Dacorum

Borough of Dacorum
Shown within Hertfordshire
Geography
Status:	Borough
Region:	East of England
Admin. County:	Hertfordshire
Area: - Total	Ranked 183rd 212.48 km²
Admin. HQ:	Hemel Hempstead
ONS code:	26UC
Demographics
Population: - Total (2002 est.) - Density	Ranked 122nd 138,053 650 / km²
Ethnicity:	95.4% White 2.1% S.Asian
Politics
Dacorum Borough Council http://www.dacorum.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Conservative
MPs:	Tony McWalter, Richard Page

Dacorum is a local government district and borough in Hertfordshire, England. It includes the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, and Tring.

The Borough of Dacorum was formed in 1974 by the amalgamation of 7 smaller local authorities, each symbolised in the 7 oak leaves in the centre of the coat of arms. They were :-

• The Borough of Hemel Hempstead,
• Berkhamsted urban district,
• Tring urban district,
• Berkhamsted Rural District,
• Hemel Hemstead Rural District,
• Part of the St. Albans Rural District
• Part of Watford Rural District.

It takes its name from the old hundred of Dacorum which covered approximately the same area. The name of the hundred, first recorded in 1196, is simply the Latin for "of the Danes", since the hundred lay within the Danelaw, the southern boundaries of both being formed by the River Lea. This hundred was a combination of the two Domesday Book hundreds of Tring and Danais.

It had a population of 137,799 at the 2001 census.

The Borough is twinned with the town of Neu Isenburg in Germany.

Political representation

The council is made up of 52 seats.

Representation at March 2004 is as follows:-

• Conservative 32 - drawing support largely from the better off parts of Hemel Hempstead and the surrounding rural areas.
• Labour 14 - drawing support largely from the post war estates of Hemel Hempstead new town
• Liberal Democrat 6 - drawing support largely from the smaller towns of Tring and Berkhempstead