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.
21 square miles (54 km2) (Dundee) - 11,838 square miles (30,660 km2) (Highland)
Government
Council government
Subdivisions
None
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.
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
These are mid-year estimates for mid-2019 est. from the Office for National Statistics.
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.
The Scottish Government has created seven "Regional Transport Partnerships", for establishing transport policy in the regions. They broadly follow council area groupings.
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
The current land registration system in Scotland divides Scotland into 33 Registration Counties,[8] 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.
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.
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.
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.
^"Local government facts and figures: Scotland". lgiu.org. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
^"Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997".
^"Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, 2021". Office for National Statistics. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
^"Electoral Statistics - Scotland 1st December 2017". National Records of Scotland. 1 December 2017. Table 3. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
^"Standard Area Measurements (2016) for Administrative Areas in the United Kingdom". Office for National Statistics. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
^"Scottish Assessors – Scottish Assessors Association website".
^"Information Paper - European statistical areas (NUTS and LAU) in Scotland" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. 2022.
^Registers of Scotland publication - Land Register Counties and Operational Dates
^The Sheriffdoms Reorganisation Order 1974 S.I. 1974/2087 (S.191)
January 18, 2023
subdivisions, scotland, local, government, purposes, scotland, divided, into, areas, designated, council, areas, scottish, gaelic, comhairlean, which, governed, single, tier, authorities, designated, councils, they, have, option, under, local, government, gael. 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 Gaidhealtachd has adopted its Gaelic form alongside its English equivalent informally Councils of ScotlandCategoryAdministrative unitLocationScotlandNumber32 CouncilsPopulations21 400 Orkney Islands 593 200 Glasgow Areas21 square miles 54 km2 Dundee 11 838 square miles 30 660 km2 Highland GovernmentCouncil governmentSubdivisionsNoneThe 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 Contents 1 History of the subdivisions of Scotland 2 Council areas 3 Other subdivisions 3 1 Electoral and valuation 3 2 Health 3 3 Transport 3 4 Eurostat NUTS 3 5 Land registration 3 6 Sheriffdoms 3 7 Lieutenancy areas 3 8 Former police and fire services 4 Lower level subdivisions 5 See also 6 ReferencesHistory of the subdivisions of Scotland EditFurther information Burgh History and History of local government in 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 EditThese are mid year estimates for mid 2019 est from the Office for National Statistics Rank Council area Population 3 Electors 4 Area km2 5 Density per km2 1 Glasgow City 626 410 462 286 174 7 3 5862 City of Edinburgh 518 500 367 762 263 4 1 9693 Fife 371 910 280 622 1 325 2814 North Lanarkshire 340 180 256 174 469 9 7245 South Lanarkshire 319 020 248 875 1 772 1806 Aberdeenshire 261 470 202 194 6 313 417 Highland 235 540 184 697 25 657 98 Aberdeen City 227 560 163 196 185 7 1 2259 West Lothian 182 140 137 614 427 7 42610 Renfrewshire 177 790 133 295 261 5 68011 Falkirk 160 340 122 471 297 4 53912 Perth and Kinross 151 290 114 936 5 286 2913 Dumfries and Galloway 148 790 116 593 6 427 2314 Dundee City 148 750 112 513 59 83 2 48615 North Ayrshire 135 280 107 763 885 4 15316 East Ayrshire 121 840 94 657 1 262 9717 Angus 116 040 89 652 2 182 5318 Scottish Borders 115 270 91 919 4 732 2419 South Ayrshire 112 550 90 300 1 222 9220 East Dunbartonshire 108 330 85 410 174 5 62121 East Lothian 105 790 80 874 679 2 15622 Moray 95 520 73 284 2 238 4323 East Renfrewshire 95 170 71 618 174 2 54624 Stirling 94 330 68 778 2 187 4325 Midlothian 91 340 70 587 353 7 25826 West Dunbartonshire 89 130 68 826 158 8 56127 Argyll and Bute 86 260 68 271 6 909 1228 Inverclyde 78 150 59 941 160 5 48729 Clackmannanshire 51 400 39 186 159 0 32330 Na h Eileanan Siar Western Isles 26 830 21 874 3 059 931 Shetland 22 990 17 837 1 468 1632 Orkney 22 190 17 135 988 8 22Other subdivisions EditScotland has several other administrative divisions some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils Electoral and valuation Edit There are several joint boards for electoral registration and the purposes of property valuation for assessing council tax and rates 6 Joint board area Council areasAyrshire East Ayrshire North Ayrshire South AyrshireBorders Scottish BordersCentral Scotland Clackmannanshire Falkirk StirlingDumfries and Galloway Dumfries and GallowayDunbartonshire and Argyll amp Bute Argyll and Bute East Dunbartonshire West DunbartonshireFife FifeGrampian Aberdeen Aberdeenshire MorayGlasgow GlasgowHighlands and Western Isles Highland and Na h Eileanan Siar Western Isles Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire South LanarkshireLothian East Lothian Edinburgh Midlothian West LothianOrkney and Shetland Orkney Islands and Shetland IslandsRenfrewshire East Renfrewshire Inverclyde RenfrewshireTayside Angus Dundee Perth and KinrossHealth Edit See also NHS Scotland Health board area Council areasAyrshire and Arran East Ayrshire North Ayrshire and South AyrshireBorders Scottish BordersDumfries and Galloway Dumfries and GallowayFife FifeForth Valley Clackmannanshire Falkirk and StirlingGrampian Aberdeenshire City of Aberdeen and MorayGreater Glasgow and Clyde City of Glasgow East Dunbartonshire East Renfrewshire Inverclyde Renfrewshire and West DunbartonshireHighland Argyll and Bute and HighlandLanarkshire North Lanarkshire and South LanarkshireLothian City of Edinburgh East Lothian Midlothian and West LothianOrkney Orkney IslandsShetland Shetland IslandsTayside Angus City of Dundee and Perth and KinrossWestern 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 Edit See also Transport Scotland The Scottish Government has created seven Regional Transport Partnerships for establishing transport policy in the regions They broadly follow council area groupings RTP area Council areasNESTRANS Aberdeen AberdeenshireTACTRAN Angus Dundee Perth and Kinross StirlingHITRANS Argyll and Bute except Helensburgh and Lomond Highland Moray Na h Eileanan Siar Western Isles OrkneyZetTrans ShetlandSEStran Edinburgh Clackmannanshire East Lothian Falkirk Midlothian Fife Scottish Borders West LothianSWESTRANS Dumfries and GallowayStrathclyde 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 AyrshireEurostat NUTS Edit In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics NUTS Scotland is a level 1 NUTS region coded UKM which is subdivided as follows 7 NUTS 1 Code NUTS 2 Code NUTS 3 CodeScotland UKM Eastern Scotland UKM2 Angus and Dundee UKM21 Clackmannanshire and Fife UKM22East Lothian and Midlothian UKM23Scottish Borders UKM24Edinburgh UKM25Falkirk UKM26Perth and Kinross and Stirling UKM27West Lothian UKM28South Western Scotland UKM3 East Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire and Helensburgh and Lomond UKM31Dumfries and Galloway UKM32East and North Ayrshire mainland UKM33Glasgow UKM34Inverclyde East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire UKM35North Lanarkshire UKM36South Ayrshire UKM37South Lanarkshire UKM38North Eastern Scotland UKM5 Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire UKM50Highlands and Islands UKM6 Caithness and Sutherland and Ross and Cromarty UKM61Inverness Nairn Moray and Badenoch and Strathspey UKM62Lochaber Skye and Lochalsh Arran and Cumbrae and Argyll and Bute except Helensburgh and Lomond UKM63Eilean Siar Western Isles UKM64Orkney Islands UKM65Shetland Islands UKM66Land registration Edit The current land registration system in Scotland divides Scotland into 33 Registration Counties 8 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 county Operational fromCounty of Renfrew 6 April 1981County of Dumbarton 4 October 1982County of Lanark 3 January 1984County of the Barony and Regality of Glasgow 30 September 1985County of Clackmannan 1 October 1992County of Stirling 1 April 1993County of West Lothian 1 October 1993County of Fife 1 April 1995County of Aberdeen 1 April 1996County of Kincardine 1 April 1996County of Ayr 1 April 1997County of Dumfries 1 April 1997County of Kirkcudbright 1 April 1997County of Wigtown 1 April 1997County of Angus 1 April 1999County of Kinross 1 April 1999County of Perth 1 April 1999County of Berwick 1 October 1999County of East Lothian 1 October 1999County of Peebles 1 October 1999County of Roxburgh 1 October 1999County of Selkirk 1 October 1999County of Argyll 1 April 2000County of Bute 1 April 2000County of Midlothian 1 April 2001County of Inverness 1 April 2002County of Nairn 1 April 2002County of Banff 1 April 2003County of Caithness 1 April 2003County of Moray 1 April 2003Counties of Orkney and Zetland 1 April 2003County of Ross and Cromarty 1 April 2003County of Sutherland 1 April 2003Sheriffdoms Edit Sheriffdoms are judicial areas Since 1 January 1975 these have been six in number 9 Glasgow and Strathkelvin Grampian Highland and Islands Lothian and Borders North Strathclyde South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway Tayside Central and FifeLieutenancy areas Edit 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 ScotlandAberdeen Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll and Bute Ayrshire and Arran Banffshire Berwickshire Caithness Clackmannanshire Dumfries Dunbartonshire Dundee East Lothian Edinburgh Fife Glasgow Inverness Kincardineshire Lanarkshire Midlothian Moray Nairn Perth and Kinross Renfrewshire Ross and Cromarty Roxburgh Ettrick and Lauderdale Stirling and Falkirk Sutherland The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright Tweeddale West Lothian Western Isles WigtownNot shown Orkney Shetland Former police and fire services Edit 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 Smalaidh 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 Services Original area former regions Council areasCentral Scotland Police Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service Central Clackmannanshire Falkirk and StirlingDumfries and Galloway Constabulary Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and GallowayFife Constabulary Fife Fire and Rescue Service Fife FifeGrampian Police Grampian Fire and Rescue Service Grampian Aberdeen City Aberdeenshire and MorayLothian and Borders Police Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service Lothians and the Scottish Borders City of Edinburgh East Lothian Midlothian Scottish Borders West LothianNorthern Constabulary Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service Highland Orkney Shetland and Western Isles Highland Na h Eileanan Siar Western Isles Orkney and ShetlandStrathclyde Police Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Strathclyde Argyll and Bute East Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire East Renfrewshire the City of Glasgow Inverclyde North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Renfrewshire South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire and West DunbartonshireTayside Police Tayside Fire and Rescue Service Tayside Angus the City of Dundee and Perth amp KinrossLower level subdivisions EditSee also Local government in Scotland 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 EditList of articles about local government in the United Kingdom ISO 3166 2 GB subdivision codes for the United Kingdom Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions Scottish Westminster constituenciesReferences Edit Local government facts and figures Scotland lgiu org Retrieved 14 March 2022 Local Government Gaelic Names Scotland Act 1997 Population Estimates for UK England and Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland 2021 Office for National Statistics 2 November 2022 Retrieved 19 December 2022 Electoral Statistics Scotland 1st December 2017 National Records of Scotland 1 December 2017 Table 3 Retrieved 29 June 2018 Standard Area Measurements 2016 for Administrative Areas in the United Kingdom Office for National Statistics 1 February 2017 Retrieved 9 February 2017 Scottish Assessors Scottish Assessors Association website Information Paper European statistical areas NUTS and LAU in Scotland PDF Boundaries Scotland 2022 Registers of Scotland publication Land Register Counties and Operational Dates The Sheriffdoms Reorganisation Order 1974 S I 1974 2087 S 191 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Subdivisions of Scotland amp oldid 1126634936 Council areas, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
