East Kent and
West Kent are one-time traditional subdivisions of the
English county of
Kent, kept alive by the
Association of the Men of Kent and Kentish Men: an organisation formed in 1913. The division may have risen from the ethnic differences approximately 1,500 years ago between the
Jutish settlement of the east of the county and the
Saxon presence in the west, although its origins are somewhat obscure. Residents of East Kent, those living East / south of the
River Medway, are called 'Men (or Maids) of Kent', as opposed to residents of West Kent, who are known as 'Kentish Men' or 'Kentish Maids'.