The data are provided free of charge for all personal, educational, non-commercial and commercial use. No specific permission is required. However, we would appreciate an appropriate acknowledgement of the use of the data.
Lookup the county name for a given postcode, or generate a CSV file of counties for a series of postcodes. A complete file of all postcodes can be found in the Downloads section.
Lookup county names for Unique Property Reference Numbers.
Lookup county names for places using Ordnance Survey National Grid co-ordinates or grid reference.
Generate a list of postcodes or UPRNs for a given county.
Download a database or CSV file of every postcode, county and grid reference.
Show county populations.
These border datasets conform to the Historic Counties Standard (HCS). The HCS Definition A datasets treat detached parts of counties as part of their host county, whereas the HCS Definition B datasets include them separately.
The full-resolution polygons are suitable for 1:5,000-scale applications. The simplified sets are usable at scales greater than 1:50,000. A set of border lines is also available, for applications where a coastline is provided separately.
The data are available in ESRI Shapefile (SHP) format, in both OSGB and WGS84 spatial reference systems, and also in KML/KMZ format.
Last updated on 19 Jun 2025.
| Great Britain & Ireland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 53.11 MB |
WGS84 SHP 52.12 MB |
KMZ 57.67 MB |
OSGB SHP 6.72 MB |
WGS84 SHP 6.41 MB |
KMZ 7.06 MB |
WGS84 SHP 7.59 MB |
| United Kingdom | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 40.94 MB |
WGS84 SHP 40.68 MB |
KMZ 45.19 MB |
OSGB SHP 5.12 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.95 MB |
KMZ 5.47 MB |
WGS84 SHP 6.48 MB |
| Great Britain | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 39.2 MB |
WGS84 SHP 39.02 MB |
KMZ 43.32 MB |
OSGB SHP 4.91 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.75 MB |
KMZ 5.24 MB |
WGS84 SHP 6.3 MB |
| Great Britain & Ireland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 54.63 MB |
WGS84 SHP 53.64 MB |
KMZ 59.34 MB |
OSGB SHP 6.95 MB |
WGS84 SHP 6.63 MB |
KMZ 7.31 MB |
WGS84 SHP 8.38 MB |
| United Kingdom | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 42.33 MB |
WGS84 SHP 42.08 MB |
KMZ 46.73 MB |
OSGB SHP 5.33 MB |
WGS84 SHP 5.15 MB |
KMZ 5.7 MB |
WGS84 SHP 7.21 MB |
| Great Britain | ||||||
| Full-resolution polygons | Simplified polygons | Border lines only | ||||
| OSGB SHP 40.59 MB |
WGS84 SHP 40.41 MB |
KMZ 44.86 MB |
OSGB SHP 5.11 MB |
WGS84 SHP 4.96 MB |
KMZ 5.47 MB |
WGS84 SHP 7.04 MB |
Where there is nothing listed in the Definition B column, this is because the county has no detached parts and therefore the data in the Definition A column are suitable for either HCS definition.
Download a Shapefile, SVG or KMZ of individual counties.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Yorkshire ridings (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Yorkshire ridings (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Parts of Lincolnshire (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Parts of Lincolnshire (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Lindsey (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Lindsey (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Tipperary.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Cork (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Ridings of Cork (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Rapes of Sussex (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Rapes of Sussex (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Lathes of Kent.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Ayrshire.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Dumfriesshire.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Fife (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Fife (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Wards of Lanarkshire.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Wards of Renfrewshire.
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Roxburghshire (Definition A).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Districts of Roxburghshire (Definition B).
Download a Shapefile (WGS84) or KML of the Sheadings of the Isle of Man.
These SVG maps are generated at a nominal horizonal resoluton of 1,000 pixels.
