sea level. This area formerly included the body of open
water known as Whittlesey Mere. The highest point in the
region is at Clipper Down at 817 ft (249 m) above mean sea
level, in the far southwestern corner of the region in the
Ivinghoe Hills.[13][14][15]

Communities known as New Towns, responses to urban From top, left to right: Peterborough;
congestion and World War II destruction, appeared in Colchester; Norfolk Broads; St Albans;
Basildon and Harlow (Essex), as well as in Stevenage and Hatfield House; Norwich; Lavenham in
Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire), in the 1950s and Suffolk; Cambridge

1960s.[16] In the late 1960s, the Roskill Commission

considered Cublington in Buckinghamshire, Thurleigh in
Bedfordshire, Nuthampstead in Hertfordshire and Foulness
in Essex as locations for a possible third airport for London. A

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new airport was not built, but a former Royal Air Force base
at Stansted, which had previously been converted to civilian
use redeveloped and expanded in the following decades.[17]

Historical use
The East of England succeeded the standard statistical region
East Anglia (which excluded Essex, Hertfordshire and
Bedfordshire, then in the South East). The East of England
civil defence region was identical to today's region.[18]

East Anglia with Home Counties

Essex, despite meaning East-Saxons, previously formed part
of South East England, along with Bedfordshire and
Hertfordshire, a mixture of definite and debatable Home East of England, highlighted in red on a
beige political map of England
counties. The earliest use of the term is from 1695. Charles
Coordinates: 52.24°N 0.41°E
Davenant, in An essay upon ways and means of supplying
the war, wrote, "The Eleven Home Counties, which are Sovereign United Kingdom
thought in Land Taxes to pay more than their proportion..." state
then cited a list including these four. The term does not Country England
Combined Cambridgeshire and
appear to have been used in taxation since the 18th
authorities Peterborough
century.[19] Districts 6 unitary
39 non-metropolitan in
Climate 5 non-metropolitan
counties
East Anglia is one of the driest parts of the United Kingdom,
Counties Bedfordshire
with average rainfall ranging from 450 to 750 mm (18 to
Cambridgeshire
30 in).[20] The area receives such low rainfall amounts
Essex
because low pressure systems and weather fronts from the
Hertfordshire
Atlantic lose a lot of moisture over land (and therefore are
Norfolk
usually much weaker) by the time they reach Eastern
Suffolk
England.[21]
Government
Winter (mid-November – mid-March) is mostly cool, but • Type Local authority leaders'
non-prevailing cold easterly winds can affect the area from board
the continent. These can bring heavy snowfall if the winds • Body East of England Local
Government
interact with a low-pressure system over the Atlantic or Association
France.[21] Northerly winds also can be cold but are not • House of 58 MPs (of 650)
usually as cold as easterly winds. Westerly winds bring milder Commons
and, typically, wetter weather. Southerly winds usually bring Area[1]
mild air (if from the Atlantic or North Africa) but chill if • Total 7,562 sq mi
coming from further east than Spain.[22] (19,585 km2)
• Land 7,381 sq mi
(19,116 km2)
• Water 7 sq mi (17 km2)

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Spring (mid-March – May) is a transitional season that • Rank 2nd

initially can be chilly but is usually warm by late-April/May. Population (2021)[2]
The weather at this time is often changeable (within each day) • Total 6,348,096
and occasionally showery.[23] • Rank 4th
• Density 860/sq mi (332/km2)
Summer (June – mid-September) is usually warm.
Ethnicity (2021)[3]
Continental air from mainland Europe or the Azores High
• Ethnic List [show]
usually leads to at least a few weeks of hot, balmy weather groups
with prolonged warm to hot temperatures. The number of 86.5% White
summer storms from the Atlantic, such as the remnants of a 6.4% Asian
tropical storm, usually coincides with the location of the jet 2.9% Black
stream. The East tends to receive much less rain than the 2.8% Mixed
1.4% other
other regions.[23]
Religion (2021)[3]
Autumn (mid-September – mid-November) is usually mild • Religion [show]
List
with some days being very unsettled and rainy and others
46.6% Christianity
warm. At least part of September and early October in the
40.2% no religion
3.7% Islam
1.4% Hinduism
0.7% Judaism
0.4% Sikhism
0.4% Buddhism
0.6% other
6.1% not stated
GSS code E12000006
ITL code TLH

GVA 2021 estimate[4]

• Total £171.4 billion
• Rank 4th
• Per capita £26,995
• Rank 3rd
GDP 2021 estimate[5]
(nominal)
• Total £193.3 billion
• Rank 4th
• Per capita £30,442
• Rank 3rd

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East have warm and settled weather, but only in rare years is there
an Indian summer where fine weather marks the entire traditional
harvest season.[23]

Demographics

Population
England population density and low
elevation coastal zones. East of
Ethnicity
England is particularly vulnerable to
sea level rise.

East of England population pyramid

in 2020

Year

Ethnic group 1991[24] 2001[25] 2011[26] 2021[27]

Number % Number % Number % Number %

White: Total 4,891,675 96.8% 5,125,003 95.11% 5,310,194 90.81% 5,478,364 86.5%

White: British 4,927,343 91.44% 4,986,170 85.27% 4,972,149 78.5%

White: Irish 61,208 55,573 57,964 0.9%

White: Irish Traveller/Gypsy - - 8,165 8,977 0.1%

White: Roma 9,675 0.2%

White: Other 136,452 260,286 429,599 6.8%

Asian or Asian British:

99,720 2% 142,137 2.63% 278,372 4.76% 405,869 6.5%
Total

Asian or Asian British:

39,292 51,035 86,736 136,974 2.2%
Indian
Asian or Asian British:
24,713 38,790 66,270 99,452 1.6%
Pakistani

Asian or Asian British:

10,934 18,503 32,992 50,685 0.8%
Bangladeshi

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Asian or Asian British:

12,494 20,385 33,503 38,444 0.6%
Chinese
Asian or Asian British:
12,287 13,424 58,871 80,314 1.3%
Asian Other

Black or Black British:

42,310 0.8% 48,464 0.89% 117,442 2% 184,949 3%
Total

Black or Black British:

6,373 16,968 69,925 118,731 1.9%
African
Black or Black British:
21,892 26,199 33,614 41,884 0.7%
Caribbean

Black or Black British:

14,045 5,297 13,903 24,334 0.4%
Other

Mixed: Total 57,984 1.07% 112,116 1.91% 179,654 2.8%

Mixed: White and
19,882 37,222 51,950 0.8%
Caribbean

Mixed: White and African 6,109 15,388 27,376 0.4%

Mixed: White and Asian 17,385 32,226 51,448 0.8%

Mixed: Other Mixed 14,608 27,280 48,880 0.8%

Other: Total 21,810 0.4% 14,552 0.27% 28,841 0.49% 86,232 1.3%

Other: Arab - - 10,367 15,639 0.2%

Other: Any other ethnic
21,810 0.4% 14,552 18,474 70,593 1.1%
group

Total 5,055,515 100% 5,388,140 100% 5,846,965 100% 6,335,068 100%

Politics

Elections
In the 2015 general election there was an overall swing of 0.25% from the Conservatives to Labour
and the Liberal Democrats lost 16% of its vote. All of Hertfordshire and Suffolk is now Conservative.
The region's electorate voted 49% Conservative, 22% Labour, 16% UKIP, 8% Liberal Democrat and
4% Green. Like other regions, the division of seats favours the dominant party in the region and the
Conservatives had 52, Labour 4 (Cambridge, Luton South, Luton North and Norwich South), UKIP 1
(Clacton) and 1 Liberal Democrat (North Norfolk).[28]

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Number of MPs returned per party, total 58

(situation at end of parliament in brackets)

Affiliation 2010–15 2015–17 2017–19 2019-present

Conservative Party 52 52 50 (46) 52

Liberal Democrats 4 1 1 (2) 1

Labour Party 2 4 7 (5) 5

The Independents 0 0 0 (1) 0

Independent 0 1 0 (4) 0

Governance and regions

East of England Plan

General Election results in 2017
The East of England Plan, a revision of the Regional Spatial
Strategy for the East of England, was published on 12 May 2008.
It was revoked on 3 January 2013.[29]

Local government
The official region consists of the following subdivisions:

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Ceremonial Shire county /

Map Districts
county unitary

1. Thurrock U.A.

2. Southend-on-Sea U.A.
a) Harlow, b) Epping Forest,
Essex c) Brentwood, d) Basildon,
e) Castle Point, f) Rochford,
3. Essex
g) Maldon, h) Chelmsford,
i) Uttlesford, j) Braintree,
k) Colchester, l) Tendring

a) Three Rivers, b) Watford,

c) Hertsmere, d) Welwyn
Hatfield, e) Broxbourne, f) East
4. Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire, g) Stevenage,
h) North Hertfordshire, i) St
Albans, j) Dacorum

5. Luton U.A.
Bedfordshire 6. Bedford U.A.

7. Central Bedfordshire U.A.

a) Cambridge, b) South
Cambridgeshire,
8. Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire c) Huntingdonshire, d) Fenland,
e) East Cambridgeshire
9. Peterborough U.A.

a) Norwich, b) South Norfolk,

c) Great Yarmouth,
10. Norfolk d) Broadland, e) North Norfolk,
f) Breckland, g) King's Lynn and
West Norfolk

a) Ipswich, b) East Suffolk,

11. Suffolk c) Babergh, d) Mid Suffolk, e)
West Suffolk

Eurostat NUTS
In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), the East of England was a
level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKH", which was subdivided as follows:

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