Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Ceremonial county
	Clockwise from top left: the Radcliffe Camera, part of the University of Oxford; Islip, in the Cherwell district; and the Uffington White Horse
	; Ceremonial Oxfordshire within England ; Historic Oxfordshire in the British Isles
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Time zone	UTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Members of Parliament	7 Members of Parliament Lab: 2; Lib Dem: 5;
Police	Thames Valley Police
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Marjorie Glasgow
High Sheriff	John May (2025–26)
Area	2,605 km2 (1,006 sq mi)
• Ranked	22nd of 48
Population (2005 est.)	626,900
• Ranked	35th of 48
Density	241/km2 (620/sq mi)
Ethnicity	86.9% White, 6.4% Asian/Asian British/Asian Welsh, 3.1% Mixed, 2.1%, Black/Black British/Black Welsh
Non-metropolitan county
County council	Oxfordshire County Council
Executive	Conservative
Admin HQ	Oxford
Area	2,605 km2 (1,006 sq mi)
• Ranked	of 26
Population	626,900
• Ranked	18th of 26
Density	241/km2 (620/sq mi)
ISO 3166-2	GB-OXF
GSS code	E10000025
ITL	TLJ14
Website	oxfordshire.gov.uk
Largest settlement	Oxford
Districts
	; Districts of Oxfordshire
Districts	Oxford; Cherwell; South Oxfordshire; Vale of White Horse; West Oxfordshire;

Oxfordshire (short Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire.

It is divided into five local government districts: Oxford, Cherwell, Vale of the White Horse (after the Uffington White Horse), West Oxfordshire and South Oxfordshire.

The county has a major tourism industry. The area is known for the concentration of motorsport companies and facilities. Oxford University Press has headed a concentration of print and publishing firms; the university is also linked to the concentration of local biotechnology companies.

The main centre of population is the city of Oxford. Other significant settlements are Bicester, Banbury, and Chipping Norton to the north of Oxford; Witney to the west; Thame and Chinnor to the east; and Abingdon, Wantage, Didcot and Henley-on-Thames to the south. Future population growth in the county is hoped to be concentrated around Banbury, Bicester, Didcot and Witney, near the South Midlands growth area.

The highest point of the county is Whitehorse Hill, in the Vale of White Horse, reaching 856 feet (261m).

History

The county of Oxfordshire was formed in the early years of the 10th century.

Historically the area has always had some importance, it has been good agricultural land resting between the main southern cities and Oxford (whose name came from Anglo-Saxon Oxenaford = "ford for oxen"). The area was part of the Cotswolds wool trade from the 13th century. The Great Western Railway reached Didcot in 1839. Morris Motors was founded in Oxford in 1912 and MG in Abingdon in 1929. The importance of agriculture as an employer has gone down in the 20th century; today less than one percent of the county's population are involved.

The Vale of the White Horse and parts of South Oxfordshire south of the River Thames were historically part of Berkshire, but were added to the administrative county in 1974.