Subdivisions of the United Kingdom

Subdivisions of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is a country that is divided into four constituent parts:

1. England
2. Scotland
3. Northern Ireland
4. Wales

The constituent parts of the United Kingdom have administrative subdivisions as follows:

1. The regions and administrative counties of England
2. The council areas of Scotland
3. The counties and county boroughs of Wales
4. The districts of Northern Ireland

The Laws in Wales Act 1535 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes.

Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum.

Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts.

Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

World66 Guide to United Kingdom