Kent

Kent is a county in England. It is just to the south-east of London and is on the coast.

Kent
Ceremonial county
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  Invicta
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Time zone	UTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Ceremonial county
Area
• Ranked	of 48
• Ranked	of 48
Density
Ethnicity	96.9% White 1.9% Asian

The sea to the East of Kent is the North Sea. The sea south of Kent is the English Channel.

France is opposite Kent on the other side of The Channel. At the most narrow point, between Dover, Calais and Cape Gris-Nez, the Channel is only 21 miles (34 km) wide. Dover is one of the main ports in Kent. From here many ferries sail to and from France.

Ports

Main ports in Kent are: Folkestone, Sheerness and Ramsgate. The Channel Tunnel goes from Folkestone in Kent to Calais in France. It was built in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is only for trains, but some of the trains carry cars and freight.

History

Kent is a very ancient county. In the 6th and 7th centuries it was ruled by its own kings. It is often called 'the garden of England' because its countryside is very green and because it produces much fruit. A lot of fruit such as strawberries are grown in Kent, and the county is famous for growing hops which are used to make beer. Maidstone is the county town so the local government for Kent is based there.

Places

Another important town is the city of Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church of England. Hundreds of years ago many Christian people would travel to the Cathedral at Canterbury from their homes in other parts of Britain. This was called making a pilgrimage. Canterbury Cathedral is a World Heritage site.