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Counties in the United Kingdom

Maps and boundary data are copyrighted by FOTW Flags Of The World

The United Kingdom consists of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. This page shows the counties for the first three countries; Northern Ireland is included on the Ireland page.

These countries are divided into counties, but counties are grouped together unofficially to form regions. For example, Wessex is not an official county, but is the name of the region consisting of Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset. And Wessex, along with Devon and Cornwall, is referred to as the West Country.

This can be confusing when looking at vacation rental listings. Some sites list by county, but others list by these unofficial regions.

Use this page to learn the counties. You can find a good map showing the counties on Pictures of England.

The official tourist web site for England, Visit Britain, shows the unofficial regions mostly as I have listed them below. The Eyewitness Guide breaks the regions up somewhat differently and I used some of their divisions below.
Visit Britain: Maps of England

London

Greater London is the name of the county that includes the city of London.

Visit Britain: Maps of London

Southeast England

Visit Britain calls the whole south region "South of England", but I have separated this into two regions: Southeast England and The West Country.

Southeast England consists of the city of London, the Downs and Channel Coast and the Thames Valley.

The Downs and Channel Coast

Hampshire
Surrey
East Sussex
West Sussex
Kent
Isle of Wight

Thames Valley

Buckinghamshire
Oxfordshire
Berkshire

West Country

The West Country of England, also called the Southwest consists of the region of Wessex plus the counties Devon and Cornwall.

Wessex

Wiltshire
Somerset
Dorset

Devon and Cornwall

Devon
Cornwall
Channel Islands

East of England

Sometimes called "East Anglia".

Norfolk
Suffolk
Essex
Cambridgeshire
Bedfordshire (also considered part of the Thames Valley)
Hertfordshire (also considered part of the Thames Valley)

Heart of England

The Heart of England is the large central area, from the border of Wales to East Anglia. The Cotswold Hills (called the Cotswolds) are in the southern part of this region. This region also contains Shakespeare country and the Peaks District. The northern area is more industrial. This region is sometimes called "The Midlands".

Gloucestershire
Herefordshire
Shropshire
Staffordshire
Warwickshire
Worcestershire

East Midlands

Derbyshire
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Northamptonshire
Nottinghamshire
Rutland

North Country

The North Country includes the Lakes District (Cumbria) on the west coast and the Yorkshire Dales.

Cheshire
Lancashire
Cumbria
Yorkshire
County Durham
Northumberland
Isle of Man

Scotland

Visit Britain: Maps of Scotland

Hebrides
Orkney Islands
Shetland Islands
Aberdeen
Dundee
Edinburgh
Kelso
Montrose
Hawick
West Lothian

Wales

Visit Britain: Maps of Wales

Maps and boundary data are copyrighted by FOTW - Flags Of The World web site

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