Geographies
Geographies and boundaries
Every kind of area the Atlas holds boundaries for, from countries down to small neighbourhoods. Each page lists its boundary releases, how many areas they contain, and what data is published on them.
New to boundaries and releases? Start with Areas and boundaries.
Councils and regions
CountriesEngland, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.4 areas · 6 releases
RegionsThe nine regions of England, such as the North West and London. Many national statistics are summarised at this level.9 areas · 1 release
Counties and unitary authoritiesThe upper tier of local government: county councils, unitary authorities, and metropolitan and London boroughs.218 areas · 1 release
Local authoritiesLocal authority districts, the councils that run local services, such as Leeds, Cornwall or Glasgow City. They're the most common geography for official statistics, and most data in the Atlas is published on them.361 areas · 19 releases · 23 data pages
Combined authoritiesGroups of English councils that work together under a mayor or a combined county authority, such as Greater Manchester or the West Midlands.15 areas · 1 release
ParishesCivil parishes and Welsh communities, the smallest tier of local government, together with the unparished areas between them, so they cover England and Wales completely.11,542 areas · 7 releases
Local planning authoritiesThe bodies that decide planning applications. Mostly councils, but also national park authorities and development corporations.400 areas · 1 release
National parksThe fifteen national parks of England, Wales and Scotland.15 areas · 1 release
Elections
Westminster constituenciesThe areas that each elect a Member of Parliament to the House of Commons. The Atlas holds release history from 2015, including boundaries from before and after the 2024 general-election redraw.650 areas · 9 releases · 2 data pages
WardsElectoral wards, the areas that elect local councillors. They're redrawn often, so the Atlas holds a range of historical releases from 2011 onward.8,413 areas · 17 releases · 3 data pages
County electoral divisionsThe areas English county councils are elected by, the county council equivalent of wards.1,367 areas · 1 release
Scottish Parliament constituenciesThe 73 constituencies that each elect a member of the Scottish Parliament.73 areas · 4 releases
Scottish Parliament regionsThe eight regions that elect the Scottish Parliament's additional members.8 areas · 1 release
Senedd constituenciesThe 40 constituencies that each elect a member of the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament.40 areas · 1 release
Senedd regionsThe five regions that elect the Senedd's additional members.5 areas · 1 release
Statistical areas
Output areasThe smallest areas census statistics are published for in England and Wales, of around 100 to 625 people. LSOAs are built from them.188,880 areas · 1 release
Lower layer super output areas (LSOAs)Small neighbourhoods of around 1,000 to 3,000 people in England and Wales, designed for statistics. Deprivation indices and other small-area data are published on them.35,672 areas · 4 releases · 3 data pages
Middle layer super output areas (MSOAs)Areas of around 5,000 to 15,000 people in England and Wales, built from LSOAs and sitting between them and local authorities.7,264 areas · 1 release · 1 data page
Data zonesScotland's small areas for statistics, similar to LSOAs in England and Wales. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation is published on them.7,392 areas · 4 releases · 1 data page
Intermediate zonesScottish areas of around 2,500 to 6,000 people, built from data zones and sitting between them and council areas, much like MSOAs in England and Wales.1,279 areas · 1 release
Northern Ireland super output areasNorthern Ireland's small areas for statistics. The Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure is published on them.890 areas · 1 release · 1 data page
ITL1 regionsThe top tier of International Territorial Levels, used for regional economic statistics: the nine English regions plus Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.12 areas · 2 releases · 1 data page
ITL2 areasThe middle tier of International Territorial Levels, used for regional economic statistics.46 areas · 2 releases · 1 data page
ITL3 areasThe most detailed tier of International Territorial Levels, where regional GDP and productivity are published.182 areas · 2 releases · 1 data page
Travel to work areasAreas where most residents also work, drawn from commuting patterns rather than administrative lines. They're a good approximation of local labour markets.228 areas · 1 release
Major towns and citiesThe built-up extents of the largest towns and cities in England and Wales. Useful for giving a map context, rather than for joining data to.112 areas · 1 release
Health, police and fire
Integrated care boardsThe NHS bodies that plan health services across England. NHS waiting times are reported on them.36 areas · 1 release
Sub-ICB locationsThe areas within each integrated care board, which took over from clinical commissioning groups.106 areas · 1 release
NHS England regionsThe seven regions NHS England is organised into, above the integrated care boards.7 areas · 2 releases
Welsh local health boardsThe seven boards that plan and deliver NHS services in Wales.7 areas · 1 release
Police force areasThe 43 territorial police forces of England and Wales.43 areas · 1 release
Community safety partnershipsLocal partnerships of councils, police and other services that tackle crime. Police recorded crime is published on them, so they're the geography for the Atlas's crime data.314 areas · 1 release · 1 data page
Fire and rescue authoritiesThe 47 fire and rescue services of England and Wales.47 areas · 1 release
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