English Counties by Population and Area 2024

This article ranks the 48 English ceremonial counties by their population and size. 

Where a county’s name is hyperlinked, you can click to read a more detailed article about that county. Population data is from the Office of National Statistics, 2021 census.

Ceremonial County2021 PopulationArea (mi2)
Greater London8,788,010606
West Midlands2,916,132348
Greater Manchester2,868,387493
West Yorkshire2,349,987783
Essex1,862,8481,420
Hampshire1,860,2831,455
Kent1,858,3461,443
Lancashire1,531,9111,187
Merseyside1,423,145250
South Yorkshire1,374,182599
Devon1,218,6132,590
Surrey1,205,616642
Hertfordshire1,200,620634
North Yorkshire*1,157,9713,341
Nottinghamshire1,145,823834
Staffordshire1,135,8931,048
Tyne and Wear1,125,6952210
Cheshire1,098,031905
Lincolnshire1,096,6112,693
Leicestershire1,078,590832
Derbyshire1,057,9831,014
Somerset982,9411,610
Berkshire950,588487
Gloucestershire937,3631,220
Norfolk918,3692,080
Cambridgeshire896,7561,310
West Sussex885,055769
Durham*862,0671,033
Buckinghamshire843,458724
East Sussex823,258692
Northamptonshire786,843913
Dorset781,4011,024
Suffolk763,3751,468
Wiltshire747,1241,346
Oxfordshire726,5301,006
Bedfordshire706,128477
East Riding of Yorkshire609,606956
Worcestershire604,947672
Warwickshire599,153763
Cornwall574,2811,375
Shropshire510,5581,347
Cumbria500,8212,613
Bristol471,11742
Northumberland321,5581,936
Herefordshire187,557840
Isle of Wight140,889150
Rutland41,381147
City of London8,6181.12
The population of each ceremonial county at the 2021 census.
* Note: data for Durham and North Yorkshire is estimated, based on population of Stockton-on-Tees, which is split across both counties.

The largest County in England

North Yorkshire is the largest county in England by area. It covers 3,341 square miles or 8,654 km² in total. As well as being the biggest county North Yorkshire is the fourth biggest by population in England. Lincolnshire, Cumbria and Devon are the other three counties with an area of more than 2,500 square miles.

The largest ceremonial county in the UK by population is Greater London, followed by the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. The largest historic county in England is Yorkshire.

The most densely populated county in the United Kingdom is also Greater London (14,690 people per sq m), followed by Bristol and the West Midlands.

The least densely populated county is Northumberland, with just 170 people per square mile.

The smallest county in England

Now this is more contentious. The smallest ceremonial county in England by area is the City of London, which covers just 1.12 square miles (2.90km²). As its name implies, the City of London is not just a county, but is also one of the smallest cities in England. Bristol (24 square miles) is the next smallest ceremonial county, followed by the Isle of Wight (150 square miles).

However, if we look at historical counties, which people are more familiar with, then Rutland (147 square miles) is the smallest county.

Difference between a ceremonial county and a historic county

A ceremonial county is a geographical area that a Lord Lieutenant has been appointed to. Because of the changes in local government boundaries in England over many years, ceremonial counties are the closest approximation we have today to the old geographical counties of England. As a result, they do not necessarily match the boundaries of today’s metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties.

A historic county is an area of England that has a long history and cultural identity, but may not match the current administrative divisions.

Middlesex is an example of a historic county that no longer exists as an individual ceremonial county – but most of its territory is now part of Greater London, which is a ceremonial county.

You can read more about historic counties at the Historic Counties Trust.

List of County Towns

The list of county towns below is based on historic counties of the United Kingdom (not just England) rather than its ceremonial counties.

There is no formal definition of a county town, but it is generally the place regarded as the most important town or city in a county, and usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county.

Some counties have more than one county town, or have their county functions (usually the council) located elsewhere. For example, Surrey has three county towns: Guildford, Newington, and Southwark. And although Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, the county council’s head office is based in Preston.

CountyCounty town
AberdeenshireAberdeen
AngleseyBeaumaris
AngusForfar
County AntrimAntrim or Belfast
ArgyllshireInveraray
County ArmaghArmagh
AyrshireAyr
BanffshireBanff
BedfordshireBedford
BerkshireAbingdon
BerwickshireDuns
BrecknockshireBrecon
BuckinghamshireAylesbury
ButeshireRothesay
CaernarfonshireCaernarfon
CaithnessWick
CambridgeshireCambridge
CardiganshireCardigan
CarmarthenshireCarmarthen
CheshireChester
ClackmannanshireAlloa
CornwallTruro
CromartyshireCromarty
CumberlandCarlisle
DenbighshireRuthin
DerbyshireDerby
DevonExeter
DorsetDorchester
County DownDownpatrick
DumfriesshireDumfries
DunbartonshireDumbarton
County DurhamDurham
East LothianHaddington
EssexChelmsford
FermanaghEnniskillen
FifeCupar
FlintshireMold
GlamorganCardiff
GloucestershireGloucester
HampshireWinchester
HerefordshireHereford
HertfordshireHertford
HuntingdonshireHuntingdon
Inverness-shireInverness
KentMaidstone
KincardineshireStonehaven
Kinross-shireKinross
KirkcudbrightshireKirkcudbright
LanarkshireLanark
LancashireLancaster
LeicestershireLeicester
LincolnshireLincoln
County LondonderryLondonderry
MerionethshireDolgellau
MiddlesexBrentford
MidlothianEdinburgh
MontgomeryshireMontgomery
MonmouthshireMonmouth
MorayshireElgin
NairnshireNairn
NorfolkNorwich
NorthamptonshireNorthampton
NorthumberlandAlnwick
NottinghamshireNottingham
OrkneyKirkwall
OxfordshireOxford
PeeblesshirePeebles
PembrokeshireHaverfordwest
PerthshirePerth
RadnorshirePresteigne
RenfrewshireRenfrew
Ross-shireDingwall
RoxburghshireJedburgh
RutlandOakham
SelkirkshireSelkirk
ShetlandLerwick
ShropshireShrewsbury
SomersetTaunton
StaffordshireStafford
StirlingshireStirling
SuffolkIpswich
SurreyGuildford, Newington, Southwark
SussexChichester
SutherlandDornoch
TyroneOmagh
WarwickshireWarwick
West LothianLinlithgow
WestmorlandAppleby
WigtownshireWigtown
WiltshireTrowbridge
WorcestershireWorcester
YorkshireYork
List of county towns across the UK

Further reading

Check out our articles on the population of the United Kingdom as a whole and the population of England.

Also our article about the population of the ceremonial county of Yorkshire.

We have also published an article with information about each county in Ireland.

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