Administrative geography of the United Kingdom
The administrative geography of the United Kingdom is complex, multi-layered and non-uniform. The United Kingdom, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe, consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For local government in the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each have their own system of administrative and geographic demarcation. Consequently, there is "no common stratum of administrative unit encompassing the United Kingdom".[1]
Because there is no written document that comprehensively encompasses the
The United Kingdom also contains 17 dependent territories which aren't officially a part of the UK but are represented by it in places like the UN.
Historically, the subnational divisions of the UK have been the
History
This structure was formed by the
Wales was incorporated into the English legal system through the
Overview of administration
Following
Country | United Kingdom[L] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of UK | England | [L]
|
Scotland[L] | Northern Ireland[L] | |||||
Authority area | combined authority areas,[C] other areas
| ||||||||
Lieutenancy area | Ceremonial counties | Preserved counties | Lieutenancy areas | Lieutenancy areas
| |||||
County type | Non-metropolitan | Metropolitan | Unique | ||||||
County council area | Two-tier council area[C] | Unitary authority areas[C][U] | None | None | City of London[C] | Isles of Scilly[C][S] | Principal areas[C] | Council areas[C] | Districts[C] |
District | Non-metropolitan districts[B][C] | Metropolitan boroughs[B][C] | London boroughs[C] | ||||||
Parish | [C] [T]
|
Wards | Civil parishes | Communities[M] | Communities | Civil parishes |
- Notes
The markers above link to relevant articles where available.
- [B] Can have city, borough or royal borough status
- [C] Has a council
- [L] Has a legislature
- [M] May have a council
- [S] Sui generis unitary authority. Not a county nor part of Cornwall. Powers similar to a mainland county.
- [T] Can have city, town, village or neighbourhood status. Not all areas of England have parishes.
- [U] County council areas comprising one district. The council is at either county or district level.
Local government
This article is part of a series on |
Politics of the United Kingdom |
---|
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England
England has no devolved national legislature or government.
The highest level subdivisions of England are the nine
Below the district level,
Commonly, though not administratively, England's geography is divided into
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has the
For local government, Northern Ireland is divided into 11
Northern Ireland is divided into six traditional counties. Though widely used, these no longer serve any administrative purpose.
Scotland
Scotland has a devolved
For local government, Scotland has 32
Wales
Wales has an elected, devolved legislature, the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh: Senedd Cymru), from which the Welsh Government is drawn. For local government, Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities: 10 county boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Below these are community councils, which have powers similar to those of English parish councils.
The 22 unitary authorities are grouped into preserved counties, which are used for ceremonial purposes. Although based on the counties used for local government between 1974 and 1996, they no longer have an administrative function.
Democratic representation
Parliaments
Each of the 650 electoral areas or divisions called
The devolved
Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly are held under the single transferable vote (STV) system, in 18 multi-member constituencies.
Local government
The
Informal divisions
There are also many informal, historical and special purpose regional designations. Some such as the
.International subdivisions
The UK's
Dependent territories
The United Kingdom has 17 dependent territories in total: three "Crown Dependencies" in the British Isles and in the English Channel and fourteen "overseas territories" scattered around the world.
Unlike other former colonial powers, the British Government does not classify its overseas possessions (or the crown dependencies, which share historical ties with the British Crown) as subdivisions of the United Kingdom itself; rather, each is treated in law as a separate jurisdiction. Most have their own legislatures and a degree of autonomy usually exceeding that of the devolved UK nations, including fiscal independence.
Out of the 14 overseas territories, 10 are autonomous, two used primarily as military bases, one uninhabited, and one an Antarctic claim.
However, the UK retains varying degrees of responsibility in all of the territories, currently ranging from full political control to a largely ceremonial presence. The main reserved matters are the areas of diplomacy, international treaties, defence and security. The UK also retains in all territories a residual responsibility for 'good governance', a loosely defined constitutional concept recently exemplified by its imposition of direct rule following alleged serious corruption in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The UK parliament at Westminster, and the British Government through the Privy Council, both retain the power to legislate for the overseas territories – though by convention will usually only do so with each local government's consent.
The three Crown Dependencies within the British Isles are self-governing[6] possessions of the British Crown. They are distinct from the British overseas territories of the United Kingdom.[7]
See also
- Countries of the United Kingdom
- Devolution in the United Kingdom
- European Parliament constituencies in the United Kingdom
- British Isles (terminology)
- British Overseas Territories
- Crown Dependencies
- Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom
- List of subnational entities
- Office for National Statistics coding system for counties, districts, wards and census areas
- List of regions of the United Kingdom by Human Development Index
References
- ^ United Nations Economic and Social Council (August 2007). "Ninth United Nations Conference on the standardization of Geographical Names" (PDF). unstats.un.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
- ^ Scottish Parliament. "Your Scotland questions; Is Scotland a country?". scottish.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
As the UK has no written constitution in the usual sense, constitutional terminology is fraught with difficulties of interpretation and it is common usage nowadays to describe the four constituent parts of the UK (Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland) as "countries".
- ^ Bryne, T., Local Government in Britain, (1994)
- ^ Macinnes, Professor Allan I. (17 February 2017). "Acts of Union: The creation of the United Kingdom". BBC. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- S2CID 155060595.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Background briefing on the Crown dependencies: Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man - ^ Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons – Crown Dependencies – Justice Committee". publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)