Lieutenancy areas are the separate areas of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
appointed a
lord-lieutenant
A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibilit ...
– a representative of the
British monarch
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...
. In many cases they have similar demarcation and naming to, but are not necessarily coterminate with, the
counties of the United Kingdom
The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. The older term, ''shire'' is historically equivalent to county. By the Middle Ages ...
.
Origin
In England, lieutenancy areas are colloquially known as the
ceremonial counties, although this phrase does not appear in any legislation referring to them. The
lieutenancy areas of Scotland are
subdivisions of Scotland
For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" ( gd, comhairlean), which are all governed by single-tier authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Ga ...
that are more or less based on the
counties of Scotland
The shires of Scotland ( gd, Siorrachdan na h-Alba), or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes (bei ...
, making use of the major cities as separate entities. In Wales, the lieutenancy areas are known as the
preserved counties of Wales and are based on those used for lieutenancy and local government between 1974 and 1996 and not the
historic counties. The lieutenancy areas of Northern Ireland correspond to the
six counties and two former county boroughs.
Map
Not shown: City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
See also
*
Historic counties of the United Kingdom
The Historic counties of the United Kingdom are ancient geographical divisions of the United Kingdom. Although not defined by any one function, over many centuries, various forms of administrative function have been based on them. These have inclu ...
References
{{UK subdivisions
Local government in the United Kingdom
Types of subdivision in the United Kingdom