Subdivisions of England

The subdivisions of England constitute a hierarchy of administrative divisions and non-administrative ceremonial areas.

Overall, England is divided into nine regions and 48 ceremonial counties, although these have only a limited role in public policy. For the purposes of local government, the country is divided into counties, districts and parishes. In some areas, counties and districts form a two-tier administrative structure, while in others they are combined under a unitary authority. Parishes cover only part of England.

The current system is the result of incremental reform which has its origins in legislation enacted in 1965 and 1972.

File:English regions and counties coloured by type map 2023.svg

  metropolitan county

  two-tier non-metropolitan county

  unitary authority (non-metropolitan county and district)

  non-metropolitan county with multiple unitary authorities (which are not counties)

  Greater London

  sui generis areas (City of London and Isles of Scilly)

  regional boundary
  ceremonial county boundary
  non-metropolitan county boundary

History

Template:Further information The 1974 reform of local government established the tier structure throughout England with county authorities in metropolitan and Greater London also existing, 1986 reform abolished these. From the 1996 reform the structure's use has been declining, 21 tiered areas remain out of the original 48. The county tier provides the majority of services, including education and social services while the 164 district-tier councils have a more limited role.

New local administrative subdivisions in England have generally evolved through path dependence, with new units often created by merging smaller, lower-tier areas.

Regional divisions

Regions

File:English regions 2009.svg

about this map

East of
England

London

South East

South West

East
Midlands

West
Midlands

Yorkshire and
the Humber

North
East

North
West

Regions of England

At the highest level, all of England is divided into nine regions that are each made up of a number of counties and districts. These "government office regions" were created in 1994, and from the 1999 Euro-elections up until the UK's exit from the EU, they were used as the European Parliament constituencies in the United Kingdom and in England's European Parliament constituencies.

The regions vary greatly in their areas covered, populations and contributions to the national economy. All have the same status, except London which has substantive devolved powers.

There was a failed attempt to create elected regional assemblies outside London in 2004 and after then the structures of regional governance (regional assemblies, regional development agencies and local authority leaders' boards) have been subject to review.

Prior to the government office regions established in 1994, England was divided into eight economic planning regions. These originated in the civil defence regions established during the Second World War.

List of regions

Regions of England

Region	Land area		Population (2022)
	(km2)	(%)	People	(%)	Density (/km2)
North East	Template:UK subdivision area		2,683,040		313
North West	Template:UK subdivision area		7,516,113		533
Yorkshire and the Humber	Template:UK subdivision area		5,541,262		360
East Midlands	Template:UK subdivision area		4,934,939		316
West Midlands	Template:UK subdivision area		6,021,653		463
East of England	Template:UK subdivision area		6,398,497		335
London	Template:UK subdivision area		8,866,180		5,640
South East	Template:UK subdivision area		9,379,833		492
South West	Template:UK subdivision area		5,764,881		242
England	Template:UK subdivision area	100%	57,106,398	100%	438

Combined authority areas

Outside London, the primary administrative body above the upper-tier or unitary local authority is the combined authority or combined county authority. Each combined authority covers a combined authority area, made up of the territories of each constituent council. The combined authority areas can be coterminous with another, pre-existing subdivision, such as counties. The first combined authority was the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, established in 2010, covering the ceremonial and metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. Other combined authorities exist within or beyond previously existing boundaries. For example, the unitary authority area of the Borough of Halton, part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes, joined with the metropolitan boroughs of Merseyside to form the Liverpool City Region.

Counties

Counties have been a subdivision of England since they were established in the period between the 7th and 11th centuries. Counties have served an administrative role since then; Parr (2020) describes them as the 'most noticeable example' of path dependence in England's local government geography.

Ceremonial and historic counties

For non-administrative purposes, England is wholly divided into 48 ceremonial counties. These are used for the purposes of appointing Lords Lieutenant who are the Crown's representatives in those areas as well as a way of grouping non-metropolitan counties. They are taken into consideration when drawing up Parliamentary constituency boundaries. Ceremonial counties are commonly named after historic counties, the ceremonial county acts as an in between for the administrative boundaries and long established areas used in fields such as sport.

Non-metropolitan and metropolitan counties

County-tier councils and each unitary authority are separate non-metropolitan counties, each non-metropolitan county can be known as a district, city or borough. Berkshire is an anomaly in this arrangement whereby its districts became unitary authorities, the non-metropolitan county remain to keep the title of Royal county, in the same way the metropolitan county remained when the county-tier councils were abolished. Each correspond to an administrative body.

Non-metropolitan districts can also be a borough, city or district. Unitary authority areas are joint non-metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts.

List of two-tier non-metropolitan counties

Type	Non-metropolitan county	Non-metropolitan district
Set up	1974	1974
No	21	164
Units	Cambridgeshire Derbyshire Devon East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Hertfordshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Norfolk Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Warwickshire West Sussex Worcestershire	List of districts

Sub-county divisions

Local government districts

The districts of England originate in the 1834 Poor Law reforms, which amalgamated multiple parishes to form Poor Law unions. These areas were later used as the basis for census registration districts and sanitary districts. 1984 reforms to sub-county government created urban districts and rural districts as a standard lower-tier layer of local government beneath administrative counties.

The 1970s local government reforms replaced the administrative counties and county boroughs with non-metropolitan counties and metropolitan counties, covering the whole of England outside of London. The lower tier of government below the non-metropolitan counties were non-metropolitan districts.

Since 1992, many local authorities have been made unitary authorities, or new unitary authorities have been established to replace the previous two-tier local authorities in a particular area. This has led to either the local government district or county being, in effect, abolished.

County borough

County boroughs were wholly independent urban centres that existed between 1888 and 1974. County boroughs were independent of the administrative county.

Metropolitan boroughs and London

In 1986, the county-tier was abolished with the London boroughs, Metropolitan boroughs and combined boards remaining. Apart from status these boroughs have the same powers to unitary authorities.

London Boroughs and the City of London

The Greater London administrative area was created in 1965 with 32 boroughs, excluding the City of London.

Type	London borough	Sui generis
Set up	1965	in antiquity
No	32	1
Units	Barking and Dagenham Barnet Bexley Brent Bromley Camden City of Westminster Croydon Ealing Enfield Greenwich Hackney Hammersmith and Fulham Haringey Harrow Havering Hillingdon Hounslow Islington Kensington and Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Lambeth Lewisham Merton Newham Redbridge Richmond upon Thames Southwark Sutton Tower Hamlets Waltham Forest Wandsworth	City of London
Total	33

Miscellaneous

The Isles of Scilly are governed by a sui generis local authority called the Council of the Isles of Scilly. The authority was established in 1890 as the Isles of Scilly Rural District Council. It was renamed but otherwise unreformed by the changes in local government that occurred in 1974 in the rest of England outside Greater London. Although effectively a unitary authority, for example it is an education authority, the Isles of Scilly are part of the Cornwall ceremonial county and combine with Cornwall Council for services such as health and economic development.

The ancient City of London is the only part of Greater London not within a London borough; it is governed by the City of London Corporation, a sui generis authority unlike any other in England that has largely avoided any of the reforms of local government in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Civil parishes

The civil parish is the most local unit of government in England. A parish is governed by a parish council or parish meeting, which exercises a limited number of functions that would otherwise be delivered by the local authority. There is one civil parish in Greater London (Queen's Park, in the City of Westminster), and not all of the rest of England is parished. The number of parishes and total area parished is growing.

List of unitary authority areas

Type	Set up	No	Units
County gained district functions	2023	2	North YorkshireTemplate:Efn SomersetTemplate:Efn
District(s) gained county functions	2023	2	CumberlandTemplate:Efn Westmorland and FurnessTemplate:Efn
District(s) gained county functions	2021	2	North NorthamptonshireTemplate:Efn West NorthamptonshireTemplate:Efn
District(s) gained county functions	2020	1	BuckinghamshireTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn
District(s) gained county functions	2019	2	Bournemouth, Christchurch and PooleTemplate:Efn DorsetTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn
County gained district functions	2009	5	CornwallTemplate:Efn DurhamTemplate:Efn NorthumberlandTemplate:Efn ShropshireTemplate:Efn WiltshireTemplate:Efn
District(s) gained county functions	2009	4	Bedford Central BedfordshireTemplate:Efn Cheshire EastTemplate:Efn Cheshire West and ChesterTemplate:Efn
District(s) gained county functions	1998	21	Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool Bracknell Forest Halton HerefordshireTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn MedwayTemplate:Efn Nottingham Peterborough Plymouth Reading Slough Southend-on-Sea Stoke-on-Trent Swindon Telford and Wrekin Thurrock Torbay Warrington West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham
District(s) gained county functions	1997	11 9	BournemouthTemplate:Efn Brighton and HoveTemplate:Efn Derby Darlington Leicester Luton Milton Keynes PooleTemplate:Efn Portsmouth RutlandTemplate:Efn Southampton
District gained county functions	1996	13	Bath and North East SomersetTemplate:Efn BristolTemplate:Efn East Riding of YorkshireTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn Hartlepool Kingston upon Hull Middlesbrough North East LincolnshireTemplate:Efn North LincolnshireTemplate:Efn North Somerset Redcar and Cleveland South GloucestershireTemplate:Efn Stockton-on-Tees York
County gained district functions	1995	1	Isle of WightTemplate:Efn
Sui generis	1890	1	Isles of Scilly
Total		63

Hierarchical list of regions, strategic authorities, counties and districts

Region	Strategic authority	Ceremonial county	Metropolitan or non-metropolitan county	Districts May also hold borough and/or city status
East of England File:East of England counties 2019 map.svg		Essex	1. Thurrock U.A.
			2. Southend-on-Sea U.A.
			3. Essex †	a) Harlow, b) Epping Forest, c) Brentwood, d) Basildon, e) Castle Point, f) Rochford, g) Maldon, h) Chelmsford, i) Uttlesford, j) Braintree, k) Colchester, l) Tendring
		4. Hertfordshire †		a) Three Rivers, b) Watford, c) Hertsmere, d) Welwyn Hatfield, e) Broxbourne, f) East Hertfordshire, g) Stevenage, h) North Hertfordshire, i) St Albans, j) Dacorum
		Bedfordshire	5. Luton U.A.
			6. Bedford U.A.
			7. Central Bedfordshire U.A.
	Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Cambridgeshire	8. Cambridgeshire †	a) Cambridge, b) South Cambridgeshire, c) Huntingdonshire, d) Fenland, e) East Cambridgeshire
			9. Peterborough U.A.
		10. Norfolk †		a) Norwich, b) South Norfolk, c) Great Yarmouth, d) Broadland, e) North Norfolk, f) Breckland, g) King's Lynn and West Norfolk
		11. Suffolk †		a) Ipswich, b) East Suffolk, c) Babergh, d) Mid Suffolk, e) West Suffolk
East Midlands File:East Midlands counties 2021 map.svg	East Midlands	Derbyshire	1. Derbyshire †	a) High Peak, b) Derbyshire Dales, c) South Derbyshire, d) Erewash, e) Amber Valley, f)  North East Derbyshire, g) Chesterfield, h) Bolsover
			2. Derby U.A.
		Nottinghamshire	3. Nottinghamshire †	a) Rushcliffe, b) Broxtowe, c) Ashfield, d) Gedling, e) Newark and Sherwood, f) Mansfield, g) Bassetlaw
			4. Nottingham U.A.
	Greater Lincolnshire (part only)	Lincolnshire (part only)	5. Lincolnshire †	a) Lincoln, b) North Kesteven, c) South Kesteven, d) South Holland, e) Boston, f) East Lindsey, g) West Lindsey
		Leicestershire	6. Leicestershire †	a) Charnwood, b) Melton, c) Harborough, d) Oadby and Wigston, e) Blaby, f) Hinckley and Bosworth, g) North West Leicestershire
			7. Leicester U.A.
		8. Rutland U.A.
		Northamptonshire	9. West Northamptonshire U.A.
			10. North Northamptonshire U.A.
London File:Greater London boroughs 2009 map.svg	Greater London Authority	1. Greater London	none	a) City of Westminster, b) Kensington and Chelsea, c) Hammersmith and Fulham, d) Wandsworth, e) Lambeth, f) Southwark, g) Tower Hamlets, h) Hackney, i) Islington, j) Camden, k) Brent, l) Ealing, m) Hounslow, n) Richmond, o) Kingston upon Thames, p) Merton, q) Sutton, r) Croydon, s) Bromley, t) Lewisham, u) Greenwich, v) Bexley, w) Havering, x) Barking and Dagenham, y) Redbridge, z) Newham, aa) Waltham Forest, ab) Haringey, ac) Enfield, ad) Barnet, ae) Harrow, af) Hillingdon
		2. City of London	none	City of London
North East File:North East England counties 2009 map.svg	North East	1. Northumberland U.A.
		2. Tyne and Wear *		a) Newcastle upon Tyne, c) North Tyneside
				b) Gateshead, d) South Tyneside, e) Sunderland
		Durham	3. County Durham U.A.
	Tees Valley		4. Darlington U.A.
			5. Hartlepool U.A.
			6. Stockton-on-Tees U.A.
		North Yorkshire (part only)
			7. Redcar and Cleveland U.A.
			8. Middlesbrough U.A.
North West File:North West England counties 2023 map.svg
		Cumbria	1. Cumberland U.A.
			2. Westmorland and Furness U.A
	Lancashire	Lancashire	3. Lancashire †	a) West Lancashire, b) Chorley, c) South Ribble, d) Fylde, e) Preston, f) Wyre, g) Lancaster, h) Ribble Valley, i) Pendle, j) Burnley, k) Rossendale, l) Hyndburn
			4. Blackpool U.A.
			5. Blackburn with Darwen U.A.
	Greater Manchester	6. Greater Manchester *		a) Bolton, b) Bury, c) Manchester, d) Oldham, e) Rochdale, f) Salford, g) Stockport, h) Tameside, i) Trafford, j) Wigan
	Liverpool City Region	7. Merseyside *		a) Knowsley, b) Liverpool, c) St. Helens, d) Sefton, e) Wirral
		Cheshire	8. Halton U.A.
			9. Warrington U.A.
			10. Cheshire West and Chester U.A.
			11. Cheshire East U.A.
South East File:South East England counties 2020 map.svg		1. Berkshire ‡		a) West Berkshire U.A., b) Reading U.A., c) Wokingham U.A., d) Bracknell Forest U.A., e) Windsor and Maidenhead U.A., f) Slough U.A.
		Buckinghamshire	2. Buckinghamshire U.A.
			3. Milton Keynes U.A.
		East Sussex	4. East Sussex †	a) Hastings, b) Rother, c) Wealden, d) Eastbourne, e) Lewes
			5. Brighton & Hove U.A.
		Kent	6. Kent †	a) Dartford, b) Gravesham, c) Sevenoaks, d) Tonbridge and Malling, e) Tunbridge Wells, f) Maidstone, g) Swale, h) Ashford, i) Folkestone and Hythe, j) Canterbury, k) Dover, l) Thanet
			7. Medway U.A.
		8. Oxfordshire †		a) Oxford, b) Cherwell, c) South Oxfordshire, d) Vale of White Horse, e) West Oxfordshire
		9. Surrey †		a) Spelthorne, b) Runnymede, c) Surrey Heath, d) Woking, e) Elmbridge, f) Guildford, g) Waverley, h) Mole Valley, i) Epsom and Ewell, j) Reigate and Banstead, k) Tandridge
		10. West Sussex †		a) Worthing, b) Arun, c) Chichester, d) Horsham, e) Crawley, f) Mid Sussex, g) Adur
		Hampshire	11. Hampshire †	a) Fareham, b) Gosport, c) Winchester, d) Havant, e) East Hampshire, f) Hart, g) Rushmoor, h) Basingstoke and Deane, i) Test Valley, j) Eastleigh, k) New Forest
			12. Southampton U.A.
			13. Portsmouth U.A.
		14. Isle of Wight U.A.
South West File:South West England counties 2023 map.svg		Dorset	1. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole U.A.
			2. Dorset U.A.
		Somerset	3. North Somerset U.A.
			4. Somerset U.A.
	West of England		5. Bath and North East Somerset U.A
		6. Bristol U.A.
		Gloucestershire	7. South Gloucestershire U.A.
			8. Gloucestershire †	a) Gloucester, b) Tewkesbury, c) Cheltenham, d) Cotswold, e) Stroud, f) Forest of Dean
		Wiltshire	9. Swindon U.A.
			10. Wiltshire U.A.
	Devon and Torbay	Devon	11. Devon †	a) Exeter, b) East Devon, c) Mid Devon, d) North Devon, e) Torridge, f) West Devon, g) South Hams, h) Teignbridge
			12. Torbay U.A.
			13. Plymouth U.A.
		Cornwall	none	14. Isles of Scilly sui generis U.A.
			15. Cornwall U.A.
West Midlands File:West Midlands counties 2009 map.svg		1. Herefordshire U.A.
		Shropshire	2. Shropshire U.A.
			3. Telford and Wrekin U.A.
		Staffordshire	4. Staffordshire †	a) Cannock Chase, b) East Staffordshire, c) Lichfield, d) Newcastle-under-Lyme, e) South Staffordshire, f) Stafford, g) Staffordshire Moorlands, h) Tamworth
			5. Stoke-on-Trent U.A.
		6. Warwickshire †		a) North Warwickshire, b) Nuneaton and Bedworth, c) Rugby, d) Stratford-on-Avon, e) Warwick
	West Midlands	7. West Midlands *		a) Birmingham, b) Coventry, c) Dudley, d) Sandwell, e) Solihull, f) Walsall, g) Wolverhampton
		8. Worcestershire †		a) Bromsgrove, b) Malvern Hills, c) Redditch, d) Worcester, e) Wychavon, f) Wyre Forest
Yorkshire and the Humber File:Yorkshire and the Humber counties 2023 map.svg	South Yorkshire	1. South Yorkshire *		a) Sheffield, b) Rotherham, c) Barnsley, d) Doncaster
	West Yorkshire	2. West Yorkshire *		a) Wakefield, b) Kirklees, c) Calderdale, d) Bradford, e) Leeds
	York and North Yorkshire	North Yorkshire (part only)	3. North Yorkshire U.A.
			4. York U.A.
	Hull and East Yorkshire	East Riding of Yorkshire	5. East Riding of Yorkshire U.A.
			6. Kingston upon Hull U.A.
	Greater Lincolnshire (part only)	Lincolnshire (part only)	7. North Lincolnshire U.A.
			8. North East Lincolnshire U.A.
	Combined authority	† Two-tier non-metropolitan county		Non-metropolitan district
		‡ Royal non-metropolitan county        (no county council)		Unitary authority district that is not a county
		U.A. Unitary authority area (non-metropolitan county and district)
		* Metropolitan county        (no county council)		Metropolitan district
	Greater London Authority

See also

• Administrative geography of the United Kingdom
• Local government in England

External links

• Map of the UK counties and unitary administrations
• Map of all UK local authorities