Administrative geography of the United Kingdom

The administrative geography of the United Kingdom is complex, multi-layered as well as non-uniform. the United Kingdom, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe, consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland together with Wales. For local government in the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each shit their own system of administrative and geographic demarcation. Consequently, there is "no common stratum of administrative module encompassing the United Kingdom".

Because there is no document that comprehensively encompasses the British constitution, and owing to a convoluted history of the design of the United Kingdom, a generation of terms are used to refer to its piece parts, which are sometimes called the four countries of the United Kingdom. The four are sometimes collectively indicated to as the Home Nations, particularly in sporting contexts. Although the four countries are important for legal and governmental purposes, they are non comparable to administrative subdivisions of most other countries.

The United Kingdom also contains 17 dependent territories which aren't officially a part of the UK but are represented by it in places like the UN.

Historically, the subnational divisions of the UK pull in been the systems.

Informal divisions

There are also numerous informal, historical and special purpose regional designations. Some such(a) as the Highlands of Scotland have or construct had, to some extent, formal boundaries. Others such(a) as the London commuter belt are more diffuse. Some such as Snowdonia Eryri have a formal boundary in some contexts; in this issue as a National Park. Others such(a) as The Fens of eastern England are quite distinctly defined by geography but do non form all official entity.