List of counties of Scotland 1890–1975

Last updated

This is a list of counties of Scotland created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 and abolished in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The list includes the county town, area, and population density.

Contents

Counties

CountyCounty town [1] Alternative forms and Gaelic nameArea (acres) [2] Area (km2) [3] Population [4] Population
density
(per km2) [5]
Inverness-shire Inverness 2,695,09410,915.1389,6558.21
Argyllshire Lochgilphead Argyll, Argyle, Earra-Ghaidheal2,067,034 [6] 8,364.9859,7777.15
Ross and Cromarty Dingwall Ross-shire1,977,2548,007.8858,2847.28
Perthshire [7] Perth 1,586,577 [8] 6,425.63127,10419.78
Sutherland Dornoch [9] 1,297,9145,276.0713,0552.47
Aberdeenshire Aberdeen 1,246,585 [10] 5,172.55150,703 [11] 29.14
Ayrshire Ayr 724,239 [12] 2,930.95361,248123.25
Dumfriesshire Dumfries 688,067 [13] 2,784.5688,21531.68
Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbright The Stewartry574,0242,324.7927,36911.77
Angus Forfar Forfarshire540,352 [14] 2,186.7797,31244.50
Lanarkshire Hamilton (historically Lanark)535,605 [15] 2,169.20626,787288.95
Caithness Wick Gallaibh438,8331,775.9327,79215.65
Roxburghshire Jedburgh [16] 425,5641,725.2441,96024.32
Banffshire Banff 403,0541,631.1443,50026.67
Zetland Lerwick Shetland, Sealltainn, Hjaltilandc.3,523.37 [17] 1,425.85 [18] 17,33112.15
Fife Cupar Fifeshire, Fiobha322,8781,306.67327,126250.35
Wigtownshire Wigtown The Shire311,9841,262.5827,33721.65
Moray [19] Elgin Morayshire, Elginshire, Moireabh304,9311,234.9751,50241.70
Berwickshire Duns (anciently Berwick-upon-Tweed, and then Greenlaw)292,535 [17] 1,183.8420,77817.55
Stirlingshire Stirling 288,3491,166.90208,958179.07
Kincardineshire Stonehaven (historically Kincardine)The Mearns, A' Mhaoirne244,428 [20] 989.9326,06626.33
Orkney Kirkwall Arcaibh, Orkneyjarc.240,848 [17] 934.67 [21] 17,08218.28
Peeblesshire Peebles 222,240900.0713,67515.19
Midlothian Edinburgh Edinburghshire203,354 [22] 823.58142,213172.68
Selkirkshire Selkirk 171,209 [23] 692.8520,86830.12
East Lothian Haddington Haddingtonshire171,044 [24] 692.7355,90880.71
Dunbartonshire Dumbarton Dumbartonshire154,467 [25] 625.11237,540380.00
Renfrewshire Renfrew 143,829 [17] 578.00362,130626.52
Bute Rothesay Buteshire139,711 [17] 565.3913,30923.54
Nairnshire [19] Nairn 104,251422.2111,05026.17
West Lothian Linlithgow Linlithgowshire76,859 [17] 311.03108,484348.79
Kinross-shire [7] Kinross 52,025 [26] 210.706,42330.48
Clackmannanshire Alloa (historically Clackmannan)34,838140.9945,544323.03

Cities

Historically cities were parts of larger counties. Edinburgh was in Midlothian, Aberdeen in Aberdeenshire, and Glasgow in Lanarkshire (although parts of greater Glasgow extended into other counties, e.g. Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire).

CountyCounty town [1] Alternative forms and Gaelic nameArea (acres) [2] Area (km2) [3] Population [4] Population density
(per km2) [5]
City of Glasgow Glasgow Glaschu, Glesca, Glasgie34,647 [17] 140.21897,4846,401.00
City of Edinburgh Edinburgh Dun Eideann, Embra, Edina, Dunedin, Auld Reekie32,415 [17] 131.17453,5853,457.99
City of Dundee Dundee Dùn Dè12,229 [17] 49.48182,2043,682.33
City of Aberdeen Aberdeen Obar Dheathain, Aiberdein16,715 [27] 67.64182,0712,691.77

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Keay & Keay (1994)
  2. 1 2 Keay & Keay (1994) unless otherwise stated.
  3. 1 2 Keay & Keay (1994) in cases where the area is provided by this author. Otherwise the figure is a calculation based on the assumed area.
  4. 1 2 United Kingdom 1971 Census
  5. 1 2 Calculated from 1971 Census data and 'Area'.
  6. ↑ Argyllshire is reduced to a land area of 1,990,521 acres (8055.35 km²) if "waters, marsh and foreshore" are excluded from the total.
  7. 1 2 Perth and Kinross were administered as a "combined county" from 1930-1975.
  8. ↑ Reduced from 1,595,804 acres (6,457.99 km2) in 1951.
  9. ↑ According to Keay (1994) Dornoch was generally 'considered' to be the county town of Sutherland, although the council offices were in Golspie.
  10. ↑ Possibly reduced from 1,263,300 acres (5,112 km2) in 1951 but see 'City of Aberdeen' below).
  11. ↑ "Aberdeenshire District: Total Population" A Vision of Britain. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
  12. ↑ Increased from 724,232 acres (2,930.86 km2) in 1951.
  13. ↑ Reduced from 688,111 acres (2,784.69 km2) in 1951.
  14. ↑ Reduced from 546,775 acres (2,212.72 km2) in 1951.
  15. ↑ Reduced from 535,862 acres (2,168.56 km2) in 1951.
  16. ↑ According to Keay (1994) the county town was Newtown St Boswells. The County Offices had moved there in 1899. "Overview of Jedburgh". Gazetteer for Scotland. The Institute of Geography, University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 1 August 2008. However, the county town is usually listed as Jedburgh, e.g. in Encyclopedia II op cit and "Carnegie Libraries" scotcities.com Retrieved 26 December 2007.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The areas for Berwickshire, Bute, Orkney, Renfrewshire, West Lothian and Zetland and the three cities are not provided by Keay (1994) and the figures used are from the 1951 census.
  18. ↑ The current figure for Orkney Islands Council is 1,466 km2 for the same geographical area.
  19. 1 2 Moray and Nairn were administered as a "combined county" from 1930-1975.
  20. ↑ Reduced from 242,460 acres (981.2 km2) in 1951.
  21. ↑ The current figure for Orkney Islands Council is 990 km² for the same geographical area.
  22. ↑ Increased from 201,922 acres (817.15 km2) in 1951.
  23. ↑ Keay (1994) provides the figure of 121,240 acres (490.6 km2). This is probably a typographical error for 171,240 acres (693.0 km2). For example, the 1976 World Book has a figure of 695 km2 for the county. The 1951 Census figure is used in this column.
  24. ↑ Increased from 170,971 acres (691.90 km2) in 1951.
  25. ↑ Increased from 154,362 acres (624.68 km2) in 1951.
  26. ↑ Reduced from 52,392 acres (212.02 km2) in 1951.
  27. ↑ Neither Keay (1994) or Vision of Britain offer a specific statistic. However the latter records a total area of 1,263,300 acres (5,112 km2) for 'Aberdeen'. This is clearly inclusive of Aberdeenshire, which elsewhere in the same database recorded as having an area of 1,246,585 acres (5,044.75 km2). The figure recorded here is the difference between the two. In general terms this is consistent with the Vision of Britain maps for the area.

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References

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