Devon East Devon has the first seaside resort to be developed in the county, Exmouth and the more upmarket Georgian town of Sidmouth, headquarters of the East Devon District Council. Exmouth marks the western end of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Another notable feature is the coastal railway line between Newton Abbot and the Exe Estuary: the red sandstone cliffs and sea views are very dramatic and in the resorts railway line and beaches are very near. North Devon is very rural with few major towns except Barnstaple, Great Torrington, Bideford and Ilfracombe. Devon's Exmoor coast has the highest cliffs
Coastline of the United Kingdom has a fractal dimension of 1.13, and that of South Africa is 1.02. As a result of this shape and the number of islands, the coastline of the UK is longer than that of similar sized countries. For example, the coastline of Italy is around 9,226 km in length, France 7,330 km and Spain 7,268 km. Greece, which has a large number of islands similar to the UK, has a coastline of around 15,147 km. This means the UK has a relatively high coast/area ratio. Nowhere in the UK is more than from the coast. It is estimated that around