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UK Counties List

rumpleteazerrumpleteazer Posts: 5,746
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in Advice #1
This is a bit of an odd request, but we've got a new system at work which has a list of UK counties in it for filling in addresses. The system was clearly set up by someone foreign because the counties list is a mess (according to the system Milton Keynes is a county but Merseyside isn't :confused:). I need to get it changed but there is no definitive list of UK counties online that I've been able to find.

After some googling I've come up with the following list, does this look right to you guys? Or does anyone know where I could find a list?

England
Bedfordshire
Berkshire
Bristol
Buckinghamshire
Cambridgeshire
Cheshire
Cornwall
Cumbria
Derbyshire
Devon
Dorset
Durham
East Riding of Yorkshire
East Sussex
Essex
Gloucestershire
Greater Manchester
Hampshire
Hereford and Worcester
Hertfordshire
Isle of Man
Isle of Wight
Kent
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
London
Merseyside
Middlesex
Norfolk
North Yorkshire
Northamptonshire
Northumberland
Nottinghamshire
Oxfordshire
Rutland
Shropshire
Somerset
South Yorkshire
Staffordshire
Suffolk
Surrey
Tyne and Wear
Warwickshire
West Midlands
West Sussex
West Yorkshire
Wiltshire

Northern Ireland
County Antrim
County Armagh
County Down
County Fermanagh
County Londonderry
County Tyrone

Scotland
Aberdeenshire
Angus
Argyll and Bute
Ayrshire
Clackmannanshire
Dumfries and Galloway
Dunbartonshire
Dundee
East Lothian
Edinburgh
Falkirk
Fife
Glasgow
Highland
Inverclyde
Lanarkshire
Midlothian
Moray
Orkney
Perth and Kinross
Renfrewshire
Scottish Borders
Shetland Isles
Stirlingshire
West Lothian
Western Isles

Wales
Anglesey/Sir Fon
Blaenau Gwent
Bridgend
Caerphilly
Cardiff
Carmarthenshire
Ceredigion
Conwy
Denbighshire
Flintshire
Glamorgan
Gwynedd
Merthyr Tydfil
Monmouthshire
Neath Port Talbot
Newport
Pembrokeshire
Powys
Rhondda Cynon Taff
Swansea
Torfaen
Wrexham

Comments

  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    #2
    Scotland doesn't have "counties", but council areas.

    Ayrshire the area is split into 3 council authorities

    North Ayrshire
    South Ayrshire
    East Ayrshire

    Lanarkshire is also is split into North and South

    not sure where you got your list from, but from a glance it looks widely inaccurate.
    i would use this as a base for Scotland - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subdivisions_of_Scotland
  • shelleyj89shelleyj89 Posts: 16,292
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    #3
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_counties_of_the_United_Kingdom

    :)
  • farmer bobfarmer bob Posts: 27,595
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    #4
    Dunbartonshire is also split into East/West
  • chenkschenks Posts: 13,231
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    #5
    farmer bob wrote: »
    Dunbartonshire is also split into East/West

    also Renfrewshire (one called East)
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,650
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    #6
    Durham is officially "County Durham". It's the only county in England with the word "county" in its name.
  • elliecatelliecat Posts: 9,890
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    #7
    Bristol is a City, Avon is the county
  • elliecatelliecat Posts: 9,890
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    #8
    elliecat wrote: »
    Bristol is a City, Avon is the county

    Forget that I am behind the times apparently:blush:
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    #9
    Out of interest, why do you need to know the county when filling in addresses? The correct postal address does not necessarily include a county, just the town and postcode.
  • liblobliblob Posts: 21,538
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    #10
    elliecat wrote: »
    Bristol is a City, Avon is the county
    elliecat wrote: »
    Forget that I am behind the times apparently:blush:
    Avon isn't a county any more, hasn't been since 1996 even though people still use it.
  • rumpleteazerrumpleteazer Posts: 5,746
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    #11
    Thanks for the feedback, looks like I've got a long way to go :(
    Inkblot wrote: »
    Out of interest, why do you need to know the county when filling in addresses? The correct postal address does not necessarily include a county, just the town and postcode.

    It's a global system and for some reason the counties (or state/district depending on country) is compulsory. I work for a notified body dealing with certification so I imagine there's some sort of guideline somewhere that made it compulsory. I've already had to correct the Israel districts, there's only 6 of them so I don't know how they got them wrong >:(
  • InkblotInkblot Posts: 26,889
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    #12
    There is an official map here:

    http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/administrative/england/counties--non-metropolitan-districts-and-unitary-authorities/map-of-the-uk-counties-and-unitary-administrations.pdf

    It's a pdf that will download to your computer so maybe you need to be careful clicking the link - it is an official government web site and safe to click though.
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    #13
    Depends on what the list is going to be used for. When you say a list of counties, do you mean:

    - local authorities (this is likely what caused MK to show up but not merseyside); London should then be listed under the 32 separate boroughs for e.g
    - historical geographic counties- often given by people in addresses, though not strictly necessary. Here's a good list and explanation: http://county-wise.org.uk/counties/county-confusion/
    - if you're matching up the data to a specific organisations, such as NHS trusts, social services or MP constituencies, its better to use those boundaries rather than relying on any other separation.
  • Ellie666Ellie666 Posts: 2,052
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    #14
    middlesex (middx) doesn't exist and hasn't for may years, it roughly covers Greater London, west of essex and north of the river
  • fainéantfainéant Posts: 2,654
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    #15
    rumpleteazer wrote: »
    ... we've got a new system at work which has a list of UK counties in it for filling in addresses.

    As this is to do with addresses you should take careful note of what the Royal Mail say about counties - The county does not form part of any postal address.

    It may be more beneficial to concentrate your efforts on consistency with Royal Mail's Postcode Address File and you can get some very good practical advice here:

    http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/Royal-Mail-PAF-Code-of-Practice.pdf
  • KennedyCKennedyC Posts: 1,289
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    #16
    Please make sure that the address fields have a locality field. I am sick to death of filling out addresses where they only have Road/Street, Town, County, Country, Post Code. In my town there are 3 roads including mine with the same name and even with the post code my post still goes to the wrong address.

    I recently had to fill out an important on-line form and couldn't even squeeze the locality on the end of the road.

    By Locality, I mean village, borough, area etc.
  • emjemj Posts: 6,737
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    #17
    'Hereford and Worcester' no longer exists - it's now two separate counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire :)
  • jsmith99jsmith99 Posts: 20,382
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    #18
    rumpleteazer wrote: »
    ..............It's a global system and for some reason the counties (or state/district depending on country) is compulsory...........

    Can't you simply make every county field a space, or, if you must have a printable character, a full stop?

    I remember reading up on counties some years ago, and the problem is that there are at least three Acts of Parliament defining counties - and the lists are different. I can't find this page now, but I remember it was a genealogy website.

    It looked very similar to the website linked to by paulbrock earlier (post 13).
  • Dan SetteDan Sette Posts: 5,816
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    #19
    The Isle of Wight isn't a county (it's in Hampshire)

    The Isle of Man isn't in England (it isn't even part of the UK)
  • AxGAxG Posts: 25,663
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    #20
    The Isle of Wight is not in Hampshire, it's separate and a ceremonial county.
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    #21
    Milton Keynes isn't strictly a county but because geographically it's not really part of the rest of Buckinghamshire I think people find it easier to think about it as it's own place - rather than a part of Bucks.
  • TUTV ViewerTUTV Viewer Posts: 6,236
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    #22
    For Scotland, either use heritage "shires" or current local authority areas - but don't mix & match, it really annoys the natives.

    Eg, some dodgy journalists sometimes refer to Andy Murray as coming from Stirlingshire.

    His home town is Dunblane which has the heritage address of Perthshire, and which is used by most of the ABC1 locals - it is also in the Stirling Council area.

    This doesn't make it "Stirlingshire" though - which was a completely different heritage address area.

    Of course, Scotland may well leave the UK later in the year, so it's best to design your system to accommodate a change of scope.
  • gomezzgomezz Posts: 44,623
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    #23
    fainéant wrote: »
    As this is to do with addresses you should take careful note of what the Royal Mail say about counties - The county does not form part of any postal address.
    But the Postal Town does. And not every town is a Postal Town.
  • Dan SetteDan Sette Posts: 5,816
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    #24
    AxG wrote: »
    The Isle of Wight is not in Hampshire, it's separate and a ceremonial county.

    Apologies. You are correct. I was thinking about the "trouble" that Isle of Wight residents had when the number plate on cars changed to show the island as a county to having the Hampshire code on them.
  • BoselectaBoselecta Posts: 1,640
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    #25
    I'm not sure there's any strict need for counties in an address anymore... surely it's all about post codes in this day and age? They've gotta be superfluous in terms of big cities and I can't see point in expanding on say, Liverpool, with "Merseyside".
    Equally, in terms of big cities, there's no point with little neigbourhoods/areas like say, Shepherds Bush - it's just London W12 XXX.
    Basically, I'm not clear on why anything but house name/number, street, area and post code are necessary.
    Certainly if you use the Royal Mail address finder it doesn't appear to insert counties into addresses. (well at least not the couple I lobbed in).
    http://www.postoffice.co.uk/postcode-finder
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