West Lothian
| West Lothian Council Lodainn an Iar |
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| Location | |||||
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| Geography | |||||
| Area | Ranked 20th | ||||
| - Total | 427 km2 (165 sq mi) | ||||
| - % Water | ? | ||||
| Admin HQ | Livingston | ||||
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-WLN | ||||
| ONS code | 00RH | ||||
| Demographics | |||||
| Population | Ranked 10th | ||||
| - Total (2007) | 167,800 | ||||
| - Density | 393 /km² (1,018 /sq mi) | ||||
| Politics | |||||
| West Lothian Council http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/ |
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| Control | Scottish National Party/Action to Save St John's Hospital/Conservative | ||||
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| County of West Lothian until circa 1890 |
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| Geography | |
| Area - Total |
Ranked 32nd 76,806 acres |
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| County town | Livingston |
| Chapman code | WLN |
West Lothian (Lodainn an Iar in Gaelic) is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk.
The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the West Lothian district of the Lothian region.
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Major Towns
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Towns and villages
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Former status
County
The county of West Lothian was called Linlithgowshire or the County of Linlithgow until 1921.
As abolished in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the county contained six burghs. Two are outside the West Lothian unitary council area:
| Burgh | Unitary council area |
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| Armadale | West Lothian |
| Bathgate | |
| Linlithgow | |
| Whitburn | |
| Bo'ness | Falkirk |
| South Queensferry | City of Edinburgh |
On abolition in 1975 the county, with the exception of the Bo'ness area, was included in the Lothian Region. Bo'ness became part of the Central Region. Lothian Region was divided into four districts, one of which was named West Lothian and approximated to the former county.
District
West Lothian District was created in 1975, comprising the county of West Lothian; less the burghs of Bo'ness and South Queensferry and the Kirkliston area; it also included the East Calder and West Calder districts of the former county of Midlothian. The council's headquarters were originally in Bathgate, later moving to the new town of Livingston. The unitary authority created in 1996 used the same boundaries.
Areas of West Lothian
Livingston:
East Calder West Calder] Mid Calder Wilkieston Pumpherston
Broxburn:
Uphall Winchburgh Dechmont Bridgend
Bathgate:
Armadale Whitburn Fauldhouse Longridge Torphicen Blackburn Seafield
Places of interest
- Blackness Castle
- Linlithgow Palace, birth place of Mary Queen of Scots.
- Cairnpapple Hill
- Beecraigs Country Park
- Polkemmet Country park
Mentions in popular culture
The West Lothian question is so named as it was raised by Tam Dalyell, then member of Parliament for the former West Lothian constituency, in his 1977 book Devolution: The End of Britain ?.
Leon Jackson, the winner of The X Factor UK 2007, is from Whitburn, West Lothian.
David Tennant, best known for portraying the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who, is from West Lothian.
Town Twinnings
West Lothian is town twinned with the following cities:
Council political composition
| Party | Councillors | |
| Labour | 14 | |
| Scottish National Party | 13 | |
| Action to Save St John's Hospital | 3 | |
| Conservative | 1 | |
| Independent | 1 |
External links
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