Hertfordshire

Imagine a big green blanket in the East of England! That's Hertfordshire. It's like a friendly neighbor to London, sharing borders with places like Bedfordshire and Essex. It's not too far from the sea, but it's mostly land with pretty countryside. The biggest town here is called Watford, but the official 'county town' where important decisions are made is Hertford.

Hertfordshire is pretty big! It covers about 634 square miles. That's like fitting over 10,000 football fields into one area! Lots of people live here, more than a million! That's more people than you'd find in many big cities. Even though it's big, much of it is kept green and natural, like a giant park for everyone to enjoy.

This place has two important rivers, the Lea and the Colne. They start in Hertfordshire and flow all the way down to the south. Think of them like watery highways! You'll also find lots of green land, called the Metropolitan Green Belt. This means it's protected so it doesn't get covered in buildings, keeping it beautiful for animals and people.

People in Hertfordshire do all sorts of jobs, but many work in services, like helping others or providing important things. They also have special towns like Letchworth, which was the very first 'garden city' – a place designed to be beautiful and have lots of green spaces. Stevenage is another special town that was built to be bigger and better after a big war.