Editing Geography of the United Kingdom (section)

====Local government====
{{Main|Local government in England|Local government in Scotland|Local government in Wales|Local government in Northern Ireland}}
[[File:UnitedKingdomCitiesandTownsOMC.png|thumb|right|200px|The United Kingdom's [[City status in the United Kingdom|cities]], other large centres, and selected smaller places]]

Each part of the UK is subdivided into further local governmental regions:
*England: [[Unitary authorities of England|Unitary Authorities]], [[county council]]s, [[Districts of England|district councils]], [[Parish councils in England|parish councils]]
*Wales: [[Subdivisions of Wales|Principal areas]], [[community council|communities]]
*Scotland: [[Subdivisions of Scotland|Council areas]], [[community council|communities]]
*Northern Ireland: [[Districts of Northern Ireland|Districts]]

Historically the UK was divided into counties or [[shire]]s: administrative areas through which all civil responsibilities of the [[government]] were passed. Each county or shire had a [[county town]] as its administrative centre and was divided into individual [[parish]]es that were defined along [[ecclesiastic]] boundaries.

Between 1889 (1890 in Scotland) and 1974, the political boundaries were based on the traditional counties, but due to changes in population centres, the traditional counties became impractical as local government areas in certain highly urbanised areas. The [[Local Government Act 1972]] created a new system of administrative counties, designed to take account of the widely differing populations across different parts of the country.

In the 1990s further population growth led to more political changes on a local level.  [[Unitary authority|Unitary authorities]] were formed across the entirety of Scotland and Wales, and in larger [[city|cities]] in England. Many unpopular administrative counties were also abolished at this time, leading to a mixture of two-tier and single-purpose authorities. Further reorganisations are planned if and when regional assemblies in England are revisited in the future.