List of States in the UK Explained

William Nwokoji

This Article was Reviewed by The Chief Editor, Godfrey

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Are you planning on relocating abroad and need the list of States in the UK for better settlement and engagement in Great Britain? If yes, please read on.

Ideally, the United Kingdom of Great Britain comprises England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. These are four distinct States in the UK.

They are a country on their own but a subdivision of England. The four nations share common ethics, conventions, and laws.

Unlike what is applicable in the United States, States in the United Kingdom refers to the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

And these four nations regarded as States in the United Kingdom are closer analogies to the 50 states available in the United States.

You comprehend the message, right? Good. Some mistake states as similar or mean the same thing as counties but are primarily different.

Now, let’s see what county is to understand this article better.

What is a county?

A county (sometimes called county borough) is simply a kind of division made to make administration and governance easier in the country.

For example, Wales was divided into 22 single-tier principal areas on the 1st of April 1996. These divisions are known as counties — or county boroughs. 

A local council governs each county in the UK, and the councils are publicly elected. This means they are responsible for providing the masses with social amenities and other services.

List of States in the UK Explained

By now, you must have gotten more precise insights and understanding of States and Counties in the United Kingdom.

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On this note, it’s natural to furnish you with the list of States in the UK with their respective counties.

list of states in the uk

These States are:

  • England,
  • Scotland,
  • Wales, and
  • Northern Ireland.

Like I’ve said earlier, the four nations of England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland are better analogies to the 50 states in the US.

Although it is not the same, they are much closer and far from being similar to counties. 

What are the names of the counties in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales?

Having listed the four States that made up the United Kingdom, it’s ideal we list the counties or county boroughs under the four nations.

Accordingly, it might be of interest to you to note that the counties of Great Britain are territorial divisions of the UK for political, administrative, and geographical demarcation purposes. 

England is the fons et origo, is as well divided into counties and broken up into regions.

Now, let’s take them one after the other.

Counties of Great Britain

England (45 counties)

  • Bedfordshire – Bedford
  • Berkshire – Reading
  • Buckinghamshire – Aylesbury
  • Cambridgeshire – Cambridge
  • Cheshire – Chester
  • Cornwall – Truro
  • Cumberland – Carlisle
  • Derbyshire – was Derby, now Matlock
  • Devon – Exeter
  • Dorset – Dorchester
  • Durham – Durham
  • Essex – Chelmsford
  • Gloucestershire – Gloucester
  • Hampshire – Southampton, now Winchester
  • Herefordshire – Hereford
  • Hertfordshire – Hertford
  • Huntingdonshire – Huntingdon
  • Kent – Maidstone
  • Lancashire – Lancaster, now Preston
  • Leicestershire – Leicester, now Glenfield
  • Lincolnshire – Lincoln
  • Middlesex – Brentford, Clerkenwell, or Westminster for different functions
  • Norfolk – Norwich
  • Northumberland – Alnwick, then Newcastle upon Tyne, now Morpeth
  • Northamptonshire – Northampton
  • Nottinghamshire – Nottingham
  • Oxfordshire – Oxford
  • Rutland – Oakham
  • Shropshire – Shrewsbury
  • Somerset – Somerton, now Taunton
  • Staffordshire – Stafford
  • Suffolk – Ipswich
  • Surrey – Guildford
  • Sussex – Chichester
  • Warwickshire – Warwick
  • Westmorland – Appleby
  • Wiltshire – Trowbridge
  • Worcestershire – Worcester
  • Yorkshire – traditionally York
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Yorkshire still remains the largest traditional county in England with a population of about 5 million people and 6,000 square miles (15,000 sq km) in land mass.

How many counties are there in Wales?

There are 22 different counties in Wales. Eleven are counties, including the cities of Cardiff and Swansea, and the other eleven are county boroughs, including the city of Newport.

Wales (22 counties)

  • Anglesey
  • Blaenau Gwent
  • Bridgend
  • Cardiff
  • Caerphilly
  • Carmarthenshire
  • Ceredigion
  • Conwy
  • Denbighshire
  • Flintshire
  • Gwynedd (Merthyr Tydfil)
  • Monmouthshire
  • Neath Port Talbot
  • Newport
  • Pembrokeshire
  • Powys
  • Rhondda Cynon Taff
  • Swansea
  • The Vale of Glamorgan
  • Torfaen
  • Wrexham
  • Lothian

How many counties are there in Northern Ireland?

The map at the beginning of this article shows the 6 of the 32 traditional counties of Ireland that make up Northern Ireland. Their area does not always correspond with the site of the counties currently used for local government purposes.

List of counties of Ireland

  • Connachtrth

In Connacht county, there are four other regions: Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo.

  • Munster

The Munster County of Northern Ireland also has six regions: Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford are all governed politically by Munster county.

  • Leinster

Similarly, the Leinster county has Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow as regions under its administrative, political, and economic guidance.

Leinster county has the highest number of provinces in the Northern land serving 12 of them at a time.

  • Ulster
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In the Ulster county of Northern Ireland, nine (9) regions are under it, including Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, Monaghan, and Tyrone.

How many counties are there in Scotland?

Scotland was grouped into 33 counties for political, administrative, and record-keeping purposes. Before 1889, there were 34 counties in Scotland, but ever since, an additional county has been created.

In addition, Scotland had hundreds of boroughs, which were regions or towns with separate administrative and legal statuses. 

Scottish counties, burghs, and cities include: 

  • Aberdeenshire (or the County of Aberdeen)
  • Angus (or Forfarshire or the County of Forfar)
  • Argyll (or Argyllshire)
  • Ayrshire (or the County of Ayr)
  • Banffshire (or the County of Banff)
  • Berwickshire (or the County of Berwick)
  • Buteshire (or the County of Bute)
  • Caithness
  • Clackmannanshire (or the County of Clackmannan)
  • Dumfriesshire
  • Dunbartonshire
  • East Lothian
  • Fife
  • Inverness-shire
  • Kincardineshire
  • Kinross-shire
  • Kirkcudbrightshire
  • Lanarkshire
  • Midlothian
  • Moray
  • Nairnshire
  • Orkney
  • Peebleshire
  • Perthshire
  • Renfrewshire
  • Ross and Cromarty
  • Roxburghshire
  • Selkirkshire
  • Shetland
  • Stirlingshire
  • Sutherland
  • West Lothian
  • Wigtownshire

Conclusion

The United Kingdom is unlike any other nation in the world, and you don’t expect too many states in that part of the world.

Having provided you with the comprehensive list of states in the UK together with their respective counties, we hope you know better now.

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About the Chief Editor

Godfrey Ogbo, the Chief Editor and CEO of AtlanticRide, merges his environmental management expertise with extensive business experience, including in real estate. With a master's degree and a knack for engaging writing, he adeptly covers complex growth and business topics. His analytical approach and business insights enrich the blog, making it a go-to source for readers seeking thoughtful and informed content.

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