List of counties of Scotland 1890–1975

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.

Counties

County County town[1] Alternative forms and Gaelic name Area (acres)[2] Area (km2)[3] Population[4] Population
density
(per km2)[5]
Inverness-shire Inverness 2,695,094 10,915.13 89,655 8.21
Argyll Lochgilphead Argyllshire; Argyle; Earra-Ghaidheal 2,067,034[6] 8,364.98 59,777 7.15
Ross and Cromarty Dingwall Ross-shire 1,977,254 8,007.88 58,284 7.28
Perthshire[7] Perth 1,586,577[8] 6,425.63 127,104 19.78
Sutherland Dornoch[9] 1,297,914 5,276.07 13,055 2.47
Aberdeenshire Aberdeen 1,246,585[10] 5,172.55 150,703[11] 29.14
Ayrshire Ayr 724,239[12] 2,930.95 361,248 123.25
Dumfriesshire Dumfries 688,067[13] 2,784.56 88,215 31.68
Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbright The Stewartry 574,024 2,324.79 27,369 11.77
Angus Forfar Forfarshire 540,352[14] 2,186.77 97,312 44.50
Lanarkshire Hamilton (historically Lanark) 535,605[15] 2,169.20 626,787 288.95
Caithness Wick Gallaibh 438,833 1,775.93 27,792 15.65
Roxburghshire Jedburgh[16] 425,564 1,725.24 41,960 24.32
Banffshire Banff 403,054 1,631.14 43,500 26.67
Zetland Lerwick Shetland, Sealltainn, Hjaltiland c.3,523.37[17] 1,425.85[18] 17,331 12.15
Fife Cupar Fifeshire, Fiobha 322,878 1,306.67 327,126 250.35
Wigtownshire Wigtown The Shire 311,984 1,262.58 27,337 21.65
Moray[19] Elgin Morayshire, Elginshire, Moireabh 304,931 1,234.97 51,502 41.70
Berwickshire Duns (anciently Berwick-upon-Tweed, and then Greenlaw) 292,535[17] 1,183.84 20,778 17.55
Stirlingshire Stirling 288,349 1,166.90 208,958 179.07
Kincardineshire Stonehaven (historically Kincardine) The Mearns, A' Mhaoirne 244,428[20] 989.93 26,066 26.33
Orkney Kirkwall Arcaibh, Orkneyjar c.240,848[17] 934.67[21] 17,082 18.28
Peeblesshire Peebles 222,240 900.07 13,675 15.19
Midlothian Edinburgh Edinburghshire 203,354[22] 823.58 142,213 172.68
Selkirkshire Selkirk 171,209[23] 692.85 20,868 30.12
East Lothian Haddington Haddingtonshire 171,044[24] 692.73 55,908 80.71
Dunbartonshire Dumbarton Dumbartonshire 154,467[25] 625.11 237,540 380.00
Renfrewshire Renfrew 143,829[17] 578.00 362,130 626.52
Bute Rothesay Buteshire 139,711[17] 565.39 13,309 23.54
Nairnshire[19] Nairn 104,251 422.21 11,050 26.17
West Lothian Linlithgow Linlithgowshire 76,859[17] 311.03 108,484 348.79
Kinross-shire[7] Kinross 52,025[26] 210.70 6,423 30.48
Clackmannanshire Alloa (historically Clackmannan) 34,838 140.99 45,544 323.03

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).

County County town[1] Alternative forms and Gaelic name Area (acres)[2] Area (km2)[3] Population[4] Population density
(per km2)[5]
City of Glasgow Glasgow Glaschu, Glesca, Glasgie 34,647[17] 140.21 897,484 6,401.00
City of Edinburgh Edinburgh Dun Eideann, Embra, Edina, Dunedin, Auld Reekie 32,415[17] 131.17 453,585 3,457.99
City of Dundee Dundee Dùn Dè 12,229[17] 49.48 182,204 3,682.33
City of Aberdeen Aberdeen Obar Dheathain, Aiberdein 16,715[27] 67.64 182,071 2,691.77

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Keay & Keay (1994)
  2. ^ a b Keay & Keay (1994) unless otherwise stated.
  3. ^ a b 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. ^ a b United Kingdom 1971 Census
  5. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ a b 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.

References

  • "Scotland Table 1" A Vision of Britain. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
  • Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. London. HarperCollins.
  • "Scotland Table 1" A Vision of Britain. Retrieved 27 December 2007.