Wikipedia:WikiProject UK geography/How to write about counties

This is a project guideline for the structure of Wikipedia articles about the counties of the United Kingdom. It was developed from extensive discussion and consensus at WikiProject UK geography.

The order of sections is optional, although it is strongly recommended that articles conform to the basic structure outlined below. Where this may not be suitable, editors are advised to come to a consensus that works best for the county in question. References are required for every article.

While this is just a guideline, it does provide a basic framework for a UK county article, as well as useful tips to help in bringing an article up to good article or featured article status.

Please ensure that all changes to this page are discussed on the talk page and reflect consensus.

They are several uses of "county" for the United Kingdom. The main three uses are administrative, historic and (the primary convention on Wikipedia) lieutenancy. All three structures overlap in naming conventions. This guide is to help with what to do with each county type.

Infobox, lead and introduction do not need a heading. References are mandatory for any article and section titles should generally not start with the word "The" (see WP:HEAD).

If an article can fit into multiple guidelines, they should be followed logically, such as not duplicating headings or repeating content. Best defaulting to the settlement how to’s structure of an article covers multiple types.

Infobox

An example collage of Devon gives an overview of the of the county with two natural features, a landmark in a major city and a distinctive breed of pony.

Infoboxes may contain image collages of no more than four images in no more than three rows, without compelling reason to do so with local consensus. The images should be captioned in the caption field of the infobox beneath the collage.
The collage’s images can include prominent natural and man-made landmarks, a notable cultural figure/ group and or culturally associated subjects with at least one major settlement represented. Images should be carefully selected to ensure they are legible at small size. arranged so that they can be seen clearly and their colours complement each other.

Lieutenancy (Gwynedd, Norfolk, Angus, Belfast, etc.)

Lieutenancy areas are the agreed primary areas of reference on Wikipedia. Each of the nations has a common name for these areas: the Counties of Northern Ireland, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, Preserved counties of Wales and Ceremonial counties of England. These areas are an in between of administrative and historic structures, grouping the former into similar areas to the latter.

In England these areas have a non-metropolitan county and metropolitan county distinction, they each have to do the same things but metropolitan counties need to deal with more people. All metropolitan counties are now in combined authorities so it is best to go to the combined authorities section for guidance.

You must avoid anachronisms, the current lieutenancy borders are recent inventions and should not be confused with other structures, for example the House of Commons doesn’t see the borough of Middlesbrough as North Yorkshire but as it’s own entity or as part of Tees Valley, the House of Lords does consider it as North Yorkshire while in sport Middlesbrough is in the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union and has hosted Yorkshire CCC.

Headings to use in these articles

Sample headers

== Geography ==

== Representation ==

== Demography ==

== Population centres ==

== Education ==

== Economy ==

== Places of interest ==

== Sport ==

== Transport ==

== Notable people ==

== See also ==

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

Hit [Show] in the upper box to reveal the guidelines. Please widen your window if the display is distorted.

Introduction

Template:Infobox English county
Template:Infobox settlement
Don’t uses flags or coat of arms as these don’t represent all areas of the article.

Lead (see also WP:LEAD): Include the following

Name of lieutenancy area (including any official/unofficial names, abbreviations), type of county (i.e. Non-metropolitan county), its official region (Scottish Sheriffdoms or Regions of England only), and constituent country.
Its largest centre of population.
How many districts are within its boundaries (explain any districts which overlap lieutenancy areas)
A brief paragraph about its geographic situation (e.g. is it landlocked? upland? lowland?)
Notable unique characteristics and characteristics commonly associated with it.
Lead sections must not exceed four paragraphs, per WP:LEAD.

Geography

{{main|Geography of _}} Geography: Include the following

The name’s origin, if the area shares space with a historic area it goes under History
Adjacent areas.
Topography; its elevation above sea level and notable rivers, mountains or natural landmarks.
Geology
The built environment; how the land is used such as national parks or mineral deposits.
Climate; where figures are available and include table if possible.

Representation

Representation: Include the following

Monarch’s representatives
- Lord Lieutenants
- High Sheriff
UK Parliament
- Number of constituencies
- General vote share
Modern local government
- council areas, if the council area is also covered in this area, any other areas come under an "other" sub-heading.
- council partnerships

Demography

{{main|Demography of _}} Demography: Include the following only if data is available

Current population and where the figure is taken from.
The ethnic composition.
The religious composition.
Economic activity of the population.
The population change over the last century.
Population density, and any notable migration patterns.
Age structure and distribution: urban ? rural ? younger ? older ?
Any notable or unusual census data.

Population centres

Notable settlements
Conurbations
Avoid making lists and large tables in this section.

Education

higher and further education
museums

Economy

{{main|Economy of _}} Economy: Include the following

A note on major employment sectors.
A note on major employers.
A note on traditional or former sectors.
Things to consider:
- GDP in relation to rest of region and rest of UK.
- Employment rate.
- Principal industries & employers.
- Agriculture.
- Tourism.

Places of interest

Fortifications
Residences
Parks
Religious sites
structures (towers, statues, bridges, etc.)
institutions (art galleries, aquariums, etc.)

Sport

Centres (stadiums, velodromes, white-water courses, etc.)
Professional clubs
Rivalries

Transport

{{seealso|Transport in _}} Transport: Include the following

A note on the transportation infrastructure in place in and around the area.
Any heavy rail or light rail stations and lines.
Any nearby airports/ferryports.

Notable people

All persons under this section must satisfy Wikipedia:Notability (people).
A note on any notable births in the area.
A note on any notable residents in the area.
Do not use a list format in this section. Please write this as prose, reference each person, and do not use the word "famous".
Reserve this section for the most notable of people, towns and cities can have more in-depth lists.

Historic (Caernarfonshire, Yorkshire, Peeblesshire, County Antrim, etc.)

Historic areas are generally used in culture (geographic naming, sport and food) . Each of the nations has a common name for these areas: the Counties of Northern Ireland, Shires of Scotland, Historic counties of Wales and Historic counties of England. These generally overlap administrative structures and gave their names to lieutenancy areas which then deviated from these areas.

Views on relevance of these articles vary between whether they should be irrelevant to highly relevant, you must give priority to lieutenancy areas and not go into detail about the debate in article. Historic areas are known to also be districts (such as Huntingdonshire) and should therefore also follow the districts how to guide. Historic areas rarely get a specific article, commonly sharing an article with a district or lieutenancy area due to a large overlap in content. Exceptions can happen such as Cumberland and Cumberland (district). In England a two-tier, non-metropolitan and ceremonial county always also cover an equivalent historic county due to continuous governance from Pre-Victorian, Victorian, Late 20th century to current governance.

Headings to use in these articles

Sample headers

== History ==

== Geography ==

== Governance ==

== Demography ==

== Education ==

== Economy ==

== Culture ==

== Places of interest ==

== Religion ==

== Sport ==

== Notable people ==

== See also ==

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

Hit [Show] in the upper box to reveal the guidelines. Please widen your window if the display is distorted.

Introduction

Template:Infobox historic subdivision (England and Wales)
Template:Infobox settlement (Scotland and Northern Ireland)
Feel free to uses flags in historic only articles, otherwise put them in culture.

Lead (see also WP:LEAD): Include the following

Name of area (including any official/unofficial names, abbreviations) and part (Midlands, Highlands, etc.) of its constituent country.
What gave its name to the area (York for Yorkshire), the name may have obscure origins and best described in Toponomy.
Explain lieutenancy areas which cover the area
A brief paragraph about its geographic situation (e.g. is it landlocked? large lake? big hill?)
Notable unique characteristics and characteristics commonly associated with it.
Lead sections must not exceed four paragraphs, per WP:LEAD.

History

A note on the earliest known history of the county (any Bronze Age or Roman artefacts for example), and the earliest known mentions of the county (e.g. in Domesday book, Heptarchy?).
Use headings in ages, i.e. pre-Roman settlement, Roman occupation, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Middle and Modern ages. This section may mention notable historic buildings, such as castles and monasteries, significant battles, etc.
Avoid century or decade headings as it produces too many headings and may place related information in multiple headings.

Geography

{{main|Geography of _}} Geography: Include the following

Adjacent areas.
Topography; its elevation above sea level and notable rivers, mountains or natural landmarks.
Geology
The built environment; how the land is used such as national parks or mineral deposits.
Climate; where figures are available and include table if possible.

Governance

Governance: Include the following

Absorbs Representation of lieutenancy areas
Historic local government
- former subdivisions; thanedoms, hundreds, wards, ridings, wapentakes, liberties, regiones.
- Kingdoms?
- County palatine?
Identity campaigns

Demography

{{main|Demography of _}} Demography: Include the following only if data is available

Timeline of population and where the figure is taken from.
The population change over the last century.
notable former migration patterns.
Any notable or unusual census data.

Education

If a region or lieutenancy areas cover the area well enough, this is optional
higher and further education
museums

Economy

{{main|Economy of _}} Economy: Include the following

If a region or lieutenancy areas cover the area well enough, this is optional
A note on major employment sectors.
A note on major employers.
A note on traditional or former sectors.
Things to consider:
- GDP in relation to rest of region and rest of UK.
- Employment rate.
- Principal industries & employers.
- Agriculture.
- Tourism.

Culture

{{seealso|Culture of _}} Culture: Include the following

Symbols
- Emblems, flags, coat/banner of arms, etc.
- Patron saints, notable families (Percy, Beauchamp, etc.) or figures (Duchy of Lancaster, Bishop of Durham, etc.)
- Food (Aberdeen Angus steak, Yorkshire pudding, etc.)
Dialects.

Places of interest

Consider what is covered in lieutenancy articles
Fortifications
Residences
Parks
structures (towers, statues, bridges, etc.)
institutions (art galleries, aquariums, etc.)

Religion

Religious sites (cathedrals, mosques, abbeys, gurdwaras, temples, etc.)
Dioceses, Deaneries
Denominations

Sport

County-wide associations and clubs
Notable clubs (top league, firsts, achievements, etc.)
Notable events (sport or league founders, disasters, event hosts, etc.)

Notable people

All persons under this section must satisfy Wikipedia:Notability (people).
A note on what people from this county are called, (e.g. people from Lancashire are called Lancastrians).
A note on any notable births in the county.
A note on any notable residents in the county.
Do not use a list format in this section. Please write this as prose, reference each person, and do not use the word "famous".
Reserve this section for the most notable of people - suitable for a county, rather than city or town.

No longer relevant (Avon, etc.)

Areas no longer relevant, these are most common in England where administrative counties from 1889 to 1974 and short lived 1974 to 1996 counties existed, such as East Suffolk and Avon. Ancient areas which have long since merged into others or disbanded in favour of larger counties are also included such as Hexhamshire.

Sample headers

== Creation ==

== Abolition ==

== Places of interest ==

== See also ==

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

Introduction

Template:Infobox former subdivision

Lead (see also WP:LEAD): Include the following

Name of area (including any official/unofficial names, abbreviations), former administration (type and kingdom), current administration and current constituent country.
What gave its name to the area (River Avon for Avon), the name may have obscure origins and best described in Toponomy.
Notable unique characteristics and characteristics commonly associated with it.
Lead sections must not exceed four paragraphs, per WP:LEAD.

Creation

Governance: Include the following

How did it come about?
What did it cover?
Who had power? (the Church, the king or other)

Abolition

What happened to it ?
Legacy? (diocese, forces, parish, new authority, etc.)

Places of interest

Town halls, castles, palaces, abbeys
Still standing or lost

Authorities (Greater London, West of England, Cairngorms, Swansea Bay, etc.)

The United Kingdom also has miscellaneous authorities which cover areas which can also include county names: Regional economy in Wales, England’s combined authority, National parks of the United Kingdom, Passenger transport executive areas, etc.

Sample headers

== Origin ==

== Geography ==

== Population centres ==

== Governance ==

== Economy ==

== Public service ==

== Places of interest ==

== Transport ==

== See also ==

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

Introduction

Template:infobox settlement

Lead (see also WP:LEAD): Include the following

Name and any official/unofficial names, abbreviations (The Peak, Gtr Manchester)
Type of authority area (national park, combined authority area, etc.)
Hint the name origin (centred upon, around the, named after, etc.)
Constituent country.
largest centre of population, if not already mentioned.
Notable parts (lakes for the lakes, districts, etc.)
Notable unique characteristics and characteristics commonly associated with it.
Lead sections must not exceed four paragraphs, per WP:LEAD.

Origin

Predecessors
How was it formed? How did it evolve from its predecessors?
When was the area formed?
Why was it formed? (protection, planning, etc)

Geography

{{main|Geography of _}} Geography: Include the following

Topography; its elevation above sea level.
Geology
The built environment; how the land is used such as mineral deposits.
Climate; where figures are available and include table if possible.

Population centres

Notable settlements
Conurbations
Avoid making lists and large tables in this section.

Governance

Whats the authority?
What are their powers?
What have they done with their powers? (Visiting centres, buying infrastructure like airports, acquiring smaller bodies, etc.)

Economy

{{main|Economy of _}} Economy: Include the following

A note on major employment sectors.
A note on major employers.
A note on traditional or former sectors.
Sectors to consider:
- Agriculture.
- Tourism.
- Service-based industries.

Public services

Utility companies (water, sewage, gas, energy, etc.)
Emergency services (police, rescue, fire, air, ambulance, NHS body, etc.)
Buidings and structures (reservoirs, hospitals, wind farms, etc.)

Places of interest

Fortifications
Natural
Residences
Religious sites
structures (towers, statues, bridges, etc.)
institutions (art galleries, aquariums, etc.)

Transport

{{seealso|Transport in _}} Transport: Include the following

Transport body.
Any railway systems (trams, metro, subway, heritage, miniature, etc.)
Any rail notable stations and lines.
Any nearby airports/ferryports.

End

These are sections are required at the end of an article

References

NOTE: Reference sections may follow a number of styles, including separate "Footnote" and "Further reading" sections, please refer to WP:REF for more information.

Every article of Wikipedia must provide reliable citation, and thus this section is mandatory per policy.
Please use {{reflist}} for a standalone "Reference" section.
Try to avoid over using citation in lead sections.
Consider using an approved citation template to better organise and present references.
When providing a reference, please note that the word or punctuation goes before the reference, with no space in between. Full stops should not appear after a reference (i.e. "this is a quote".<ref>Smith J. (1234), Example book</ref>)

External links

External links should be added only rarely, and in accordance with the guidelines found in WP:EL. Consequently, this section should only rarely be found in most articles. In particular, the use of links as described in WP:SPAM should always be avoided.

If any links are deemed appropriate for this section, they should always be accompanied by an appropriate description of (a) what they are, (b) their justification, and (c) the date on which they were added in the form "Accessed: 07 July, 2007" (WP:EL#External links section gives some more information about this.)

External links used as a form of verification for facts found in the text of the article should be treated as normal references, e.g., cited by enclosing them in <ref>...</ref> tags and conforming to the style of web-based references, which also includes a "Retrieval date" component. They should not be added to this section (see WP:EL#References and citation.) Wikipedia:Citation templates gives useful information about what should be entered and the order in which the separate components of a web-citation should appear.

Dos and Don'ts

Per WP:TRIVIA, do not use a "trivia", "miscellaneous" or "other facts" section.
Per WP:LIST, avoid using lists wherever possible (particularly for "notable people" or "subdivisions"), consider using tables, diagrams or prose.
Per WP:DATE and WP:CONTEXT, do not link standalone years. Only link full dates or dates with a day and a month. The same applies to dates in the footnotes.
Avoid describing named-areas that are verifiably part of a wider settlement as "districts" or "suburbs", unless citation supports this. Whilst these two terms have common usages, they also indicate a specific and technical geographic term to which an area may not actually conform.
Per WP:EL and WP:SPAM, be reluctant to add external links unless they are essential, and always restrict them to the "External links" section, or to within an appropriately tagged reference.

Grammar and layout checklist

The lead needs to adequately summarize the content of the article.
There should not be anything in the lead not mentioned in the rest of the article.
Only make wikilinks that are relevant to the context. Common words do not need wikilinking.
A word only needs to be wikilinked once within each section.
It is not recommended to specify the size of images. The sizes should be what readers have specified in their user preferences.
Text should not be sandwiched between two adjacent images.
All fair-use images need a fair use rationale.
Image captions should not end with a full-stop if the caption does not form a complete sentence.
Book references need the author, publisher, publishing date and page number.
Web references need the author, publisher, publishing date, access date, language (if not English) and format (if a PDF file).
Blogs and personal websites are not reliable sources.
Inline citations belong immediately after punctuation marks.
Each "notable resident" needs a reference.
Portal links belong in the "see also" section.
"Further info" links belong at the top of sections.
Include lists only if they cannot be made into prose or their own article.
Lists within prose should be avoided.
Unspaced en dashes are used for ranges. Unspaced em dashes or spaced en dashes are used for punctuation. The same applies to dashes in the footnotes. See WP:MOS#Dashes.
" " (non-breaking space) should be typed between numbers and units.
Imperial measurements should be accompanied by the metric equivalent in brackets, and vice versa. If possible, use a conversion template, e.g. {{convert|5|mi|km|0}}.
Whole numbers under ten should be spelled out as words, except when in lists, tables or infoboxes.
Sentences should not start with a numeral. Either recast the sentence or spell the number out.
Usually, only the first word in a section heading needs a capital letter.
Short sections and paragraphs are discouraged.
The words "current", "recent" & "to date" should be avoided as they become outdated.
Ampersands should not be used, except when in a name, e.g., Marks & Spencer.
Southeast is one word (and may or may not be hyphenated). This does not apply when it is the name of an area, e.g. South East England.
In longer sentences, a comma may be needed before "and", "due to", "such as", "including", "as", "because" or "but".
"Past few years" has a different meaning to "last few years".
"Within" has a different meaning to "in".
Full-stops are needed after each initial in someone's name.
Hyphens should not be placed after words ending in ly, e.g. widely-used phrase (except if the ly word could also describe the noun, e.g. friendly-looking man)
Do not use contractions, such as "can't" and "they're".
"While" should only be used when emphasising that two events occur at the same time, or when emphasising contrast. It should not be used as an additive link.
Using "with" as an additive link can lead to wordy and awkward prose, e.g. the town has ten councillors, with one being the district mayor → the town has ten councillors; one is the district mayor
Beginning a sentence with "there", when it does not stand for anything, leads to wordy prose, e.g. There are ten houses in the village → The village has ten houses. The same applies to "it".
Avoid weasel words, such as "it is believed that", "is widely regarded as", "some have claimed".
Avoid peacock terms, such as "beautiful", "famous", "popular", "well-known", "significant", "important" and "obvious".
Avoid informal or words, such as "carry out" and "pub".
Avoid overly-formal or archaic words, such as "circa", "utilise", "whilst", "upon", "commence" and "prior".
Avoid wordy terms, such as "the majority of" and "a number of".
Avoid vague words, such as "various", "many", "several", "long" and "almost"
Avoid phrases with redundant words, such as "is located in", "the two are both", "they brought along", "they have plans to", "they were all part of", "the last ones to form", "both the towns", "outside of the town", "all of the towns", "received some donations", "still exists today", "it also includes others", "many different towns", "available records show" and "in the year 2007".

Resources