Rutland

Rutland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Borders	Leicestershire Lincolnshire Northamptonshire

Rutland, occasionally known as Rutlandshire, is a county in south-east Midlands of England. The county is bound by Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north east, and Northamptonshire to the south. For the purposes of statistics, the county forms a part of the East Midlands. Rutland is the smallest county in England, a fact reflected in its motto multum in parvo (Latin for "much in little"). The county town is Oakham.

Despite its small size, Rutland is a highly popular county, owing to its handsome towns, characterised by stone-built houses with thatched roofs. Rutland is also home to Rutland Water, a large reservoir (the largest by surface-area in England) built in the 1970s that provides water to much of the East Midlands. The A1 road also passes through Rutland.

Administration

Rutland lends its name to Rutland County Council, a unitary authority whose boundaries are almost completely identical to the county proper. However, the county and the county council area are legally distinct from each other.

Transportation

The A1 road, which links London and Edinburgh, passes through Rutland; Edinburgh lies roughly 300 miles to the north, with London being just under 100 miles to the south. More intermediate destinations on the road in that area include Peterborough to the south, and Stamford, Grantham, Newark and Doncaster to the north.