For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" which are all governed by unitary authorities ^[1] designated as "councils" which have the option under the Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997 (as chosen by Na h-Eileanan an Siar) of being known (but not re-designated) as a "comhairle" when opting for a Gaelic name.

They have been in existence since 1 April 1996, under the provisions of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

Other administrative bodies (some of which are described below) still follow boundaries derived from older local government arrangements.

History of the subdivisions of Scotland

Before 1996 the local government divisions of Scotland were regions and districts (each region consisting of a number of districts) and unitary island council areas; that scheme was introduced on 16 May 1975.

Before then there existed counties, counties of cities, large burghs and small burghs, these being introduced since 1889. Before 1889 administration was on a burgh and parish basis.

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.

Map

Statistics

MAINLAND	Area (sq miles)	Area (km²)	Population (2001)	Density (per km²)
City of Aberdeen	70	182	212,125	1164
Aberdeenshire	2439	6317	226,871	36
Angus	843	2184	108,400	50
Argyll and Bute	2712	7023	91,306	13
Clackmannanshire	61	158	48,077	304
Dumfries and Galloway	2489	6446	147,765	23
City of Dundee	21	55	145,663	2648
East Ayrshire	492	1275	120,235	94
East Dunbartonshire	68	176	108,243	617
East Lothian	257	666	90,088	135
East Renfrewshire	65	168	89,311	532
City of Edinburgh	100	260	448,624	1725
Falkirk	113	293	145,191	496
Fife	517	1340	349,429	261
City of Glasgow	68	175	577,869	3307
Highland	10,085	26,119	208,914	8
Inverclyde	64	167	84,203	503
Midlothian	135	350	80,941	231
Moray	864	2237	86,940	39
North Ayrshire	343	888	135,817	153
North Lanarkshire	184	476	321,067	674
Perth and Kinross	2083	5395	134,949	25
Renfrewshire	102	263	172,867	659
Scottish Borders	1825	4727	106,764	23
South Ayrshire	475	1230	112,097	93
South Lanarkshire	686	1778	302,216	170
Stirling	866	2243	86,212	38
West Dunbartonshire	68	176	93,378	531
West Lothian	165	427	158,714	372
TOTAL MAINLAND	28,260	73,193	4,994,276	68
ISLANDS
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)	1185	3070	26,502	9
Orkney Islands	396	1025	19,245	19
Shetland Islands	568	1471	21,988	15
TOTAL ISLANDS	2149	5566	67,735	12
TOTAL SCOTLAND	30,409	78,759	5,062,011	64

Other subdivisions

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

Police and fire services

Police and fire service areas date from the era (1975 to 1996) of regions and districts and island council areas.

Electoral and valuation

There are several joint boards for electoral registration and the purposes of property valuation for assessing council tax and rates. See http://www.saa.gov.uk/

Health

See also NHS Scotland

Transport

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

Sheriffdoms

Sheriffdoms are judicial areas. Since 1 January 1975 these have been six in number:^[2]

• Glasgow and Strathkelvin
• Grampian, Highland and Islands
• Lothian and Borders
• North Strathclyde
• South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
• Tayside, Central and Fife

Civil parishes

Scotland is divided into 871 civil 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 continue to form current registration districts.

Communities

The base level of sub-division in Scotland is that of communities which may elect community councils (CCs). The main role of the CCs is to channel local opinion to larger local-government bodies. Otherwise they have very limited powers. There are around 1200 communities in Scotland. Not all communities have councils; some have joint councils.

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

References

1. ↑ With respect to Scotland the phrase "unitary authority" is merely descriptive; in the United Kingdom the phrase "unitary authority" as a designation is specific to English local government areas.
2. ↑ The Sheriffdoms Reorganisation Order 1974 S.I. 1974/2087 (S.191)

See also

• List of articles about local government in the United Kingdom

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