Highland
| |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Highland shown withinScotland | |
| Coordinates:57°30′N5°00′W / 57.500°N 5.000°W /57.500; -5.000 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Lieutenancy areas | |
| Unitary authority | 1 April 1996 |
| Administrative HQ | The Highland Council Headquarters,Inverness |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council |
| • Body | The Highland Council |
| • Control | No overall control |
| • MPs | 3 MPs |
| • MSPs | 4 MSPs |
| Area | |
• Total | 9,905 sq mi (25,653 km2) |
| • Rank | 1st |
| Population (2022)[2] | |
• Total | 235,710 |
| • Rank | 7th |
| • Density | 20/sq mi (9/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-HLD |
| GSS code | S12000017 |
| Website | highland |
Highland (Scottish Gaelic:Gàidhealtachd,pronounced[ˈkɛːəl̪ˠt̪əxk];[a]Scots:Hieland) is acouncil area in theScottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the2011 census. It has land borders with the council areas ofAberdeenshire,Argyll and Bute,Moray andPerth and Kinross. The wider upland area of the Scottish Highlands after which the council area is named extends beyond the Highland council area into all the neighbouring council areas plusAngus andStirling.
TheHighland Council is based inInverness, the area's largest settlement. The area is generally sparsely populated, with much of the inland area being mountainous with numerouslochs. The area includesBen Nevis, the highest mountain in theBritish Isles. Most of the area's towns lie close to the eastern coasts. Off the west coast of the mainland the council area includes some of theInner Hebrides, notably theIsle of Skye.
Unlike the other council areas of Scotland, the nameHighland is often not used as aproper noun. The council's website only sometimes refers to the area as beingHighland, and other times as beingthe Highland Council Area orthe Highlands.[3][4] Road signs on the boundary of the council area say "Welcome to the Highlands" rather than "Welcome to Highland".
Although named after it, the Highland council area does not cover the whole of the uplands and cultural region known as theScottish Highlands. There is no official definition for the wider area, but it is often described to also include parts of the council areas ofAberdeenshire,Angus,Argyll and Bute,Moray,North Ayrshire,Perth and Kinross,Stirling orWest Dunbartonshire.[citation needed]
The Highland Region was created in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which reformed local government across Scotland, replacing the counties,burghs andlandward districts with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Highland was one of theregions, and it was divided into eight districts:Badenoch and Strathspey,Caithness,Inverness,Lochaber,Nairn,Ross and Cromarty,Skye and Lochalsh andSutherland.[5][6]
Further local government reforms in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 saw the regions and districts created in 1975 abolished and replaced with single-tiercouncil areas. The former Highland region became one of the new council areas, run by theHighland Council.[7] The Highland Council has run variousarea committees since its creation. These were initially based on the abolished districts, but have been reviewed a number of times since.[8]
TheHighland Region was created covering the area in 1975 as part of a two-tier local government structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. The Highland Region had eight districts. Local government was reorganised again in 1996 into single-tier council areas, with the former region becoming one of the new council areas.
The Highland area covers thehistoric counties ofCaithness,Inverness-shire,Nairnshire,Ross and Cromarty andSutherland, with the exception of the parts of Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty in theOuter Hebrides. The area also includes an area aroundArdnamurchan from the historic county ofArgyll and theGrantown-on-Spey area fromMoray, which were both transferred to the Highland region as part of the 1975 reforms.
The council area covers a land area of 25,653 square kilometres (9,905 sq mi)[2] – which is 11.4% of the land area of Great Britain, 32.9% of the land area of Scotland and an area 20% larger than Wales.[9] The Highland and Islands division ofPolice Scotland also includes the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland (the former area of theNorthern Constabulary) and therefore covers an area of 30,659 square kilometres (11,838 sq mi), which is larger than that of the state ofBelgium.[10]
Though relatively populous for a Scottish council area, it is also sparsely populated. At 9 per km2 in 2022,[2] the population density is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole,[11] and comparable with that ofBolivia,Chad and Russia.[12][13] Historically, the area was home to a much higher percentage of Scotland's population. The rural population of the Highlands (both within and outwith the council area) declined in the late 19th century even as Scotland's grew substantially. For example, the population ofSkye declined from 23,082 in 1841 to 15,705 in 1891 and a low point of 7,183 in 1971, before growing in more recent decades.
The city of Inverness is by far the largest settlement, with its urban area having a population of 59,910 in 2012.[14]
The highest point in the Highland council area isBen Nevis, the tallest mountain in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. Its northernmost point is theIsland of Stroma, in thePentland Firth. Its southernmost point is on theMorvern peninsula. Highland contains the northernmost and westernmost points of the island of Great Britain, respectively atDunnet Head andCorrachadh Mòr. Despite the name, not all of Highland is mountainous. The areas east of Inverness, as well as theBlack Isle, eastern Sutherland, and all of Caithness are, in fact, low-lying.
According to the 2011 UK census, there are nearly 12,000Scottish Gaelic speakers in the Highland area.[15]
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The local authority is theHighland Council, based at theHighland Council Headquarters in Inverness (formerly the main offices of Inverness-shire County Council).[16][17] The council also has numerous local offices across the area.[18]
For elections to theScottish Parliament the Highland area is within theHighlands and Islandselectoral area, which elects eightfirst past the postconstituencyMembers of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and sevenadditional member MSPs. Three of the region's constituencies, each electing one MSP, are within the Highland area:Caithness, Sutherland and Ross,Inverness and Nairn andSkye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
In theHouse of Commons of theParliament of the United Kingdom the Highland area is represented byMembers of Parliament (MPs) elected from fourconstituencies:Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross;Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire;Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey; andArgyll, Bute and South Lochaber. The latter two straddle the borders with neighbouring council areas.[19] Each constituency elects one MP by thefirst past the post system of election.
The largest settlements by population are:
| Settlement | Population (2020)[20] |
|---|---|
| Inverness | 47,790 |
| Nairn | 10,190 |
| Thurso | 7,390 |
| Wick | 6,870 |
| Alness | 5,950 |
| Fort William | 5,600 |
| Westhill | 5,470 |
| Dingwall | 5,360 |
| Invergordon | 3,930 |
| Culloden | 3,830 |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 164,294 | — |
| 1811 | 173,235 | +5.4% |
| 1821 | 196,364 | +13.4% |
| 1831 | 211,947 | +7.9% |
| 1841 | 213,969 | +1.0% |
| 1851 | 220,004 | +2.8% |
| 1911 | 226,144 | +2.8% |
| 1921 | 176,396 | −22.0% |
| 1931 | 167,604 | −5.0% |
| 1941 | 166,602 | −0.6% |
| 1951 | 165,600 | −0.6% |
| 1961 | 169,133 | +2.1% |
| 1971 | 172,666 | +2.1% |
| 1981 | 186,916 | +8.3% |
| 1991 | 203,790 | +9.0% |
| 2001 | 208,914 | +2.5% |
| 2011 | 232,132 | +11.1% |
| 2022 | 235,710 | +1.5% |
| Source: [21][22] | ||
Other settlements include:
Local government areas ofScotland, in use 1975 to 1996 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Borders |  | |
| Central | ||
| Dumfries and Galloway | ||
| Fife | ||
| Grampian | ||
| Highland | ||
| Lothian | ||
| Strathclyde | ||
| Tayside | ||
| Island areas1 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
