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,[1] 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
Green: Current official status
Yellow: Historical or superseded status

England

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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
[2]
From 1974[3] Postal
1974–1996
[4]
1889–1974 Before 1889
Metropolitan Non-metropolitan County Administrative
Avon   1974–1996  
Bath and North East Somerset UA 1996+[5]
Bedfordshire     1974–2009        
Bedford UA 2009+[5]
Berkshire    [6]        
Blackburn with Darwen UA 1998+[5]
Blackpool UA 1998+[5]
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole UA 2019+[5]
Bournemouth UA 1997–2019[5]
Brighton and Hove UA 1997+[5]
Bristol   UA 1996+[5] Special post town   County borough County corporate
Buckinghamshire     (and two UAs)        
Cambridgeshire         1889–1965   1889–1965  
Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely   1965–1974   1965–1974
Central Bedfordshire UA 2009+[5]
Cheshire     1974–2009        
Cheshire East UA 2009+[5]
Cheshire West and Chester UA 2009+[5]
Cleveland   1974–1996  
Cornwall     (and UA 2009+)        
Cumberland UA 2023+[5]      
Cumbria     1974–2023  
Darlington UA 1997+[5]
Derbyshire            
Derby UA 1997+[5]
Devon            
Dorset     (and UA 2019+)        
Durham (County Durham)     (and UA 2009+)        
East Suffolk   Division
East Sussex         Division
Essex            
Gloucestershire            
Greater London   County[7]     1965–1974
Greater Manchester    
Hampshire            
Halton UA 1998+[5]
Hartlepool UA 1996+[5]
Hereford and Worcester   1974–1998
Herefordshire   UA 1998+[5]        
Hertfordshire            
Humberside   1974–1996
Huntingdon and Peterborough   1965–1974   1965–1974
Huntingdonshire   1889–1965   1889–1965  
Isle of Ely   1889–1965 Division
Isle of Wight     (and UA 1995+)     1890–1974
Kent            
Kingston upon Hull UA 1996+[5]
Lancashire            
Leicestershire            
Leicester UA 1997+[5]
Lincolnshire          
Lincolnshire, Parts of Holland   Division
Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven   Division
Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey   Division
London Special post town     The Metropolis[8]
City of London   County corporate
Luton UA 1997+[5]
Medway UA 1998+[5]
Merseyside      
Middlesbrough UA 1996+[5]
Middlesex        
Milton Keynes UA 1997+[5]
Norfolk            
Northamptonshire     1974–2021        
North East Lincolnshire UA 1996+[5]
North Humberside  
North Lincolnshire UA 1996+[5]
North Northamptonshire UA 2021+[5]
North Somerset UA 1996+[5]
Northumberland     (and UA 2009+)        
North Yorkshire     (and UA 2023+)  
Nottinghamshire            
Nottingham UA 1998+[5]
Oxfordshire            
Soke of Peterborough   1889–1965 Liberty
Peterborough UA 1998+[5]
Plymouth UA 1998+[5]
Poole UA 1997–2019[5]
Portsmouth UA 1997+[5]
Redcar and Cleveland UA 1996+[5]
Rutland   UA 1997+[5]   2008+[9]      
Shropshire     (and UA 2009+)        
Somerset     (and UA 2023+)        
Southampton UA 1997+[5]
Southend-on-Sea UA 1998+[5]
South Humberside  
South Gloucestershire UA 1996+[5]
South Yorkshire      
Staffordshire            
Stockton-on-Tees UA 1996+[5]
Stoke-on-Trent UA 1998+[5]
Suffolk          
Surrey            
Sussex    
Swindon UA 1998+[5]
Telford and Wrekin UA 1998+[5]
Thurrock UA 1998+[5]
Torbay UA 1998+[5]
Tyne and Wear      
Warrington UA 1998+[5]
Warwickshire            
West Midlands      
Westmorland      
Westmorland and Furness UA 2023+[5]
West Northamptonshire UA 2021+[5]
West Suffolk   Division
West Sussex         Division
West Yorkshire      
Wiltshire     (and UA 2009+)        
Worcestershire     1998+        
Yorkshire    
Yorkshire, East Riding   UA 1996+[5] L[10]   Division
Yorkshire, North Riding L[10]   Division
Yorkshire, West Riding L[10]   Division
York UA 1996+[5]

Northern Ireland

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County Current
lieutenancy[11]
Postal
before 1996[4]
1899–1973 Before 1899
County Administrative
Antrim          
Armagh          
City of Belfast   Special post town   CB[12]   Part of counties Antrim and Down
Down          
Fermanagh          
Londonderry          
City of Derry   Special post town   CB[12]   Part of County Londonderry
Tyrone          

Scotland

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County Lieutenancy Registration[13] Postal
before 1996[4]
1890–1975 Before 1890
City of Aberdeen   Special post town   1900
Aberdeenshire          
Angus (Forfarshire)          
Argyll          
Ayrshire          
Banffshire          
Berwickshire          
Bute          
Caithness          
Clackmannanshire          
Cromartyshire  
Dumfriesshire          
Dunbartonshire (Dumbarton)          
City of Dundee   Special post town   1894
East Lothian (Haddingtonshire)          
City of Edinburgh   Special post town    
Fife          
City of Glasgow     Special post town   1893
Inverness-shire          
Kincardineshire          
Kinross-shire          
Kirkcudbrightshire          
Lanarkshire          
Midlothian (County of Edinburgh)          
Moray (Elginshire)          
Nairnshire          
Orkney          
Peeblesshire          
Perthshire          
Renfrewshire          
Ross and Cromarty      
Ross-shire    
Roxburghshire          
Selkirkshire          
Shetland (Zetland)          
Stirlingshire          
Sutherland          
West Lothian (Linlithgowshire)          
Wigtownshire          

Wales

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County 1996+ Postal
1974–1996[4]
1974–1996 1889–1974 Before 1889
Preserved[2] County[14]
Anglesey   Isle of Anglesey    
Brecknockshire    
Caernarfonshire    
Cardiganshire   Ceredigion    
Carmarthenshire      
Clwyd      
Denbighshire      
Dyfed      
Flintshire      
Glamorgan    
Gwent      
Gwynedd        
Merionethshire    
Mid Glamorgan      
Monmouthshire      
Montgomeryshire    
Pembrokeshire      
Powys        
Radnorshire    
South Glamorgan      
West Glamorgan      
Wrexham  

See also

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References

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  1. ^ HMSO, Aspects of Britain: Local Government, (1996)
  2. ^ a b Lieutenancies Act 1997
  3. ^ Local Government Act 1972
  4. ^ a b c d Royal Mail - PAF Digest Issue 6.0[permanent dead link] Since 1996 these have been known as "former postal counties", and need no longer be used in addressing mail. Post Towns created since 1996 are not allocated to a postal county. The PAF also includes an "Alias File" that includes postally not required information including "Traditional County" and "Administrative County" fields. The list is not comprehensive and Royal Mail does not guarantee its accuracy.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av Non-metropolitan district with the powers of a county, following the Local Government Act 1992
  6. ^ The Berkshire (Structural Change) Order 1996; SI 1996 No. 1879
  7. ^ For ceremonial purposes only
  8. ^ The Metropolis was an ad hoc administrative area covering parts of three counties
  9. ^ AFD Software - Latest PAF Data News
  10. ^ a b c Appointed a Lord Lieutenant, but not a county under the Local Government Act 1888
  11. ^ Northern Ireland (Lieutenancy) Order 1975 (SI 1975 No. 156)
  12. ^ a b County styled as county borough by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898
  13. ^ Registers of Scotland - Land Register Counties Archived 2013-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 S.1 - Principal areas styled as a county