This file contains the digital vector boundaries for Counties and Unitary Authorities in the United Kingdom, as at December 2019. The boundaries available are: (BUC) Ultra Generalised (500m) - clipped to the coastline (Mean High Water mark). Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights. Download File SizesUltra Generalised (500m) - clipped to the coastline (200 KB)Units for the following fields:St_length = metresSt_area = metres2REST URL of ArcGIS for INSPIRE View Service https://ons-inspire.esriuk.com/arcgis/rest/services/Administrative_Boundaries/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2019_Boundaries_UK_BUC2/MapServer/exts/InspireView REST URL of ArcGIS for INSPIRE Feature Download Service https://ons-inspire.esriuk.com/arcgis/rest/services/Administrative_Boundaries/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2019_Boundaries_UK_BUC2/MapServer/exts/InspireFeatureDownload REST URL of Feature Access Service https://ons-inspire.esriuk.com/arcgis/rest/services/Administrative_Boundaries/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2019_Boundaries_UK_BUC2/FeatureServer

The current counties of England are defined by the ceremonial counties, a collective name for the county areas to which are appointed a Lord Lieutenant. The office of Lord Lieutenant was created in the reign of Henry VIII. The Lord Lieutenant is the chief officer of the county and representative of the Crown. Whenever the Queen visits an area she will be accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of that area. Legally the ceremonial counties are defined by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 as ‘Counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies in Great Britain’ with reference to the areas used for local government.

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https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/boundary-line#technical

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Source:

https://osdatahub.os.uk/downloads/open/BoundaryLine

Licence:

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

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A PDF map that shows the counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom as at 1 April 2023. (File Size - 583 KB)

1:1,000,000 raster map series showing the counties of Northern Ireland. This raster is the smallest scale OSNI raster product giving an overview of Northern Ireland.

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for County and Unitary Authorities including Metropolitan Counties, in the United Kingdom, as at December 2022.The boundaries available are: (BFE) Full resolution - extent of the realm (usually this is the Mean Low Water mark but in some cases boundaries extend beyond this to include off shore islands).Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.

REST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Upper_Tier_Local_Authorities_December_2022_Boundaries_UK_BFE/FeatureServerREST URL of WFS Server –https://dservices1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/services/Upper_Tier_Local_Authorities_inc_Metropolitan_Counties_December_2022_Boundaries_UK_BFE/WFSServer?service=wfs&request=getcapabilitiesREST URL of Map Server –https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Upper_Tier_Local_Authorities_inc_Metropolitan_Counties_December_2022_Boundaries_UK_BFE/MapServer

1:1,000,000 raster map showing the County boundaries of Northern Ireland. A raster map is a static image displayed on screen which is suitable as background mapping. 1:1 000,000 Raster is smallest scale OSNI raster product giving an excellent overview of Northern Ireland. Published here for OpenData. By download or use of this dataset you agree to abide by the Open Government Data Licence.

The division into counties based on the model used in the English system, was introduced gradually by English settlers from the late 12th century onwards. These land divisions were formed following the Norman invasion of Ireland in imitation of the counties then in use as units of local government in the Kingdom of England. The older term "shire" was historically equivalent to "county". The principal function of the county was to impose royal control in the areas of taxation, security and the administration of justice at local level. Following a survey under the 1825 Boundary Survey Act, an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the Tailte Éireann for taxation purposes. These maps both documented and standardised the boundaries of the thirty two counties of Ireland.Coordinate Reference System: Irish Transverse Mercator.This dataset is provided by Tailte Éireann

Polygon dataset showing the 6 counties of Northern Ireland e.g. County Armagh, County Tyrone etc which were the primary local government geography of Northern Ireland before the introduction of unitary authorities in 1972. A PNG map showing the Northern Ireland county boundaries was downloaded from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_Ireland_-_Counties.png The PNG was georeferenced in QGIS using control points with reference to an OGL dataset downloaded from the UK Data Service showing the Northern Ireland coastline. Internal county boundaries were digitised from the georeferenced PNG as a set of polylines. These polylines were then snapped to the coastline features and polygons were generated. A county name was then assigned to each polygon in the attribute table. GIS vector data. This dataset was first accessioned in the EDINA ShareGeo Open repository on 2014-02-24 and migrated to Edinburgh DataShare on 2017-02-22.

From Parliamentary constituencies to council wards, Boundary-Line™ maps every administrative boundary in detail for you. And what's more, it's completely free to download and use.

Bring statistics to life For academics or policy-makers, Boundary-Line brings the statistics in your reports to life. It lets you show differences between regions or councils using easy-to-read shaded maps.

A robust framework Monitoring outcomes by area is key for public bodies. Boundary-Line gives you a robust analytical framework to ensure the right communities get the right resources.

Individual properties When you're consulting on updating boundaries to take account of population change, Boundary-Line lets you show on a map where the line's being drawn, right down to the level of individual properties.

These digital boundaries were created by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales. They represent the boundaries of Registration Counties in England and Wales as in use at the date of each Census of Population between 1851 and 1911, 1911 being the last census to report extensively on these units.

These digital boundaries can be used to map economic, social and demograohic statistics from the Censuses of Population, 1851 to 1911, the Registrar-General's reports from the same period, and other relevant statistical sources. They can also be used as reference maps for these administrative units, which often differ substantially from both Ancient Counties and 20th century Administrative Counties.

The boundary data contain the same numerical identifiers as are included in the GBHDB transcriptions of census and vital registration statistics for Registration Counties, making statistical mapping very straightforward.

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for County Electoral Division, in England, as at May 2023.The boundaries available are: (BGC) Generalised (20m) - clipped to the coastline (Mean High Water mark).Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.

REST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/County_Electoral_Division_May_2023_Boundaries_EN_BGC/FeatureServerREST URL of WFS Server –https://dservices1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/services/County_Electoral_Division_May_2023_Boundaries_EN_BGC/WFSServer?service=wfs&request=getcapabilitiesREST URL of Map Server –https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/County_Electoral_Division_(May_2023)_Boundaries_EN_BGC/MapServer

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for County Electoral Division, in England, as at May 2023. The boundaries available are: (BFC) Full resolution - clipped to the coastline (Mean High Water mark).Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.

REST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/County_Electoral_Division_May_2023_Boundaries_EN_BFC/FeatureServerREST URL of WFS Server –https://dservices1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/services/County_Electoral_Division_May_2023_Boundaries_EN_BFC/WFSServer?service=wfs&request=getcapabilitiesREST URL of Map Server –https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/County_Electoral_Division_(May_2023)_Boundaries_EN_BFC/MapServer

Data identifying Cambridgeshire's county boundary. For more information, please see the ONS Geoportal website. If data is used, please acknowledge the copyright and the source of the data by including the following attribution statements:

Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right (2016)

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right (2016)

For more details about licencing go to: https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/geography/licences

Source: ONS Geoportal

All data is correct as of download date: 17/10/2016

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

These digital boundaries were created by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales. They represent the boundaries of Local Government Districts in England and Wales as in use at the date of each Census of Population between 1911 and 1971, 1911 being the first census to report extensively on these units. "Local Government Districts" cover Rural Districts, Urban Districts, Municipal Boroughs, County Boroughs and, within London only, Metropolitan Boroughs and, in 1971, London Boroughs.

These digital boundaries can be used to map economic, social and demographic statistics from the Censuses of Population, 1911 to 1971, the Registrar-General's reports from the same period, and other relevant statistical sources. They can also be used as reference maps for these administrative units. There are small changes in these boundaries between each census, and very large changes between 1931 and 1951.These resulted from a rolling programme of County Reviews in the early 1930s, so the 1951 boundaries should be used to map the 1939 National Registration, and annual vital statistics from the mid-1930s onwards.

The boundary data contain the same numerical identifiers as are included in the GBHDB transcriptions of census and vital registration statistics for Local Government Districts, making statistical mapping straightforward.

A PDF map that shows the local authority districts, counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom as at April 2023. The map has been created to show the United Kingdom from country level down to local authority district level. (File Size - 1,909 KB)

This dataset is refreshed on a weekly basis from the datasets the team works on daily.Last update date: 24 October 2025.National Highways Operational Highway Boundary (RedLine) maps out the land belonging to the highway for the whole Strategic Road Network (SRN). It comprises two layers; one being the an outline and another showing the registration status / category of land of land that makes up the boundary. Due to the process involved in creating junctions with local highway authority (LHA) roads, land in this dataset may represent LHA highway (owned by National Highways but the responsibility of the LHA to maintain). Surplus land or land held for future projects does not form part of this dataset.The highway boundary is derived from:Ordnance Survey Mastermap Topography,HM Land Registry National Polygon Service (National Highway titles only), andplots researched and digitised during the course of the RedLine Boundary Project.The boundary is split into categories describing the decisions made for particular plots of land. These categories are as follows:Auto-RedLine category is for plots created from an automated process using Ordnance Survey MasterMap Topography as a base. Land is not registered under National Highways' name. For example, but not limited to, unregistered ‘ancient’ highway vested in Highways England, or bridge carrying highways over a rail line.NH Title within RedLine category is for plots created from Land Registry Cadastral parcels whose proprietor is National Highways or a predecessor. Land in this category is within the highway boundary (audited) or meets a certain threshold by the algorithm.NH Title outside RedLine category is for plots created in the same way as above but these areas are thought to be outside the highway boundary. Where the Confidence is Low, land in this category is yet to be audited. Where the Confidence is High, land in this category has been reviewed and audited as outside our operational boundary.National Highways (Technician) Data category is for plots created by National Highways, digitised land parcels relating to highway land that is not registered, not yet registered or un-registerable.Road in Tunnel category, created using tunnel outlines from Ordnance Survey MasterMap Topography data. These represent tunnels on Highways England’s network. Land is not registered under National Highways' name, but land above the tunnel may be in National Highways’ title. Please refer to the definitive land ownership records held at HM Land Registry.The process attribute details how the decision was made for the particular plot of land. These are as follows:Automated category denotes data produced by an automated process. These areas are yet to be audited by the company.Audited category denotes data that has been audited by the company.Technician Data (Awaiting Audit) category denotes data that was created by National Highways but is yet to be audited and confirmed as final.The confidence attribute details how confident you can be in the decision. This attribute is derived from both the decisions made during the building of the underlying automated dataset as well as whether the section has been researched and/or audited by National Highways staff. These are as follows:High category denotes land that has a high probability of being within the RedLine boundary. These areas typically are audited or are features that are close to or on the highway.Moderate category denotes land that is likely to be within the highway boundary but is subject to change once the area has been audited.Low category denotes land that is less likely to be within the highway boundary. These plots typically represent Highways England registered land that the automated process has marked as outside the highway boundary.Please note that this dataset is indicative only. For queries about this dataset please contact the GIS and Research Team.

Boundary_line_ceremonial_counties_region

The Land Cover Map 2024 (UK Land Cover Statistics) dataset summarises the coverage of different land cover types across Great Britain and Northern Ireland, classified into 21 UKCEH land cover classes, based upon Biodiversity Action Plan broad habitats. This data is provided in both .csv and geopackage (vector) formats. Statistics are calculated at country, county, and regional (England only) levels from the Land Cover Map 2024 (10 m classified pixels) datasets for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A full description of this and all UKCEH LCM2024 products are available from the LCM2024 product documentation. In addition to UKCEH as copyright holders, the Land Cover Map 2024 (UK Land Cover Statistics) products use digital boundary products and reference maps. The source of the data is the Office for National Statistics and they are licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. They contain OS data © Crown copyright and database right [2024].

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online. These digital boundaries were created by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales. They represent the boundaries of Administrative Counties in England and Wales as in use at the date of each Census of Population between 1911 and 1971, 1911 being the first census to report extensively on these units.

These digital boundaries can be used to map economic, social and demographic statistics from the Censuses of Population, 1911 to 1971, the Registrar-General's reports from the same period, and other relevant statistical sources. They can also be used as reference maps for these administrative units. These units were aggregations of Local Government Districts and differed significantly from both Ancient Counties and the Registration Counties covered by earlier censuses. Difference include that the three Ridings of Yorkshire and the three Parts of Lincolnshire were separate Administrative Counties, as were East and West Suffolk, and East and West Sussex. The Isle of Ely and the Soke of Peterborough were also separate Administrative Counties until 1965, when Middlesex was also abolished as the County of London was expanded to become Greater London. The Isle of Wight was a separate Administrative County from Hampshire throughout the period.

The boundary data contain the same numerical identifiers as are included in the GBHD transcriptions of census and vital registration statistics for Administrative Counties, making statistical mapping straightforward.

This web map is a compiled view made up of individual boundary maps from UK water companies and NAV boundaries from Ofwat (the industry regulator)