Berkshire

Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London to the east, Surrey to the south-east, Hampshire to the south, and Wiltshire to the west. Reading is the largest settlement and the county town.

The county has an area of and had an estimated population of in . The population is concentrated in the east, the area closest to Greater London, which includes the county's largest towns: Reading, Slough, Bracknell, and Maidenhead. The west is rural, and its largest town is Newbury. For local government purposes Berkshire comprises six unitary authority areas: Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham. The historic county included the parts of Oxfordshire south of the River Thames, which formed its northern border, but excluded Caversham and Slough.