List of counties of the United Kingdom - wikipedia List of counties of the United Kingdom This is a list of the counties of the United Kingdom. The history of local government in the United Kingdom differs between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the subnational divisions within these which have been called counties have varied over time and by purpose. The county has formed the upper tier of local government over much of the United Kingdom at one time or another, and has been used for a variety of other purposes, such as for Lord Lieutenants, land registration and postal delivery. This list is split by constituent country, time period and purpose. Contents 1 England 2 Northern Ireland 3 Scotland 4 Wales 5 See also 6 References England Main article : Counties of England Changes dated between the 1990s and 2009 subdivided the 20th century short - lived non-metropolitan counties of Cleveland and Humberside into unitary authorities but the once - county names continue for fire services and police forces, ( see Non-metropolitan county § List of non-metropolitan counties ). Similarly the short - lived county of Avon provides part of the area and name of Avon and Somerset Police and its area is roughly that of Avon Fire and Rescue Service. The historic counties of Yorkshire, Cumberland, Westmorland, Huntingdonshire and Middlesex are the five defunct ceremonial counties of a traditional county size. After their ceremonial abolition, Yorkshire has become ceremonially subdivided along the four compass point axes, Cumberland and Westmorland were added to a detached part of Lancashire to form Cumbria, Huntingdonshire merged ceremonially into Cambridgeshire and the vast majority of Middlesex became part of Greater London. Contemporary reference to the Isle of Ely and nearby Soke of Peterborough is very rare since the early 20th century and they have scant public resonance. The counties marked in italics below are neither ceremonial nor historic. County Current ceremonial 1974 + Postal 1974 -- 1996 1889 -- 1974 Before 1889 Metropolitan Non-metropolitan County Administrative Avon 1974 -- 1996 Bedfordshire 1974 -- 2009 Berkshire ♠ City of Bristol Special post town County borough County corporate Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire 1889 -- 1965 1889 -- 1965 Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely 1965 -- 1974 1965 -- 1974 Cheshire 1974 -- 2009 Cleveland 1974 -- 1996 Cornwall Cumberland Cumbria Derbyshire ♠ Devon Dorset Durham ( County Durham ) ♠ East Suffolk ♠ Division East Sussex Division Essex Gloucestershire Greater London County 1965 -- 1974 Greater Manchester Hampshire Hereford and Worcester ♠ 1974 -- 1998 Herefordshire ♠ UA 1998 + Hertfordshire ♠ Humberside 1974 -- 1996 Huntingdon and Peterborough 1965 -- 1974 1965 -- 1974 Huntingdonshire 1889 -- 1965 1889 -- 1965 Isle of Ely 1889 -- 1965 Division Isle of Wight 1890 -- 1974 Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Lincolnshire, Parts of Holland Division Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven Division Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey Division London ♠ Special post town The Metropolis City of London ♠ County corporate Merseyside Middlesex Norfolk ♠ Northamptonshire Northumberland North Humberside North Yorkshire Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Soke of Peterborough 1889 -- 1965 Liberty Rutland UA 1997 + 2008 + Shropshire Somerset South Humberside South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk ♠ Surrey Sussex Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands Westmorland West Suffolk ♠ Division West Sussex Division West Yorkshire Wiltshire Worcestershire ♠ 1998 + Yorkshire Yorkshire, East Riding UA 1996 + Division Yorkshire, North Riding Division Yorkshire, West Riding Division ♠ denotes a counter-intuitive pronunciation. See list of places in the United Kingdom and Ireland with counterintuitive pronunciations. Northern Ireland Main article : Counties of Northern Ireland County Before 1899 1899 -- 1973 Current lieutenancy Postal before 1996 County Administrative Antrim Armagh City of Belfast Part of counties Antrim and Down CB Special post town Down Fermanagh Londonderry City of Derry Part of County Londonderry CB Special post town Tyrone Scotland Main article : Counties of Scotland County Before 1890 1890 -- 1975 Lieutenancy Registration Postal before 1996 City of Aberdeen 1900 Special post town Aberdeenshire Angus ( Forfarshire ) Argyll ♠ Ayrshire Banffshire Berwickshire ♠ Bute Caithness Clackmannanshire Cromartyshire Dumfriesshire ♠ Dunbartonshire ( Dumbarton ) City of Dundee 1894 Special post town East Lothian ( Haddingtonshire ) City of Edinburgh Special post town Fife City of Glasgow 1893 Special post town Inverness - shire Kincardineshire ♠ Kinross - shire Kirkcudbrightshire ♠ Lanarkshire Midlothian ( County of Edinburgh ) Moray ♠ ( Elginshire ) Nairnshire Orkney Peeblesshire Perthshire Renfrewshire Ross and Cromarty Ross - shire Roxburghshire Selkirkshire Shetland ( Zetland ) Stirlingshire Sutherland West Lothian ( Linlithgowshire ) Wigtownshire ♠ ♠ denotes counter-intuitive pronunciation. Wales Main article : History of local government in Wales County Before 1889 1889 -- 1974 1974 -- 1996 1996 + Postal 1974 -- 1996 Preserved County Anglesey Isle of Anglesey Brecknockshire Caernarfonshire Cardiganshire Ceredigion Carmarthenshire Clwyd Denbighshire Dyfed Flintshire Flintshire Glamorgan Gwent Gwynedd Merionethshire Mid Glamorgan Monmouthshire Monmouthshire Montgomeryshire Pembrokeshire ♠ Powys Radnorshire South Glamorgan West Glamorgan Wrexham ♠ denotes counter-intuitive pronunciation for counties of English etymology which all have Welsh language counterparts. Welsh etymology county names reflect standard Welsh pronunciation rules. In Welsh most of the counties ending ' - shire ' are instead preceded by the Welsh near - homophone translation ' Sir '. See also Toponymical list of counties of the United Kingdom List of United Kingdom county nicknames Counties of Ireland Alias Data References Jump up ^ HMSO, Aspects of Britain : Local Government, ( 1996 ) ^ Jump up to : Lieutenancies Act 1997 Jump up ^ Local Government Act 1972 ^ Jump up to : Royal Mail - PAF Digest Issue 6.0 Since 1996 these have been known as `` former postal counties '', and need no longer be used in addressing mail. Post Towns created since 1996 are not allocated to a postal county. The PAF also includes an `` Alias File '' that includes postally not required information including `` Traditional County '' and `` Administrative County '' fields. The list is not comprehensive and Royal Mail does not guarantee its accuracy. Jump up ^ The Berkshire ( Structural Change ) Order 1996 ; SI 1996 No. 1879 Jump up ^ For ceremonial purposes only ^ Jump up to : Non-metropolitan district with the powers of a county, following the Local Government Act 1992 Jump up ^ The Metropolis was an ad hoc administrative area covering parts of three counties Jump up ^ AFD Software - Latest PAF Data News ^ Jump up to : Appointed a Lord Lieutenant, but not a county under the Local Government Act 1888 Jump up ^ Northern Ireland ( Lieutenancy ) Order 1975 ( SI 1975 No. 156 ) ^ Jump up to : County styled as county borough by the Local Government ( Ireland ) Act 1898 Jump up ^ Registers of Scotland - Land Register Counties Archived 2013 - 09 - 28 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Local Government ( Wales ) Act 1994 S. 1 - Principal areas styled as a county Administrative geography of the United Kingdom United Kingdom local government History Subdivisions : Shrievalties Lieutenancy areas Counties ( list ) England local government History Subdivisions : Regions Ceremonial counties list Metropolitan and Non-metropolitan counties Unitary authorities ( list ) Districts ( list ) Civil parishes ( list ) Northern Ireland local government History Subdivisions : Counties Districts Scotland local government History Subdivisions : Sheriffdoms Lieutenancy areas Council areas Community council areas Civil parishes Wales local government History Subdivisions : Preserved counties Principal areas Communities ( list ) Historic counties Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_counties_of_the_United_Kingdom&oldid=821601221 '' Categories : Counties of the United Kingdom Lists of counties of the United Kingdom Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from December 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links Webarchive template wayback links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Ænglisc Norsk nynorsk Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 21 January 2018, at 13 : 51. 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Question: similarly if you listed the current counties of england in alphabetical order which would come first
Answer: Avon