Administrative county

For local government purposes Scottish counties were replaced in 1975 with a system of regions and island council areas.

In Northern Ireland the administrative counties were replaced by a system of 26 districts on 1 October 1973.

Section 131 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 stated that "every county and every county borough shall cease to be an administrative area for local government purposes".

[1] The areas of the former administrative counties (and county boroughs) remain in use for Lieutenancy purposes, being defined as the areas used "for local government purposes immediately before 1 October 1973, subject to any subsequent definition of their boundaries …".

[2] In the Republic of Ireland the legislation that created them remained in force until 1 January 2002, when they were renamed as counties under the Local Government Act 2001.