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The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. By the Middle Ages counties had become established as a unit of local government, at least in England.〔Bryne, T., ''Local Government in Britain'', (1994)〕 By the early 17th century all of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland had been divided into counties. The older term "shire" was historically equivalent to "county". In Scotland shire was the only term used until after the Act of Union 1707. Since the early 19th century, counties have been adapted to meet new administrative and political requirements, and the word "county" (often with a qualifier) has been used in different senses for different purposes. In some areas of England and Wales, counties are still used to perform the functions of modern local government, while in other parts of the United Kingdom they have been replaced with alternative, unitary, systems; which are considered 'county level' authorities.〔Jones, B. et al., ''Politics UK,'' (2004)〕 Today, in addition to local government counties, every part of the United Kingdom lies within what is known as one of the historic counties; which have formed geographic and cultural units since the Middle Ages.〔"United Kingdom". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 09 Jun. 2014 ==England== (詳細はceremonial counties, which are also known as geographic counties. Many of these counties have their origins in antiquity, although some were established as recently as 1974. Outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly, England is also divided into 83 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. These correspond to areas used for the purposes of local government and may consist of a single district or be divided into several. As of April 2009, 27 such counties are divided into districts and have a county council. Most ceremonial counties correspond to a metropolitan or non-metropolitan county of the same name, but often with reduced boundaries. The current arrangement is the result of incremental reform; from 1974 to 1996 the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties corresponded directly with the ceremonial counties. From 1889 to 1974 areas with county councils were known as administrative counties and ceremonial counties were defined separately. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Counties of the United Kingdom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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