Council areas of Scotland

A council area in Scotland is an area made for local government. There is a total of 32 council areas in Scotland. They are all governed by unitary authorities called "councils". The council areas were created on 1 April 1996, under the provisions of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The Act calls them local authority areas but most people call them council areas.

The council areas have the option of being known as a comhairle when choosing to go by a Gaelic name. However, only Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar (Council of the Western Isles) has chosen this option, while the Highland Council (Comhairle na Gaidhealtachd) uses both an English name and a Gaelic name.

MAINLAND Area (sq miles) Area (km²) Number of people (2001) Number of people (latest estimate ) How many per km² (2001) City of Aberdeen 70 182 212,125 from=Q62274582}} 1164 Aberdeenshire 2439 6317 226,871 from=Q189912}} 36 Angus 843 2184 108,400 from=Q202177}} 50 Argyll and Bute 2712 7023 91,306 from=Q202174}} 13 Clackmannanshire 61 158 48,077 from=Q207268}} 304 Dumfries and Galloway 2489 6446 147,765 from=Q126514}} 23 Dundee 21 55 145,663 from=Q2357511}} 2648 East Ayrshire 492 1275 120,235 from=Q209135}} 94 East Dunbartonshire 68 176 108,243 from=Q211889}} 617 East Lothian 257 666 90,088 from=Q207257}} 135 East Renfrewshire 65 168 89,311 from=Q211925}} 532 City of Edinburgh 100 260 448,624 from=Q2379199}} 1725 Falkirk 113 293 145,191 from=Q216802}} 496 Fife 517 1340 349,429 from=Q201149}} 261 City of Glasgow 68 175 577,869 from=Q55934339}} 3307 Highland 10,085 26,119 208,914 from=Q208279}} 8 Inverclyde 64 167 84,203 from=Q208271}} 503 Midlothian 135 350 80,941 from=Q206934}} 231 Moray 864 2237 86,940 from=Q211106}} 39 North Ayrshire 343 888 135,817 from=Q206926}} 153 North Lanarkshire 184 476 321,067 from=Q207111}} 674 Perth and Kinross 2083 5395 134,949 from=Q207679}} 25 Renfrewshire 102 263 172,867 from=Q211091}} 659 Scottish Borders 1825 4727 106,764 from=Q211113}} 23 South Ayrshire 475 1230 112,097 from=Q209131}} 93 South Lanarkshire 686 1778 302,216 from=Q209142}} 170 Stirling 866 2243 86,212 from=Q217838}} 38 West Dunbartonshire 68 176 93,378 from=Q208121}} 531 West Lothian 165 427 158,714 from=Q204940}} 372 MAINLAND ALL TOGETHER 28,260 73,193 4,994,276   68 ISLANDS           Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) 1185 3070 26,502 from=Q80967}} 9 Orkney Islands 396 1025 19,245 from=Q100166}} 19 Shetland Islands 568 1471 21,988 from=Q47134}} 15 ISLANDS ALL TOGETHER 2149 5566 67,735   12 SCOTLAND ALL TOGETHER 30,409 78,759 5,062,011   64