There are a variety of geopolitical, administrative and other territorial divisions in use in the United Kingdom. UK geography articles should neutrally present the official schemes that are in operation using reliable sources, making clear which set of definitions are being used. This information is mostly intended as a guide for settlement/locality articles, but is applicable for any UK geography article as appropriate.
Local government geography in a nutshell: Local government areas are the primary geographic frame of reference, but do not always coincide with human settlements
Areas for local government named after towns are not coincident with those towns in all cases (WP:UKDISTRICTS gives guidance)
Local government areas (districts and counties in England, counties and county boroughs in Wales, council areas in Scotland, and districts in Northern Ireland) are the primary frame of reference in articles
ExampleFoo is a town in the Bar district of...
The next level frame of reference (ceremonial counties in England, preserved counties in Wales, counties in Northern Ireland, and council areas in Scotland) are used where it gives greater context (WP:UCC also gives guidance)
ExampleFoo is a town in Essex [rather than] Foo is a town in the administrative county of Essex of the ceremonial county of Essex
The top level frame of reference is the country within the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and is not ordinarily linked
ExampleFoo is a town in the X district of Barshire, England.
In England locality articles, regions are not usually part of the article prose (but appear in infoboxes)
Population figures, twinning arrangements, coats of arms etc. should not be presented as "belonging" to a settlement if the like-named local authority is for a larger area
Civil parishes and communities sometimes cover more than one settlement but do not generally require separate articles if they have the same name as a settlement, parishes in Northern Ireland sometimes have separate articles
A parish or community council may decide to call itself a town and this is the currently the only "official" definition of a town, but that should not preclude other settlements being described that way
Local government areas are often broken down into ad hoc management areas or devolved council areas, these should be mentioned in articles but not presented to be definitive boundaries of settlements
When linking to local authorities as a geographic area, link to the territorial articles, not articles about the councils
The term 'ceremonial county' is used sparingly, and is normally only needed when explicitly referring to a county, including all associated unitary authorities
Former local government geography in a nutshell: Former local government areas were smaller in the past, but did not necessarily match up to the settlements we have today and should not be used as definitive boundaries
Before reforms in the 1930s, 1960s and 1970s, local government areas in the United Kingdom were much smaller and corresponded much more closely to the settlements they were named after. However, most districts were based on ancient boundaries and included areas that might no longer be considered part of the settlement, or contained other anomalies.
Statistics presented for former local government areas in settlement articles should make clear the historic area they relate to
Population tables should include a mention of the area designation, such as Foo (parish) or Foo (borough)
Used alone, being part of a historic local government area cannot be used as evidence for one locality "being part" of another
Text should be phrased to present neutral facts such as X was in the ancient parish of Y or X became part of the district of Y when boundaries were adjusted in 1932
Care should be taken as some sources (such as those for twinning arrangements) are for former areas that have since passed on twinning arrangements to the new local authority
Care should be taken when using some sources organised by ancient parish, such as Victoria County History, as the ancient parishes were often much larger than current localities
Former local government areas often form unparished areas and successor parishes and this should be mentioned, but not necessarily used as a definitive boundary of settlements
It is incorrect to describe a geographic locality as being part of a council, use Foo became part of Bar Urban District etc.
Administrative counties are now abolished, it is inaccurate to use the term in the present tense
The term 'administrative county' is used sparingly, and is normally only needed when referring to areas of a county outside county boroughs
Ecclesiastical parishes, which are often based on ancient or civil parishes, cannot be used to define localities and should be mentioned only as part of a section on churches/religion
Statistical geography in a nutshell: Statistical urban areas are territories with a minimum population density and number of people and as such are unrelated to administrative boundaries and subject to frequent change
Statistical urban areas and their sub-divisions are subject to constant revision (they get larger and smaller) and care should be taken with comparisons over time
A different density rationale is used for each constituent country, so care should be taken with UK comparisons
Used alone, urban area and sub-divisions should not be used to define the scope of a settlement
Sub-divisions are based on a variety of factors including current and former local authority areas, well-defined localities, or previously separate urban areas and it should not be presented as definitive
Where figures are presented in tables or in an infobox, the territory name and designation (urban area, urban sub-division) must be explicit
It is not acceptable to present The population of X is Y using the figure for X (urban area) or X (urban sub-division)
The correct use is The population of the X urban area is Y or The population of the X urban sub-division, which corresponds to the built-up area of X, is Y
Political geography in a nutshell: Political wards and constituencies have been devised to produce areas with roughly equal numbers of electors, they do not necessarily reflect the boundaries of settlements
Political wards and constituencies are reviewed periodically by boundary committees. Although they are clearly based on settlements, they are devised in order to produce areas with roughly equal numbers of electors. New wards and constituencies are created all the time and significant changes can be made at regular intervals. Care should be taken not to present statistics produced from these areas as being definitive of the settlements they are named after.
Where statistics are presented that are for wards or constituencies, it must be made clear for what area (and type of area) the statistic has been produced
Where figures are presented in tables or in an infobox, the territory name and designation (ward, constituency) must be explicit
It is not acceptable to present The population of X is Y using the figure for X (ward) or X (constituency)
The correct use is The population of X ward is Y or The population of X ward, which roughly corresponds to the built-up area of X, is Y
Ward statistics should be primarily used for providing demographic comparisons with larger areas, not for providing definitive "stand alone" figures of places with the same name
Extreme care must be taken if comparing data over time as the boundaries of these units are frequently altered
If adding together several wards to "build" a statistical picture of the whole settlement, the rationale for using the wards must be made clear (such as a local authority management area)
Where using demographic data from more than ward, do not aggregate the output yourself, present it separately for each ward, unless a third party reliable source has done the aggregation
Population figures can be given, where no other suitable data is produced, but every ward that forms part of the total must be listed and a rationale given for the choice of wards
Postal geography in a nutshell: UK postal addresses do not define or correspond to localities, they are routing instructions with a limited number of permutations and should be treated as such
Postal geography is arranged by the Royal Mail, separately from all other UK territorial geographies. The UK government has no direct involvement with how boundaries are set and it is based on the efficiency of delivering the post. Local authorities have responsibility for naming roads, but have no control over post towns or postcode districts. Therefore, post town and postcode district boundaries are not contiguous with other geographic boundaries.
Postal geography is not used as a primary frame of reference in articles
Used alone, post towns and postcode districts cannot be used as evidence for one locality "being part" of another.
The postcode districts in the London postal district, that are each associated with a sorting office location, should not be used to define locality boundaries; for example SE5 is not considered definitive of Camberwell
Lists of postcode districts, and information relevant to postal administration, is organised by postcode area, e.g. AB postcode area
The London postal district article exists as there is exceptional/notable difference between geographical and postal London (241 sq miles vs. 607 sq miles)
Example: Foo is a post town in the AB postcode area, consisting of postcode districts AB1 and AB2. The northern part of the town is covered by the AB1 postcode district and the southern part, including the town centre, is covered by AB2. The Foo post town extends beyond the parish boundary to include the village of Little Bar to the east and part of the village of Great Bar to the south.
We do not have articles for individual postcode units (e.g. AB1 1AA) or postcode districts (e.g. AB1). Instead, detailed accounts of an individual postcode district arrangements form a section in the relevant postcode area article, such as SW postcode area#SW1.
Postcode district article names (e.g. AL1) redirect to the relevant postcode area article (e.g. AL postcode area), unless it is a disambiguation page, in which case an entry is added:
Infoboxes for buildings etc. often include a postcode. This should be the full postcode unit and should be linked to the postcode area article. e.g. [[DA postcode area|DA1 1AA]]. This can also be achieved using {{postcode|DA|1|1|AA}}
For the purposes of infoboxes in locality articles detail no greater than the postcode district is required, e.g. DA1, not sector information, e.g. DA1 3xx
