City of Peterborough

City of Peterborough
City and unitary authority
Peterborough viewed from the top of the cathedral
City of Peterborough shown within Cambridgeshire
Coordinates: 52°34′21″N 00°14′35″W / 52.57250°N 0.24306°W / 52.57250; -0.24306
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	East of England
Ceremonial county	Cambridgeshire
City region	Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
City status	1541[1]
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Unitary authority	1 April 1998
Named for	Peterborough
Administrative HQ	Sand Martin House, Fletton
Government [2]
• Type	Unitary authority
• Body	Peterborough City Council
• Executive	Leader and cabinet
• Control	No overall control
• Leader	Dennis Jones (L)
• Mayor	Marco Cereste
• MPs	Paul Bristow (C) Shailesh Vara (C)
Area [3]
• Total	132 sq mi (343 km2)
• Rank	105th
Population  (2022)[4]
• Total	217,705
• Rank	88th
• Density	1,640/sq mi (634/km2)
Demonym	Peterborian
Ethnicity (2021) [5]
• Ethnic groups	List 75.4% White 14.3% Asian 4.1% Black 3.5% Mixed 2.7% other
Religion (2021) [5]
• Religion	List 46.3% Christianity 32.5% no religion 12.2% Islam 1.8% Hinduism 0.6% Sikhism 0.3% Buddhism 0.1% Judaism 0.5% other 5.8% not stated
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode areas	PE
Dialling codes	01733
ISO 3166 code	GB-PTE
GSS code	E06000031
Website	peterborough.gov.uk

Peterborough, or the City of Peterborough,^[6] is a local government district with city status in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The district is named after its largest settlement, Peterborough, but also covers a wider area of outlying villages and hamlets.

The district's area covers parts of the historic counties of Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, as well as a small part of Cambridgeshire. In 1965, the area became part of the short-lived county of Huntingdon and Peterborough before becoming a district of Cambridgeshire in 1974. Located in the East Anglia region of England, the area borders the surrounding counties of Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire. The population of the district was 202,259 making it the second-largest district by population in East Anglia (after Norwich).^[7]

For many centuries, most of the contemporary district was part of the Soke of Peterborough, a liberty within the historic county of Northamptonshire. Between 1889 and 1965, the Soke was governed by the Soke of Peterborough County Council, making the Soke of Peterborough a completely autonomous, self-governing area separate from the rest of Northamptonshire. With the abolition of the Soke in 1965, Peterborough ceased being part of and associated with Northamptonshire.

Peterborough was a Saxon settlement during the Anglo-Saxon era.^[8] The district also includes outlying villages such as Thorney, Old Fletton, Werrington, Parnwell, Dogsthorpe, Eye Green, Glinton, Northborough, Maxey, Wittering, Wansford and Ailsworth.