Administrative geography of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe, consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
For local government in the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each have their own system of administrative and geographic demarcation.
The United Kingdom also contains 17 dependent territories which aren't officially a part of the UK but are represented by it in places like the UN.
Historically, the subnational divisions of the UK have been the county[3] and the ecclesiastical parish, while following the emergence of a unified parliament of the United Kingdom, the ward and constituency have been pan-UK political subdivisions.
More contemporary divisions include Lieutenancy areas and the statistical territories defined with the modern ITL (formerly NUTS) and ISO 3166-2:GB systems.
The term "Province" is often used by unionist and British commentators to refer to Northern Ireland, but not by nationalists.
During periods where the devolved institutions were suspended, executive government in Northern Ireland was administered directly by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and laws made in the United Kingdom Parliament – known as "direct rule" in contrast to devolution.
The devolved Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd both use an additional member system of elections, which combines single-member constituencies with multi-member electoral regions.
Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly are held under the single transferable vote (STV) system, in 18 multi-member constituencies.
Others such as The Fens of eastern England are quite distinctly defined by geography but do not form any official entity.
Unlike other former colonial powers, the British Government does not classify its overseas possessions (or the crown dependencies, which share historical ties with the British Crown) as subdivisions of the United Kingdom itself; rather, each is treated in law as a separate jurisdiction.
Most have their own legislatures and a degree of autonomy usually exceeding that of the devolved UK nations, including fiscal independence.
However, the UK retains varying degrees of responsibility in all of the territories, currently ranging from full political control to a largely ceremonial presence.
The UK also retains in all territories a residual responsibility for 'good governance', a loosely defined constitutional concept recently exemplified by its imposition of direct rule following alleged serious corruption in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
