Devon | |||||
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County | |||||
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Motto: "Auxilio Divino" ("With God's help") | |||||
Devon in England |
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Coordinates: 50°42′N 3°48′W / 50.7°N 3.8°WCoordinates: 50°42′N 3°48′W / 50.7°N 3.8°W | |||||
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | ||||
Country | England | ||||
Region | South West | ||||
Established | Ancient | ||||
Ceremonial county | |||||
Lord Lieutenant | David Fursdon | ||||
High Sheriff | Mrs A M Gilbert | ||||
Area | 6,707 km2 (2,590 sq mi) | ||||
• Ranked | 4th of 48 | ||||
Population (mid-2015 est.) | 1,169,200 | ||||
• Ranked | 11th of 48 | ||||
Density | 174/km2 (450/sq mi) | ||||
Ethnicity | 94.2% White British (ceremonial county) | ||||
Non-metropolitan county | |||||
County council | Devon County Council | ||||
Executive | Conservative | ||||
Admin HQ | Exeter | ||||
Area | 6,564 km2 (2,534 sq mi) | ||||
• Ranked | 3rd of 27 | ||||
Population | 773,100 | ||||
• Ranked | 12th of 27 | ||||
Density | 117/km2 (300/sq mi) | ||||
ISO 3166-2 | GB-DEV | ||||
ONS code | 18 | ||||
GSS code | E10000008 | ||||
NUTS | UKK43 | ||||
Website | www |
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Unitary authorities | |||||
Councils |
Plymouth City Council Torbay Council |
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Districts of Devon Unitary County council area |
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Districts | |||||
Members of Parliament | List of MPs | ||||
Police | Devon and Cornwall Police | ||||
Time zone | GMT (UTC) | ||||
• Summer (DST) | BST (UTC+1) |
Devon (/ˈdɛvən/), also known as Devonshire, which was formerly its common and official name, is a county of England, reaching from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is part of South West England, bounded by Cornwall to the west, Somerset to the northeast, and Dorset to the east. The City of Exeter is the county town; seven other districts of East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, and West Devon are under the jurisdiction of Devon County Council; Plymouth and Torbay are each a part of Devon but administered as unitary authorities. Combined as a ceremonial county, Devon's area is 6,707 km2 (2,590 square miles) and its population is about 1.1 million.
Devon derives its name from Dumnonia, which, during the British Iron Age, Roman Britain, and Early Medieval was the homeland of the Dumnonii Brittonic Celts. The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the Kingdom of Wessex during the eighth and ninth centuries. The western boundary with Cornwall was set at the River Tamar by King Æthelstan in 936. Devon was constituted as a shire of the Kingdom of England thereafter.