Regions, counties, and districts

Main article: Subdivisions of England

See also: Regions of England, Counties of England, and Districts of England

Northumberland

Durham

Lancashire

Cheshire

Derbs.

Notts.

Lincolnshire

Leics.

Staffs.

Shropshire

Warks.

Northants.

Norfolk

Suffolk

Essex

Herts.

Beds.

Bucks.

Oxon.

Glos.

Somerset

Wiltshire

Berkshire

Kent

Surrey

Hampshire

Dorset

Devon

Cornwall

Heref.

Worcs.

Bristol

East Riding
of Yorkshire

Rutland

Cambs.

Greater
London

Not shown: City of London

Tyne &
Wear

Cumbria

North Yorkshire

South
Yorks.

West
Yorkshire

Greater
Manc.

Merseyside

East
Sussex

West
Sussex

Isle of
Wight

West
Midlands

The ceremonial counties

The subdivisions of England consist of up to four levels of subnational division controlled through a variety of types of administrative entities created for the purposes of local government. The highest tier of local government were the nine regions of England: North East, North West,Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East, South East, South West, and London. These were created in 1994 asGovernment Offices, used by the British Government to deliver a wide range of policies and programmes regionally, but there are no elected bodies at this level, except in London, and in 2011 the regional Government offices were abolished.^[103] The same boundaries remain in use for electing Members of the European Parliament on a regional basis.

After devolution began to take place in other parts of the United Kingdom it was planned that referendums for the regions of England would take place for their own elected regional assemblies as a counterweight. London accepted in 1998: the London Assembly was created two years later. However, when the proposal was rejected by the northern England devolution referendums, 2004 in the North East, further referendums were cancelled.^[82] The regional assemblies outside London were abolished in 2010, and their functions transferred to respective Regional Development Agencies and a new system of local authority leaders' boards.^[104]

Below the regional level, all of England is divided into 48 ceremonial counties.^[105] These are used primarily as a geographical frame of reference and have developed gradually since the Middle Ages, with some established as recently as 1974.^[106] Each has a Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff; these posts are used to represent the British monarch locally.^[105] Outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly, England is also divided into 83 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties; these correspond to areas used for the purposes of local government^[107] and may consist of a single district or be divided into several.

There are six metropolitan counties based on the most heavily urbanised areas, which do not have county councils.^[107] In these areas the principal authorities are the councils of the subdivisions, the metropolitan boroughs. Elsewhere, 27 non-metropolitan "shire" counties have acounty council and are divided into districts, each with a district council. They are typically, though not always, found in more rural areas. The remaining non-metropolitan counties are of a single district and usually correspond to large towns or sparsely populated counties; they are known as unitary authorities. Greater London has a different system for local government, with 32 London boroughs, plus the City of London covering a small area at the core, governed by the City of London Corporation.^[108] At the most localised level, much of England is divided into civil parisheswith councils; they do not exist in Greater London.^[109]

Geography

Main article: Geography of England

Дата добавления: 2015-10-28