Dumfries and Galloway

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Dumfries and Galloway
Location

Geography
Area	Ranked 3rd
-Total	6,426 km²
-% Water	?
Admin HQ	Dumfries
ISO 3166-2	GB-DGY
ONS code	00QH
Demographics
Population	Ranked 12th
-Total (2005)	148,340
-Density	23 / km²
Politics
Dumfries and Galloway Council http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/
Control	NOC (Labour administration)
MPs	Russell Brown David Mundell
MSPs	Dr Elaine Murray Alex Fergusson

Dumfries and Galloway (Dùn Phris agus an Gall-Ghaidhealaibh in Gaelic) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. To the north it borders onto South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire; in the east the Borders; and to the south the county of Cumbria in England. It lies to the north of the Solway Firth and to the east of the Irish Sea.

Dumfries and Galloway covers the counties of Wigtownshire (in the west), Kirkcudbrightshire (centre) and Dumfriesshire (in the east). Together Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire are referred to as Galloway.

The Galloway part of the region is made up of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, the Machars and the Rhins. The Dumfries part includes the Inner Solway and the county of Dumfriesshire. The term 'Dumfries and Galloway' has been used since at latest the 19th century - by 1911 the three counties had a united Sheriffdom under that name.

In 1975 it became a two-tier region with the districts Annandale and Eskdale, Nithsdale, Stewartry, and Wigtown. These districts were abolished in 1996, and so Dumfries and Galloway became a unitary authority.

The region is well-known for its many artists and writers. It is the scene of Dorothy Sayers's novel Five Red Herrings (1931).

The Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is the smallest police force in the United Kingdom. From December 21, 1988 until November 1991, it presided over Britain's largest criminal inquiry, when it led the investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which resulted in criminal indictments against two Libyan nationals, and the conviction of one.

Dalveen Pass from Comb Head summit, near Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

1 Trivia
2 Towns and villages
3 Places of interest
4 Council political composition

[edit] Trivia

The celebrated horror movie The Wicker Man was filmed almost entirely on location in Dumfries and Galloway, predominantly in the Kirkcudbright area, in 1972. The actress Britt Ekland described it as "the bleakest place on Earth".