Gloucestershire
The city of Gloucester, the county seat, began around AD 96-98 as a colony named "Glevum," which was created for Roman legionary veterans and founded on the site of an earlier Roman fort. Cirencester, then known as Corinium, was also an important Roman city. In the seventh century, Gloucestershire was one of the areas occupied by the Hwicce, a mix of Anglian and Saxon stock. In later Anglo-Saxon times, Gloucestershire was part of the kingdom of Mercia, which was, in turn, defeated by the kingdom of Wessex. In medieval times, the county prospered greatly from the wool trade.
Today, Gloucestershire has a population of over one million people; its area of 1,255 square miles is roughly the size of Rhode Island. The eastern part of the county is in the Cotswolds, one of the island's most beautiful areas, and is commonly used for sheep grazing. Dairy farming is widespread in the central part of the county, near the River Severn. The county's western portion is on the Welsh border and features the lovely Forest of Dean.
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