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Research draft

administrative territorial entity of the United Kingdom

vr.tr.administrative-territorial-entity-of-the-united-kingdom · PHY.PLC

Let an agent explain UK administrative geography by nation and level, identify which authority covers a place, and handle historical units and boundary changes with sourced data.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent explain UK administrative geography by nation and level, identify which authority covers a place, and handle historical units and boundary changes with sourced data.

Any administrative or electoral division of the United Kingdom, including the four countries, regions, counties, unitary authorities, districts, London boroughs, civil parishes, communities, council areas, and electoral wards and divisions, as well as historical units such as ancient boroughs and rural districts; the systems differ in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What it is for: Local government, elections, statistics and addressing in the UK.

It can be identify the council and ward for a place; explain tiers of local government by nation; trace historical boundary changes; link to official codes and boundaries.

Distinguishing features

Differs by UK nation

Multiple tiers

Frequent reorganisation

Coded in official registers

What it looks like

Not physical; boundaries on maps and codes in registers.

How it is recognised

Council areas and wards on maps

GSS codes

Ceremonial counties differ from administrative ones

Related models

is a kind of - category

administrative territorial entity of a single country

is part of - country

United Kingdom

is governed by - government

local authority

is related to - devolved and national legislatures

parliament

In practice

Families and kinds

countries and regions

counties and unitary authorities

districts and boroughs

parishes and communities

wards and electoral divisions

Identifiers

GSS code nine-character statistical geography code ONS register

Standards and regulation

Local Government Acts

ONS Code History Database

Boundary commission reviews

Failure modes and hazards

Outdated boundaries after reorganisation

Confusing ceremonial, historic and administrative counties

Mixing UK nations systems

Also called

ward or electoral division of the United Kingdomward of the City of Londonelectoral ward of Belfastancient boroughrural districtdistrict of Northern Ireland (1973 to 2015)historic county of Walescombined county authority areacombined authority areadistrict of Englandprincipal areaconstituency of the Northern Ireland Assemblyadministrative territorial entity of Northern Irelandcounty boroughadministrative territorial entity of Englanddistrict with city statusadministrative territorial entity of Bermudacivil parish with city statuscommunity councilurban district of Great Britain and IrelandSubdivisions of WalesITL 1 statistical regions of Englandunitary authority areanon-metropolitan districtlands common between parishesextra-parochial areadistrict council area

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Locate Which authority.

Place to authority.

Council

Responsible council.

Council

Responsible council.

  1. Which council or councils cover this address, according to official lookups? provenance
  2. Which services does each tier provide? provenance

Ward

Electoral ward.

Ward

Electoral ward.

  1. Which ward or electoral division does the address fall in? provenance
  2. Who are the councillors? provenance
Systems By nation.

Four systems.

Nations

Differences.

Nations

Differences.

  1. How do local government structures differ across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? definition
  2. Which units exist only in one nation? provenance

Counties

Kinds of county.

Counties

Kinds of county.

  1. Is a ceremonial, historic or administrative county meant? boundary
  2. Which entry fits? action
History Changes.

Boundaries change.

Reorganisation

Past reforms.

Reorganisation

Reforms.

  1. When was this unit created, merged or abolished, according to the ONS code history? provenance
  2. What replaced it? provenance

Ancient

Historical units.

Ancient

Historical units.

  1. What was an ancient borough, rural district or hundred? definition
  2. Where can historical boundaries be found? provenance
Data Codes and boundaries.

Open data exists.

Codes

GSS codes.

Codes

GSS codes.

  1. What is the GSS code for this unit? provenance
  2. How do codes change over time? provenance

Boundaries

Boundary data.

Boundaries

Boundary data.

  1. Where can boundary files be downloaded under open licence? provenance
  2. Which vintage should be used? boundary

What the second pass must settle

  • Should each tier be a separate entry?
  • How should boundary datasets be linked?
  • How should historical units be recorded?
Draft as JSON