Rutland - Multum in parvo

The motto of Rutland, England's smallest county, is "multum in parvo", which translates as "much in little".

At slightly under 150 square miles Rutland is England's smallest county. It is landlocked and bordered by Leicestershire to the West and North, Lincolnshire to the North East and Northamptonshire to the South East. It has a population of 39,000 of which ethnic minorities make up less than three percent, and it was first mentioned as a separate county as early as 1159. There are only really two towns, Oakham and Uppingham.

In 2006 it was reported that Rutland had the highest fertility rate of any English county but as this is still only 2.8 children per family the population is hardly expanding exponentially! That same year Sport England revealed that Rutland residents were the 6th most physically active people in England with over a quarter participating in a keep fit activity at least three times a week.

30 percent of the 17,000 people of working age work in Public Administration, Education and Health while a similar proportion work in Hotels and Restaurants. Roughly 18 percent are in manufacturing and two former RAF bases, now run by the Ministry of Defence, are another key employer.

There may be one Category C prison but there are also two Public Schools to be found in Rutland, and it is a prosperous area being 348th out of 354 in the Indices of Deprivation.

But Rutland is not resting on its laurels. It was one of the first counties to install charging points for electric cars.

The county is also known for its reservoir, Rutland Water - which is the largest reservoir in England and home to the Rutland Osprey Project, which has been providing a base to these endangered birds for 25 years. It recently saw the hatching of its 200th chick.

Rutland has even hit the headlines with some exciting fossil finds in recent years and there may be more to come.

All in all, Rutland is a pretty nice place to live, which explains why property prices are well above the average for the rest of the UK.

The image is of Rutland Water.