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A county in South West England on the English Channel coast is Dorset (/ˈdɔːrsɪt/; archaically: Dorsetshire). The unitary authority areas of Poole and Bournemouth and the non-metropolitan county, which is governed by Dorset County Council, the ceremonial county comprises. The county's border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch after the reorganisation of local government in 1974. At Poole, Weymouth and Portland, and an international airport, Dorset has ports.

Largely rural with many small villages, few large towns and no cities is Dorset. Situated at the south-eastern end of the county and is a typical of the county as a whole which is the only major urban area is the South East Dorset conurbation. Plus many surrounding villages, it consists of the seaside resort of Bournemouth, the historic port and borough of Poole, the towns of Christchurch and Ferndown. Comprises six-second-tier districts: West Dorset, East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, Christchurch, and Weymouth and Portland, is the county council located in Dorchester. Situated in the west of the county are Beaminster and Bridport; located to the east are Verwood and the historic Saxon market towns of Wareham and Wimborne Minster.

Begins at South Haven Point at the entrance to Poole Harbour, the South West Coast Path, National Trail. Taken by Fairfax that same year was Sherborne Castle, and the last remaining Royalist stronghold in Dorset, Corfe Castle, was captured after an act of betrayal in 1646; both were subsequently slighted. Due to its geological and palaeontologic significance, three-quarters of its coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast Natural World Heritage Site. Lulworth Cove, the Isle of Portland, Chesil Beach and Durdle Door are notable landforms it features.

Historic market towns which serve the farms and villages of the Blackmore Vale in north Dorse are Blandford Forum, Sherborne, Gillingham, Shaftesbury and Sturminster Newton. Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world, a former river valley flooded by rising sea levels 6,000 years ago. Very shallow in places and contains a number of islands, Brownsea Island, the birthplace of the Scouting movement and one of the few remaining sanctuaries for indigenous red squirrels in England, is the harbour. Lie atop Western Europe's largest onshore oil field, the harbour and the chalk and limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck to the south.

Host to the Great Dorset Steam Fair, one of the biggest events of its kind in Europe, and has a variety of museums, theatres and festivals, is the county. The only church in the country, besides Westminster Abbey, to have a shrine that contains the relics of a saint is St Candida and Holy Cross at Whitchurch Canonicorum. Situated on the edge of Hurn village 6 kilometres (4 mi) north of Bournemouth, has flights to 36 destinations and serves some 600,000 passengers a year, is Bournemouth Airport.

Contains a range of privately funded independent schools is Dorset . St Mary's, a Catholic girls' school in Shaftesbury; and Sherborne School, a boys school founded in the 16th century are boarding schools which also take day pupils, such as the co-educational Canford School which is built around a 19th-century Grade I listed manor house. A.F.C. Bournemouth, which plays in the Premier League- the highest division in the English football league system is Dorset's only professional football club. Southern Premier Division teams Dorchester Town F.C., Poole Town F.C. and Weymouth F.C. are non-League semi-professional teams in the county. Competes in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship and is located at Dean Park Cricket Ground in Bournemouth is Dorset County Cricket Club.