Central Scotland

"Central Scotland" can also refer to the Central Belt.

Map of Scotland showing the location
of the former Central region

Central Region

Central Region (Roinn Meadhanach in Gaelic) was a local government region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996. It is now divided into the council areas of Falkirk, Stirling, and Clackmannanshire, which had previously been districts within the Central Region. Central Regional Council's HQ was at Viewforth in Stirling which had been previously the HQ of Stiringshire County Council.

At the time of local government reorganisation there was great discussion on where the new region should be based the options being Stirling or Falkirk. Stirling was chosen over Falkirk as in 1972 the county council had just finished construction of a new office building in Stirling at Viewforth.

Districts

There were 3 districts within Central Region, these were:

• Stirling
• Falkirk
• Clackmannanshire

There continues to be a joint police service; Central Scotland Police, fire service, and electoral, valuation, and health board for the area. The latter is called Forth Valley Health Board.

Central Belt

Main article: Central Belt

The Central Belt of Scotland is a common term used to describe the area of highest population density within Scotland. It is not geographically "central", but in fact in the south of the country.

Scottish Parliament electoral region

Main article: Central Scotland (Scottish Parliament region)

Central Scotland (Meadhan-Alba in Gaelic) is also the name of one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament. It covers, however, a different geographical area from the former local government region, stretching from Kilmarnock, through most of Lanarkshire up to Falkirk. The electoral region covers 10 of the 73 constituencies of the parliament. In addition to constituency Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) the region elects seven of the 56 additional-member MSPs.