Historic Counties of England - List of Counties

List of Counties

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 and non-metropolitan counties in England. Although some have been abandoned as counties, they are used as the basis for activities such as county cricket teams. Some ancient counties have their names preserved in multiple contemporary counties, such as Yorkshire in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire or now correspond to another type of subdivision, such as the Huntingdonshire district. In some areas ancient counties have been abandoned for local government use and then later revived. The ancient counties as existed in the 19th century were as follows:

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 merging smaller areas into neighbouring counties; such as Rutland with Leicestershire and Furness with Westmorland. The static boundaries make Longitudinal study of biodiversity easier. They also cover the rest of Great Britain and Ireland.