Dunfermline (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

: ''Dùn Phàrlain'', Scots: ''Dunfaurlin'') was a

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in the

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

from 1975 to 1996, lying to the south-west of the regional capital

Glenrothes Glenrothes (; , ; sco, Glenrothes; gd, Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making i ...

Local Government

As its name suggests, the district (one of three in the Fife region, along with

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

and North-East Fife) was centred around the town of

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

, an important

royal burgh A royal burgh () was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

in the historic county of

, although its boundaries extended some way beyond the town. In the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...

leading to its creation, the district's desired composition was described as: *''In the county of Fife—the burghs of Cowdenbeath, Culross, Dunfermline, Inverkeithing, Lochgelly; the districts of Dunfermline, Lochgelly (except the electoral divisions of Auchterderran, Denend, Kinglassie, New Carden); that part of the electoral division of Auchtertool within the Gray Park polling district.'' Outwith the main town, the district encompassed port towns on the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

, other coastal villages and numerous inland settlements west of Dunfermline, plus further territory east of the

M90 motorway The M90 is a motorway in Scotland. It runs from Junction 1A of the M9 motorway, south of the Queensferry Crossing, to Perth. It is the northernmost motorway in the United Kingdom. The northern point goes to the western suburbs of Perth at ...

including

Kelty Kelty (Scottish Gaelic: Cailtidh) is a former coal mining village located in Fife, Scotland. Lying in the heart of the old mining heartlands of Fife, it is situated on the Fife/Kinross-shire boundary and has a population of around 6,000 res ...

, the

Benarty Benarty is the name informally used to refer to the ex-mining towns of Ballingry and Lochore and the villages of Crosshill, Lochcraig and Glencraig. The area is situated north of Lochgelly, Fife. The name comes from Benarty Hill, locally simply ...

villages and the towns of

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

and

Lochgelly Lochgelly ( ; gd, Loch Gheallaidh, IPA: �ɫ̪ɔxˈʝaɫ̪ai is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is located between Loch Ore, Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath by the village of ...

. Its northern borders were with Clackmannan district in the Central region and Perth and Kinross district in the

Tayside region Tayside ( gd, Taobh Tatha) was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 15 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named for the River Tay. It was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, following rec ...

. The

Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland. It abolished the two-tie ...

abolished all of the districts and regions. Fife was retained as a single

unitary council area A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, headquartered in

as the regional council had also been. Similar boundaries as those of Dunfermline district have since been re-used for some purposes such as local economic planning, tourism,Dunfermline and West Fife
Welcome to Fife and in the post-2005

Dunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency) Dunfermline and West Fife is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 general el ...

, although rarely including the settlements east of the M90.

References

{{Fife elections Districts of Scotland Dunfermline Politics of Fife 1975 establishments in Scotland 1996 disestablishments in Scotland Cowdenbeath Kelty

Local Government

See also

References