Southern England is a vague term referring to the south of England. Various people use the term with varying extents.

In any definition Southern England includes all the areas on the English Channel, i.e.

• Cornwall
• Devon
• Dorset
• East Sussex
• Hampshire
• Isle of Wight
• Kent
• West Sussex

It will also include some areas immediately adjacent

• Berkshire
• Greater London
• Somerset
• Surrey
• Wiltshire

The exact northern extent is hard to define. In the west it could include Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, but then these are sometimes considered part of the Midlands.

The counties between the Midlands and London (Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire) are often considered southern, as could be the areas in East Anglia (Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk).

If government office regions were to be used as a basis, the south would comprise South East England and South West England, Greater London, and the East of England.