East Lothian

East Lothian
Lodainn an Ear
Location
ScotlandEastLothian.png
Geography
Area Ranked 18th
 - Total 679 km2 (262 sq mi)
 - % Water  ?
Admin HQ Haddington
ISO 3166-2 GB-ELN
ONS code 00QM
Demographics
Population Ranked 21st
 - Total (2007) 94,400
 - Density 139 /km² (360 /sq mi)
Politics
East Lothian Council
http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/
Control Scottish National Party/Liberal Democrat
MPs
  • Anne Moffat
MSPs
  • Kenny MacAskill
  • Iain Gray

East Lothian (Lodainn an Ear in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative capital is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh.

The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the East Lothian district of the Lothian region. The district had been created in 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and it consisted of the local government county of East Lothian, plus the burgh of Musselburgh and the Inveresk area, both formerly within the county of Midlothian.

When abolished, for local government purposes, in 1975, the county of East Lothian bordered the county of Midlothian to the west, and the county of Berwick to the south. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. At this time, border changes saw several villages on the outskirts of Edinburgh (e.g. Whitecraig) become part of East Lothian.

Contents

Towns and villages

Places of interest

Main article: List of places in East Lothian

Notable people from East Lothian

Local media

East Lothian is served by two local paid-for weekly newspapers, the East Lothian Courier and the East Lothian News. The Courier, the best-selling of the two, began life as the Haddingtonshire Courier in 1859, presumably updating its title when the county changed its name in 1921. The family firm of D.J. Croal, based in Haddington, owned and operated the paper until it was bought by the Dunfermline Press Group in 2004. The East Lothian News was first published in 1972, as part of Scottish County Press group, with editorial offices in Dalkeith and printing at Bonnyrigg (both in Midlothian). SCP was acquired by Regional Independent Media in 2000, which was in turn bought by Johnston Press in 2002.

East Lothian Council

East Lothian Council is based at John Muir House, Haddington

Council political compositions

External links