Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

West Tyrone consists of all of two districts, Omagh and Strabane. It was the new, 18th, constituency created by the Boundary Commissioners in their 1998 review, although in some ways bears more resemblance to the traditional Mid Ulster than the constituency that bears that name today.

West Tyrone is a sprawling, sparsely populated constituency, although the bulk of the population lives in the river valleys of the Foyle, Derg, Mourne, Glenelly and Strule. As well as Omagh and Strabane themselves, the main towns and villages are Castlederg, Sion Mills, Newtownstewart, Artigarvan, Donemana, Plumbridge, Gortin, Greencastle, Carrickmore, Beragh, Sixmilecross, Fintona, Dromore and Drumquin.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

Upper Bann consists of all of Craigavon Borough and 9 of 17 wards from Banbridge Borough, including the eponymous town. It therefore covers the urbanised northernmost part of the County of Armagh and a sliver of West Down.

The vast bulk of the electorate live in the towns of Lurgan and Portadown, as well as the chain of estates known as Brownlow which were built in a futile attempt to enmesh them within the new town of Craigavon. Banbridge Town contains another significant slice of the electorate in this largely urbanised constituency. Other settlements tend to be rather small, the most significant of which are Aghagallon, Aghalee, Derrymacash, Maghery, Magheralin, Waringstown, Bleary, Donaghcloney, Gilford, Lawrencetown and Loughbrickland.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

Strangford is one of the five constituencies that form a ring around Belfast. Largely suburban with a significant rural element, it comprises 20 of 23 wards from Ards Borough Council, 8 of 23 wards from Castlereagh and 3 wards from Down.

Newtownards is the largest town in the constituency. Dundonald and Carryduff are part of Belfast's built-up area, and very much in the orbit of the City. South of Newtownards lie Comber, Killynchy, Killyleagh, Ballygowan and Saintfield, all in the transition from being country market towns to Belfast dormitories. Finally, the Ards Peninsula adds a significant component to the electorate.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

South Down is another constituency which has been in geographical retreat as its population has grown and new constituencies have been created in the middle of the county. It has also been left by the boundary commissioners for rather too long and is somewhat oversized, covering 20 of 23 wards in Down District, 13 of 30 wards in Newry and Mourne and 4 of 17 wards in Banbridge District.

Like Mid Ulster, it lacks a dominating town. Downpatrick is the largest town and the only one with a population over 10,000. Other important towns are Ballynahinch, Newcastle, Kilkeel and Warrenpoint. Smaller settlements of note include Crossgar, Ardglass, Killough, Dundrum, Castlewellan, Rathrfriland, Hilltown, Annalong, Kilkeel and Rostrevor. The dominant physical features are the Mountains of Mourne and Slieve Croob, source of the River Lagan.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

South Antrim covers all of Antrim Borough and 16 of the 25 wards of Newtownabbey Borough. Roughly 40% of the electorate lives in the urbanised Northern fringe of Belfast, around Glengormley and Carnmoney. Antrim is the other major town in the constituency, and the other other population centres are Ballyclare, Doagh, Ballynure, Templepatrick, Parkgate, Crumlin, Aldergrove, Randalstown and Toome.

Perhaps the most prominent landmark in the constituency to most people in Northern Ireland is Belfast International Airport, just outside Crumlin.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

North Down covers the whole of the Borough of North Down, and 3 of 21 wards of Ards Borough. A heavily urbanised borough, the bulk of the electorate are in Bangor, Northern Ireland's third largest settlement after Belfast and Derry. North Down also includes Holywood, the 'Gold Coast' which stretches between Cultra and Crawfordsburn, Conlig, Groomsport, Donaghadee and Millisle. The tiny village of Craigantlet, nestled up in the hills between Holywood and Newtownards, is the only inland population centre. The vast bulk of the constituency lies within statisticians' Belfast Urban Area.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

North Antrim consists of three whole Districts - Ballymena, Ballymoney and Ballycastle-centred Moyle. Left untouched by the boundary commissioners for more almost thirty years, it is now distinctly oversized with by far the largest electorate of any of the 18 constituencies.

Apart from the district centres, the main towns and villages are Bushmills, Rasharkin, Dunloy, Clogh Mills, Cullybackey, Ahoghill, Portglenone, Broughshane and Kells. However these neat, often rather non-descript villages, are less well known than North Antrim's abundance of tourist attractions - the Giant's Causeway, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, the Oul' Lammas Fair, St. Patrick's mountain of Slemish, the Antrim Coast Road and the Glens and Plateau of Antrim.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

Newry and Armagh consists of the town of Newry, that part of Newry and Mourne District which lies in County Armagh, a total of 17 of Newry and Mourne district's 30 wards, and all of Armagh district. In other words, it consists of pretty much all of County Armagh, excepting the densely populated area around Lurgan and Portadown. It is unique among Northern Ireland's constituencies in containing two whole cities, albeit not very big ones.

Apart from these, its most important towns are Keady, Tandragee, Richhill, Loughgall, Markethill, Newtownhamilton, Bessbrook, Jonesborough and Crossmaglen. Often misnamed 'Newry and South Armagh', it in fact stretches north to within a mile or two of the M1 at Burnt Island. It has a number of landmarks well known to everyone in Northern Ireland - Armagh's two cathedrals, Newry, Ireland's newest city and the one with the lamest bypass, and of course Tandragee, home to Tayto crisps.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

Although in popular parlance, Mid Ulster usually referred to the Lurgan/Portadown area, the parliamentary constituency has always lain a little further west, with Omagh traditionally its largest town. However, after radical boundary changes in the 1990s moved it back to the east, and Mid Ulster now clusters around the exact geographical centre of Northern Ireland, which lies in the townland of Annaghone between Cookstown and Stewartstown.

Mid Ulster consists of the whole of the Districts of Cookstown and Magherafelt, as well as the 6 northernmost of 22 wards in the Borough of Dungannon and South Tyrone (the area around Coalisland, Newmills, Donaghmore and Cappagh). Like other rural constituencies, it is a sprawling one, stretching from the Glenshane Pass almost to the M1.

Cookstown is the largest town in Mid Ulster, but with barely 10,000 people, it is not really a dominant centre. The other main towns are Coalisland, Maghera and Magherafelt. But perhaps more than any other constituency, the heartland of Mid Ulster is in its villages. Important smaller population centres include Ardboe, Bellaghy, Cappagh, Castledawson, Coagh, Donaghmore, Draperstown, Gulladuff, Knockloughrim, Moneymore, Newmills, Pomeroy, Sandholes, Stewartstown, Swatragh, The Loup and Tullyhogue.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

Lagan Valley is one of the five constituencies that form the suburban ring around Belfast. It consists of 26 of 30 wards of the City of Lisburn, and 4 of 17 wards in Banbridge District.

Lagan Valley contains some areas that most people would think of as being integral parts of Belfast, yet extends to include isolated communities like the highland village of Dromara. The biggest centre of population is in Lisburn, recently crowned a city, whose limits include smaller towns and villages such as Dromara, Drumbo, Drumbeg, Glenavy, Hillsborough, Maghaberry, Moira and Maze. Towards Belfast, this constituency takes in Derriaghy, Dunmurry, Lagmore and Seymour Hill, but not Twinbrook, Poleglass and Glengoland, which are over the border in West Belfast. The part of the constituency in Banbridge District consists of Dromore and the surrounding countryside, stretching to Kinallen and Waringsford, and almost to the edge of Banbridge Town itself.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

Foyle is one of the easiest constituencies to define. It consists of the entire City of Derry, nothing more and nothing less. As well as the built up area itself, this covers a number of nearby villages such as Claudy, Eglinton and New Buildings.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

Fermanagh and South Tyrone (hereafter known as FST) has an impeccable pedigree among election historians. As the name suggests, FST covers Fermanagh and the southern part of Tyrone. Exactly which parts of Tyrone are included in the constituency have changed from time to time, but currently it covers all of Fermanagh District and 17 wards out of 23 in the Borough of Dungannon and South Tyrone. Therefore, as well as Fermanagh, FST covers the Clogher Valley, Ballygawley, Castlecaulfield, Aughnacloy, Benburb and Moy, and of course Dungannon itself. Coalisland, Newmills and Donaghmore are over the boundary in Mid Ulster.

The constituency is a sprawling one. Driving from Moy to Belleek, for example, one covers a distance of 68 miles.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

You might prefer to use the term East Londonderry rather than East Derry. That's fine by me, as the name is something of a misnomer anyway. The consituency consists of the Boroughs of Coleraine and Limavady, therefore taking in Portrush and Portballintrae which are, of course, in County Antrim. Coleraine outvotes Limavady by about two to one, although the gap has closed slightly in recent years. By far the biggest population centre in the constituency is the built up area consisting of Coleraine Town, Portrush and Portstewart. Other major towns and villages are Limavady, Garvagh, Kilrea and Aghadowey, set in rolling farmland; Castlerock, Magilligan, Ballykelly and Greysteel along the coast, along with Articlave a few miles inland; and Dungiven up in the foothills of the Sperrins. The constituency covers a substantial stretch of the North Coast - Portballintrae is practically beside the Giant's Causeway; Greysteel increasingly a dormitory village for Derry.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

East Antrim contains the entire Boroughs of Carrickfergus and Larne, as well as four wards from Newtownabbey (covering Jordanstown, Monkstown, Cloughfern, and part of Whiteabbey). On a map, East Antrim looks like Northern Ireland's answer to Chile, snaking along the North Channel coast from Whiteabbey to Carnlough. Running from built up Belfast suburbia right through to the Antrim Coast Road, East Antrim contains a diversity of types of settlement and local economy.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

West Belfast contains 13 wards from the City of Belfast and 4 wards from the neighbouring City of Lisburn. The four Lisburn wards cover the Twinbrook and Poleglass areas and are outward extensions of the Falls/Andersonstown area in cultural, political and family terms. The vast bulk of the constituency consists of the Greater Falls, starting in Divis Street and proceeding along the Falls, Andersonstown and Stewartstown Roads and ending at the back of Twinbrook, although not including the Lagmore area over the border in Lagan Valley. The M1 motorway, mountains and the depth of residential segregation means that the only exception to this homogeneous political world is the tiny Protestant enclave of Suffolk.

Bolted on to this, rather uneasily, are two parts of the Greater Shankill - the depressed Lower Shankill is one part. The other, which cannot be reached from the Lower Shankill without passing through a peaceline, or North Belfast, consists of the estates around Glencairn and the West Circular Road, along with the rather more upmarket housing on the Ballygomartin Road.

Finally, there are a few hundred voters in the Mountainview area, far off on the Crumlin Road, and effectively a middle-class extension of Ardoyne. Boundary commmissioners are odd creatures sometimes.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

South Belfast contains 13 wards from the City of Belfast and 6 wards from neighbouring Castlereagh. Most of the boundaries of the constituency are firmly fixed by the M1 motorway to the West and the Woodstock and Cregagh Roads to the East. On the outskirts, Finaghy is in this constituency, Dunmurry is across the boundary in Lagan Valley; further to the East, the constituency spreads beyond the Belfast City boundary to include the whole built up area around Belvoir and Four Winds, but Wynchurch and Glencregagh are over the boundary into East Belfast. Most of Belfast City Centre is in this constituency, along with its attendant new apartment blocks.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

North Belfast contains 14 wards from the City of Belfast and 5 wards from neighbouring Newtownabbey. The core of the constituency is North Belfast 'proper', the area sandwiched between the Crumlin Road, the M2 motorway and the mountains. It also takes the vast Rathcoole estate in Newtownabbey along with the surrounding areas of Bawnmore, Longlands, Merville, Rush Park and Abbot's Cross. Finally, it takes in about 40% of the Greater Shankill area. There is no consistency to which parts of the Shankill are in which constituency, with North Belfast including the Crumlin Road, Upper Shankill and Woodvale but leaving out the Lower Shankill, Glencairn, Highfield and the Mountainview area off the Crumlin Road.

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Maps by Conal Kelly and Nicholas Whyte

East Belfast contains 11 wards from the City of Belfast and 9 wards from neighbouring Castlereagh. Essentially, it takes in all of 'core' Belfast east of the Woodstock Road and Cregagh Road, stopping short of Dundonald at one end but bulging out to the South West to take in the Cregagh Estate, where Peter Robinson hails from, as well as the leafy, religiously mixed, lanes of Wynchurch.

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