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Hertfordshire (pronounced "Hartfordshire" and abbreviated as "Herts") is an inland county in the United Kingdom, officially part of the East of England Government region. It is one of the Home Counties.
Hertfordshire is located to the north of Greater London, and much of the county is part of the London commuter belt.
To the east of Hertfordshire is Essex, to the west is Buckinghamshire and to the north are Bedfordshire, Luton and Cambridgeshire.
The highest point in the county is 803 feet (245 m) above sea level, a quarter mile (400 m) from the village of Hastoe near Tring.
Hertfordshire was originally the area assigned to a fortress constructed at Hertford under the rule of Edward the Elder in 913. The name Hertfordshire appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1011.
The Domesday Book recorded the county as having nine hundreds. Tring and Danais became one, Dacorum. The other seven were Broadwater, Cashio, Edwinstree, Hertford, Hitchin and Odsey.
Hertfordshire is the starting point of the New River: a man made waterway, opened in 1613 to supply London with fresh drinking water.
In the 1965 administrative changes, Hertfordshire lost Barnet to Greater London, but gained Potters Bar and South Mimms from Middlesex.
These are the main towns in Hertfordshire. For a complete list of settlements see list of places in Hertfordshire.
* Baldock, Berkhamsted, Bishop's Stortford.
* Borehamwood
* Cheshunt, Chorleywood.
* Harpenden, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford Hitchin, Hoddesdon.
* Letchworth Garden City.
* Potters Bar.
* Radlett.
* Rickmansworth, Royston
* Sawbridgeworth, Stevenage, St Albans
* Tring
* Ware, Watford, Welwyn Garden City.
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