Divisions of the United Kingdom

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Updates: 

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-9 was published on 2007-11-28. The only change in the United Kingdom section is to indicate the status of each of the subdivisions.

ISO 3166-1 Newsletter No. V-11 was issued on 2006-03-29. It assigns new country codes to Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and Jersey. These are all crown tributaries of the United Kingdom. They are politically independent but recognize the monarch of the United Kingdom as their chief of state. Hitherto, they had been considered part of the U.K. by ISO. ISO 3166-2 Newsletter I-8, published on 2007-04-17, brings the ISO subdivision codes into line with the ISO country codes. There are no changes to codes within the U.K., only deletions of the crown tributaries.

Around 2000, all the NUTS codes (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) in the United Kingdom were revised. The new codes are shown below (1).

The NUTS code scheme was lightly revised again in 2003. The code for "Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and North East Moray" changed from UKM11 to UKM10.

There are currently 133 NUTS-3 areas in the United Kingdom. The correspondence between NUTS-3 areas and the primary divisions listed in the table below is irregular. Most NUTS-3 areas correspond to one primary division or a small number of contiguous primary divisions. A few primary divisions, however, contain parts of several NUTS-3 areas. In those cases, I've given the most detailed NUTS level possible to fit the division. While working on the NUTS codes, I discovered that two unitary authorities (Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland) belong in North East, not Yorkshire and the Humber as previously listed. I'm not sure whether this represents a change in the scope of that NUTS-1 area, or a mistake.

The 1991 census figures were originally reported following the boundary lines that prevailed before the reorganization of 1995-1998. After the reorganization, some divisions had the same name, but different territory. I searched for corrected data on the Internet and found a reliable-sounding study  (PDF file) done at the University of Leeds. In Appendix 2 of the study, a column of figures headed "1991 Census usually resident population, 1998 boundaries" contains 1991 population figures for the divisions according to their modified boundaries. The study fully explains how the data were calculated. I present those figures in the Pop-1991 column in the table below.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-2 was published on 2002-05-21. It amends the original standard by removing the text "(City of)" wherever it appears.

Change Notice 7 to FIPS PUB 10-4 is dated 2002-01-10. It cancels all the FIPS codes for the divisions of the United Kingdom as they stood in 1995, and assigns new codes to the divisions as of 1998. The new codes are shown in the table below.

The United Kingdom underwent a local government reform in 1995-1998. Of the four countries, only Northern Ireland's local government structure remained unchanged (26 districts). Wales was reorganized into 22 unitary authorities. Scotland emerged with 29 unitary districts and three island areas. England's new primary subdivisions are 34 counties, 47 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan districts, and 33 London boroughs. The 34 counties are subdivided into 238 districts; the other divisions are all unitary, meaning that they have no smaller units of local government under them. The counties are sometimes called administrative counties, to distinguish them from the ceremonial counties. The reform is explained in more detail on the Web page of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions  (archived copy). Another understandable summary is found in this Adobe pdf file from the Local Government Association .

On 2000-07-03, a new Greater London Authority took power. It became a primary division, with the 33 London boroughs (map ) as subdivisions. Although the standards still don't list it, I now show Greater London instead of its 33 boroughs.

A great many English people identify themselves with the historic county of their residence. The old counties had endured for seven centuries or more in most cases, and represented an enormous weight of tradition. Those counties, which now exist only as lines on a map, are called ceremonial, historical, or geographical counties. The Association of British Counties  encourages people to continue using historical counties as a means of identifying locations. Keith Edkins  has another analysis of the different meanings of county.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on 1998-12-15. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For the United Kingdom, the draft standard showed a total of 96 divisions, which represented the status up to April 1, 1995. Each one was assigned a three-letter code. The final standard shows 233 divisions, also with three-letter codes. The codes are unchanged for those divisions which were unaffected by the reorganization; otherwise, all the codes are distinct. As supplementary material, both versions give three-letter codes for the six countries, as well as for three compound entities ("for completeness"): England and Wales, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom.

Country overview: 

The United Kingdom has been independent for the entire 20th century. The name Great Britain properly refers only to the island shared by England, Scotland, and Wales; however, it is often casually used to refer to the whole United Kingdom. The official name was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1927, when it was changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, recognizing the separation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The United Kingdom has had many dependencies and possessions during the 20th century that are listed on this site as separate countries.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Storbritannien, Forenede Kongerige, Forenede Kongerige Storbritannien og Nordirland (formal)
2. Dutch: Verenigd Koninkrijk, Verenigd Koninkrijk van Groot-Brittannië en Noord-Ierland (formal)
3. English: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (formal)
4. Finnish: Iso-Britannia, Yhdistynyt kuningaskunta Iso-Britannia ja Pohjois-Irlanti (formal)
5. French: Royaume-Uni, Royaume-Uni m de Grande-Bretagne f et d'Irlande f du Nord (formal)
6. German: Grossbritannien (Swiss), Vereinigtes Königreich, Vereinigtes Königreich n Großbritannien n und Nordirland n
7. Icelandic: Bretland
8. Italian: Regno Unito, Regno m Unito di Gran Bretagna f e Irlanda f del Nord
9. Norwegian: Det forente kongerike Storbritannia og Nord-Irland (formal) (Bokmål), Det sameinte kongeriket Storbritannia og Nord-Irland (formal) (Nynorsk), Storbritannia
10. Portuguese: Reino Unido, Reino m Unido da Grã-Bretanha f e Irlanda f do Norte (formal)
11. Spanish: Reino Unido, Reino m Unido de Gran Bretaña f e Irlanda f del Norte (formal)
12. Swedish: Storbritannien, Förenade kungariket

Origin of name: 

descriptive: formed originally by union of Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland

Primary subdivisions: 

The United Kingdom is divided into 198 divisions with a variety of statuses (see the second table below).

Postal codes: 

The United Kingdom uses a very complex system of postal codes. They don't correlate well with the administrative divisions. Each postal code is five to seven characters, with a space before the last three characters. The possible configurations are "an naa", "ann naa", "aan naa", "aann naa", "ana naa", and "aana naa", where each 'a' represents a letter and each 'n' a digit. See this Universal Postal Union  page for more details.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of the United Kingdom page.

The United Kingdom consists of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. I will call these four major parts of the United Kingdom "countries", which is consistent with common British usage. They have various and complex status. Each of these four divisions has a different history of subdivision, which is examined under Change history below.

The United Kingdom defined Standard Statistical Regions (SSRs) in 1965, and modified them slightly when county boundaries were redrawn in 1974. Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Community, used these divisions when setting up its own statistical regions for Europe. Three of them match the historical countries that form the United Kingdom; eight others are subdivisions of England. Note: In 1994-04, Government Offices for the Regions (GORs) were established, based on a division of England into ten regions (now nine) which don't always match the SSRs. Here is a PDF Map  of current GORs.

Note 1. These are the new NUTS level-one statistical regions of the United Kingdom. In England, they coincide with Government Office Regions. GOR codes (or, in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, "pseudo-GOR" codes) have been assigned to each of them.

On the secondary level, some counties are subdivided into districts. Other areas have unitary government, meaning that the primary subdivision carries out the functions of a secondary subdivision as well.

Territorial extent: 

Except for the "islands areas", all divisions of England, Scotland, and Wales lie mostly on the island of Great Britain; all divisions of Northern Ireland lie mostly on the island of Ireland.

1. Ards includes Copeland Island.
2. Central includes some of the islands in Loch Lomond: Inchcailloan, Inchcruin, Inchfad, etc.
3. Cornwall includes the Isles of Scilly (Sorlings).
4. Cumbria includes the Isle of Walney.
5. Dyfed includes Skomer, Ramsey, Skokholm, and Caldy Islands.
6. Essex includes Foulness Island, Mersea Island, and other coastal islands.
7. Fife includes Inchkeith and the Isle of May.
8. Gwynedd includes Anglesey, Holy, and Bardsey Islands.
9. Highland includes the islands of Skye, Rhum, Raasay, Scalpay, Eigg, Soay, Rona, Muck, Canna, Sanday, Ewe, and Handa. It also includes Stroma, just off John o' Groats House.
10. Isle of Wight consists of an island off the south coast of Britain.
11. Kent includes the Isle of Sheppey and islands in the mouth of the River Medway.
12. Mid Glamorgan includes Tusker Rock in the Bristol Channel.
13. Moyle includes Rathlin Island.
14. Northumberland includes Holy Island (Lindisfarne) and the Farne Islands.
15. Orkney includes the islands of Orkney Mainland (Pomona), Hoy, Westray, Rousay, Sanday, South Ronaldsay, Stronsay, Eday, Shapinsay, North Ronaldsay, Papa Westray, Flotta, and numerous others.
16. Shetland includes the islands of Shetland Mainland, Yell, Unst, Fetlar, Foula, Bressay, Fair Isle, Whalsay, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour, the Out Skerries, and many other small islands. Muckle Flugga is said to be the northernmost of the British Isles.
17. Strathclyde includes the islands of Mull, Islay, Jura, Arran, Bute, Coll, Tiree, Colonsay, Lismore, Ulva, Scarba, Kerrera, Luing, Iona, Oronsay, Gigha, Great and Little Cumbrae, and Sanda. It also includes some of the islands in Loch Lomond: Inchlonaig, Inchmurrin, Inchconnachan, etc.
18. Western Isles consists of the island group known as the Outer Hebrides. (The Inner Hebrides are in Highland and Strathclyde.) It includes the island of Lewis and Harris, a single island with two names. Formerly Lewis and Harris was divided between the counties of Inverness and Ross & Cromarty. The part in Inverness was Harris, and the rest was Lewis. Western Isles also includes the islands of South Uist, North Uist, Barra, Benbecula, Great Bernera, Pabbay, Eriskay, Vatersay, Mingulay, Berneray, Taransay, Scarp, Scalpay, and the Shiant Islands. Farther from the mainland are Saint Kilda, Boreray, Flannan, Rockall, and North Rona.
19. Prior to 1974, several counties had exclaves. The most noticeable were an exclave of Flintshire lying amid Cheshire, Denbighshire, and Shropshire, and part of Dunbarton between Lanark and Stirling.

Origins of names: 

Includes some names of former divisions.

1. The suffix -shire comes from Old English sciran: to cut.
2. Channel Islands: descriptive: islands in the English Channel
3. England: Land of the Angles (people from Angeln in Germany)
4. Northern Ireland: northern part of the island of Ireland (see the country entry for Ireland)
5. Wales: Germanic walho: stranger
6. Anglesey: Isle of the Angles (ethnic name).
7. Armagh: Old Irish ard magh: high plain
8. Avon: from river name, from Celtic word for river
9. Ayr: from river name, which probably came from Indo-European root ar-: water
10. Barking and Dagenham: Berica (personal name) + -ing (ethnic suffix) + Dæcca (personal name) + ham: farm.
11. Barnet: Old English bærnet: land cleared by burning.
12. Barnsley: Beorn (personal name) + Old English leah: clearing.
13. Bath: Roman baths were located there.
14. Bedford: Beda's ford, possibly a man's name
15. Belfast: Irish Beal: opening, Feirste: sandbank, i.e. ford on a sandbank
16. Berkshire: from Celtic bearroc: hilly, applied to a birch forest
17. Bexley: from Old English byxe: box tree + leah: clearing.
18. Borders: on the border between England and Scotland
19. Buckingham: Old English: from Bucca (personal name) + -ing (ethnic suffix) + ham (farm)
20. Cambridge: Norman French Cantebruge: bridge over the Cante (Cam) River; Cam is from Celtic for winding
21. Carrickfergus: Gaelic carraig Fhearghasa: rock of Fergus
22. Cheshire: shire of Chester, from Latin castra: camp
23. Cleveland: the cliff land
24. Cornwall: from ethnic name Cornovii + Anglo-Saxon walh: foreigner; Cornovii comes from Latin cornu: horn
25. Cumberland: from Welsh cymry, meaning Welshmen, + land.
26. Cumbria: from Welsh cymry: Welsh
27. Derby: from Old Norwegian diur: stag, by: village
28. Devon: Medieval Latin Dumnonia, from ethnic name Dumnonii
29. Dorset: Abbreviation of Medieval Latin Durnovaria: Dorchester + sæton: colonist
30. Down: Irish dun: fort
31. Dumfries: possibly Gaelic dum fres: fort of the Frisians
32. Durham: Old English dun: hill, holmr: island
33. Ely, Isle of: from Old English æl: eel, a region where eels were found. Called an isle because the city Ely is on dry ground surrounded by swamp land.
34. Essex: Old English for Eastern Saxons
35. Glamorgan: Welsh glanna Morgan: Morgan's shore
36. Gloucester: Latin glevum, from Brittonic glouiu: bright place + castra: fort
37. Gwent: from Welsh gwen: smile
38. Gwynedd: after Cunedda, sixth-century king of northern Wales
39. Hampshire: Old English hamm: water meadow + tun: farm + scir: county
40. Hereford: Old English here: army, ford: ford (i.e. the army's ford)
41. Hertfordshire: Old English heorot: hart, ford: ford, scir: county
42. Humberside: land beside the River Humber.
43. Huntingdonshire: shire of Huntingdon, from Old English hunta: hunter + dun: hill.
44. Kent: Latin Cantium, possibly from Celtic canto: edge; caint: open country; or kant: rock (referring to the cliffs along the shore)
45. Lancashire: shire of Lancaster, from Celtic lune: pure (river) + Latin castra: camp.
46. Leicester: Leire + Latin castra: fort (fort on the River Leire)
47. Lincoln: from Latin Lindum Colonia: colony on Lindum lake; Lindum is from Celtic ilyn: lake + dun: fort
48. London: possibly from man's name Londinos, from Celtic londo-: bold
49. Maidenhead: from Old English mægden: maiden + hyth: landing-place.
50. Manchester: Celtic mam: breast, Latin castra: camp (original settlement near a breast-shaped hill?)
51. Merseyside: land beside the River Mersey, from Old English mærse: boundary river.
52. Norfolk: land of the northern people (north folk)
53. Northampton: from Old English North + ham: farm + tun: town
54. Northumberland: land north of the Humber estuary
55. Nottingham: from Snot (personal name) + -ing (ethnic suffix) + ham: farm
56. Oxford: ford of the oxen
57. Peterborough, Soke of: burgh of St. Peter's (monastery). Soke is from Old English socn: jurisdiction.
58. Salop: a shortened form of Shropshire used by the Norman French.
59. Shropshire: shortened from Shrewsburyshire; Shrewsbury comes from Latin civitas scrobbensis: city of the scrub folk (civitas later translated as burgh)
60. Somerset: from Sumortun (modern Somerton) + sæton: colonist
61. Stafford: from Old English steath: landing place + ford
62. Suffolk: land of the southern people (south folk)
63. Surrey: Old English suthrige: south region (south of the Thames)
64. Sussex: land of the South Saxons
65. Tyne and Wear: land on the Rivers Tyne and Wear. Tyne is a Celtic or pre-Celtic word for river. So is wear.
66. Warwick: Anglo-Saxon war: subsidiary farm + wic: weir
67. West Midlands: western part of the English Midlands, midway between the English Channel and Scotland
68. Western Isles: descriptive
69. Wigan: from a person's name.
70. Wight, Isle of: from Celtic vectis, possibly meaning "dividing place" (Southampton Water divides there to form The Solent and Spithead).
71. Wiltshire: from Wilsætan, West Saxon settlers along the Wylye river; sætan: settlers
72. Windsor: from Old English windels: windlass, winch + ora: riverbank.
73. Wirral: from Old English wir: corner of land + halh: myrtle.
74. Wokingham: Wocca (man's name) + -ing (ethnic suffix) + ham: farm.
75. Wolverhampton: Wulfrun (woman's name) + Old English heah: high + tun: farmstead.
76. Worcester: ethnic name Weogora, possibly from a Celtic river name + Latin castra: camp.
77. York: from Latin Eboracum: estate of Eburos, modified by Angles to Eoforwic (wic: dwelling) and by Danes to Jorvik

Change history: 

The histories of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are discussed individually, in that order.

England:

Prior to 1888, England was divided into 38 counties. (I exclude Monmouthshire, which was sometimes counted with England, and sometimes Wales. The territory of Monmouthshire is contained in the modern Standard Statistical Region of Wales.) They had existed for hundreds of years with little change. Their significance was geographical, historical, and social, but not administrative. The Local Government Act of 1888 created county councils with executive powers. By the same stroke, seven of the counties were split into two or three parts each, corresponding to traditional subdivisions. A new county, London, was formed from parts of Kent, Middlesex, and Surrey. In addition, 57 county boroughs were created. These were administratively on a par with the counties, but consisted of the urban areas of the larger cities. Informal lists of divisions often showed only the counties, implicitly combining each county borough with the geographical county it had come from. The counties were divided into districts of several types: non-county boroughs (cities too small to become county boroughs), urban districts, and rural districts. The rural districts were subdivided into parishes. London county was an exception: it consisted of 28 metropolitan boroughs and one city, the City of London (the historical center of London, about one square mile around Saint Paul's).

As time went by, more cities were split from their counties to become county boroughs, until there were 79 in 1931. Also, the county boroughs annexed adjacent land as the cities grew. The eventual result was that the counties had to provide a constant level of service with a diminishing tax base. This was one of the problems addressed by the 1974 reform.

These were the 47 administrative counties of England between 1900 and 1974.

There were 38 geographical counties. They were the same as above, except for the seven which were divided into two or more administrative counties: Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Huntingdon and the Soke of Peterborough, Lincolnshire (consisting of the Parts of Holland, Kesteven, and Lindsey), Suffolk (East and West), Sussex (East and West), and Yorkshire (consisting of the East, North, and West Ridings). (Note: the word riding is a corruption of thirding, i.e. a third of the county.)

The following list shows county boroughs according to their geographical counties. Names in parentheses are alternate names or obsolete names. Some of these county boroughs were created or eliminated at some time during the period covered (1900-1974).

Bedfordshire: Luton. Berkshire: Reading. Cheshire: Birkenhead, Chester, Stockport, Wallasey. Cumberland: Carlisle. Derbyshire: Derby. Devonshire: Devonport, Exeter, Plymouth, Torbay. Durham: Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool (West Hartlepool), South Shields, Sunderland. East Suffolk: Ipswich. East Sussex: Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings. Essex: East Ham, Southend (Southend-on-Sea), West Ham. Glamorganshire: Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea. Gloucestershire: Bristol, Gloucester. Hampshire: Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Southampton. Kent: Canterbury. Lancashire: Barrow-in-Furness, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Bootle, Burnley, Bury, Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham, Preston, Rochdale, Saint Helens, Salford, Southport, Warrington, Wigan. Leicestershire: Leicester. Lindsey: Grimsby, Lincoln. Monmouthshire: Newport. Norfolk: Great Yarmouth (Yarmouth), Norwich. Northamptonshire: Northampton. Northumberland: Newcastle upon Tyne (Newcastle), Tynemouth. Nottinghamshire: Nottingham. Oxfordshire: Oxford. Somerset: Bath. Staffordshire: Burton upon Trent, Stoke-on-Trent, Walsall, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton. Surrey: Croydon. Warwickshire: Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull. Worcestershire: Dudley, Smethwick, Warley, Worcester. Yorkshire, East Riding: Kingston upon Hull (Hull). Yorkshire, North Riding: Middlesbrough (Teesside). Yorkshire, West Riding: Barnsley, Bradford, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Rotherham, Sheffield, Wakefield, York.

1. ~1958: Capital of Derbyshire moved from Derby to Matlock.
2. 1964: The London Government Act of 1963, effective in 1964, created Greater London. It consisted of the former counties of London and Middlesex, and parts of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, and Surrey, including the county boroughs of Croydon, East Ham, and West Ham. It was subdivided into 32 boroughs and the City of London. Its governing body was the Greater London Council.
3. 1964-04-01: Luton county borough split from Bedfordshire.
4. 1974-04-01: The Local Government Act of 1972 took effect. County boroughs were eliminated. England was reorganized into 39 counties, six metropolitan counties, and Greater London (which is sometimes numbered with the metropolitan counties). The non-metropolitan counties were subdivided into 332 districts, which were further subdivided into parishes.
5. The following counties were unchanged in territory: Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cornwall, Derby, Devon, Dorset, East Sussex, Essex, Greater London, Hampshire, Hertford, Kent, Norfolk, Northampton, Nottingham, Oxford, Shropshire, Suffolk, Surrey, West Sussex, and Wiltshire. The administrative counties which were contained in counties on this list (Isle of Ely, Isle of Wight, East and West Suffolk) disappeared. Name of Shropshire changed to Salop.
6. The following counties lost part of their territory, and occasionally gained a little, in the formation of new counties: Cambridge, Cheshire, Durham, Gloucester, Lancashire, Lincoln, Northumberland, Somerset, Stafford, and Warwick. In particular, Huntingdon was annexed to Cambridge, and Rutland to Leicester.
7. In addition, Avon was formed from parts of Gloucester and Somerset; Cleveland, from parts of Durham and North Riding; Cumbria, from Cumberland, Westmorland, and parts of Lancashire and West Riding; Greater Manchester, from parts of Cheshire, Lancashire, and West Riding; Hereford and Worcester, from Hereford and most of Worcester; Humberside, from part of Lindsey and most of East Riding; Merseyside, from parts of Cheshire and Lancashire; North Yorkshire, from most of North Riding and parts of East and West Ridings; South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, from parts of West Riding; Tyne and Wear, from parts of Durham and Northumberland; and West Midlands, from parts of Stafford, Warwick, and Worcester.
8. 1974-10: Isle of Wight county split from Hampshire.
9. 1980: Name of Salop county changed back to Shropshire.
10. 1986-03-31: Local Government Act 1985 took effect, abolishing the seven metropolitan county governments (including the Greater London Council).
11. ~1989: Capital of Humberside moved from Kingston upon Hull to Beverley; capital of Northumberland moved from Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne and Wear) to Morpeth. These were the divisions of England at that time:

Note 2: The conventional abbreviations are usually punctuated with a period after each element except the ampersand (&). Some of them, like Lancs, have been in regular use for hundreds of years and are almost automatic; others, like Warks, are not very firmly established, and admit of variants (e.g. War). In a 1969 guide, the British Post Office said that only 24 counties had postally acceptable abbreviations. Not even all of those are listed here; for example, Co. Durham is the Post Office abbreviation for Durham.

Note 3: the capital of Surrey is in Greater London. The capitals are usually referred to as county towns.

1. ~1992: Another reorganization was proposed. A new concept in this plan was the unitary authority, so called because it would provide all of the services formerly divided between two levels of government, the county and the borough or district. The plan was enacted, and implemented in four annual phases, from 1995 to 1998. The resulting structure is shown in the first table.
2. 1994-04: Ten Government Office Regions (GORs) established in England.
3. 1995-04-01: Isle of Wight changed from county to unitary authority (ua).
4. 1995-07-11: Name of North West Somerset changed to North Somerset.
5. 1996-04-01: Avon county split into Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire ua's; Cleveland county split into Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees ua's; Humberside county split into East Riding of Yorkshire, Kingston upon Hull, North East Lincolnshire, and North Lincolnshire ua's; York ua split from North Yorkshire county.
6. 1997-04-01: Luton ua split from Bedfordshire county; Milton Keynes ua split from Buckinghamshire county; Derby ua split from Derbyshire county; Bournemouth and Poole ua's split from Dorset county; Darlington ua split from Durham county; Brighton and Hove ua split from East Sussex county; Portsmouth and Southampton ua's split from Hampshire county; Leicester and Rutland ua's split from Leicestershire county; Stoke-on-Trent ua split from Staffordshire county; Swindon ua (formerly Thamesdown) split from Wiltshire county.
7. 1997-05-02: Name of Blackburn changed to Blackburn with Darwen.
8. 1998-04-01: Berkshire county split into Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire (formerly Newbury), Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham ua's; Peterborough ua split from Cambridgeshire county; Halton and Warrington ua's split from Cheshire county; Plymouth and Torbay ua's split from Devon county; Southend and Thurrock ua's split from Essex county; Hereford & Worcester county split into Herefordshire ua and Worcestershire county; Medway ua (formerly Medway Towns) split from Kent county; Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool ua's split from Lancashire county; Nottingham ua split from Nottinghamshire county; Telford and Wrekin ua (formerly The Wrekin) split from Shropshire county.
9. 1998-08: Merseyside GOR merged with North West GOR.
10. 1999-02-01: Name of Eastern GOR changed to East of England GOR.
11. 2000-07-03: Greater London Authority Act 1999 took effect, creating a local government structure for Greater London. Previously, this area had been divided into the following 33 boroughs:

Wales:

Wales was never a united, independent kingdom. It was conquered gradually by England. The conquest was complete by 1282. The Act of Union of 1536 brought the two countries under one law. Wales was defined as a region by language and class, not by government. Before the Local Government Act of 1888, Wales consisted of thirteen geographical counties (counting Monmouthshire). As in England, the act created county councils for the counties, and split off four cities as county boroughs: Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, and Swansea from Glamorganshire, and Newport from Monmouthshire.