Penzance (Cornish: Pensans) is a civil parish and port town in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, UK. Granted various Royal Charters from 1512 onwards and incorporated in 1614, Penzance Charter of Incorporation dated 9 May 1614, held by Penzance Town Council it has a population of 21,168 people and is currently Penwith's principal town. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay, the town faces southeast onto the English Channel, is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn and by the civil parish of Ludgvan to the east.