UK geographical organization?

I’m getting ready to build out my UK classifieds section and I’ve been researching how the UK is divided up geographically.

In the US we have Country->State->County->City .

Can any of you UK webmasters / SEO guys shed some light on how the UK regions are structured? I've spent several hours digging into it and there seem to be multiple juridictions, structures, postal boundaries, historical organization, classical structures and political boundaries.

?

 

In the UK we have -

Country / County / Borough / City (or town, depending on size) / Village

hope that helps.

 

however, borough is only in London...........

In London I was ,

apartment #
apartment name
road name
area/ borough
London (classed as county)
postal code

now, in the country I am

# road name
village
area
county
postal code

my parents are

# road name
town
county
postal code


This is the UK we're talking about here of course !! nothing is ever easy

 

different parts work different ways too (you can live in london and have an addresss that says Bexley, Kent - not london).

County = state (ie Kent)
post codes = zips (ie BN2 5DE)

 

How do you code for this??? Seems very complicated

Is there a government database / list of how this is divided up?

 

No idea, but all of these are popular UK classifieds

http://www.friday-ad.co.uk
http://www.loot.com/
http://motors.ebay.co.uk/

 

The postcode area would probably be the easiest as every place in the UK would be able to be divided up in the same way.

 

True.. Although I tend to divide the nation between those that wear Burberry and those that dont

 

That's the fundamental problem with using postal codes in any country. Sellers usually know their's but buyers hardly ever do. People tend to shop in an "area" - cities or counties or borroughs or regions - and usually have no clue what postal codes to use to filter the ads.

-jay

 

No in the UK most people know their postcodes I would say (at least the first 1/2 anyway). The Burberry thing is a joke, you have to live here to see.

 

I'm sure there are cultural and social differences between a US and UK shopper but it seems like people more comfortable looking for things within a geographic area as opposed to a specific postal code.

If I was searching for a “blue widget” in London would I find it easier to use my postal code as the anchor for the search or just say:

“show me all the ‘blue widgets’ in London.”

If there were multiple hits, I could then narrow the search radius to:

“show me all the ‘blue widgets’ in London that are in postal codes: xxx yyy, aaa bbb, and ccc ddd” or:

“show me all the ‘blue widgets in London within a 5 miles of postal code: eee fff”

I know examples are very granular but I’m trying to figure this out up front so I don’t have to rewrite it later. And I appreciate the feedback - thanks!

-jay

 

Try these : UK Map: List of Regions etc

http://www.picturesofengland.com/mapofengland/regions.html
http://www.letslinkuk.net/regions/uk-map.htm
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html#Govt

or

This is a full list of all UK Counties (Zones) including the Channel Islands, Isle Of Man etc. (sql)

http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,925

 

This is exactly what I was looking for.

I put this on hold until I could find time to finish the research.

Thanks!

-jay

 

Glad I could help