<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedfordshire</span>

Bedfordshire

<p><b>Bedfordshire</b> (<span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt"><a href="/en/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English" class="wl">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span>ˈ</span><span>b</span><span>ɛ</span><span>d</span><span>f</span><span>ər</span><span>d</span><span>ʃ</span><span>ɪər</span></span>,<span class="wrap"> </span>-<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span>ʃ</span><span>ər</span></span>/</a></span></span>; abbreviated <b>Beds</b>) is a <a href="/en/Ceremonial_county" title="Ceremonial county" class="mw-redirect wl">ceremonial</a>, <a href="/en/Non-metropolitan_county" title="Non-metropolitan county" class="wl">non-metropolitan</a>, and <a href="/en/Historic_counties_of_England" title="Historic counties of England" class="wl">historic</a> <a href="/en/Counties_of_England" title="Counties of England" class="wl">county</a> in the <a href="/en/East_of_England" title="East of England" class="wl">East of England</a>. It is bordered by <a href="/en/Northamptonshire" title="Northamptonshire" class="wl">Northamptonshire</a> to the north, <a href="/en/Cambridgeshire" title="Cambridgeshire" class="wl">Cambridgeshire</a> to the north-east and east, <a href="/en/Hertfordshire" title="Hertfordshire" class="wl">Hertfordshire</a> to the south and south-east, and <a href="/en/Buckinghamshire" title="Buckinghamshire" class="wl">Buckinghamshire</a> to the west. Since <a href="/en/Bedfordshire_County_Council" title="Bedfordshire County Council" class="wl">Bedfordshire County Council</a> was abolished in 2009, the county has been administered by the three <a href="/en/Unitary_authorities_of_England" title="Unitary authorities of England" class="wl">unitary authorities</a> of the <a href="/en/Borough_of_Bedford" title="Borough of Bedford" class="wl">Borough of Bedford</a>, <a href="/en/Borough_of_Luton" title="Borough of Luton" class="mw-redirect wl">Borough of Luton</a>, and <a href="/en/Central_Bedfordshire" title="Central Bedfordshire" class="wl">Central Bedfordshire</a>. It is the <a href="/en/List_of_ceremonial_counties_of_England" title="List of ceremonial counties of England" class="mw-redirect wl">fourteenth most densely populated county</a> of England, with over half the population of the county living in the two largest <a href="/en/Built-up_area" title="Built-up area" class="mw-redirect wl">built-up areas</a>: <a href="/en/Luton" title="Luton" class="wl">Luton</a> (258,018)<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-LBUA_2-0"><a href="#cite_note-LBUA-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> and <a href="/en/Bedford" title="Bedford" class="wl">Bedford</a> (106,940).<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-BBUA_3-0"><a href="#cite_note-BBUA-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span> Its highest <a href="/en/Elevation" title="Elevation" class="wl">elevation</a> point is <span>243 metres (797</span><span>&nbsp;</span><span>ft)</span> on <a href="/en/Dunstable_Downs" title="Dunstable Downs" class="wl">Dunstable Downs</a> in the <a href="/en/Chilterns" title="Chilterns" class="mw-redirect wl">Chilterns</a>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="#cite_note-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[4]</span></a></span></p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Historic County of England</div>
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<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt5">Ceremonial county in England</div><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1043192559" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement{width:23em;border-collapse:collapse;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement td,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement th{border-top:1px solid #a2a9b1;padding:0.4em 0.6em 0.4em 0.6em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-full-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-header,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-label,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-below{border-top:1px solid #a2a9b1;padding:0.4em 0.6em 0.2em 0.6em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedrow .infobox-full-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedrow .infobox-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedrow .infobox-label{border:0;padding:0 0.6em 0.2em 0.6em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedbottomrow .infobox-full-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedbottomrow .infobox-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedbottomrow .infobox-label{border-top:0;border-bottom:1px solid #a2a9b1;padding:0 0.6em 0.4em 0.6em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .maptable{border:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .infobox-header,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .infobox-below{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .infobox-above{font-size:125%;line-height:1.3em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .infobox-subheader{background-color:#cddeff;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-native{font-weight:normal;padding-top:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-other-name{font-size:78%}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-official{font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-caption{padding:0.3em 0 0 0}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-caption-link{padding:0.2em 0}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-nickname{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-fn{font-weight:normal;display:inline}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Bedfordshire, Sovereign state, Constituent co...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox ib-settlement vcard mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above"><div class="fn org">Bedfordshire</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-subheader"><div class="category"><a href="/en/Ceremonial_counties_of_England" title="Ceremonial counties of England" class="wl">Ceremonial county</a></div></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data maptable"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1028600610" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-cols{text-align:center;display:table;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-cols-row{display:table-row}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-cols-cell{display:table-cell;vertical-align:middle}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-cols-cellt{display:table-cell;vertical-align:top}</style>
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<div class="ib-settlement-cols-row"><div class="ib-settlement-cols-cell"><span><a href="/en/File:Bedfordshire_County_Flag.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Bedfordshire_County_Flag.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Bedfordshire_County_Flag.svg/200px-Bedfordshire_County_Flag.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" data-file-type="drawing" height="120" width="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Bedfordshire_County_Flag.svg/300px-Bedfordshire_County_Flag.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Bedfordshire_County_Flag.svg/400px-Bedfordshire_County_Flag.svg.png 2x" alt="Bedfordshire_County_Flag.svg"></a></span><div class="ib-settlement-caption-link"><a href="/en/Flag_of_Bedfordshire" title="Flag of Bedfordshire" class="wl">Flag</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><span><a href="/en/File:Bedfordshire_UK_locator_map_2010.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Bedfordshire_UK_locator_map_2010.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Bedfordshire_UK_locator_map_2010.svg/200px-Bedfordshire_UK_locator_map_2010.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1108" data-file-height="1345" data-file-type="drawing" height="243" width="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Bedfordshire_UK_locator_map_2010.svg/300px-Bedfordshire_UK_locator_map_2010.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Bedfordshire_UK_locator_map_2010.svg/400px-Bedfordshire_UK_locator_map_2010.svg.png 2x" alt="Bedfordshire_UK_locator_map_2010.svg"></a></span></td></tr><tr class="mergedbottomrow"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data">Coordinates: <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1073938472" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="//geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Bedfordshire&amp;params=52_05_N_0_25_W_region:GB_type:adm1st" class="external text" target="_blank"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms"><span class="latitude">52°05′N</span> <span class="longitude">0°25′W</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/List_of_sovereign_states" title="List of sovereign states" class="wl">Sovereign state</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom" class="wl">United Kingdom</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span class="nowrap"><a href="/en/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Countries of the United Kingdom" class="wl">Constituent country</a></span></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/England" title="England" class="wl">England</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Regions_of_England" title="Regions of England" class="wl">Region</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/East_of_England" title="East of England" class="wl">East</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Established</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Historic_counties_of_England" title="Historic counties of England" class="wl">Ancient</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Time_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Time in the United Kingdom" class="wl">Time zone</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/UTC±00:00" title="UTC±00:00" class="mw-redirect wl">UTC±00:00</a> (<a href="/en/Greenwich_Mean_Time" title="Greenwich Mean Time" class="wl">Greenwich Mean Time</a>)</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span class="nowrap"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Summer (<a href="/en/Daylight_saving_time" title="Daylight saving time" class="wl">DST</a>)</span></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/UTC+01:00" title="UTC+01:00" class="wl">UTC+01:00</a> (<a href="/en/British_Summer_Time" title="British Summer Time" class="wl">British Summer Time</a>)</td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Members of Parliament</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/List_of_Parliamentary_constituencies_in_Bedfordshire" title="List of Parliamentary constituencies in Bedfordshire" class="mw-redirect wl">List of MPs</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Police</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Bedfordshire_Police" title="Bedfordshire Police" class="wl">Bedfordshire Police</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Largest town</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Luton" title="Luton" class="wl">Luton</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data maptable"></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-subheader notheme" style="background-color: #cddeff; font-weight: bold;"><a href="/en/Ceremonial_counties_of_England" title="Ceremonial counties of England" class="wl">Ceremonial<span>&nbsp;</span>county</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Lord_Lieutenant_of_Bedfordshire" title="Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire" class="wl">Lord<span>&nbsp;</span>Lieutenant</a></th><td class="infobox-data">Susan Lousada</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/High_Sheriff_of_Bedfordshire" title="High Sheriff of Bedfordshire" class="wl">High<span>&nbsp;</span>Sheriff</a></th><td class="infobox-data">Lady (Jane) Clifford (2022–23) <span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Area</th><td class="infobox-data">1,235<span>&nbsp;</span>km<sup>2</sup> (477<span>&nbsp;</span>sq<span>&nbsp;</span>mi)</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Ranked</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/List_of_ceremonial_counties_of_England" title="List of ceremonial counties of England" class="mw-redirect wl">41st of 48</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Population (2021)</th><td class="infobox-data">669,338</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Ranked</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/List_of_ceremonial_counties_of_England" title="List of ceremonial counties of England" class="mw-redirect wl">36th of 48</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Density</th><td class="infobox-data">542/km<sup>2</sup> (1,400/sq<span>&nbsp;</span>mi)</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Ethnicity</th><td class="infobox-data">86.3% White<br>8.3% S.Asian<br>2.9% Black</td><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles"></style></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-subheader notheme" style="background-color: #cddeff; font-weight: bold;">Districts</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data maptable"><span><a href="/en/File:Bedfordshire_numbered_districts.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Bedfordshire_numbered_districts.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Bedfordshire_numbered_districts.svg/200px-Bedfordshire_numbered_districts.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1120" data-file-height="1266" data-file-type="drawing" height="226" width="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Bedfordshire_numbered_districts.svg/300px-Bedfordshire_numbered_districts.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Bedfordshire_numbered_districts.svg/400px-Bedfordshire_numbered_districts.svg.png 2x" alt="Bedfordshire_numbered_districts.svg"></a></span><br>Districts of Bedfordshire<br><span style="display:inline-block;width:1em;vertical-align: middle;height:1em;border:1.62px solid black;background:#FFFF99;"><span> </span></span> Unitary
</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Districts_of_England" title="Districts of England" class="wl">Districts</a></th><td class="infobox-data">
<ol><li><a href="/en/Borough_of_Bedford" title="Borough of Bedford" class="wl">Bedford</a></li>
<li><span class="nowrap"><a href="/en/Central_Bedfordshire" title="Central Bedfordshire" class="wl">Central Bedfordshire</a></span></li>
<li><a href="/en/Borough_of_Luton" title="Borough of Luton" class="mw-redirect wl">Luton</a></li></ol>
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Bedfordshire is a ceremonial, non-metropolitan, and historic county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east and east, Hertfordshire to the south and south-east, and Buckinghamshire to the west. Since Bedfordshire County Council was abolished in 2009, the county has been administered by the three unitary authorities of the Borough of Bedford, Borough of Luton, and Central Bedfordshire. It is the fourteenth most densely populated county of England, with over half the population of the county living in the two largest built-up areas: Luton  