The county of Essex is located in Eastern England. It is the third largest county in England and is bordered by Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, and London. Essex has a population of over 1.7 million people and is home to many historic towns and villages. The county is known for its beautiful coastline, which includes the popular seaside resorts of Southend-on-Sea and Clacton-on-Sea. Essex is also home to some of the oldest recorded settlements in Britain, including Colchester, which was founded by the Romans in AD 49.