County borough

Borough or city independent of county council control

For the pre-1880s definition, see United Kingdom constituencies § County constituencies and borough constituencies. For the similar county-level jurisdictions in the United States, see List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska and Boroughs of New York City.

County borough

Map of county boroughs in 1971 (named in boldface capitals), alongside administrative counties, municipal boroughs, urban districts, rural districts

Category| Borough
Location| England and Wales and Ireland
Found in| Counties
Created by| Local Government Act 1888
Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
Created|

* England 1889
* Wales 1889/1994
* Ireland 1899

Abolished by|

* Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971
* Local Government Act 1972
* Local Government Act 2001

Abolished|

* Northern Ireland 1973 (local government)
* England and Wales 1974
* Ireland 2002

Number| 11 (as of 2008)
Possible types|

* Lieutenancy area (2)
* Principal area (9)

County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent term used in Scotland was a county of city. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in Northern Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland they remain in existence but have been renamed cities under the provisions of the Local Government Act 2001.[1] The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 re-introduced the term for certain "principal areas" in Wales. Scotland did not have county boroughs but instead had counties of cities. These were abolished on 16 May 1975. All four Scottish cities of the time—Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow—were included in this category. There was an additional category of large burgh in the Scottish system (similar to a municipal borough in England and Wales), which were responsible for all services apart from police, education and fire.

## England and Wales

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### History

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#### Initial creation

[edit]

When county councils were first created in 1889, it was decided that to let them have authority over large towns or cities would be impractical, and so any large incorporated place would have the right to be a county borough, and thus independent from the administrative county it would otherwise come under. Some cities and towns were already independent counties corporate, and most were to become county boroughs. Originally ten county boroughs were proposed; Bristol, Hull, Newcastle upon Tyne and Nottingham, which were already counties, and Birmingham, Bradford, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and Sheffield, which were not. The Local Government Act 1888 as eventually passed required a population of over 50,000 except in the case of existing counties corporate.[2] This resulted in 61 county boroughs in England and two in Wales (Cardiff and Swansea). Several exceptions were allowed, mainly for historic towns, including Bath and Dudley, which would still remain below the 50,000 limit by the time of the 1901 census. Some of the smaller counties corporate—Berwick upon Tweed, Lichfield, Poole, Carmarthen and Haverfordwest—did not become county boroughs, although Canterbury, with a population under 25,000, did.

#### Growth

[edit]

The county councils and county borough councils came into operation on 1 April 1889. Just seven months later, on 9 November 1889, the city of Oxford was the first borough which had not been made a county borough by the 1888 Act to be elevated to county borough status.[3] Various other new county boroughs were constituted in the following decades, generally as more boroughs reached the 50,000 minimum and then promoted Acts to constitute them county boroughs. The granting of county borough status was the subject of much disagreement between the large municipal boroughs and the county councils. The population limit provided county councils with a disincentive to allow mergers or boundary amendments to districts that would create authorities with large populations, as this would allow them to seek county borough status and remove the tax base from the administrative county.

County boroughs to be constituted in this era were a mixed bag, including some towns that would continue to expand such as Bournemouth and Southend-on-Sea. Other towns such as Burton upon Trent and Dewsbury were not to increase in population much past 50,000. 1913 saw the attempts of Luton and Cambridge to gain county borough status defeated in the House of Commons, despite the approval of the Local Government Board – the removal of Cambridge from Cambridgeshire would have reduced the income of Cambridgeshire County Council by over half.

#### Slowdown

[edit]

Street nameplate on Rutland Road, Smethwick in April 2007, showing painted out "County Borough" lettering.

Upon recommendation of a commission chaired by the Earl of Onslow, the population threshold was raised to 75,000 in 1926, by the Local Government (County Boroughs and Adjustments) Act 1926, which also made it much harder to expand boundaries. The threshold was raised to 100,000 by the Local Government Act 1958.

The viability of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil came into question in the 1930s. Due to a decline in the heavy industries of the town, by 1932 more than half the male population was unemployed, resulting in very high municipal rates in order to make public assistance payments. At the same time the population of the borough was lower than when it had been created in 1908.[4] A royal commission was appointed in May 1935 to "investigate whether the existing status of Merthyr Tydfil as a county borough should be continued, and if not, what other arrangements should be made".[5] The commission reported the following November, and recommended that Merthyr should revert to the status of a non-county borough, and that public assistance should be taken over by central government. In the event county borough status was retained by the town, with the chairman of the Welsh Board of Health appointed as administrative adviser in 1936.[6]

After the Second World War the creation of new county boroughs in England and Wales was effectively suspended, pending a local government review. A government white paper published in 1945 stated that "it is expected that there will be a number of Bills for extending or creating county boroughs" and proposed the creation of a boundary commission to bring coordination to local government reform. The policy in the paper also ruled out the creation of new county boroughs in Middlesex "owing to its special problems".[7] The Local Government Boundary Commission was appointed on 26 October 1945, under the chairmanship of Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve,[8] delivering its report in 1947.[9] The commission recommended that towns with a population of 200,000 or more should become one-tier "new counties", with "new county boroughs" having a population of 60,000–200,000 being "most-purpose authorities", with the county council of the administrative county providing certain limited services. The report envisaged the creation of 47 two-tiered "new counties", 21 one-tiered "new counties" and 63 "new county boroughs". The recommendations of the commission extended to a review of the division of functions between different tiers of local government, and thus fell outside its terms of reference, and its report was not acted upon.

#### Partial reform

[edit]

The next attempt at reform was by the Local Government Act 1958, which established the Local Government Commission for England and the Local Government Commission for Wales to carry out reviews of existing local government structures and recommend reforms. Although the Commissions did not complete their work before being dissolved, a handful of new county boroughs were constituted between 1964 and 1968. Luton, Torbay, and Solihull gained county borough status. Additionally, the Teesside was formed from a merger of the existing county borough of Middlesbrough, and the municipal boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Thornaby; Warley was formed from the county borough of Smethwick and the non-county boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis; and West Hartlepool was merged with Hartlepool. Following these changes, there was a total of 79 county boroughs in England. The Commission also recommended the downgrading of Barnsley to be a non-county borough, but this was not carried out.

#### Abolition

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The county boroughs of East Ham, West Ham and Croydon were abolished in 1965 with the creation of Greater London and went on to form parts of London boroughs. The remaining county boroughs were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and replaced with non-metropolitan districts and metropolitan districts, all beneath county councils in a two-tier structure. In Greater London and the metropolitan counties the lower tier districts retained a wider range of powers than in the non-metropolitan counties.

#### Revival

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This situation did not persist long. In 1986 the metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council were abolished, returning the metropolitan boroughs to a status equivalent to the former county boroughs, but sharing some powers (police and transport for example). In the 1990s, many of the non-metropolitan former county boroughs were reformed again as unitary authorities – essentially the same as a county borough. As a result, by 2015, most former county boroughs were either metropolitan boroughs or unitary authorities with a status similar to the old county boroughs. In England, most of those former county boroughs that did not gain unitary authority status—Barrow-in-Furness, Burnley, Canterbury, Carlisle, Chester, Eastbourne, Gloucester, Great Yarmouth, Hastings, Ipswich, Lincoln, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, Preston, and Worcester—have given their names to non-unitary local government districts (in some cases coterminous with the old county borough, in other cases much larger). Burton upon Trent became an unparished area in the East Staffordshire borough, and has now been divided into several parishes.

In Wales, several principal areas are county boroughs:[10]

* Newport (acquired city status in 2002)
* Merthyr Tydfil
* Caerphilly
* Blaenau Gwent
* Torfaen
* Vale of Glamorgan
* Bridgend
* Rhondda Cynon Taf
* Neath Port Talbot
* Wrexham
* Conwy

For all practical purposes, county boroughs are exactly the same as the other principal areas of Wales called "counties" (including "cities and counties") as all these areas are run by unitary authorities (i.e. have the functions of both boroughs and counties). Although unitary authorities are functionally equivalent to county boroughs, only in Wales is the title given official recognition by Act of Parliament.[10]

### English county boroughs in 1973

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The map depicts the county boroughs in England immediately prior to their abolition in 1974. County boroughs in Wales and Northern Ireland are not shown.

This table shows those county boroughs that existed in England and Wales between the Local Government Acts of 1888 (that created them) and 1972 (that abolished them from 1974).

County borough  | From  | Associated county  | 1971 census pop  | Successors in 1974

|
|
|
|

Barnsley | 1913  | Yorkshire, West Riding | 75,439  | Barnsley MB (part)  | South Yorkshire
Barrow-in-Furness | 1889  | Lancashire | 64,039  | Barrow-in-Furness (part)  | Cumbria
Bath | 1889  | Somerset | 84,686  | Bath  | Avon
Birkenhead | 1889  | Cheshire | 137,889  | Wirral MB (part)  | Merseyside
Birmingham | 1889  | Warwickshire | 1,014,773  | Birmingham MB (part)  | West Midlands
Blackburn | 1889  | Lancashire  | 101,802  | Blackburn (part)  | Lancashire
Blackpool | 1904  | Lancashire  | 151,871  | Blackpool  | Lancashire
Bolton | 1889  | Lancashire  | 154,223  | Bolton MB (part)  | Greater Manchester
Bootle | 1889  | Lancashire  | 74,304  | Sefton MB (part)  | Merseyside
Bournemouth | 1900  | Hampshire | 153,861  | Bournemouth  | Dorset
Bradford | 1889  | Yorkshire, West Riding  | 294,164  | Bradford MB (part)  | West Yorkshire
Brighton | 1889  | Sussex  | 161,350  | Brighton  | East Sussex
Bristol | 1889  | Gloucestershire[a] | 426,653  | Bristol  | Avon
Burnley | 1889  | Lancashire  | 76,489  | Burnley (part)  | Lancashire
Burton upon Trent | 1901  | Staffordshire  | 50,211  | East Staffordshire (part)[b] | Staffordshire
Bury | 1889  | Lancashire  | 67,870  | Bury MB (part)  | Greater Manchester
Canterbury | 1889  | Kent[a] | 33,155  | Canterbury (part)  | Kent
Cardiff | 1889  | Glamorgan | 279,046  | Cardiff (part)  | South Glamorgan
Carlisle | 1915  | Cumberland | 71,580  | Carlisle (part)  | Cumbria
Chester | 1889  | Cheshire[a] | 62,923  | Chester (part)  | Cheshire
Coventry | 1889  | Warwickshire  | 335,260  | Coventry MB (part)  | West Midlands
Darlington | 1915  | Durham | 85,916  | Darlington (part)  | Durham
Derby | 1889  | Derbyshire  | 219,578  | Derby  | Derbyshire
Dewsbury | 1913  | Yorkshire, West Riding  | 51,354  | Kirklees MB (part)  | West Yorkshire
Doncaster | 1927  | Yorkshire, West Riding  | 82,671  | Doncaster MB (part)  | South Yorkshire
Dudley | 1889  | Worcestershire to 1966
then Staffordshire  | 185,592  | Dudley MB (part)  | West Midlands
Eastbourne | 1911  | Sussex  | 70,949  | Eastbourne  | East Sussex
Exeter | 1889  | Devon[a] | 95,711  | Exeter  | Devon
Gateshead | 1889  | Durham  | 94,464  | Gateshead MB (part)  | Tyne and Wear
Gloucester | 1889  | Gloucestershire[a] | 90,223  | Gloucester  | Gloucestershire
Grimsby | 1891  | Lincolnshire | 95,502  | Grimsby  | Humberside
Halifax | 1889  | Yorkshire, West Riding  | 91,263  | Calderdale MB (part)  | West Yorkshire
Hartlepool | 1967  | Durham  | 97,082  | Hartlepool (part)  | Cleveland
Hastings | 1889  | Sussex  | 72,414  | Hastings  | East Sussex
Huddersfield | 1889  | Yorkshire, West Riding  | 131,188  | Kirklees MB (part)  | West Yorkshire
Ipswich | 1889  | Suffolk  | 123,297  | Ipswich  | Suffolk
Kingston upon Hull | 1889  | Yorkshire, East Riding[a] | 285,965  | Kingston upon Hull  | Humberside
Leeds | 1889  | Yorkshire, West Riding  | 496,036  | Leeds MB (part)  | West Yorkshire
Leicester | 1889  | Leicestershire | 284,208  | Leicester  | Leicestershire
Lincoln | 1889  | Lincolnshire[a] | 77,077 (1961)  | Lincoln  | Lincolnshire
Liverpool | 1889  | Lancashire  | 610,114  | Liverpool MB  | Merseyside
Luton | 1964  | Bedfordshire  | 161,400  | Luton  | Bedfordshire
Manchester | 1889  | Lancashire  | 543,741  | Manchester MB (part)  | Greater Manchester
Merthyr Tydfil | 1908  | Glamorgan  | 55,283  | Merthyr Tydfil  | Mid Glamorgan
Newcastle upon Tyne | 1889  | Northumberland[a] | 222,172  | Newcastle upon Tyne MB (part)  | Tyne and Wear
Newport | 1891  | Monmouthshire | 112,298  | Newport | Gwent
Northampton | 1889  | Northamptonshire | 126,597  | Northampton (part)  | Northamptonshire
Nottingham | 1889  | Nottinghamshire[a] | 300,675  | Nottingham  | Nottinghamshire
Norwich | 1889  | Norfolk[a] | 122,093  | Norwich  | Norfolk
Oldham | 1889  | Lancashire  | 105,922  | Oldham MB (part)  | Greater Manchester
Oxford | 1889  | Oxfordshire | 108,834  | Oxford  | Oxfordshire
Plymouth | 1889  | Devon  | 239,467  | Plymouth  | Devon
Portsmouth | 1889  | Hampshire  | 197,453  | Portsmouth  | Hampshire
Preston | 1889  | Lancashire  | 98,091  | Preston (part)  | Lancashire
Reading | 1889  | Berkshire | 132,978  | Reading  | Berkshire
Rochdale | 1889  | Lancashire  | 91,461  | Rochdale MB (part)  | Greater Manchester
Rotherham | 1902  | Yorkshire, West Riding  | 84,800  | Rotherham MB (part)  | South Yorkshire
St Helens | 1889  | Lancashire  | 104,326  | St Helens MB (part)  | Merseyside
Salford | 1889  | Lancashire  | 131,006  | Salford MB (part)  | Greater Manchester
Sheffield | 1889  | Yorkshire, West Riding  | 520,308  | Sheffield MB (part)  | South Yorkshire
Solihull | 1964  | Warwickshire  | 107,086  | Solihull MB (part)  | West Midlands
Southampton | 1889  | Hampshire[a] | 215,131  | Southampton  | Hampshire
Southend-on-Sea | 1914  | Essex  | 162,735  | Southend-on-Sea  | Essex
Southport | 1905  | Lancashire  | 84,524  | Sefton MB (part)  | Merseyside
South Shields | 1889  | Durham  | 100,676  | South Tyneside MB (part)  | Tyne and Wear
Stockport | 1889  | Cheshire  | 139,598  | Stockport MB (part)  | Greater Manchester
Stoke on Trent | 1910  | Staffordshire  | 265,258  | Stoke-on-Trent  | Staffordshire
Sunderland | 1889  | Durham  | 217,075  | Sunderland MB (part)  | Tyne and Wear
Swansea | 1889  | Glamorgan  | 173,355  | Swansea (part)  | West Glamorgan
Teesside | 1968  | Yorkshire, North Riding  | 396,233  | Middlesbrough (part)
Stockton (part)
Langbaurgh (part)  | Cleveland
Torbay | 1968  | Devon  | 109,260  | Torbay  | Devon
Tynemouth | 1904  | Northumberland  | 69,339  | North Tyneside MB (part)  | Tyne and Wear
Wakefield | 1915  | Yorkshire, West Riding  | 59,591  | Wakefield MB (part)  | West Yorkshire
Wallasey | 1913  | Cheshire  | 97,216  | Wirral MB (part)  | Merseyside
Walsall | 1889  | Staffordshire  | 184,734  | Walsall MB (part)  | West Midlands
Warley | 1966  | Worcestershire  | 163,567  | Sandwell MB (part)  | West Midlands
Warrington | 1900  | Lancashire  | 68,322  | Warrington (part)  | Cheshire
West Bromwich | 1889  | Staffordshire  | 166,592  | Sandwell MB (part)  | West Midlands
Wigan | 1889  | Lancashire  | 81,144  | Wigan MB (part)  | Greater Manchester
Wolverhampton | 1889  | Staffordshire  | 269,112  | Wolverhampton MB  | West Midlands
Worcester | 1889  | Worcestershire[a] | 73,454  | Worcester (part)  | Hereford and Worcester
Yarmouth | 1889  | Norfolk  | 50,236  | Great Yarmouth (part)  | Norfolk
York | 1889  | Yorkshire, West Riding[a] | 104,783  | York  | North Yorkshire

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m These boroughs were counties corporate and were separate from the associated county for certain largely ceremonial purposes, principally shrievalty and administration of justice.[11]
2. ^ This county borough had charter trustees.

Only four districts with more than one county borough were formed: Wirral, Sandwell, Sefton and Kirklees. Elsewhere, county boroughs usually formed the core or all of a district named after the county borough – with the exceptions of Halifax, whose metropolitan district was named Calderdale, Burton upon Trent, which became part of the East Staffordshire district, and Teesside, which was split up between three non-metropolitan districts.

### Previous county boroughs

[edit]

County boroughs to be abolished prior to 1974 were:

County borough  | County  | Created  | Abolished  | Successor

|
|
|
|

Croydon | Surrey | 1889  | 1965  | Greater London: London Borough of Croydon
Devonport | Devon | 1889  | 1914  | County Borough of Plymouth
East Ham | Essex | 1915  | 1965  | Greater London: London Borough of Newham
Hanley | Staffordshire | 1889  | 1910  | County Borough of Stoke on Trent
Middlesbrough | Yorkshire, North Riding | 1889  | 1968  | County Borough of Teesside
Smethwick | Staffordshire  | 1907  | 1966  | County Borough of Warley
West Ham | Essex  | 1889  | 1965  | Greater London: London Borough of Newham
West Hartlepool | Durham | 1902  | 1967  | County Borough of Hartlepool

## Northern Ireland

[edit]

The county boroughs of Belfast and Derry were created by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.

In Northern Ireland, local government has not used county boroughs since 1973, but they remain in use for lieutenancy.

For administrative purposes the two county boroughs in Northern Ireland were replaced with two larger districts (Belfast and Londonderry).

## Republic of Ireland

[edit]

The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 created county boroughs in Ireland. Under the Act, four former counties corporate (Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Waterford) became county boroughs.

Galway became a county borough in 1986.

In the Republic of Ireland, the relevant legislation remained in force (although amended), and county boroughs on the original model existed until 2001. Under the Local Government Act 2001 (which replaced most existing local government legislation in Ireland), the term "County Borough" was abolished and replaced with "City" (and hence, "Corporation" with "City Council"). However Kilkenny, while a traditional city, was never a county borough. Under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, the borough of Kilkenny was abolished, but the municipal district containing the administrative area of the former borough of Kilkenny would be known as the Municipal District of Kilkenny City.

## See also

[edit]

* County corporate
* List of administrative counties and county boroughs of England by population in 1971
* London boroughs
* Metropolitan borough
* Municipal borough

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Sections 10(2) and 10(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37 of 2001). Enacted on 21 July 2001. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
2. ^ Local Government Act 1888, s.31
3. ^ Annual Report of the Local Government Board. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1890. p. 324. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
4. ^ Census data on population of Merthyr Tydfil
5. ^ "No. 34159". The London Gazette. 1 May 1935. p. 3041.
6. ^ Report of the Royal Commission on the status of the County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil (Cmd.5039)
7. ^ Local government in England and Wales during the period of reconstruction (Cmd.6579)
8. ^ "No. 37325". The London Gazette. 26 October 1945. p. 5238.
9. ^ Report of the Local Government Boundary Commission for the year 1947
10. ^ a b Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, Schedule 1, Part II
11. ^ Arnold-Baker, Charles (2001). The Companion to British History (2 ed.). Routledge. p. 368\. ISBN 9780415185837.

* v
* t
* e

Borough status in the United Kingdom

Contemporary|

* London borough
* Metropolitan borough (England)

Municipal borough|

* Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (1835–1882 incorporations)
* Municipal Corporations Act 1882 (1882–1974 incorporations)
* County borough
* Metropolitan borough (London)
* Local Government Act 1933
* Rural borough

Ancient borough|

* Unreformed boroughs 1835–1886
* Seigneurial borough

* v
* t
* e

Designations for types of administrative division

English terms

Common English terms

| Area|

* Insular area
* Local government area
* Special area
* Unincorporated area
* Unorganized area

|

Borough|

* County borough
* Metropolitan borough

Canton|

Half-canton

Capital|

* Federal capital
* Imperial capital

City|

* Autonomous city
* Charter city
* Independent city
* Incorporated city
* Imperial city
* Free imperial city
* Royal free city

Community|

* Autonomous community
* Residential community

County|

* Administrative county
* Autonomous county
* Consolidated city-county
* County seat
* County town
* Metropolitan county
* Non-metropolitan county
* Regional county municipality
* Viscounty

Country|

* Overseas country

Department|

* Overseas department

District|

* Capital district
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* Congressional district
* Electoral district
* Federal district
* Indian government district
* Land district
* Local government district
* Metropolitan district
* Non-metropolitan district
* Military district
* Municipal district
* Police district
* Regional district
* Rural district
* Sanitary district
* Service district
* Educational service district
* Local service district
* School district
* Intermediate school district
* Special district
* in the US
* Urban district

Division|

* Census division
* Police division
* Subdivision of India

Indian reserve/reservation|

* Indian reservation (United States)
* Indian reserve (Canada)

Municipality|

* City municipality
* County municipality
* Direct-controlled municipality
* District municipality
* Neutral municipality
* Regional municipality
* Resort municipality
* Mountain resort municipality
* Rural municipality
* Specialized municipality

Prefecture|

* Autonomous prefecture
* Subprefecture
* Super-prefecture
* Praetorian prefecture

Province|

* Autonomous province
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* Roman province

Region|

* Administrative region
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* Autonomous region
* Capital region
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* Development region
* Mesoregion
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* Overseas region
* Subregion

State|

* Proto-state
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* Free state
* Sovereign state

Territory|

* Capital territory
* Federal capital territory
* National capital territory
* Dependent territory
* Federal territory
* Incorporated territory
* Organized incorporated territory
* Overseas territory
* Union territory

Town|

* Census town
* Market town

Township|

* Charter township
* Civil township
* Paper township
* Survey township
* Urban township

Unit|

* Regional unit

Zone|

* Economic zone
* Exclusive economic zone
* Free economic zone
* Special economic zone
* Exclusion zone
* Military exclusion zone
* Free speech zone
* Neutral zone
* Self-administered zone
* Trade zone
* Free-trade zone

Other English terms

| Current|

* Alpine resort
* Bailiwick
* Banner
* Autonomous
* Block
* Cadastre
* Circle
* Circuit
* Colony
* Commune
* Condominium
* Constituency
* Duchy
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* Eldership
* Emirate
* Enclave and exclave
* Federal dependency
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* Hamlet
* Manor
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* Muftiate
* Neighbourhood
* Parish
* Precinct
* Principality
* Protectorate
* Quarter
* Regency
* Autonomous republic
* Riding
* Sector
* Autonomous
* Shire
* Sultanate
* Suzerainty
* Townland
* Village
* Summer
* Ward

|

Historical|

* Agency
* Barony
* Burgh
* Exarchate
* Hide
* Hundred
* Imperial Circle
* March
* Monthon
* Presidency
* Residency
* Roman diocese
* Seat
* Tenth
* Tithing
* Viceroyalty

Non-English terms or loanwords

| Current|

* Amt
* Apskritis
* Bakhsh
* Barangay
* Bashki
* Bezirk
* Regierungsbezirk
* Comarca
* Comune
* Frazione
* Freguesia
* Fu
* Gemeinde
* Austria
* Germany
* South Tyrol
* Switzerland
* Gemeente
* Gmina
* Hromada
* Județ
* Kampong
* Kommun/Kunta
* Finland
* Sweden
* Län (Sweden)
* Landskap
* Finland
* Località
* Maakunta
* Megye
* Muban
* Mukim
* Njësi administrative
* Obec
* Oblast
* Autonomous
* Okrug
* Ostān
* Poblacion
* Purok
* Qark
* Raion
* Savivaldybė
* Selsoviet
* Sitio
* Seniūnija
* Shahrestān
* Sum
* China
* Sýsla
* Tehsil
* Townlet
* Vingtaine

|

Historical|

* Commote
* Gau
* Heerlijkheid
* Komunë
* Köping
* Korale
* Län/Lääni
* Landskap
* Sweden
* Landskommun
* Maalaiskunta
* Nome
* Egypt
* Greece
* Pagus
* Pargana
* Plasă
* Rreth
* Satrapy
* Socken
* Subah
* Syssel
* Zhou

Used by ten or more countries or having derived terms. Historical derivations in italics.

See also
Autonomous administration
Census division
Electoral district
List of administrative divisions by country
Greek administrative divisions
Slavic administrative divisions
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