What is the smallest county in England?

*** This is a Frequently Asked Question, and so we will use this top post to present the consensus answer ***

The answer is either Rutland (the answer that most websites cite) or Isle of Wight as both appear to be extremely close in size.

This site even suggests it depends on the time of day!

The Isle of Wight is also England's smallest county - when the tide is in! Rutland has the distinction of being the smallest county when the tide is out.

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/HistoricSitesintheIsleofWight/


The answer also depends on how you define "county".

As a poster below points out:

"Unitary counties are cities which are counties in their own right. If you are talking about these, then Blackpool is the smallest with 35 km2."

Rutland was absorbed into Leicestershire in 1972, but achieved independence again in 1997.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutland#History

Rutland was the smallest county in terms of area, but that was when the Isle of Wight was part of Hampshire. Both the IOW and Rutland are now counties in their own right and IOW is the smaller of the two.

Vectis is right. Isle of Wight 147 sq miles. Rutland 152.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lists/county-english-counties

Rutland was part of Leicestershire for a few years, but we never acknowledged the fact, nor did they. Rutland is 394 square kilometres or 152 square miles, population in 1997 was 36,000. Isle of Wight is 380 square kilometres or 147 square miles, population (not including visitors) 126,000.

21 websites (so far) say Rutland

http://www.bigcats.org.uk/world-visitors.html

Bristol wasn't the only exception. Norwich was also an exception till from medieval times till 1974. York claimed that it didn't belong to any of the three Ridings of Yorkshire and therefore enjoyed county status ... Moreover, the City of London has claimed that it was never part of Middlesex as it predated the formation of the county - and to it goes on.

Unitary counties are cities which are counties in their own right. If you are talking about these, then Blackpool is the smallest with 35 km2.

The situation is somewhat complicated, as it depends on which definition of "county" is taken into consideration. In 2009 there was an extensive reorganization of England's local govenrments:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_structural_changes_to_local_government_in_England

See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_counties_of_England#List_of_counties
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties_of_England#Local_government