The subdivisions of Belfast are a series of divisions of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

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 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 ...

of a compass, each of which form the basis of constituencies for general elections: North Belfast, East Belfast, South Belfast, and West Belfast. These four areas meet at Belfast City Centre. The second traditional divide is that formed by the River Lagan, with the northern bank of the River being part of

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, while the southern bank is part of County Down. 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 The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly republican and nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly loyalist and unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. T ...

, originally erected by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

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

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

s are split between the two traditional

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

by the River Lagan, with those townlands north of the river generally in

, while those on the southern bank are generally part of County Down. 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 The electoral wards of Belfast are subdivisions of the city, used primarily for statistics and elections. Belfast had 51 wards from May 1973, which were revised in May 1985 and again in May 1993. The number of wards was increased to 60 with the ...

are subdivisions of the city, used primarily for statistics and elections.

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

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 Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...

, 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 A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

it elects equal to the number of wards it contains. The current DEAs are: * Balmoral (6 wards) * Castle (6 wards) *

Court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

(5 wards) * Laganbank (5 wards) * Lower Falls (5 wards) * Oldpark (6 wards) * Pottinger (6 wards) * Upper Falls (5 wards) *

Ormiston Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about . The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 1735 ...

(formerly

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

) (7 wards)

Constituencies

Belfast's electoral wards are used to create constituencies for elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. 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 directions: ; 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 A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

is divided in a broadly

clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...

system. Although ''BT'' derives from ''Belfast'', the

BT postcode area The BT postcode area, also known as the Belfast postcode area,Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) covers all of Northern Ireland and was the last part of the United Kingdom to be coded, between 1970 and 1974. This area is a group of ...

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 * Braniel *

Clarawood Clarawood is a housing estate in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is located in the east of the city and incorporates the neighbouring Richhill development. Its name is probably derived from ''An Chlárach'' (). It is located off Knock Road (A55). ...

Taughmonagh Taughmonagh () is a small housing estate in south west Belfast, Northern Ireland, within the civil parishes of Drumbeg and Shankill, and barony of Belfast Upper. When the area was first built, the houses consisted of very basic, small, prefabr ...

Streets and roads

Antrim Road The Antrim Road is a major arterial route and area of housing and commerce that runs from inner city north Belfast to Dunadry, passing through Newtownabbey and Templepatrick. It forms part of the A6 road, a traffic route which links Belfast to D ...

* Belmont Road * Castlereagh Road * Cluan Place *

Crumlin Road The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast, Northern Ireland. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road which leads out of Belfast to t ...

* Cregagh Road *

Donegall Road The Donegall Road is a residential area and road traffic thoroughfare that runs from Shaftesbury Square on what was once called the " Golden Mile" to the Falls Road in west Belfast. The road is bisected by the Westlink – M1 motorway. The lar ...

* Falls Road * Holywood Road *

Lisburn Road Lisburn Road is a main arterial route linking Belfast and Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The Lisburn Road is now an extension of the " Golden Mile" with many shops, boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and coffee houses. The road runs almost parallel t ...

Malone Road The Malone Road () is a radial road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, leading from the university quarter southwards to the affluent suburbs of Malone and Upper Malone, each a separate electoral ward. The road runs parallel to the Lisburn Road and i ...

Newtownards Road The A20 is a road in County Down in Northern Ireland. It runs from Belfast to Newtownards and on to Portaferry. Beginning as the Newtownards Road at the junction of Bridge End close to Belfast city centre, the road runs in an easterly direct ...

Ormeau Road Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. Ormeau Park is adjacent to it. It forms part of the A24. History The road, as currently laid out, dates from the first decades of the 19th century when a bridge was buil ...

* Ravenhill Road *

Sandy Row Sandy Row () is a large inner city estate in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It lends its name to the surrounding residential community, which is predominantly Protestant working-class. The Sandy Row area had a population of 2,153 in 2001; in ...

Shankill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast ...

Shaw's Road Shaw's Road is a road in west Belfast, Northern Ireland, connecting the Andersonstown Road with the Glen Road. Shaw's Road Gaeltacht Located on the road, is a small Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area) known colloquially as "The Irish Houses", and ...

* Shore Road *

Short Strand The Short Strand ( ga, an Trá Ghearr) is a working class, inner city area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a mainly Catholic and Irish nationalist enclave surrounded by the mainly Protestant and unionist East Belfast. It is on the east ba ...

* Springfield Road * Stranmillis Road * Westlink * Woodstock Road *

Whitewell Road The Whitewell Road is an interface area in north Belfast and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, and historically the site of occasional clashes between nationalists and loyalists. The Whitewell Road and the surrounding area is a residential comm ...

References

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