Berkshire

Berkshire, officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a ceremonial county in South East England, bordered by Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Surrey, Hampshire and Wiltshire. Reading is its largest settlement and county town. The county has an area of 1,263 square kilometres and had an estimated population of 992,327 in 2024, concentrated in the east near Greater London, where Reading, Slough, Bracknell and Maidenhead lie. For local government purposes it comprises six unitary authority areas. The Berkshire Downs occupy the west, the Thames forms the northern border, and Windsor Castle, the official country residence of the British monarch, stands within it.