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Index of Place Names

The Index of Place Names (IPN) in Great Britain is published by the Office for National Statistics.

The IPN is a list of "places" in Great Britain. For each "place" included, the IPN lists which areas that place is located within, for each of a set of administrative geographies. The latest edition of the IPN (published July 2016) contains 87,338 entries.[1]

An Index of Place Names was first produced for the 1831 Census. The last Index to be produced as a separate Census volume was published in 1985. Since then the IPN has been available in electronic format, initially as a CD, and, more recently, as a download. The most recent version can be downloaded for free as a CSV file through the ONS Open Geography Portal. A searchable online version of the IPN is also available on the ONS Open Geography Portal.[2]

All place names are assigned to the appropriate administrative areas existing as at 31 December 2015. The Index gives some alternative names for places, as well as Welsh-language names where appropriate. The 2016 edition of the IPN is the first to also feature Scottish place names.

Types of place included

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The following types of "place" are included in the IPN (the IPN Place Name Type Code is in brackets):

  • Locality (LOC) – villages, hamlets and localities without legally defined boundaries
  • Historic County (CTYHIST)
  • Lieutenancy County (CTYLT)
  • Electoral ward / division (WD)
  • Civil parish (PAR) (England and Scotland)
  • Community (COM) (Wales)
  • Unitary Authority (UA) (England and Wales)
  • Council Area (CA) (Scotland)
  • London borough (LONB) (England)
  • Metropolitan District (MD) (England)
  • Non-metropolitan District (NMD) (England)
  • Non-metropolitan County (CTY) (England)
  • National Park (NPARK)
  • Region (RGN) (England)
  • Built-up Area (BUA) (England and Wales)
  • Built-up Area Sub-division (BUASD) (England and Wales)

Fields included for each place name

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Each record in the IPN relates the place name to the following fields (the IPN Field Name is in brackets after the description):

  • Place Name Identifier (PLACEID) – unique numeric identifier ignoring splits across geographical areas
  • Place Name Code (PLACE15CD) – code to identify place name taking into account splits across various geographical areas
  • Place Name (PLACE15NM)
  • Split Place name Indicator (SPLITIND) – shows where a place is split between two or more geographical areas. Each part is listed in a separate entry, with a different grid reference and a different identifying Place Name Code
  • Population Count (based on 2011 Output Areas best-fit population) (POPCNT) – for local government areas
  • Place Name Description (DESCNM) – type of place, as listed above, i.e. BUA, BUASD, CA, COM, CTY, CTYHIST, CTYLT, LOC, LONB, MD, NMD, NPARK, PAR, RGN, UA, or WD
  • Historic County Name (CTYHISTNM) – Definition A of the Historic Counties Standard[3]
  • Lieutenancy County Name (CTYLTNM) – ceremonial county (England) / preserved county (Wales) / lieutenancy area (Scotland)
  • Country Name (CTRY15NM)
  • County Code (CTY15CD) – metropolitan county / non-metropolitan county / Inner London / Outer London
  • County Name (CTY15NM)
  • Local Authority District Code (LAD15CD)
  • Local Authority District Name (LAD15NM)
  • Local Authority District Description (LADDESCNM) – London borough (LONB) / metropolitan district (MD) / non-metropolitan district (NMD) / unitary authority (UA) / Council Area (CA)
  • Electoral Ward / division code (WD15CD)
  • Civil parish code (England and Scotland), Community Code (Wales) (PAR15CD)
  • Strategic Health Authority Code (England), Health Board Code (Scotland), Local Health Board Code (Wales) (HLTH12CD)
  • Strategic Health Authority Name (England), Health Board Name (Scotland), Local Health Board Name (Wales) (HLTH12NM)
  • Registration District Code (England and Wales) (REG15CD)
  • Registration District Name (England and Wales) (REG15NM)
  • Region Code (England) (RGN15CD)
  • Region Name (England) (RGN15NM)
  • National Park Code (NPARK15CD)
  • National Park Name (NPARK15NM)
  • Built-up Area Code (England and Wales), Built-up Area Sub-division Code (England and Wales) (BUA11CD)
  • Westminster Parliamentary Constituency Code (PCON15CD)
  • Westminster Parliamentary Constituency Name (PCON15NM)
  • European Electoral Region Code (EER15CD)
  • European Electoral Region Name (EER15NM)
  • Police Force Area Code (PFA15CD)
  • Police Force Area Name (PFA15NM)
  • 1-metre grid reference (GRIDGB1M)
  • 1-metre Easting grid reference (GRIDGB1E)
  • 1-metre Northing grid reference (GRIDGB1N)
  • 1-kilometre grid square reference (GRID1KM)
  • Degrees latitude (to 6 decimal places) (LAT)
  • Degrees longitude (to 6 decimal places) (LONG)

In the fields which present a code, the IPN uses the Government Statistical Service (GSS) standard 9-character codes.

References

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  1. ^ ONS Index of Place Names in Great Britain (IPN) 2016 User Guide Retrieved 23 June 2019[dead link‍]
  2. ^ ONS Index of Place Names in Great Britain (July 2016) Retrieved 23 June 2019
  3. ^ Historic Counties Trust Historic Counties Standard Retrieved 25 June 2019
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