UK Counties

[polspoel]

Hi,

This may seem offtopic but I'm building a site for UK visitors and me not living there, I have some questions regarding counties and addresses:

Can anyone show me a complete list of all UK counties? Everywhere I look I see different results.. Frustrating. :)

Also, when asked to enter an address (UK), is it typically as such:

Address line 1
Address line 2
City
County
Country (UK)
postal code

Are all counties best listed as such: (dropdownbox)

--England--
counties
--N. Ireland--
Counties
--Unitary Authorities of Wales--
..
--UK offshore dependencies--
Isle of Man
.. etc..

And, in an address displayed on site, do you display the county as well? And do you display UK, or England if in England?

Thanks for any help, it may sound stupid but it will surely help :)

[Jaffro]

As far as what i know about uk addresses the most important parts are the first line of the address and the post code, the rest of the address can normally be found automatically from these two things using the PAF database (Postcode and Address Finder) thats supplied by the Royal Mail. Not sure on how to get this or anything but i know that a lot of UK sites use this so people need not enter the entire address.

Personally if i were writing a UK address i'd do it like this:

Address line 1
Address line 2
Address line 3
County
Country
Post Code

Mainly because i get confused when people say city as there is no city as part of my address.

Hope this info helps a bit. I expect other people here will know more about it then me :)

Jaffro

[MarkB]

I'd put postcode before country, but that's just me :D

[Mike]

So would I actually...

Address line 1
Address line 2
City
County
Postal code
Country (UK)

[Generalissimo]

Same as Mike.

[r2d2]

Same as Mike too.

And you can get a county list from my house shop site: http://www.house-shop.co.uk/ (Its in the 'Quick Search' select box, maybe be easiest to just copy the source code.) Its the best one I found. I also found they tended to vary depending where you looked.

[Blue Cat Buxton]

OT There are some great counties in Scotland aren't there - Kirkcudbrightshire !

[Generalissimo]

Yeah, if it wasn't for Scotland where we wouldn't have our Chancellor, leader of the Lib Dems or the speaker of the house.

[polspoel]

Hi and thanks everyone for taking the time to answer :)

I'm thinking of doing my form like this:

Address line 1
Address line 2
City
Country
County
postal code

The reason why I put the country first is because I also accept US addresses, and the form will then change to the US states instead, as well as say "Zip code" instead of "Postal Code" and "State" instead of "County". Is that a good (or bad) idea? People would get confused if they are presented with a list of counties and they are based in the US (before they see that they can change the country).

Also r2d2, thanks for that list. I just checked the paypal signup form and they seem to have more counties than your site;

for example : Avon (although I heard that this is a former county until 1996?) Why would paypal still list this?

Bristol, Cleveland, Cumbria (haven't checked much further than this, but why aren't these in your list?)

And also, Isle of Man etc. (What is this anyway, a UK offshore dependency?)

---

Then, on the website (not form) I would list the address as such:

Address line 1
Address line 2
City
County
Postal code
Country (UK)

Is it normal that you don't include 'England' or 'nothern Ireland' in the address?

----

Also, Jaffro, there is no city as part of your address?!?

is this common (in the UK and other countries as well (US))?
Reason is, I always require a city at the moment.

Thanks guys!

[Jaffro]

Well basically its not done in city's. Think its postal areas, my postal area is Westerham yet i live in greater london - its not a county or city, just a local town - no idea why! I always find city to be missleading, I expect its cause im on the outskirts of london and its quite a big city! *shrug* :)

Also i guess the post code country thing is just a matter of preferance. As far as i understand the only vitally important things are the first line and the post code, the rest of the address can be gained from that as i mentioned before.

[MarkB]

Westerham? Is there a George & Dragon pub there?

I'm positive that's the town/village my wife always find ourselves in when we decide to go on random drives through Sussex or Kent :) I love that pub.

[MarkB]

Oh - I see you're not saying you DO live in Westerham. Nevermind :D

[Jaffro]

No i live next door in Biggin Hill :) At this rate soon you'll have my full address! haha

I think there is a george and dragon pub there actually. Got a nice little green thats great in the summer :)

[MarkB]

Hehe... Biggin :D