English County Boundaries as of December 2016 in Multiple Resolutions

December 2016 digital vector boundaries for Counties in England. The dataset contains five boundary versions, including full resolution and four generalised versions clipped to the coastline, provided by the Office for National Statistics. File sizes range from 73 KB for the ultra generalised version to 10 MB for the full resolution clipped version.

Use Cases

• Create thematic maps based on county-level administrative units.
• Perform spatial joins and aggregations using the generalised boundaries for computational efficiency.
• Visualize regional data in England using the coastline-clipped boundaries for accurate coastal representation.

Strengths

• Provides five distinct boundary versions, including full resolution and four generalised (20m, 200m, 500m) options.
• File sizes are explicitly listed, ranging from 73 KB to 10 MB, allowing users to select based on needs.
• Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights, indicating official source data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Freshness should be verified; the data reflects a snapshot from 2016.

Provenance

Source

Office for National Statistics

Collection Method

Digital vector boundaries derived from official sources.

Time Range

As at 31 December 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:33:18.205779; freshness should be verified

Geography

England