List of counties of the United Kingdom facts for kids
This is a list of the counties of the United Kingdom. The history of local government in the United Kingdom differs between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the subnational divisions within these which have been called counties have varied over time and by purpose. The county has formed the upper tier of local government over much of the United Kingdom at one time or another, and has been used for a variety of other purposes, such as for Lord Lieutenants, land registration and postal delivery. This list of 184 counties is split by constituent country, time period and purpose.
| Colour key in tables below |
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| Green: Current official status |
| Yellow: Historical or superseded status |
Contents
England
Changes between the 1990s and 2009 subdivided the short-lived non-metropolitan counties of Cleveland and Humberside into unitary authorities, but the former county names continue for fire services and police forces (see Non-metropolitan county § List of non-metropolitan counties). Similarly the short-lived county of Avon provides part of the area and name of Avon and Somerset Police and its area is roughly that of the Avon Fire and Rescue Service.
The historic counties of Yorkshire, Cumberland, Westmorland, Huntingdonshire and Middlesex are the five defunct ceremonial counties which were historically counties. With their abolition as ceremonial counties, Yorkshire is divided for that purpose into the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. Cumberland and Westmorland were combined with a former exclave of Lancashire to form Cumbria, Huntingdonshire merged into Cambridgeshire, and the vastly greater part of Middlesex became part of Greater London.
Contemporary reference to the Isle of Ely and nearby Soke of Peterborough has been very rare since the early 20th century and they have scant public resonance. The counties marked in italics below are neither ceremonial nor historic.
The list does not include the 61 county boroughs (1889–1974) or the 18 counties corporate (before 1889), each of which was an administrative county for a single town or city, within a larger "county-at-large".
| County | Current ceremonial |
From 1974 | Postal 1974–1996 |
1889–1974 | Before 1889 | ||
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| Metropolitan | Non-metropolitan | County | Administrative | ||||
| Avon |  1974–1996 |
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| Bath and North East Somerset | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| Bedfordshire |  |
1974–2009 |
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| Bedford | UA 2009+ | ||||||
| Berkshire | |
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| Blackburn with Darwen | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Blackpool | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | UA 2019+ | ||||||
| Bournemouth | UA 1997–2019 | ||||||
| Brighton and Hove | UA 1997+ | ||||||
| Bristol | |
UA 1996+ | Special post town | |
County borough | County corporate | |
| Buckinghamshire | |
(and UA 2020+) |
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| Cambridgeshire | |
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1889–1965 |
1889–1965 |
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| Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely | 1965–1974 |
1965–1974 |
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| Central Bedfordshire | UA 2009+ | ||||||
| Cheshire | |
1974–2009 |
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| Cheshire East | UA 2009+ | ||||||
| Cheshire West and Chester | UA 2009+ | ||||||
| Cleveland | 1974–1996 |
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| Cornwall | |
(and UA 2009+) |
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| Cumberland | UA 2023+ | |
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| Cumbria | |
1974–2023 |
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| Darlington | UA 1997+ | ||||||
| Derbyshire | |
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| Derby | UA 1997+ | ||||||
| Devon | |
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| Dorset | |
(and UA 2019+) |
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| Durham (County Durham) | |
(and UA 2009+) |
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| East Suffolk | |
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| East Sussex | |
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| Essex | |
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| Gloucestershire | |
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| Greater London | |
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| Greater Manchester | |
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| Hampshire | |
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| Halton | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Hartlepool | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| Hereford and Worcester | 1974–1998 |
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| Herefordshire | |
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| Hertfordshire | |
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| Humberside | 1974–1996 |
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| Huntingdon and Peterborough | 1965–1974 |
1965–1974 |
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| Huntingdonshire | 1889–1965 |
1889–1965 |
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| Isle of Ely | 1889–1965 |
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| Isle of Wight | |
(and UA 1995+) |
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| Kent | |
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| Kingston upon Hull | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| Lancashire | |
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| Leicestershire | |
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| Leicester | UA 1997+ | ||||||
| Lincolnshire | |
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| Lincolnshire, Parts of Holland | |
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| Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven | |
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| Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey | |
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| London | Special post town | |
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The Metropolis | |||
| City of London | |
County corporate | |||||
| Luton | UA 1997+ | ||||||
| Medway | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Merseyside | |
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| Middlesbrough | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| Middlesex | |
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| Milton Keynes | UA 1997+ | ||||||
| Norfolk | |
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| Northamptonshire | |
1974–2021 |
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| North East Lincolnshire | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| North Humberside | |
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| North Lincolnshire | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| North Northamptonshire | UA 2021+ | ||||||
| North Somerset | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| Northumberland | |
(and UA 2009+) |
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| North Yorkshire | |
(and UA 2023+) |
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| Nottinghamshire | |
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| Nottingham | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Oxfordshire | |
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| Soke of Peterborough | 1889–1965 |
Liberty | |||||
| Peterborough | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Plymouth | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Poole | UA 1997–2019 | ||||||
| Portsmouth | UA 1997+ | ||||||
| Redcar and Cleveland | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| Rutland | |
UA 1997+ | 2008+ |
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| Shropshire | |
(and UA 2009+) |
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| Somerset | |
(and UA 2023+) |
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| Southampton | UA 1997+ | ||||||
| Southend-on-Sea | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| South Humberside | |
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| South Gloucestershire | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| South Yorkshire | |
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| Staffordshire | |
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| Stockton-on-Tees | UA 1996+ | ||||||
| Stoke-on-Trent | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Suffolk | |
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| Surrey | |
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| Sussex | |
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| Swindon | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Telford and Wrekin | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Thurrock | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Torbay | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Tyne and Wear | |
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| Warrington | UA 1998+ | ||||||
| Warwickshire | |
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| West Midlands | |
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| Westmorland | |
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| Westmorland and Furness | UA 2023+ | ||||||
| West Northamptonshire | UA 2021+ | ||||||
| West Suffolk | |
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| West Sussex | |
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| West Yorkshire | |
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| Wiltshire | |
(and UA 2009+) |
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| Worcestershire | |
1998+ |
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| Yorkshire | |
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| Yorkshire, East Riding | |
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| Yorkshire, North Riding | L | |
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| Yorkshire, West Riding | L | |
Division | ||||
| York | UA 1996+ | ||||||
Northern Ireland
| County | Current lieutenancy |
Postal before 1996 |
1899–1973 | Before 1899 | |
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| County | Administrative | ||||
| Antrim | |
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| Armagh | |
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| City of Belfast | |
Special post town | CB |
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Part of counties Antrim and Down |
| Down | |
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| Fermanagh | |
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| Londonderry | |
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| City of Derry | |
Special post town | CB |
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| Tyrone | |
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Scotland
| County | Lieutenancy | Registration | Postal before 1996 |
1890–1975 | Before 1890 |
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| City of Aberdeen | |
Special post town | 1900 |
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| Aberdeenshire | |
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| Angus (Forfarshire) | |
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| Argyll | |
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| Ayrshire | |
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| Banffshire | |
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| Berwickshire | |
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| Bute | |
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| Caithness | |
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| Clackmannanshire | |
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| Cromartyshire | |
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| Dumfriesshire | |
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| Dunbartonshire (Dumbarton) | |
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| City of Dundee | |
Special post town | 1894 |
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| East Lothian (Haddingtonshire) | |
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| City of Edinburgh | |
Special post town | |
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| Fife | |
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| City of Glasgow | |
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Special post town | 1893 |
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| Inverness-shire | |
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| Kincardineshire | |
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| Kinross-shire | |
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| Kirkcudbrightshire | |
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| Lanarkshire | |
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| Midlothian (County of Edinburgh) | |
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| Moray (Elginshire) | |
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| Nairnshire | |
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| Orkney | |
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| Peeblesshire | |
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| Perthshire | |
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| Renfrewshire | |
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| Ross and Cromarty | |
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| Ross-shire | |
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| Roxburghshire | |
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| Selkirkshire | |
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| Shetland (Zetland) | |
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| Stirlingshire | |
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| Sutherland | |
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| West Lothian (Linlithgowshire) | |
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| Wigtownshire | |
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Wales
| County | 1996+ | Postal 1974–1996 |
1974–1996 | 1889–1974 | Before 1889 | |
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| Preserved | County | |||||
| Anglesey | Isle of Anglesey |
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| Brecknockshire | |
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| Caernarfonshire | |
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| Cardiganshire | Ceredigion |
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| Carmarthenshire | |
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| Clwyd | |
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| Denbighshire | |
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| Dyfed | |
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| Flintshire | |
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| Glamorgan | |
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| Gwent | |
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| Gwynedd | |
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| Merionethshire | |
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| Mid Glamorgan | |
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| Monmouthshire | |
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| Montgomeryshire | |
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| Pembrokeshire | |
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| Powys | |
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| Radnorshire | |
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| South Glamorgan | |
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| West Glamorgan | |
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| Wrexham | |
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See also
- Toponymical list of counties of the United Kingdom
- List of United Kingdom county nicknames
- Counties of Ireland
- Alias Data
