This is a list of counties of England, ordered by population as at the 1971 census. The figures presented here include all the administrative counties with their associated county boroughs. York is accounted for as part of the West Riding, and Lincoln as part of Kesteven.
Rank County Total population 1 Greater London 7,452,343 2 Lancashire 5,118,405 3 Yorkshire, West Riding 3,785,013 4 Warwickshire 2,082,230 5 Staffordshire 1,858,348 6 Hampshire 1,565,476 7 Cheshire 1,546,397 8 Durham 1,409,633 9 Kent 1,399,471 10 Essex 1,358,020 11 Gloucestershire 1,076,710 12 Surrey 1,002,892 13 Nottinghamshire 976,403 14 Hertfordshire 924,641 15 Devon 898,409 16 Derbyshire 885,130 17 Northumberland 795,754 18 Leicestershire 772,103 19 Sussex, East 747,976 20 Yorkshire, North Riding 725,656 21 Worcestershire 693,251 22 Somerset 682,665 23 Berkshire 636,860 24 Norfolk 617,621 25 Buckinghamshire 587,556 26 Yorkshire, East Riding 543,309 27 Sussex, West 492,500 28 Wiltshire 486,755 29 Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey 470,905 30 Northamptonshire 468,625 31 Bedfordshire 464,286 32 Cornwall 381,665 33 Oxfordshire 381,584 34 Suffolk, East 381,464 35 Dorset 361,925 36 Shropshire 337,104 37 Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely 303,042 38 Cumberland 292,187 39 Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven 232,549 40 Huntingdon and Peterborough 202,622 41 Suffolk, West 164,732 42 Herefordshire 138,638 43 Isle of Wight 109,515 44 Lincolnshire, Parts of Holland 105,685 45 Westmorland 72,837 46 Rutland 27,471 TOTAL 46,018,363