Bedfordshire (pop. 381,571), in the southeast midlands of England, is one of the smallest English counties. Before the 1900's, it was mainly rural and agricultural, but much former farmland has been taken over by factories. Bedford, the county's administrative center, is an important center of industry.
As an administrative area, Bedfordshire is more than a thousand years old. It received its name and present form in the A.D. 900's, after King Edward the Elder drove the Danes out of the area. The reorganization of England's local government in 1974 had only a small effect on Bedfordshire. At that time, Luton, which had been a county borough, became part of Bedfordshire for administration. In 1997, Luton became a separate unitary authority with all the local government powers within its boundaries (see Luton).
