Fife Fìobha (Scottish Gaelic) | |
|---|---|
   | |
 Fife shown withinScotland | |
| Coordinates:56°15′00″N3°12′00″W / 56.25000°N 3.20000°W /56.25000; -3.20000 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Unitary authority | 1 April 1996 |
| Administrative HQ | Fife House, Glenrothes |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council |
| • Body | Fife Council |
| • Control | No overall control |
| • MPs | 4 MPs |
| • MSPs | |
| Area | |
• Total | 512 sq mi (1,325 km2) |
| • Rank | 13th |
| Population (2024)[2] | |
• Total | 374,760 |
| • Rank | 3rd |
| • Density | 730/sq mi (283/km2) |
| Demonym | Fifer |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-FIF |
| GSS code | S12000047 |
| Website | fife |
Fife (/faɪf/FYFE,Scottish English:[fɐi̯f];Scottish Gaelic:Fìobha[ˈfiːvə];Scots:Fife) is acouncil area andlieutenancy area inScotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by theFirth of Tay to the north, theNorth Sea to the east, theFirth of Forth to the south,Clackmannanshire to the south-west, andPerth and Kinross to the west. The largest settlement is the city ofDunfermline, and the administrative centre isGlenrothes.
Fife has an area of 512 square miles (1,330 km2) and had a resident population of 374,760 in 2024, making it Scotland's 3rd largest local authority area by population.[2] The population is concentrated in the south, which contains Dunfermline,Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes. The north is less densely populated, and the largest town isSt Andrews on the north-east coast. The area is governed by the unitaryFife Council. It covers the same area as thehistoric county of the same name.
Fife was one of the majorPictishkingdoms, known asFib, and is still commonly known as theKingdom of Fife within Scotland. TheUniversity of St Andrews is the oldest of theancient universities of Scotland and one of theoldest universities in the world, and theOld Course at St Andrews the world's oldestgolf course. A person from Fife is known as aFifer.
Fife, bounded to the north by theFirth of Tay and to the south by theFirth of Forth, is a natural peninsula whose political boundaries have changed little over the ages. ThePictish king list andDe Situ Albanie documents of thePoppleton manuscript mention the division of thePictish realm orAlbany into seven sub-kingdoms, one being Fife.[3]: 70–72 The earliest known reference to the common epithetThe Kingdom of Fife dates from only 1678, in a proposition that the term derives from the quasi-regal privileges of theEarl of Fife.[3]: 132 The notion of a kingdom may derive from a misinterpretation of an extract fromWyntoun.[3]: 133 The name is recorded asFib in A.D. 1150 andFif in 1165. It was often associated withFothriff.
The hill-fort ofClatchard Craig, nearNewburgh, was occupied as an importantPictish stronghold between the sixth and eighth centuries AD.[4][5]
Fife was an important royal and political centre from the reign of KingMalcolm III onwards, as the leaders ofScotland gradually moved southwards away from their ancient strongholds around Scone. Malcolm had his principal home inDunfermline and his wifeMargaret was the main benefactor ofDunfermline Abbey. The Abbey replacedIona as the final resting place of Scotland's royal elite, withRobert I amongst those to be buried there.[6]
The Earl of Fife was until the 15th century considered the principal peer of the Scottish realm, and reserved the right of crowning the nation's monarchs, reflecting the prestige of the area.
A new royal palace was gradually constructed atFalkland, formerly the stronghold ofClan MacDuff, and was used by successive monarchs of theHouse of Stuart, who favoured Fife for its rich hunting grounds.[7]
KingJames VI of Scotland described Fife, inMiddle Scots, as a:"beggar's mantle fringed wi gowd"[8] the golden fringe being the coast and its chain of little ports with their thriving fishing fleets and rich trading links with theLow Countries.Wool,linen,coal andsalt were all traded.Salt pans heated by local coal were historically a feature of the Fife coast. The distinctive red clay pan tiles seen on many old buildings in Fife arrived as ballast on trading boats and replaced the previously thatched roofs.
In 1598, King James VI employed a group of 11 men from Fife, who became known as theFife adventurers, to colonise theIsle of Lewis in an attempt to begin the "civilisation" and de-gaelicisation of the region.[9] This endeavour lasted until 1609 when the colonists, having been opposed by the native population, were bought out byKenneth Mackenzie, theclan chief of theMackenzies.[9]
Fife became a centre of heavy industry in the 19th century. Coal had been mined in the area since at least the 12th century, but the number of pits increased ten-fold as demand for coal grew in the Victorian period. Previously rural villages such asCowdenbeath rapidly swelled into towns as thousands moved to Fife to find work in its mines. The opening of theForth andTay rail bridges linked Fife with Dundee and Edinburgh and allowed the rapid transport of goods. Modern ports were constructed atMethil,Burntisland andRosyth. Kirkcaldy became the world centre for the production oflinoleum.Postwar Fife saw the development of Scotland's secondnew town,Glenrothes. Originally to provide housing for miners at a new coal mine, the town eventually attracted a high number of modernSilicon Glen companies to the region.[10][11][12][13] Fife Council and Fife Constabulary also centre their operations in Glenrothes.
There are numerous notable historical buildings in Fife, some of which are managed by theNational Trust for Scotland orHistoric Scotland. They include Dunfermline Abbey (the last resting place of Scottish royalty), the palace in Culross, Ravenscraig Castle in Kirkcaldy, Dysart Harbour area,Balgonie Castle near Coaltown of Balgonie, Falkland Palace (hunting palace of the Scottish Kings), Kellie Castle near Pittenweem,Hill of Tarvit (a historical house), St. Andrews Castle,St. Andrews Cathedral andSt. Rule's Tower.
.jpg)
Fife was one of the ancientprovinces of Scotland, under the authority of theMormaer orEarl of Fife. The early province of Fife appears to have covered only that part of the later county lying east of a line fromNewburgh toScoonie. The western part of the later county was in the province ofFothriff, which also covered areas that would later becomeKinross-shire and part ofClackmannanshire, including the town ofClackmannan. By the early thirteenth century Fothriff had been joined to the earldom of Fife. Sometime between the reign ofDavid I (reigned 1124–1153) and the mid-thirteenth century, this part of Scotland was divided intoshires, being areas administered by asheriff. Kinross and Clackmannan were each given their own sheriffs, whilst the rest of the Fife and Fothriff area was placed under the authority of theSheriff of Fife.[14]
Over time, Scotland's shires became more significant than the old provinces, with more administrative functions being given to the sheriffs. The larger earldom of Fife, including Kinross and Clackmannan, was therefore gradually eclipsed in importance by the smaller shire of Fife. In 1667Commissioners of Supply were established for each shire, which would serve as the main administrative body for the area until the creation of county councils in 1890. Following theActs of Union in 1707, the English term "county" came to be used interchangeably with the older term "shire".[15]
Elected county councils were established in 1890 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1889, taking most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). The twoburghs ofDunfermline andKirkcaldy were deemed capable of managing their own affairs and so were excluded from the administrative area of the county council.[16] The 1889 act also led to a review of boundaries, with severalexclaves being transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parishes which straddled more than one county being adjusted such that each parish was entirely in a single county. These changes saw some adjustments to Fife's boundaries with Kinross-shire and Perthshire, with the most significant change being that Fife gained the two parishes ofCulross andTulliallan, which had previously formed an exclave of Perthshire.[17] Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy were brought within the administrative area of the county council in 1930, but classed aslarge burghs, allowing them to continue to deliver many local government functions themselves.[18]
Fife County Council was based atCounty Buildings in Catherine Street inCupar, which had been built in 1817 as the county's sheriff court and meeting place for the commissioners of supply, replacing the town's medievaltolbooth which had performed the same functions.[19][20]
Fife County Council was abolished in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which replaced Scotland's counties, burghs andlandward districts with a two-tier structure of upper-tierregions and lower-tierdistricts. Fife region was created covering the same area as the county, divided into threedistricts:Dunfermline,Kirkcaldy andNorth-East Fife. In 1996 the district councils were abolished and Fife Regional Council became aunitary authority known as Fife Council. Fife is one of the six local authorities in thecity region of Edinburgh and southeast Scotland.
There was aparliamentary constituency ofFife in theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom until 1885 and theFife constituency in theParliament of Scotland until theActs of Union 1707.
Fife is represented by five constituency members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and four members of the United Kingdom parliament (MPs) who are sent toHolyrood and theBritish Parliament respectively. Following the2015 general election, all four of the MPs constituencies were held by theScottish National Party.[21] In the2017 general election,Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath was regained byLabour.[22] At the same election, the seat ofNorth East Fife became the closest seat in the country with the SNP holding a majority of 2 over theLiberal Democrats.[23] Three of the Scottish Parliament constituencies are held by theScottish National Party:Cowdenbeath,Dunfermline andMid Fife and Glenrothes. One is held by theScottish Liberal Democrats:North East Fife.[24]
Fife Council's administrative headquarters andPolice Scotland's P Division (formerlyFife Constabulary) are based inGlenrothes. The Council meetings take place inFife House in the town centre. The west wing of the building was built by the Glenrothes Development Corporation (GDC) as their offices in 1969, which was later used as the headquarters of Fife Regional Council from shortly after its creation in 1975.[25][26]
.svg)
Fife is apeninsula in eastern Scotland bordered on the north by theFirth of Tay, on the east by theNorth Sea and by theFirth of Forth to the south. The route to the west is partially blocked by the mass of theOchil Hills. Almost all road traffic into and out of Fife has to pass over one of four bridges, south on theForth Road Bridge (public transport and cyclists only) andQueensferry Crossing, west on theKincardine Bridge or north-east via theTay Road Bridge, the exception being traffic headed north on theM90. Tolls were abolished on the Tay Road Bridge and Forth Road Bridge on 11 February 2008.
There are extinctvolcanic features, such as theLomond Hills which rise above rolling farmland, andLargo Law, avolcanic plug in the east. At 522 metres (1,713 ft), theWest Lomond is the highest point in Fife. The coast has fine but small harbours, from the industrial docks inBurntisland andRosyth to the fishing villages of theEast Neuk such asAnstruther andPittenweem. The large area of flat land to the north of the Lomond Hills, through which theRiver Eden flows, is known as theHowe of Fife.
North of the Lomond Hills can be found villages and small towns in a primarily agricultural landscape. The areas in the south and west of Fife, including the towns ofDunfermline,Glenrothes,Kirkcaldy and theLevenmouth region are lightly industrial and more densely populated. The only areas which could claim to be heavily industrial areRosyth, around the naval dockyard and perhaps the Mossmorran Natural Gas Liquids fractionation plant on the outskirts of Cowdenbeath.
The east corner of Fife, along the string of villages betweenEarlsferry andKingsbarns, and along with their hinterland, is known as the East Neuk (corner, or projecting point of land) of Fife;[28] small settlements around sheltered harbours, with distinctive vernacular "Dutch" orcorbie (crow) stepped gabled and stone-built architecture. The area has amongst the highest concentration of second homes and holiday lets in Scotland.[29][30][31][32] Thefishing industry, on which the coastal East Neuk settlements were built, has declined in recent years with the main fishing fleet now operating from Pittenweem and the harbour in Anstruther being used as a marina for pleasure craft.
There are several islands located off the coast of Fife, such as theIsle of May,Inchkeith andInchcolm. The formerPreston Island south ofValleyfield is no longer an island following land reclamation work.
The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 362,143 residents aged three and over:
| Ethnic Group | 2001[35] | 2011[35][36] | 2022[37] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| White: Total | 345,003 | 98.73% | 356,550 | 97.63% | 356,885 | 95.99% |
| White:Scottish | 308,380 | 88.25% | 312,957 | 85.70% | 302,087 | 81.25% |
| White:Other British | 29,827 | 8.54% | 31,464 | 8.62% | 36,025 | 9.69% |
| White:Irish | 2,147 | 0.61% | 2,260 | 0.62% | 2,658 | 0.71% |
| White:Gypsy/Traveller[note 1] | – | – | 316 | – | 277 | – |
| White:Polish[note 1] | – | – | 3,058 | 0.84% | 5,491 | 1.48% |
| White:Other | 4,649 | 1.33% | 6,495 | 1.78% | 10,347 | 2.78% |
| Asian,Asian Scottish orAsian British: Total | 2,734 | 0.78% | 5,748 | 1.57% | 8,014 | 2.16% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Indian | 514 | 0.15% | 1,066 | 0.29% | 1,732 | 0.47% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Pakistani | 1,199 | 0.34% | 1,902 | 0.52% | 2,599 | 0.70% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Bangladeshi | 72 | 0.02% | 118 | – | 212 | 0.06% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Chinese | 750 | 0.21% | 1,735 | 0.48% | 1,878 | 0.51% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British:Asian Other | 199 | 0.06% | 927 | 0.25% | 1,596 | 0.43% |
| Black,Black Scottish orBlack British[note 2] | 93 | – | – | – | – | – |
| African: Total | 286 | 0.08% | 704 | 0.19% | 1,355 | 0.36% |
| African:African,African Scottish orAfrican British | – | – | 684 | 0.19% | 175 | – |
| African:Other African | – | – | 20 | – | 1,179 | 0.39% |
| Caribbean orBlack: Total | – | – | 422 | 0.12% | 316 | 0.08% |
| Caribbean | 113 | – | 234 | 0.06% | 125 | – |
| Black | – | – | 141 | – | 28 | – |
| Caribbean or Black:Other | – | – | 47 | – | 164 | – |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups: Total | 757 | 0.22% | 1,257 | 0.34% | 3,312 | 0.89% |
| Other: Total | 443 | 0.13% | 517 | 0.14% | 1,899 | 0.51% |
| Other:Arab[note 1] | – | – | 299 | 0.08% | 653 | 0.18% |
| Other: Any other ethnic group | – | – | 218 | 0.06% | 1,236 | 0.33% |
| Total: | 349,429 | 100.00% | 365,198 | 100.00% | 371,781 | 100.00% |
Cupar took over ascounty town fromCrail in the early 13th century.Glenrothes is now the administrative centre, after the decision to locate the headquarters of the newly established Fife Regional Council there in 1975. Fife's three major towns areKirkcaldy,Dunfermline (awardedcity status in 2022) and Glenrothes. According to the 2012 estimate, Dunfermline is the largest settlement by population,[38] followed byKirkcaldy then Glenrothes. The next most sizeable towns by population areSt Andrews,Cowdenbeath,Rosyth,Methil andDalgety Bay.
Largest settlements by population:
| Settlement | Population (2020)[39] |
|---|---|
| Dunfermline | 54,990 |
| Kirkcaldy | 50,370 |
| Glenrothes | 38,360 |
| St Andrews | 18,410 |
| Rosyth | 13,570 |
| Cowdenbeath | 12,030 |
| Methil | 10,890 |
| Dalgety Bay | 9,710 |
| Leven | 9,420 |
| Cupar | 8,960 |
| Lochgelly | 7,300 |
| Kelty | 6,760[a] |
| Burntisland | 6,630 |
| Ballingry | 5,940 |
| Cardenden | 5,190 |
| Inverkeithing | 4,820 |
| Kennoway | 4,570 |
| Newport-on-Tay | 4,210 |
| Buckhaven | 4,050 |
| Anstruther | 3,950 |
| Tayport | 3,750 |
| Leuchars | 3,160 |
| Leslie | 3,010 |
| Kincardine | 2,940 |
| Kinghorn | 2,940 |
The county was formerly divided into parishes, often but not always based on a town or village:
Fife is divided into 105community council areas, 85 of which havecommunity councils as at 2023.[41]
Fife contains 4,961listed buildings and 48conservation areas.[42] Domestic sites of importance includeFalkland Palace,Kellie Castle,Dunfermline Palace,St Andrews Castle,Culross Palace and Kirkcaldy'sRavenscraig Castle. Fife also has a number ofecclesiastical sites of historical interest.St Andrews Cathedral was home to the powerfulArchbishopric of St Andrews, and later became a centre of theScottish Reformation, whileDunfermline Abbey was the last resting place of a number of Scottish kings.Balmerino andCulross abbeys were both founded in the 13th century by theCistercians, while a century beforeLindores Abbey was founded by theTironensians outsideNewburgh; all were highly important sites.
TheStanza Poetry Festival,East Neuk Festival, and Pittenweem Arts Festival are events of national cultural importance. Smaller festivals like theCupar Arts Festival and Largo Arts Week also take place. TheByre Theatre in St Andrews and Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy are both highly regarded as touring venues, the latter also being the base of thegrand operacompanyFife Opera. The Byre has re-opened in Autumn, 2014[43] following its going intoadministration in 2012.[44] The Alhambra Theatre in Dunfermline and Rothes Halls in Glenrothes are also popular venues for touring musicians, theatre companies, comedians and local musical theatre groups to perform.
Dunfermline Children's Gala is an annual event, held in June and is the largest gala in Fife.[citation needed] Primary school pupils parade through the centre of the city to Pittencrieff Park. It began in 1902 and is now organised by a charity and funded entirely by donations.[45]
.jpg)
St Andrews in Fife is the home ofgolf, and the headquarters ofThe R&A, the governing body of the sport throughout the world, aside from the United States and Mexico.The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, from which it was devolved in 2004, is the world's oldest golf club. Golfers from all over the world visit Fife to play the many famous Links courses, from the seven courses available to play in St Andrews alone to Scotscraig, Kingsbarns, Crail (two courses), Elie,Dumbarnie Links, Lundin Links, Leven Links and Kinghorn as well as the many parkland, heathland and clifftop courses scattered across the region.
Fife has fourfootball clubs that play in theScottish Professional Football League:Dunfermline Athletic,East Fife (based in Methil),Kelty Hearts, andRaith Rovers (based in Kirkcaldy);Cowdenbeath played at this level between 1905 and 2022 but are now members of theLowland Football League. Fifteen clubs compete in theEast of Scotland League while one plays in theSJFA East Region. There are also many amateur clubs in Fife playing in various amateur leagues across the region.
Fife Flyers (based in Kirkcaldy) are the UK's oldestice hockey club and play in Britain's top flight, theElite Ice Hockey League.
Fife is also home to eightrugby union clubs.Howe of Fife (based in Cupar), andKirkcaldy play inScottish Rugby's national leagues whileDunfermline, Rosyth Sharks,Glenrothes,Madras, Waid Academy (based in Anstruther) compete in theCaledonia regional leagues.University of St Andrews – the oldest rugby club in Fife – play in theBritish Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) system.
Cricket is also widely played in Fife. Clubs includeFreuchie Cricket Club, Falkland Cricket Club, Glenrothes Cricket Club, Largo Cricket Club, Dunnikier Cricket Club (based in Kirkcaldy), Dunfermline & Carnegie Cricket Club, Broomhall Cricket Club (based in Charleston) and Ship Inn Cricket Club (based in Elie) who play their matches on Elie Beach.Freuchie Cricket Club famously won the UK nationalVillage Cup at Lords in 1985 and to date are the only Scottish team to have done so.
Kingdom Kangaroos are Fife's onlyAustralian Rules Football team, with training held inRosyth andKirkcaldy.
Aberdour Shinty Club have two men's teams, two women's teams and multiple youth squads.
Fife has two competitivebasketball teams;Dunfermline Reign, who play out ofSt Columba's High School in Dunfermline and compete across a number of nationalSBC competitions, and Fife Steel, a Kirkcaldy-based team, operating a number of age groups, with a senior men's and an under 19's team currently playing in Division 3 of the Lothian Men's Basketball League.[46][47]
Fife is the location of several of the nation'smotorsport venues:Knockhill Racing Circuit, Scotland's national motorsport venue and the onlyFIA-graded venue in the country; Cowdenbeath Racewall, a stock car oval racing venue; Lochgelly Raceway, a venue containing theDriftland drifting course and a 1/4 mile oval; and Crail Raceway, a venue located on a former militaryaerodrome containing a 1/4 mile drag strip and a karting circuit, operated by the East of Scotland Kart Club.
Locally published newspapers include theFife Free Press inKirkcaldy; theDunfermline Press inDunfermline; theGlenrothes Gazette inGlenrothes, theEast Fife Mail inLeven, theFife Herald inCupar / Howe of Fife and theSt Andrews Citizen inSt Andrews.DC Thomson publishes Fife and West Fife editions of theDundee Courier & Advertiser,[48] and the Counties Edition of theEvening Telegraph is sold in Fife.
The only Fife-based radio station isKingdom FM. There is also a community radio station that broadcasts each evening and is run solely by youths, called Fife Youth Radio. Other local radio stations,Tay FM,Greatest Hits Radio Tayside & Fife and Edinburgh'sForth 1 andGreatest Hits Radio Edinburgh, Lothians & Fife, broadcast to the northern and southern parts of the region respectively.
Britishpower metal bandGloryhammer has dedicated its entire discography to a fictitious fantasy tale about Fife, in which its heroic kings, aided by valiant knights fromCrail, clash with intergalactic forces of evil.
...at the last meeting of Fife Regional Council to take place in County Hall, Cupar, before they move to Fife House, Glenrothes...
Media from Commons
Travel guides from WikivoyageLocal government areas ofScotland, in use 1975 to 1996 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Borders |  | |
| Central | ||
| Dumfries and Galloway | ||
| Fife | ||
| Grampian | ||
| Highland | ||
| Lothian | ||
| Strathclyde | ||
| Tayside | ||
| Island areas1 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
