United Kingdom
Administrative Division
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland lies in north-western Europe, occupying the major portion of the British Isles. The country’s only land boundary is with the Republic of Ireland. Great Britain, consisting of one large island and a number of smaller ones, comprises England, Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. It is separated from the coast of Western Europe by the English Channel to the south and by the North Sea to the east. The northern and western shores border the Atlantic Ocean. Ireland lies to the west across the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom comprises Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain consists of England, Wales and Scotland. All these parts are governed by the central government in London. They have special administrations and certain cultural rights, but no own parliament (excluding Northern Ireland prior to 1970). Laws are commonly passed in parliament with separate acts for England and Wales, for Scotland, and for Northern Ireland. This differentiation is in part because both the Scottish and Ulster legal systems are substantially different from the English (and Welsh), and legislation must be tailored to conform those differences. Each of the four countries has its own traditions and style of local government.
England and Wales
England and Wales are divided into counties, which are grouped in regions for statistical purposes. The primary organ of the county is the elected council. The lower level of local government in England comprises the district councils. The ward has for a long time been the base unit for all British politics. All local elections take place in wards and all parliamentary elections take place in constituencies, which are themselves made up of an agglomeration or aggregation of wards. Wards are not divided into smaller units when constructing parliamentary or European constituencies. On occasion, however, ward boundaries will be changed such that the new ward is split between two or more parliamentary constituencies. Due to the local electoral system, there are elections almost every year. In this way it is difficult to identify a standard electoral cycle, and the matrix displaying local elections becomes complicated. In these elections we can see how wards are born, live and die. From 1979-99 there have been elections in more than 12 000 wards, but there are not more than roughly 8 000 wards existing at a given point of time.
Scotland
For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as "councils" or comhairle (Gaelic). The lowest level of sub-division in Scotland is the communities, which have elected community councils (CCs). The main role of the CCs is to act as a channel of local opinion to larger local government bodies. Otherwise they have very limited powers. There are around 1200 communities in Scotland. Not all communities have councils; some have joint councils. Scottish communities are the nearest equivalent to civil parishes in England. In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), Scotland is divided into 4 units at level 2, and 30 units at level 3.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is divided into 26 districts for local government purposes. The councils do not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom. They are not planning authorities, but are consulted on some planning applications. Local government elections in Northern Ireland since 1973 have taken place every four years. At present each council is divided into 3 to 5 district electoral areas (Belfast has 9), which return 5 to 7 councillors (until 1985 there was greater variation in the number and size of districts). According to the Eurostat NUTS structure, Northern Ireland is divided into five units at level 3.
NUTS structure
The United Kingdom has 11 NUTS 1 units, 37 NUTS 2 units, and 137 NUTS 3 units.
| Code | Country | NUTS 1 | NUTS 2 | NUTS 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UNITED KINGDOM | |||
| UKC | NORTH EAST | |||
| UKC1 | Tees Valley and Durham | |||
| UKC11 | Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees | |||
| UKC12 | South Teesside | |||
| UKC13 | Darlington | |||
| UKC14 | Durham CC | |||
| UKC2 | Northumberland and Tyne and Wear | |||
| UKC21 | Northumberland | |||
| UKC22 | Tyneside | |||
| UKC23 | Sunderland | |||
| UKD | NORTH WEST | |||
| UKD1 | Cumbria | |||
| UKD11 | West Cumbria | |||
| UKD12 | East Cumbria | |||
| UKD2 | Cheshire | |||
| UKD21 | Halton and Warrington | |||
| UKD22 | Cheshire CC | |||
| UKD3 | Greater Manchester | |||
| UKD31 | Greater Manchester South | |||
| UKD32 | Greater Manchester North | |||
| UKD4 | Lancashire | |||
| UKD41 | Blackburn with Darwen | |||
| UKD42 | Blackpool | |||
| UKD43 | Lancashire CC | |||
| UKD5 | Merseyside | |||
| UKD51 | East Merseyside | |||
| UKD52 | Liverpool | |||
| UKD53 | Sefton | |||
| UKD54 | Wirral | |||
| UKE | YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER | |||
| UKE1 | East Riding and North Lincolnshire | |||
| UKE11 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | |||
| UKE12 | East Riding of Yorkshire | |||
| UKE13 | North and North East Lincolnshire | |||
| UKE2 | North Yorkshire | |||
| UKE21 | York | |||
| UKE22 | North Yorkshire CC | |||
| UKE3 | South Yorkshire | |||
| UKE31 | Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham | |||
| UKE32 | Sheffield | |||
| UKE4 | West Yorkshire | |||
| UKE41 | Bradford | |||
| UKE42 | Leeds | |||
| UKE43 | Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield | |||
| UKF | EAST MIDLANDS | |||
| UKF1 | Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | |||
| UKF11 | Derby | |||
| UKF12 | East Derbyshire | |||
| UKF13 | South and West Derbyshire | |||
| UKF14 | Nottingham | |||
| UKF15 | North Nottinghamshire | |||
| UKF16 | South Nottinghamshire | |||
| UKF2 | Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | |||
| UKF21 | Leicester | |||
| UKF22 | Leicestershire CC and Rutland | |||
| UKF23 | Northamptonshire | |||
| UKF3 | Lincolnshire | |||
| UKF30 | Lincolnshire | |||
| UKG | WEST MIDLANDS | |||
| UKG1 | Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | |||
| UKG11 | Herefordshire, County of | |||
| UKG12 | Worcestershire | |||
| UKG13 | Warwickshire | |||
| UKG2 | Shropshire and Staffordshire | |||
| UKG21 | Telford and Wrekin | |||
| UKG22 | Shropshire CC | |||
| UKG23 | Stoke-on-Trent | |||
| UKG24 | Staffordshire CC | |||
| UKG3 | West Midlands | |||
| UKG31 | Birmingham | |||
| UKG32 | Solihull | |||
| UKG33 | Coventry | |||
| UKG34 | Dudley and Sandwell | |||
| UKG35 | Walsall and Wolverhampton | |||
| UKH | EAST OF ENGLAND | |||
| UKH1 | East Anglia | |||
| UKH11 | Peterborough | |||
| UKH12 | Cambridgeshire CC | |||
| UKH13 | Norfolk | |||
| UKH14 | Suffolk | |||
| UKH2 | Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | |||
| UKH21 | Luton | |||
| UKH22 | Bedfordshire CC | |||
| UKH23 | Hertfordshire | |||
| UKH3 | Essex | |||
| UKH31 | Southend-on-Sea | |||
| UKH32 | Thurrock | |||
| UKH33 | Essex CC | |||
| UKI | LONDON | |||
| UKI1 | Inner London | |||
| UKI11 | Inner London - West | |||
| UKI12 | Inner London - East | |||
| UKI2 | Outer London | |||
| UKI21 | Outer London - East and North East | |||
| UKI22 | Outer London - South | |||
| UKI23 | Outer London - West and North West | |||
| UKJ | SOUTH EAST | |||
| UKJ1 | Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | |||
| UKJ11 | Berkshire | |||
| UKJ12 | Milton Keynes | |||
| UKJ13 | Buckinghamshire CC | |||
| UKJ14 | Oxfordshire | |||
| UKJ2 | Surrey, East and West Sussex | |||
| UKJ21 | Brighton and Hove | |||
| UKJ22 | East Sussex CC | |||
| UKJ23 | Surrey | |||
| UKJ24 | West Sussex | |||
| UKJ3 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | |||
| UKJ31 | Portsmouth | |||
| UKJ32 | Southampton | |||
| UKJ33 | Hampshire CC | |||
| UKJ34 | Isle of Wight | |||
| UKJ4 | Kent | |||
| UKJ41 | Medway | |||
| UKJ42 | Kent CC | |||
| UKK | SOUTH WEST | |||
| UKK1 | Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North Somerset | |||
| UKK11 | Bristol, City of | |||
| UKK12 | North and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire | |||
| UKK13 | Gloucestershire | |||
| UKK14 | Swindon | |||
| UKK15 | Wiltshire CC | |||
| UKK2 | Dorset and Somerset | |||
| UKK21 | Bournemouth and Poole | |||
| UKK22 | Dorset CC | |||
| UKK23 | Somerset | |||
| UKK3 | Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | |||
| UKK30 | Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | |||
| UKK4 | Devon | |||
| UKK41 | Plymouth | |||
| UKK42 | Torbay | |||
| UKK43 | Devon CC | |||
| UKL | WALES | |||
| UKL1 | West Wales and The Valleys | |||
| UKL11 | Isle of Anglesey | |||
| UKL12 | Gwynedd | |||
| UKL13 | Conwy and Denbighshire | |||
| UKL14 | South West Wales | |||
| UKL15 | Central Valleys | |||
| UKL16 | Gwent Valleys | |||
| UKL17 | Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot | |||
| UKL18 | Swansea | |||
| UKL2 | East Wales | |||
| UKL21 | Monmouthshire and Newport | |||
| UKL22 | Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan | |||
| UKL23 | Flintshire and Wrexham | |||
| UKL24 | Powys | |||
| UKM | SCOTLAND | |||
| UKM1 | North Eastern Scotland | |||
| UKM10 | Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and North East Moray | |||
| UKM2 | Eastern Scotland | |||
| UKM21 | Angus and Dundee City | |||
| UKM22 | Clackmannanshire and Fife | |||
| UKM23 | East Lothian and Midlothian | |||
| UKM24 | Scottish Borders, The | |||
| UKM25 | Edinburgh, City of | |||
| UKM26 | Falkirk | |||
| UKM27 | Perth and Kinross and Stirling | |||
| UKM28 | West Lothian | |||
| UKM3 | South Western Scotland | |||
| UKM31 | East and West Dunbartonshire, Helensburgh and Lomond | |||
| UKM32 | Dumfries and Galloway | |||
| UKM33 | East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire Mainland | |||
| UKM34 | Glasgow City | |||
| UKM35 | Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire | |||
| UKM36 | North Lanarkshire | |||
| UKM37 | South Ayrshire | |||
| UKM38 | South Lanarkshire | |||
| UKM4 | Highlands and Islands | |||
| UKM41 | Caithness and Sutherland and Ross and Cromarty | |||
| UKM42 | Inverness and Nairn and Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey | |||
| UKM43 | Lochaber, Skye and Lochalsh and Argyll and the Islands | |||
| UKM44 | Eilean Siar (Western Isles) | |||
| UKM45 | Orkney Islands | |||
| UKM46 | Shetland Islands | |||
| UKN | NORTHERN IRELAND | |||
| UKN0 | Northern Ireland | |||
| UKN01 | Belfast | |||
| UKN02 | Outer Belfast | |||
| UKN03 | East of Northern Ireland | |||
| UKN04 | North of Northern Ireland | |||
| UKN05 | West and South of Northern Ireland |
Sources:
Quick, Michael (1994). Regional Territorial Units in Western Europe since 1945. Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung (MZES). EURODATA/ Nr.
Location, Climate, Language, Religion, Flag, Capital (The United Kingdom), in Europa World online. London, Routledge. University of Bergen. Retrieved 26 September 2006 from http://www.europaworld.com/entry/gb.is.2
Eurostat: Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics - NUTS Statistical Regions of Europe
