Counties of England Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk and Wiltshire. The County Football Associations are roughly based on English counties, with exceptions such as the combinations of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire and Leicestershire and Rutland. Counties of England The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term 'county' is not clearly defined and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each of these demarcation structures. These different types of county each have a more formal name but are commonly referred to just as 'counties'. The current arrangement is the result of
County Durham use. The ceremonial county is officially named "Durham", but the county has long been commonly known as "County" Durham and is the only English county name prefixed with "County" in common usage (the practice is common in Ireland). Its unusual naming (for an English shire) is explained to some extent by the relationship with the Bishops of Durham, who for centuries governed Durham as a county palatine (the County Palatine of Durham), outside the usual structure of county administration in England. The situation regarding the formal name in modern local government is less clear. The structural change legislation which in