page_title: Counties of the United Kingdom
section_title: Scotland
hierarchical_section_title: Counties of the United Kingdom / Scotland
caption_attribution_description: en:Counties of Scotland 1890-1975
context_page_description: The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. By the Middle Ages counties had become established as a unit of local government, at least in England. By the early 17th century, all of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland had been separated into counties. The older term shire was historically equivalent to "county". In Scotland shire was the only term used until after the Act of Union 1707.
  Since the early 19th century, counties have been adapted to meet new administrative and political requirements, and the word county has been used in different senses for different purposes. In some areas of England and Wales, counties still perform the functions of modern local government. In other parts of the United Kingdom, especially within large metropolitan areas, they have been replaced with alternative unitary authorities, which are considered 'county level' authorities. Today, these have largely replaced the historic county corporate entities granted self-governance with county government powers.
context_section_description: In Scotland, there are 33 local government counties, created under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. They were abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, in favour of regions and districts and islands council areas. The regions and districts were themselves abolished in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, in favour of unitary Scottish council areas. (The islands areas had been created as unitary council areas, and their boundaries were unaffected.)
  The 1889 legislation created county councils, turned each civil county (with one exception) into a contiguous area and adjusted boundaries where civil parishes straddled county boundaries, or had fragments in more than one county. The counties of Ross and Cromarty were merged to form Ross and Cromarty.
  One region and various districts, created in 1975, had areas similar to those of earlier counties, and various council areas, created in 1996, are also similar. Two of the three islands areas—Orkney and Shetland—have boundaries identical to those of earlier counties.
  Scotland has also registration counties, which are in current use. The areas of Scotland that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant are called lieutenancy areas.
caption: Scottish counties in 1975
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