The council areas of Scotland form the local government areas of Scotland, all of them unitary authorities. They have been in use since April 1, 1996, under the provisions of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

Before then the administrative division was the region (pointedly not called counties, unlike their cousins in England and Wales), with a further subdivision of the district, this scheme was introduced on May 16, 1975. Before then there existed administrative counties of Scotland, these being introduced in 1889. Before 1889 administration was on a city, burgh and parish basis.

Contents

1 Map 2 Statistics 3 Joint boards 3.1 Police & fire 3.2 Electoral & valuation 3.3 Health 4 See also

Map

Inverclyde Renfrewshire West Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire Glasgow East Renfrewshire North Lanarkshire Falkirk West Lothian Edinburgh Midlothian East Lothian Clackmannanshire Fife Dundee Angus Aberdeenshire Aberdeen Moray Highland Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) Argyll and Bute Perth and Kinross Stirling North Ayrshire East Ayrshire South Ayrshire Dumfries and Galloway South Lanarkshire Scottish Borders Not shown: Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands,

Statistics

MAINLAND	Area (km²)	Population (2001)	Density (per km²)
City of Aberdeen	182	212,125	1164
Aberdeenshire	6317	226,871	36
Angus	2184	108,400	50
Argyll and Bute	7023	91,306	13
Clackmannanshire	158	48,077	304
Dumfries and Galloway	6446	147,765	23
City of Dundee	55	145,663	2648
East Ayrshire	1275	120,235	94
East Dunbartonshire	176	108,243	617
East Lothian	666	90,088	135
East Renfrewshire	168	89,311	532
City of Edinburgh	260	448,624	1725
Falkirk	293	145,191	496
Fife	1340	349,429	261
City of Glasgow	175	577,869	3307
Highland	26119	208,914	8
Inverclyde	167	84,203	503
Midlothian	350	80,941	231
Moray	2237	86,940	39
North Ayrshire	888	135,817	153
North Lanarkshire	476	321,067	674
Perth and Kinross	5395	134,949	25
Renfrewshire	263	172,867	659
Scottish Borders	4727	106,764	23
South Ayrshire	1230	112,097	93
South Lanarkshire	1778	302,216	170
Stirling	2243	86,212	38
West Dunbartonshire	176	93,378	531
West Lothian	427	158,714	372
TOTAL MAINLAND	73193	4,994,276	68
ISLANDS
Orkney Islands	1025	19,245	19
Shetland Islands	1471	21,988	15
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)	3070	26,502	9
TOTAL ISLANDS	5566	67,735	12
TOTAL SCOTLAND	78759	5,062,011	64

Joint boards

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

Police & fire

• Central Scotland
• Dumfries and Galloway
• Fife
• Grampian
• Lothian & Borders
• Northern (called Highland & Islands for fire services)
• Strathclyde
• Tayside

Electoral & valuation

• Ayrshire
• Borders
• Central Scotland
• Dumfries and Galloway
• Dunbartonshire and Argyll & Bute
• Fife
• Grampian
• Glasgow
• Highland and Western Isles
• Lanarkshire
• Lothian
• Orkney and Shetland
• Renfrewshire
• Tayside

Health

• Argyll and Clyde
• Ayrshire and Arran
• Borders
• Forth Valley
• Dumfries and Galloway
• Fife
• Grampian
• Greater Glasgow
• Highland
• Lanarkshire
• Lothian
• Orkney
• Shetland
• Tayside
• Western Isles

See also

• Lieutenancy areas of Scotland
• NUTS:UK
• Subdivisions of the United Kingdom
• Administrative counties of England
• Administrative counties of Wales