National parks of the United Kingdom.html

The United Kingdom has 14 national parks, 9 in England, 3 in Wales, and two in Scotland. National parks are managed areas of outstanding landscape where habitation and commercial activities are restricted. The first three were established in England in 1951. A 15th national park is proposed in the South Downs.

For details of the status of the national parks in the United Kingdom and for links to each individual one, please see the articles about the various parts of the UK.

1 National parks of England and Wales
2 National parks of Scotland
3 National parks of Northern Ireland
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

National parks of England and Wales

Main article: National parks of England and Wales

Key	National Park	Established	Area (km²)
1	Peak District	1951	1,438
2	Lake District	1951	2,292
3	Snowdonia (Welsh: Eryri)	1951	2,142
4	Dartmoor	1951	956
5	Pembrokeshire Coast (Welsh: Arfordir Penfro)	1952	620
6	North York Moors	1952	1,436
7	Yorkshire Dales	1954	1,769
8	Exmoor	1954	693
9	Northumberland	1956	1,049
10	Brecon Beacons (Welsh: Bannau Brycheiniog)	1957	1,351
11	The Broads	1988‡	303
12	New Forest	2005	580
13	South Downs	2009[†]	1,641
	Total		14,629
	Proposed total		16,270

Twelve areas are designated as national parks in England and Wales, and a 13th (South Downs) is in the process of being designated.

The nine national parks in England cover around 7% of the land area of England, while the three national parks in Wales cover around 20% of the land area of Wales.

National parks of Scotland

Main article: National parks of Scotland

National Park	Established	Area (km²)
Cairngorms	2003	3,800
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs	2002	1,865

These two national parks cover just over 7% of the land area of Scotland.

In June 2005, the Scottish Executive announced their intention to create Scotland’s first coastal & marine National Park during 2008. Five possible locations for this are being considered: Solway Firth; Argyll Islands and Coast; Ardnamurchan, Small Isles and South Skye Coast; North Skye Coast and Wester Ross; and North Uist, Sound of Harris, Harris and South Lewis.

National parks of Northern Ireland

No national parks have been designated in Northern Ireland, but there are controversial moves to establish Northern Ireland's first national park in the Mourne Mountains¹.

References

^ Martin Cassidy (Last Updated:). "BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Community split over national park", News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 6 November 2008.

External links

v • d • e National parks of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

England : Dartmoor • Exmoor • Lake District • New Forest • Northumberland • North York Moors • Peak District • Yorkshire Dales • The Broads‡ • South Downs†

Wales : Brecon Beacons • Pembrokeshire Coast • Snowdonia

Scotland : Cairngorms • Loch Lomond and the Trossachs

Northern Ireland : Mourne Mountains†

An area with ‡ has similar status to a UK National Park. Areas marked † are proposed.