The name of a county often gives a clue to how it was formed, either as a division that took its name from a centre of administration, an ancient … 展开

Origins
Great Britain was first divided into administrative areas by the Romans, most likely following major geographical features such as rivers. … 展开

At the time of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, the ancient counties continue to form, with considerably altered boundaries, many of the ceremonial 展开

• Counties of Northern Ireland
• Historic counties of Scotland
• Historic counties of Wales
• English county histories 展开

By the late Middle Ages the county was being used as the basis of a number of functions.
Administration of justice … 展开

The vice counties, used for biological recording since 1852, are largely based on historic county boundaries. They ignore all exclaves and are modified by subdividing large counties and … 展开

• Note ^a : 1889 areas recorded in 1891 census. Accurate measurements were not available until the 19th century, as a by-product of the 展开