Basingstoke /'be?z???sto?k/ is a large town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is located 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Southampton, 16 miles (26 km) southeast of Reading, 48 miles (77 km) southwest of London, and 19 miles (31 km) northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2012 it had an estimated population of 84,275, however, this does not include the large suburban villages of Chineham, Old Basing or Lychpit, which are now generally considered as outer suburbs. It is part of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane and part of the parliamentary constituency of Basingstoke. Basingstoke is often nicknamed "Doughnut City" or "Roundabout City" because of the number of large roundabouts.Often mistaken for a new town, Basingstoke is an old market town expanded in the 1960s as part of a tripartite agreement between London County Council, Hampshire County Council and Basingstoke Borough Council. It was developed rapidly, along with Andover and Tadley, to accommodate part of the London 'overspill' as perceived under the Greater London Plan, 1944. Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book and Basingstoke remained a small market town until the 1950s. It still has a regular market, but is now bigger than Hampshire County Council's definition of a market town.Basingstoke is an economic centre, and is the location of the UK headquarters of De La Rue, Sun Life Financial of Canada, The Automobile Association, ST Ericsson, GAME, Motorola, Barracuda Networks, Eli Lilly and Company, BNP PARIBAS Lease Group UK, the leasing arm of BNP Paribas in the UK, and Sony Professional Solutions (Europe). It is also the location of the European headquarters of the TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company. Other industries include IT, telecommunications, insurance and electronics.
District
Basingstoke and Deane
Population total
84275
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