Cornwall

One of the most popular tourist areas with a population of around 480,000 located in the extreme South West of England. The county seat is Bodmin.

Industry

Tourism is now the prime revenue source of the Cornish economy. The highlands are mainly used for sheep and cattle pastures. The climate is mild and moist, with subtropical vegetation along the southern coast. Dairy farms and vegetables are raised in the river valleys and Cornwall is famous for clotted cream. Fishing was once the major part of the local economy but is no longer a major industry. Engineering, ship repairing, rock quarrying, and tourism are now the major industries. Tin and copper mines were exploited for centuries and were traded to the ancient Greek and Mediterranean traders. But these minerals are no longer found in sufficient quantities to make mining a viable industry.

Geography

Cornwall is a long peninsula bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel and by Devon. It extreme western edge is known as Land's End, which is the same name as the extreme west of Brittany (Finisterre), with which people, the Cornish share many racial and historic features, including a similar Celtic language. The region is a low-lying plateau of old igneous rocks. The highest point is Brown Willy (1,375 ft) on Bodmin Moor. The main rivers are the Tamar, which forms most of the border with Devon, the Fowey, the Fal, and the Camel.

History

Cornwall has a very long and ancient history. It was known to the Phonicians who traded for tin with the Britons of Cornwall. It was one of the last independent Celtic Kingdoms of Britain and was finally conquered by the Saxon’s about 100 years prior to the Norman invasion. The Cornish language finally died out as a major language in the 18th cent but enough of the language was preserved to allow it to be revived in the 20th century and there are now several thousand Cornish speakers. In the 14th century, the county was made a duchy for the monarch's eldest son and Prince Charles is the current Duke of Cornwall with extensive land holdings.