Subdivisions of Scotland

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Council areas of Scotland
CategoryAdministrative unit
Location Scotland
Number32
Populations22,020 (Orkney Islands) – 622,820 (Glasgow)
Areas60 km2 (23 sq mi) (Dundee) – 25,653 km2 (9,905 sq mi) (Highland)
Government
  • Council government
Subdivisions
  • None

For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" (Scottish Gaelic : comhairlean), which are all governed by single-tier authorities designated as "councils". [1] They have the option under the Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997 [2] of being known (but not re-designated) as a "comhairle" when opting for a Gaelic name; only Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Council of the Western Isles) has chosen this option, whereas the Highland Council (Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd) has adopted its Gaelic form alongside its English equivalent, informally.

Contents

The council areas have been in existence since 1 April 1996, under the provisions of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. Historically, Scotland was divided into 34 counties or shires. Although these no longer have any administrative function, they are still used to some extent in Scotland for cultural and geographical purposes, and some of the current council areas are named after them. There are also a number of other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils.

At the most local level, Scotland is divided into civil parishes, which are now used only for statistical purposes such as the census. The lowest level of administrative subdivision are the communities, which may elect community councils.

History of the subdivisions of Scotland

Traditionally burghs have been the key unit of the local government of Scotland, being highly autonomous entities, with rights to representation in the old Parliament of Scotland. Even after the Acts of Union 1707, burghs continued to be the principal subdivision. Until 1889, administration was on a burgh and parish basis.

The years following 1889 saw the introduction of a hierarchy of local government administration comprising counties, counties of cities, large burghs and small burghs.

With effect from 16 May 1975 and until 31 March 1996 the local government divisions of Scotland consisted of an upper tier of regions each containing a lower tier of districts except for the single-tier island council areas . Since 1996 there has only been a single tier of government, and the former island council areas are of equal status to the other councils.

Council areas

Coat of arms Council areaCouncilPopulation (2022) [3] Area (km2) Administrative centre
Glasgow Coat of Arms 1996.svg Glasgow City Glasgow City Council 622,820175 Glasgow
Coat of Arms of the Edinburgh City Council.svg City of Edinburgh City of Edinburgh Council 514,990263 Edinburgh
Coat of Arms of the Fife Area Council.svg Fife Fife Council 371,3401,325 Glenrothes
Coat of arms of North Lanarkshire Council.svg North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire Council 340,930470 Motherwell
Coat of arms of South Lanarkshire.svg South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire Council 327,4301,772 Hamilton
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire Council 263,7506,313 Aberdeen
Coat of Arms of the Highland Area Council.svg Highland Highland Council 235,71025,653 Inverness
Coat of arms of Aberdeen.svg Aberdeen City Aberdeen City Council 224,190186 Aberdeen
Coat of arms of West Lothian Council.svg West Lothian West Lothian Council 181,720428 Livingston
Coat of Arms of Renfrewshire.svg Renfrewshire Renfrewshire Council 184,340261 Paisley
Coat of Arms of Falkirk.svg Falkirk Falkirk Council 158,450297 Falkirk
Coat of Arms of the Area Council of Perth and Kinross.svg Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross Council 151,1205,286 Perth
Coat of arms of the Dumfries and Galloway area council 1996.svg Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway Council 145,7706,426 Dumfries
CoA of Dundee ext.svg Dundee City Dundee City Council 148,35060 Dundee
North Ayrshire coat of arms.svg North Ayrshire North Ayrshire Council 133,490885 Irvine
Coat of Arms of East Ayrshire.svg East Ayrshire East Ayrshire Council 120,3901,262 Kilmarnock
Coat of arms of the Angus Area Council.svg Angus Angus Council 114,6602,181 Forfar
Scottish Borders Scottish Borders Council 116,8204,732 Newtown St Boswells
Coat of arms of South Ayrshire.svg South Ayrshire South Ayrshire Council 111,5601,222 Ayr
Coat of arms of East Dunbartonshire.svg East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire Council 108,980174 Kirkintilloch
Coat of arms of East Lothian.svg East Lothian East Lothian Council 112,450679 Haddington
Coat of arms of Moray Area Council.svg Moray Moray Council 94,2802,238 Elgin
East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire Council 97,160174 Giffnock
Stirling Stirling Council 92,5302,186 Stirling
Coat of arms of Midlothian District Council.svg Midlothian Midlothian Council 97,030354 Dalkeith
Coat of arms of West Dunbartonshire.svg West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire Council 88,270159 Dumbarton
Coat of Arms Argyll & Bute.svg Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute Council 87,9206,907 Lochgilphead
Coat of Arms Inverclyde.svg Inverclyde Inverclyde Council 78,340160 Greenock
Coat of arms of Clackmannanshire.svg Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire Council 51,750159 Alloa
Coat of Arms of the Na h-Eileanan Siar (Outer Hebrides).svg Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 26,1203,056 Stornoway
Shetland Islands Shetland Islands Council 23,0201,467 Lerwick
Orkney Orkney Islands Council 22,020990 Kirkwall

Other subdivisions

Scotland has several other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils.

Electoral and valuation

There are several joint boards for electoral registration and the purposes of property valuation for assessing council tax and rates. [4]

Joint board areaCouncil areas
Ayrshire East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire
Borders Scottish Borders
Central Scotland Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Stirling
Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway
Dunbartonshire and Argyll & Bute Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire
Fife Fife
Grampian Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Moray
Glasgow Glasgow City
Highlands and Islands Highland and Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)
Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire
Lothian East Lothian, City of Edinburgh, Midlothian, West Lothian
Orkney and Shetland Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands
Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire
Tayside Angus, Dundee City, Perth and Kinross

Health

See also NHS Scotland

Health board areaCouncil areas
Ayrshire and Arran East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire
Borders Scottish Borders
Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway
Fife Fife
Forth Valley Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling
Grampian Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray
Greater Glasgow and Clyde Glasgow City, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire,
Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire
Highland Argyll and Bute and Highland
Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire
Lothian City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian
Orkney Orkney Islands
Shetland Shetland Islands
Tayside Angus, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross
Western Isles (Eileanan Siar) Western Isles (Na h-Eileanan Siar)

Until 1 April 2014 the towns of Cambuslang and Rutherglen were in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area despite being located in South Lanarkshire. They are now part of NHS Lanarkshire.

Transport

The Scottish Government has created seven "Regional Transport Partnerships", for establishing transport policy in the regions. They broadly follow council area groupings.

RTP areaCouncil areas
NESTRANS Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire
TACTRAN Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross, Stirling
HITRANS Argyll and Bute (except Helensburgh and Lomond), Highland, Moray, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles), Orkney
ZetTrans Shetland
SEStran Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, Midlothian, Fife, Scottish Borders, West Lothian
SWESTRANS Dumfries and Galloway
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport Argyll and Bute (Helensburgh and Lomond only), West Dunbartonshire, East Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire

Eurostat NUTS

In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), Scotland is a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKM", which is subdivided as follows: [5]

NUTS 1CodeNUTS 2CodeNUTS 3Code
ScotlandUKMEastern ScotlandUKM2 Angus and Dundee UKM21
NUTS 3 regions of central and southern Scotland map.svg

NUTS 3 regions of Scotland map.svg
Clackmannanshire and Fife UKM22
East Lothian and Midlothian UKM23
Scottish Borders UKM24
Edinburgh UKM25
Falkirk UKM26
Perth and Kinross, and Stirling UKM27
West Lothian UKM28
South Western ScotlandUKM3 East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, and Helensburgh and Lomond UKM31
Dumfries and Galloway UKM32
East and North Ayrshire mainlandUKM33
Glasgow UKM34
Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, and Renfrewshire UKM35
North Lanarkshire UKM36
South Ayrshire UKM37
South Lanarkshire UKM38
North Eastern ScotlandUKM5 Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire UKM50
Highlands and Islands UKM6 Caithness and Sutherland, and Ross and Cromarty UKM61
Inverness, Nairn, Moray, and Badenoch and Strathspey UKM62
Lochaber, Skye and Lochalsh, Arran and Cumbrae, and Argyll and Bute (except Helensburgh and Lomond)UKM63
Eilean Siar (Western Isles)UKM64
Orkney Islands UKM65
Shetland Islands UKM66

Land registration

The current land registration system in Scotland divides Scotland into 33 Registration Counties, [6] each coming into effect on various dates between 1981 and 2003. These areas in most cases resemble those of the pre-1975 administrative counties with Glasgow being the only current city to form a registration county.

Registration countyOperational from
County of Renfrew 6 April 1981
County of Dunbarton 4 October 1982
County of Lanark 3 January 1984
County of the Barony and Regality of Glasgow 30 September 1985
County of Clackmannan 1 October 1992
County of Stirling 1 April 1993
County of West Lothian 1 October 1993
County of Fife 1 April 1995
County of Aberdeen 1 April 1996
County of Kincardine 1 April 1996
County of Ayr 1 April 1997
County of Dumfries 1 April 1997
County of Kirkcudbright 1 April 1997
County of Wigtown 1 April 1997
County of Angus 1 April 1999
County of Kinross 1 April 1999
County of Perth 1 April 1999
County of Berwick 1 October 1999
County of East Lothian 1 October 1999
County of Peebles 1 October 1999
County of Roxburgh 1 October 1999
County of Selkirk 1 October 1999
County of Argyll 1 April 2000
County of Bute 1 April 2000
County of Midlothian 1 April 2001
County of Inverness 1 April 2002
County of Nairn 1 April 2002
County of Banff 1 April 2003
County of Caithness 1 April 2003
County of Moray 1 April 2003
Counties of Orkney and Zetland 1 April 2003
County of Ross and Cromarty 1 April 2003
County of Sutherland 1 April 2003

Sheriffdoms

Sheriffdoms are judicial areas. Since 1 January 1975, these have been six in number: [7]

Lieutenancy areas

The Lieutenancy areas of Scotland are the areas used for the ceremonial lord-lieutenants, the monarch's representatives. The areas are similar to the Historic Counties and the Registration Counties, but are not identical to either. Most notably, the four cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow form separate areas from the surrounding countryside, with the Lord Provost of each city acting ex officio as the lord-lieutenant.

Lieutenancy areas of Scotland
ScotlandLieutenancies.png

Former police and fire services

The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 resulted in the merger of local police and fire services on 1 April 2013 to form the Police Service of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Seirbheis Phoilis na h-Alba) and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS, Scottish Gaelic: Seirbheis Smàlaidh agus Teasairginn na h-Alba).

Prior to 1975 policing was the responsibility of the Cities and Burghs of Scotland (see List of burghs in Scotland). Between 1975 and 2013 Scotland was subdivided into Police and fire service areas based on the regions and districts and island council areas that were also formed in 1975. The police and fire service regions used between 1975 and 2013 are listed below.

ServicesOriginal area (former regions)Council areasPolice Scotland Division [8]
Central Scotland Police
Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service
Central Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling Forth Valley (C Division)
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service
Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and GallowayDumfries & Galloway (V Division)
Fife Constabulary
Fife Fire and Rescue Service
Fife FifeFife (P Division)
Grampian Police
Grampian Fire and Rescue Service
Grampian Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Aberdeenshire (A Division)
Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service
Lothians and the Scottish Borders City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders, West Lothian Lothian & Borders (J Division)

Edinburgh City (E Division)

Northern Constabulary
Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service
Highland, Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles Highland, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles), Orkney
and Shetland
Highland & Islands (N Division)
Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Fire and Rescue
Strathclyde Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire
East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde,
North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire,
South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire
Argyll & West Dunbartonshire (L Division)

Renfrewshire & Inverclyde (K Division)

Ayrshire (U Division)

Greater Glasgow (G Division)

Lanarkshire (Q Division)

Tayside Police
Tayside Fire and Rescue Service
Tayside Angus, Dundee City and Perth & Kinross Tayside (D Division)

Lower level subdivisions

Scotland is divided into 871 civil parishes which often resemble same-named but legally different ecclesiastical parishes. Although they have had no administrative function since 1930, they still exist and are still used for statistical purposes such as the census. Many former civil parish areas also continued to form registration districts until 1 January 2007. Many boundary changes have occurred over the years and an area currently derived from an old parish might no longer contain a place previously within that parish. Similarly, county boundaries (as still used for land registration) have also changed over the years such that a parish mentioned historically (generally before the 1860s) as being in one county (or sometimes two due to straddling a border) might now be in a neighbouring county and consequentially in a different succeeding council area.

For most administrative purposes, the base level of sub-division in Scotland is now that of communities, which may elect community councils. The main role of these bodies is to channel and reflect local opinion to other bodies; they otherwise have very limited powers. There are around 1,200 communities in Scotland. Not all communities have councils; some have joint councils.

Scottish communities are the nearest equivalent to civil parishes in England.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunbartonshire</span> Historic county in Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shires of Scotland</span> Historic administrative and geographical division of Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caithness</span> Historic county in northern Scotland

Caithness is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peeblesshire</span> Historic county in Scotland

Peeblesshire, the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinross-shire</span> Historic county in Scotland

The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1975. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Perthshire to the north and Fife to the east, south and west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stirlingshire</span> Historic county in Scotland

Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cunninghame</span> Area of Scotland, comprising the northern part of Ayrshire

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">County of Nairn</span> Historic county in Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renfrew (district)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renfrewshire (historic)</span> Historic county and lieutenancy area of western Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of local government in Scotland</span>

The history of local government in Scotland is a complex tale of largely ancient and long established Scottish political units being replaced after the mid 20th century by a frequently changing series of different local government arrangements.

Local government areas covering the whole of Scotland were first defined by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. As currently defined, they are a result, for the most part, of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

References

  1. "Local government facts and figures: Scotland". lgiu.org. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  2. "Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997".
  3. "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics . 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  4. "Scottish Assessors – Scottish Assessors Association website".
  5. "Information Paper - European statistical areas (NUTS and LAU) in Scotland" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. 2022.
  6. Registers of Scotland publication - Land Register Counties and Operational Dates
  7. The Sheriffdoms Reorganisation Order 1974 S.I. 1974/2087 (S.191)
  8. geo.fyi (5 April 2021). "Police Scotland Commands, Divisions and Subdivisions". geo.fyi. Retrieved 12 June 2023.