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 CountyCounty townKeay & Keay (1994)Alternative forms and Gaelic nameArea (acres)Keay & Keay (1994) unless otherwise stated.Area (km2)Keay & Keay (1994) in cases where the area is provided by this author. Otherwise the figure is a calculation based on the assumed area.PopulationUnited Kingdom 1971 CensusPopulationdensity(per km2)Calculated from 1971 Census data and 'Area'.Inverness-shireInverness2,695,09410,915.1389,6558.21ArgyllLochgilpheadArgyllshire; Argyle; Earra-Ghaidheal2,067,034Argyllshire is reduced to a land area of 1,990,521 acres (8055.35 km²) if "waters, marsh and foreshore" are excluded from the total.8,364.9859,7777.15Ross and CromartyDingwallRoss-shire1,977,2548,007.8858,2847.28PerthshirePerth and Kinross were administered as a "combined county" from 1930-1975.Perth1,586,577Reduced from in 1951.6,425.63127,10419.78SutherlandDornochAccording to Keay (1994) Dornoch was generally 'considered' to be the county town of Sutherland, although the council offices were in Golspie.1,297,9145,276.0713,0552.47AberdeenshireAberdeen1,246,585Possibly reduced from in 1951 but see 'City of Aberdeen' below).5,172.55150,703"Aberdeenshire District: Total Population" A Vision of Britain. Retrieved 27 December 2007.29.14AyrshireAyr724,239Increased from in 1951.2,930.95361,248123.25DumfriesshireDumfries688,067Reduced from in 1951.2,784.5688,21531.68KirkcudbrightshireKirkcudbrightThe Stewartry574,0242,324.7927,36911.77AngusForfarForfarshire540,352Reduced from in 1951.2,186.7797,31244.50LanarkshireHamilton (historically Lanark)535,605Reduced from in 1951.2,169.20626,787288.95CaithnessWickGallaibh438,8331,775.9327,79215.65Roxburghshire JedburghAccording to Keay (1994) the county town was Newtown St Boswells. The County Offices had moved there in 1899. However, the county town is usually listed as Jedburgh, e.g. in Encyclopedia II op cit and "Carnegie Libraries" scotcities.com Retrieved 26 December 2007.425,5641,725.2441,96024.32BanffshireBanff403,0541,631.1443,50026.67ZetlandLerwickShetland, Sealltainn, Hjaltilandc.3,523.37The 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.1,425.85The current figure for Orkney Islands Council is 1,466 km2 for the same geographical area.17,33112.15FifeCuparFifeshire, Fiobha322,8781,306.67327,126250.35WigtownshireWigtownThe Shire311,9841,262.5827,33721.65MorayMoray and Nairn were administered as a "combined county" from 1930-1975.ElginMorayshire, Elginshire, Moireabh304,9311,234.9751,50241.70BerwickshireDuns (anciently Berwick-upon-Tweed, and then Greenlaw)292,5351,183.8420,77817.55StirlingshireStirling288,3491,166.90208,958179.07KincardineshireStonehaven (historically Kincardine)The Mearns, A' Mhaoirne244,428Reduced from in 1951.989.9326,06626.33OrkneyKirkwallArcaibh, Orkneyjarc.240,848934.67The current figure for Orkney Islands Council is 990 km² for the same geographical area.17,08218.28PeeblesshirePeebles222,240900.0713,67515.19MidlothianEdinburghEdinburghshire203,354Increased from in 1951.823.58142,213172.68SelkirkshireSelkirk171,209Keay (1994) provides the figure of . This is probably a typographical error for . For example, the 1976 World Book has a figure of 695 km2 for the county. The 1951 Census figure is used in this column.692.8520,86830.12East LothianHaddingtonHaddingtonshire171,044Increased from in 1951.692.7355,90880.71DunbartonshireDumbartonDumbartonshire154,467Increased from in 1951.625.11237,540380.00RenfrewshireRenfrew143,829578.00362,130626.52ButeRothesayButeshire139,711565.3913,30923.54NairnshireNairn104,251422.2111,05026.17West LothianLinlithgowLinlithgowshire76,859311.03108,484348.79Kinross-shireKinross52,025Reduced from in 1951.210.706,42330.48ClackmannanshireAlloa (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 townAlternative forms and Gaelic nameArea (acres)Area (km2)PopulationPopulation density(per km2)City of GlasgowGlasgowGlaschu, Glesca, Glasgie34,647140.21897,4846,401.00City of EdinburghEdinburghDun Eideann, Embra, Edina, Dunedin, Auld Reekie32,415131.17453,5853,457.99City of DundeeDundeeDùn Dè12,22949.48182,2043,682.33City of AberdeenAberdeenObar Dheathain, Aiberdein16,715Neither Keay (1994) or Vision of Britain offer a specific statistic. However the latter records a total area of for 'Aberdeen'. This is clearly inclusive of Aberdeenshire, which elsewhere in the same database recorded as having an area of . 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.67.64182,0712,691.77
See also Counties of Scotland List of counties of Scotland by area in 1951 List of counties of Scotland by population in 1951 List of counties of Scotland by population in 1971 List of Scottish counties by highest point List of Scottish council areas by area List of Scottish council areas by highest point
Notes
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.