Ireland – Northern Ireland Assembly Scotland – Scottish Parliament Wales – Senedd (Welsh Parliament) The devolved administrations and legislatures can make laws in a number of areas, such as culture, education, local government, and environment. By contrast, England has no devolved system of government, that is, the Parliament of the United Kingdom makes laws for England, as well as for reserved matters in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England is governed by UK government ministers and legislated for by the UK parliament. The London region has a devolved assembly but proposals for elected Regional Assemblies in England were rejected in the first referendum covering North East England. (See Government of England.) The UK (specifically, Northern Ireland) has an international land boundary with the Republic of Ireland of 499 km. There is also a boundary between the jurisdiction of France and the UK on the Channel Tunnel. Local government Each part of the UK is subdivided into further local governmental regions: England: Unitary Authorities, county councils, district councils, parish councils Wales: Principal areas, communities Scotland: Council areas, communities Northern Ireland: Districts Historically the UK was divided into counties or shires: administrative areas through which all civil responsibilities of the government were passed. Each county or shire had a county town as its administrative centre and was divided into individual parishes that were defined along ecclesiastic boundaries. Between 1889 (1890 in Scotland) and 1974, the political boundaries were based on the traditional counties, but due to changes in population centres, the traditional counties became impractical as local government areas in certain highly urbanised areas. The Local Government Act 1972 created a new system of administrative counties, designed to take account of the widely differing populations across different parts of the country. In the 1990s further population growth led to more political changes on a local level. Unitary authorities were formed across the entirety of Scotland and Wales, and in larger cities in England. Many unpopular administrative counties were also abolished at this time, leading to a mixture of two-tier and single-purpose authorities. Further reorganisations are planned if and when regional assemblies in England are revisited in the future. Economic geography The economic geography of the UK reflects not only its current position in the global economy, but its long history both as a trading nation and an imperial power. The UK led the industrial revolution and its highly urban character is a