In 2014, the first legalised gay marriages took place - making 2013 the last year that civil partnerships were the only option for same-sex couple seeking a legal union in every UK country besides Northern Ireland.
Civil partnerships were first legalised in 2005. The map below shows in which regions in England and Wales have the partnerships been most popular since 2008 relative to the number of people living there.
There were five ceremonies per 1,000 people living in Brighton between 2008 and 2013, making it the area with the highest concentration of civil partnerships.
The above map is not necessarily a good indicator of where people taking civil partnership ceremonies live as it shows where the registration took place rather than the place of residence.
In fact, London dominates in terms of raw numbers. Since their legalisation in 2005, 26% of all civil partnership ceremonies have taken place in the capital.
There were 6,276 civil partnership ceremonies in the UK during 2013, a decrease of 11% on 2012.
