NUTS Level 3 Super Generalised Boundaries for England and Wales, 2015

Office for National Statistics provides digital vector boundaries for NUTS Level 3 areas in England and Wales as of 1 January 2015. The dataset includes five boundary versions, from full resolution to ultra generalised (500m), each clipped to the coastline. File sizes range from 138 KB for the ultra generalised version to 23 MB for the full resolution clipped version.

Use Cases

• Create regional choropleth maps based on the super generalised (200m) boundaries for web visualization.
• Perform spatial joins with economic or demographic statistics using the NUTS3 area codes.
• Analyze coastline definitions and administrative extents by comparing the full-resolution 'extent of the realm' and 'clipped' boundary files.

Strengths

• Provides five distinct boundary generalisation levels, with file sizes specified from 138 KB to 23 MB.
• Contains boundaries for a specific snapshot date (1 January 2015), ensuring temporal consistency.
• Includes intellectual property from both Ordnance Survey and ONS, indicating authoritative sources.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is from 2015; administrative boundaries may have changed, limiting current applicability.

Provenance

Source

Office for National Statistics

Collection Method

Digital vector boundaries derived from Ordnance Survey and ONS data.

Time Range

2015-01-01

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:33:16.580856; freshness should be verified.

Geography

England and Wales