The subdivisions of Belfast are a series of divisions of Belfast, Northern Ireland that are used for a variety of cultural, electoral, planning and residential purposes. The city is traditionally divided into four main areas based on the cardinal points of a compass, each of which form the basis of constituencies for general elections: North Belfast, East Belfast,

South Belfast Belfast South can refer to: *The southern part of Belfast * Belfast South (Assembly constituency) *Belfast South (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency) Belfast South was a borough constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 192 ...

, and West Belfast. These four areas meet at Belfast City Centre. The second traditional divide is that formed by the

River Lagan The River Lagan (; Ulster Scots: ''Lagan Wattèr'') is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs 53.5 miles (86 km) from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The ...

, with the northern bank of the River being part of County Antrim, while the southern bank is part of

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. The city's subdivisions reflect the divided nature of Northern Ireland as a whole, with areas tending to be highly segregated, especially in working-class neighbourhoods. Walls known as peace lines, originally erected by the British Army after August 1969, divide fourteen inner city neighbourhoods.

Townlands

The townlands of Belfast are the oldest surviving land divisions in the city. The city's townlands are split between the two traditional counties by the

, with those townlands north of the river generally in County Antrim, while those on the southern bank are generally part of

. Most of these townlands are older than the city itself, and most of their names are derived from the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

. As the city grew, these once-rural townlands were built upon and their boundaries became obscured. However, many of the city's streets, roads and housing estates have been named after them.

Electoral wards

The electoral wards of Belfast are subdivisions of the city, used primarily for statistics and elections. Belfast has had 51 wards since May 1973, which were revised in May 1985 and again in May 1993. Wards are the smallest administrative unit in Northern Ireland and are set by the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner and reviewed every 8–10 years. The wards were redrawn for the 2014 elections. In elections to Belfast City Council, the 51 wards are split into nine District Electoral Areas (DEAs), each of which contains between five and seven wards, with the number of councillors it elects equal to the number of wards it contains. The current DEAs are: * Balmoral (6 wards) *

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

(6 wards) * Court (5 wards) * Laganbank (5 wards) * Lower Falls (5 wards) * Oldpark (6 wards) * Pottinger (6 wards) * Upper Falls (5 wards) * Ormiston (formerly Victoria) (7 wards)

Constituencies

Belfast's electoral wards are used to create constituencies for elections to the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

and the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

. These constituencies are coterminous and are created by amalgamating wards into larger areas, with the city's 51 wards split between the four 'Belfast' constituencies, each of which contains between 11 and 14 wards, although these also contain wards from bordering local authorities. These constituencies follow the tradition of referring to parts of Belfast by the four

cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...

s: ; Belfast East * Belfast East (Assembly) * Belfast East (parliamentary) ; Belfast North * Belfast North (Assembly) * Belfast North (parliamentary) ; Belfast South * Belfast South (Assembly) * Belfast South (parliamentary) ; Belfast West * Belfast West (Assembly) * Belfast West (parliamentary)

Cultural quarters

The Belfast Quarters refer to a number of distinctive cultural zones within the city of Belfast, whose identities have been developed as a spur to tourism and urban regeneration. These "quarters" differ from the districts into which Belfast is divided. The term "quarter" does not refer to one fourth (or one quarter) of the city, nor is every area in the centre of Belfast part of one of the quarters. Instead, each "quarter" reflects something about a neighbourhood's history and locale, with the "Quarter" label being something that has come into general use in recent years. The quarters are as follows: * Cathedral Quarter * Gaeltacht Quarter * Linen Quarter * Market Quarter * Queen's Quarter * Smithfield and Union Quarter * Titanic Quarter * Library Quarter * Station Quarter (Planned)

Postcodes of Belfast

Belfast city centre is divided into two postcode districts, ''BT1'' for the area lying north of the City Hall, and ''BT2'' for the area to its south. The industrial estate and docklands ''BT3''. The rest of the Belfast post town is divided in a broadly clockwise system. Although ''BT'' derives from ''Belfast'', the BT postcode area extends across the whole of Northern Ireland. ; Belfast City Centre : BT1 ''North of Belfast City Hall'' : BT2 ''South of Belfast City Hall'' : BT3 ''Industrial district'' ; East and South East of Belfast City Hall : BT4 ''East Belfast'' : BT5 ''East Belfast / Castlereagh'' : BT6 ''East Belfast / Castlereagh'' ; South and South West of Belfast City Hall : BT7 ''South Belfast'' : BT8 ''Outer South Belfast'' : BT9 ''South Belfast'' ; West South West and West of Belfast City Hall : BT10 ''South Belfast'' : BT11 ''West Belfast'' : BT12 ''West Belfast'' : BT17 ''Outer South West Belfast / Dunmurry'' ; West North West and North of Belfast City Hall : BT13 ''West Belfast'' : BT14 ''Outer North West Belfast'' : BT15 ''North Belfast''

Other areas of Belfast

General

* Belfast Metropolitan Area * Belfast City Centre * The Golden Mile * The Holyland

Housing estates

Ballybeen Ballybeen (), also known as Ballybeen Housing Estate, is the second-biggest housing estate in Northern Ireland. It is in the village of Dundonald, on the outskirts of east Belfast. It lies within the townlands of Ballybeen and Carrowreagh, betwee ...

Braniel Braniel or The Braniel is a large housing estate and townland in southeast Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is in the barony of Castlereagh Upper and parish of Knockbreda in County Down. Two small developments, Roddens and Glenview, are located in t ...

* Clarawood * Taughmonagh

Streets and roads

* Antrim Road *

Belmont Road Former State Route 82 (SR 82), also known as Belmont Road, is a road in Nye and Eureka counties in the U.S. state of Nevada, extending from State Route 376 (former State Route 8A) north of Tonopah northeast to U.S. Route 50 west of Eureka via ...

Castlereagh Road Castlereagh may refer to: People * Marquess of Londonderry, subsidiary title Viscount Castlereagh, used as courtesy title for the Marquess's eldest son; in particular ** Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1769–1822), later 2nd Marquess of Lo ...

Cluan Place Cluan Place (derived ) is a Protestant working-class area in eastern inner-city Belfast, in Northern Ireland. There is currently a peace line, separating the area from Roman Catholic Short Strand. Rioting between neighbouring Loyalist and Rep ...

* Crumlin Road * Cregagh Road * Donegall Road * Falls Road * Holywood Road * Lisburn Road * Malone Road * Newtownards Road * Ormeau Road *

Ravenhill Road Ravenhill or Raven Hill may refer to: * Ravenhill, Belfast, an area of Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK ** Ravenhill Stadium, a rugby stadium in Belfast * Ravenhill, Swansea, an area of Swansea, Wales, UK * Ravenhill (mansion), the Philadelphia mans ...

* Sandy Row * Shankill Road * Shaw's Road *

Shore Road Shore Road may refer to: * Shore Road, Belfast, the A2 through north Belfast and Newtownabbey in Northern Ireland * Pelham Road Pelham Road, known as Shore Road within the Bronx, is a historic east-west road that runs along the Long Island Soun ...

* Short Strand *

Springfield Road The Springfield Road ( ga, Bóthar Chluanaí) is a residential area and road traffic thoroughfare adjacent to the Falls Road in west Belfast. The local population is predominantly Irish nationalist and republican. Parts of the road form an int ...

Stranmillis Road Stranmillis () is an area in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is also an electoral ward for Belfast City Council, part of the Laganbank (District Electoral Area), Laganbank district electoral area. As part of the Queen's Quarter, Belfast, Que ...

* Westlink * Woodstock Road * Whitewell Road

References

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