About UK SAM
The SAM product provides a definitive list of measurements for administrative, health, Census, electoral and other geographic areas in the UK. SAM changes annually for some geographies, but for others it is 'frozen' for several years.
The land measurement figures provided are defined by topographic boundaries (coastline and inland water), where available.
We review measurements annually and include information up to the end of December.
We have produced the measurements in conjunction with the following UK government statistical organisations and independent mapping agencies: National Records of Scotland (NRS), Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), Ordnance Survey®(OS) and Land & Property Services (LPS).
The SAM User Guide explains differences in methodology and base mapping between these agencies.
Product details
We provide SAM in CSV and TXT file formats. The User Guide, XML metadata and product specification document, contained within the zip file, provide further information.
The latest versions of SAM and their respective user guides are available to download free of charge from the Open Geography portal.
