# Please explain counties in England

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-counties-in-england/341583>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 25, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-counties-in-england/341583 "2006-01-25T18:50:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-counties-in-england/341583/21 "2006-01-26T20:16:04Z")

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> [@Giles](#):
>
> Well, the City of London is not in the historic county of Middlesex – though most of its boundaries are with that historic county, i.e., all the parts not on the Thames, where the City meets with the historic county of Surrey. It would make a little more sense to send something to “Westminster, Middlesex, England”.

Ahh, the difference between the City of London, and the city of London. One’s inside the other - ‘The City’ (as it is often referred) is the historical centre, now the financial district. ‘London’ generally refers to Greater London, of which the City of London is one small part (along with the City of Westminster, and thirty-something other boroughs). The London Assembly governs Greater London.

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**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-counties-in-england/341583/22 "2006-01-26T20:45:40Z")

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> [@Giles](#):
>
> It’s much harder to change the boundary of a state of the US, once it’s part of the union. The only significant boundary change that I know of is the separation of West Virginia from Virginia. This is because the US is a federal state, where the rights of the individual states are protected, so that Delaware or Vermont would have to agree to a boundary change.

There’s also Maine, which was a part of Massachusetts until it was admitted to the Union as a separate state.

Nevada, before statehood, was part of Utah.

Plus, there was a “war” as to where the border of Michigan and Ohio would be. It ended up further north than Michiganers wanted, but then they got the Upper Peninsula.

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