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Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, Northamptonshire to the west, and Bedfordshire to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Peterborough.
The county has an area of and had an estimated population of 906,814 in 2022. Peterborough, in the north-west, and Cambridge, in the south, are the largest settlements. The remainder of the county is rural, and contains the city of Ely in the east, Wisbech in the north-east, and St Neots and Huntingdon in the west. For local government purposes Cambridgeshire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with five districts, and the unitary authority area of Peterborough; their local authorities collaborate through Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. The county did not historically include Huntingdonshire or the Soke of Peterborough, which was part of Northamptonshire.
The north and east of the county are dominated by the Fens, an extremely flat, drained marsh maintained by drainage ditches and dykes; Holme Fen is the UK's lowest physical point, at 2.75 m (9 ft) below sea level. The flatness of the landscape makes the few areas of higher ground, such as that Ely is built on, very conspicuous. The landscape in the south and west is gently undulating. Cambridgeshire's principal rivers are the River Nene, which flows through the north of the county and is canalised east of Peterborough; the Great Ouse, which flows from west to east past Huntingdon and Ely; and the River Cam, a tributary of the Great Ouse which flows through Cambridge.
The area was settled by the Anglo-Saxons starting in the fifth century. Genetic testing on seven skeletons found in Anglo-Saxon era graves in Hinxton and Oakington found that five were either migrants or descended from migrants from the continent, one was a native Briton, and one had both continental and native ancestry, suggesting intermarriage.Stephan Schiffels and Duncan Sayer, Investigating Anglo-Saxon migration history with ancient and modern DNA (2017)
Cambridgeshire was recorded in the Domesday Book as "Grantbridgeshire" (or rather Grentebriġesċīre) (related to the river Granta). Covering a large part of East Anglia, Cambridgeshire today is the result of several local government unifications. In 1888 when were introduced, separate councils were set up, following the traditional division of Cambridgeshire, for
Since 1998, the City of Peterborough has been separately administered as a unitary authority area. It is associated with Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes such as Lord-Lieutenant and joint functions such as policing and the fire service. The Cambridgeshire (City of Peterborough) (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1878), see Local Government Commission for England (1992), Final Recommendations for the Future Local Government of Cambridgeshire, October 1994 and Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham & Rochester upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton & Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin, December 1995.
In 2002, the conservation charity Plantlife unofficially designated Cambridgeshire's county flower as the Pasqueflower.
The Cambridgeshire Regiment (nicknamed the Fen Tigers), the county-based army unit, fought in the Boer War in South Africa, the First World War and Second World War.
Due to the county's flat terrain and proximity to the continent, during the Second World War the military built many airfields here for RAF Bomber Command, RAF Fighter Command, and the USAAF. In recognition of this collaboration, the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is located in Madingley.
Most English counties have nicknames for their people, such as a "Tyke" from Yorkshire and a "Yellowbelly" from Lincolnshire. The historical for people from Cambridgeshire are "Cambridgeshire Camel" or "Cambridgeshire Crane", the latter referring to the wildfowl that were once abundant in the Fens. The term "Fen Tigers" is sometimes used to describe the people who live and work in the Fens.
Large areas of the county are extremely low-lying and Holme Fen is notable for being the UK's lowest physical point at 2.75 m (9 ft) below sea level. The highest point of the modern administrative county is in the village of Great Chishill at 146 m (480 ft) above sea level. However, this parish was historically a part of Essex, having been moved to Cambridgeshire in boundary changes in 1895. The historic county top is close to the village of Castle Camps where a point on the disused RAF airfield reaches a height of above sea level (grid reference TL 63282 41881).
Other prominent hills are Little Trees Hill and Wandlebury Hill (both at ) in the Gog Magog Hills, Rivey Hill above Linton, Rowley's Hill and the Madingley Hills.
Wicken Fen is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Wicken. A large part of it is owned and managed by the National Trust.
The Cambridge Green Belt around the city of Cambridge extends to places such as Waterbeach, Lode, Duxford, Little & Great Abington and other communities a few miles away in nearby districts, to afford a protection from the conurbation. It was first drawn up in the 1950s.
The county contains eight Parliamentary constituencies:
| +Parliamentary constituencies in Cambridgeshire | ||
| Daniel Zeichner | ||
| Ben Obese-Jecty | ||
| Steve Barclay | ||
| Sam Carling | ||
| Andrew Pakes | ||
| Pippa Heylings | Liberal Democrats | |
| Ian Sollom | Liberal Democrats | |
| Charlotte Cane | Liberal Democrats |
| £4,022M |
| £5,801M |
| £7,752M |
AWG plc is based in Huntingdon. The RAF has several stations in the Huntingdon and St Ives area. RAF Alconbury, three miles north of Huntingdon, is being reorganised after a period of obsolescence following the departure of the USAF, to be the focus of RAF/USAFE intelligence operations, with activities at Upwood and Molesworth being transferred there. Most of Cambridgeshire is agricultural. Close to Cambridge is the so-called Silicon Fen area of high-technology (electronics, computing and biotechnology) companies. ARM Limited is based in Cherry Hinton. The inland Port of Wisbech on the River Nene is the county's only remaining port.
Some of the secondary schools act as , institutions unique to Cambridgeshire. For example, Comberton Village College.
In addition, Cambridge Regional College and Huntingdonshire Regional College both offer a limited range of higher education courses in conjunction with partner universities.
See the List of Cambridgeshire settlements by population page for more detail.
The town of Newmarket is surrounded on three sides by Cambridgeshire, being connected by a narrow strip of land to the rest of Suffolk.
Cambridgeshire has seen 32,869 dwellings created from 2002 to 2013 and there are a further 35,360 planned new dwellings between 2016 and 2023.
Cambridgeshire is also the birthplace of bandy, now an IOC accepted sport. According to documents from 1813, Bury Fen Bandy Club was undefeated for 100 years. A member of the club, Charles Goodman Tebbutt, wrote down the first official rules in 1882. Tebbutt was instrumental in spreading the sport to many countries. Great Britain Bandy Association is based in Cambridgeshire.
Fen skating is a traditional form of skating in the The Fens. The National Ice Skating Association was set up in Cambridge in 1879, they took the top Fen skaters to the world speedskating championships where James Smart (skater) became world champion.
On 6–7 June 2015, the inaugural Tour of Cambridgeshire cycle race took place on closed roads across the county. The event was an official UCI qualification event, and consisted of a Time Trial on the 6th, and a Gran Fondo event on the 7th. The Gran Fondo event was open to the public, and over 6000 riders took part in the race.
The River Cam is the main river flowing through Cambridge, parts of the River Nene and River Great Ouse lie within the county. In 2021 the latter was used as the course for The Boat Race. The River Cam serves as the course for the university Lent Bumps and May Bumps and the non-college rowing organised by Cambridgeshire Rowing Association.
There is only one racecourse in Cambridgeshire, located at Huntingdon.
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