Municipalities of Scotland



Below is a list of Municipalities of Scotland. Scottish municipalities have existed in the form of burgh, royal burgh, cities and, currently most common, local councils. Between 1855 and 1975, valuation rolls in Scotland were divided into counties and burghs. A burgh was a Scottish town which had certain privileges conferred by a charter and had a town council to run its affairs. Each burgh had its own separate legal and administrative status. A royal charter was issued to localities which were granted the title of royal burgh.

Many different types of burghs existed in Scotland, including royal burghs, burghs of barony and regality, parliamentary burghs and police burghs. By 1929, all burghs in Scotland were commonly described as small burghs, large burghs or cities for the purposes of local government. The four separate cities for local government purposes, which were independent from neighbouring areas, were Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Between 1124 and 1400, more than 70 burghs were created across Scotland. All types of burghs – royal, parliamentary, burgh of barony and police – were abolished in 1995, and replaced with newly created unitary authorities, known as local councils or subdivisions.

Scotland's council areas have been in existence since 1 April 1996, under the provisions of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. This ultimately ended the status of burghs, and all governance and political duties was subsumed into the local council. Each council area has an administrative centre, generally the largest town or city within the area. Historically, Scotland was divided into 34 counties or shires. Although these no longer have any administrative function, they are still used to some extent in Scotland for cultural and geographical purposes, and some of the current council areas are named after them. There are also a number of other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils.

Counties of cities
These four burghs were counties of cities, being independent from the surrounding counties for all judicial and local government purposes.

Note a: Royal Burgh of Aberdeen absorbed Aberdeenshire burghs of Old Aberdeen burgh (burgh of barony 1489, police burgh 1860), Woodside (police burgh 1860) in 1891.

Note b: Royal Burgh of Glasgow absorbed the following Renfrewshire burghs in the years shown:
 * 1846: Gorbals (private act 1808)
 * 1891: Crosshill (police burgh 1871), Govanhill (police burgh 1876), Hillhead (police burgh 1869), Pollokshields (police burgh 1876), Pollokshields East (police burgh 1880)
 * 1905: Kinning Park (police burgh 1871)
 * 1912: Govan (burgh of barony 1607, police burgh 1864), Pollokshaws (burgh of barony 1813, police burgh 1858)