Why are the home counties called the home counties, and where are they
located exactly?

Dear blueciel-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.

?The phrase Home Counties is a name for the group of English counties
which border London?
WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Counties

?Home Counties? were, and continue to be, specifically the counties in
close proximity to London, England. In 1888 the British government, in
an effort to plot counties around London the borders were established
along the English Channel, the Thames, the North Sea and the Thames
estuary, along with existing borders along lines established in Essex,
Kent, Surrey and Middlesex.

The original Home Counties were Bedfordshire, Berkshire,
Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Sussex:

INTERLINK
?Old Ordnance Survey Maps?
http://www.interlinkbookshop.com/godfrey/se.htm

Almost 100 years later, however, in 1965 the borders were expanded.
Some were redrawn while others were absorbed by new boundaries. In
modern times the ?Home Counties? are sometimes called ?London and the
South-East? or the ?London Metropolitan Area?.

Here is a map of the Home Counties:

ENGLAND'S HOME COUNTIES MAPS 
http://www.homecounties.worldweb.com/Maps/

I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

LONDON AND THE HOME COUNTIES
http://www.connexions.dabsol.co.uk/Londonhomecounties.html



SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

ENGLAND

BRITAIN

BRITISH

UNITED KINGDOM

HOME COUNTIES

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Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 02 Nov 2005 14:23 PST

Oh yes...As for your question about why the Home Counties got the
nickname, well, in truth the name is not ?official? rather it is
common British slang.

?The phrase "home counties" has no specific legal definition but as a
popular expression it appears to have been around for many years.
According to the OED it is simply "the counties nearest to London,
namely Surrey, Kent, Essex and Middlesex; sometimes with the addition
of Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and occasionally Sussex."

ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH COUNTIES
?FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS?
?What are home counties??
http://www.abcounties.co.uk/FAQ.htm#question7

Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga

Thanks for your answer Tutuzdad. It definitely covers what I was
looking for in my question.