Dundee (; ; or , ) is the
fourth-largest city in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern
central Lowlands
The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and ...
on the north bank of the
Firth of Tay
The Firth of Tay (; ) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which empties the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow). The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, Dundee City, and Angus. ...
, which feeds into the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
.
Under the name of Dundee City, it forms one of the 32
council areas used for
local government in Scotland
Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as ''councils''. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive th ...
. Within the boundaries of the
historic county of
Angus
Angus may refer to:
*Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland
* Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario
Animals
* Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle
Media
* ...
, the city developed into a
burgh
A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...
in the late 12th century and established itself as an important east coast trading port. Rapid expansion was brought on by the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
, particularly in the 19th century when Dundee was the centre of the global
jute
Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...
industry. This, along with its other major industries, gave Dundee its epithet as the city of "jute, jam and journalism".
With the decline of traditional industry, the city has adopted a plan to regenerate and reinvent itself as a cultural centre. In pursuit of this, a £1 billion master plan to regenerate and to reconnect the Waterfront to the city centre started in 2001 and is expected to be completed within a 30-year period. The
V&A Dundee
V&A Dundee is a design museum in Dundee, Scotland, which opened on 15 September 2018. The V&A Dundee is the first design museum in Scotland and the first Victoria and Albert museum outside London. The V&A Dundee is also the first building in the ...
– the first branch of the
V&A to operate outside of London – is the main centrepiece of the waterfront project. Today, Dundee is promoted as "One City, Many Discoveries" in honour of Dundee's history of scientific activities and of the
RRS ''Discovery'',
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott (6 June 1868 – ) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova Expedition ...
's Antarctic exploration vessel, which was built in Dundee and is now berthed at Discovery Point.
Dundee is an international research and development hub in technology, medicine and life sciences, with technological industries having arrived since the 1980s. Dundee was named as a "City of the Future" by
Cognizant
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational information technology consulting and outsourcing company originally founded in India. It is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States. Co ...
in 2021, the only UK city to be featured. Dundee has also been a leading city in
electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
s, having one of the largest fleets of electric vehicles in the country. The city was named as the electric vehicle capital of Europe in 2018, and it has continuously been branded as the electric vehicle capital of Scotland and the United Kingdom.
In 2014, Dundee was recognised by the United Nations as the UK's first
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
City of Design for its diverse contributions to fields including medical research, comics and video games.
Since 2015, Dundee's international profile has risen. ''
GQ'' magazine named Dundee the "Coolest Little City in Britain" in 2015 and ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' ranked Dundee at number 5 on its "Worldwide Hot Destinations" list for 2018.
Etymology
The name "Dundee" is made up of two parts: the common
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
place-name element , meaning 'fort'; and a second part that may derive from a Celtic element, cognate with the
Gaelic , meaning 'fire'.
History
Early history
While earlier evidence for human occupation is abundant, Dundee's success and growth as a seaport town arguably came as a result of
William the Lion
William the Lion (), sometimes styled William I (; ) and also known by the nickname ; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Alba from 1165 to 1214. His almost 49 ...
's charter, granting Dundee to his younger brother,
David
David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament.
The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
(later
Earl of Huntingdon), in the late 12th century. The situation of the town and its promotion by Earl David as a trading centre led to a period of prosperity and growth. The earldom was passed down to David's descendants, amongst whom was
John Balliol. The town became a
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 ...
on John's coronation as king in 1292.
The town and its castle were occupied by English forces for several years during the
First War of Independence and recaptured by
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...
in early 1312. The original burghal charters were lost during the occupation and subsequently renewed by Bruce in 1327.

The burgh suffered considerably during the conflict known as the
Rough Wooing
The Rough Wooing (; December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following the English Reformation, the break with the Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland ...
of 1543 to 1550, and was occupied by the English forces of
Andrew Dudley from 1547. In 1548, unable to defend the town against an advancing Scottish force, Dudley ordered that the town be burnt to the ground. In 1645, during the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union un ...
, Dundee was again besieged, this time by the Royalist
Marquess of Montrose
A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow ...
. The town was finally destroyed by Parliamentarian forces led by
George Monck in 1651. The town played a pivotal role in the establishment of the
Jacobite cause when
John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee raised the
Stuart standard on the
Dundee Law in 1689. The town was held by the Jacobites in the 1715–16 rising, and on 6 January 1716 the Jacobite claimant to the throne,
James VIII and III (the Old Pretender), made a public entry into the town. Many in Scotland, including many in Dundee, regarded him as the rightful king.
A notable resident of Dundee was Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown,
Baron of Lundie (1 July 1731 to 4 August 1804). He was born in Dundee on 1 July 1731, the son of Alexander Duncan of Lundie, Provost of Dundee. Adam was educated in Dundee and later joined the Royal Navy on board the sloop Trial. He rose to be admiral and in October 1797 defeated the Dutch fleet off Camperdown (north of Haarlem). This was seen as one of the most significant actions in naval history.
18th and 19th centuries
The economy of medieval Dundee centred on the export of raw wool, with the production of finished textiles being a reaction to recession in the 15th century. Two government Acts in the mid 18th century had a profound effect on Dundee's industrial success: the textile industry was revolutionised by the introduction of large four-storey mills, stimulated in part by the 1742 Bounty Act which provided a government-funded subsidy on
Osnaburg linen produced for export. Expansion of the
whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
industry was triggered by the second Bounty Act, introduced in 1750 to increase Britain's maritime and naval skill base. Dundee, and Scotland more generally, saw rapid population increase at end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, with the city's population increasing from 12,400 in 1751 to 30,500 in 1821.
The phasing out of the linen export bounty between 1825 and 1832 stimulated demand for cheaper textiles, particularly for cheaper, tough fabrics. The discovery that the dry fibres of
jute
Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...
could be lubricated with
whale oil
Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tear drop").
Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities of sperm whales, ...
(of which Dundee had a surfeit, following the opening of its gasworks) to allow it to be processed in mechanised mills resulted in the Dundee mills rapidly converting from linen to jute, which sold at a quarter of the price of flax. Interruption of
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n flax imports during the
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
and of cotton during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
resulted in a period of inflated prosperity for Dundee and the jute industry dominated Dundee throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Unprecedented immigration, notably of Irish workers, led to accelerated urban expansion, and at the height of the industry's success, Dundee supported 62 jute mills, employing some 50,000 workers. Cox Brothers, who owned the massive
Camperdown Works in
Lochee
Lochee () is an area in the west of Dundee, Scotland. Until the 19th century, it was a separate town, but was eventually surrounded by the expanding Dundee. It is notable for being home to Camperdown Works, which was the largest jute production ...
, were one of the largest jute manufacturers in Europe and employed more than 5,000 workers.
The rise of the textile industries brought with it an expansion of supporting industries, notably of the whaling, maritime and shipbuilding industries, and extensive development of the waterfront area started in 1815 to cope with increased demand for port capacity. At its height, 200 ships per year were built there, including
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott (6 June 1868 – ) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova Expedition ...
's Antarctic research vessel, the . This ship is now on display at Discovery Point in the city. A significant whaling industry was also based in Dundee, largely existing to supply the jute mills with
whale oil
Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train-oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tear drop").
Sperm oil, a special kind of oil used in the cavities of sperm whales, ...
. Whaling ceased in 1912 and shipbuilding ceased in 1981.
While the city's economy was dominated by the jute industry, it also became known for smaller industries. Most notable among these were
James Keiller's and Sons, established in 1795, which pioneered commercial
marmalade
Marmalade (from the Portuguese ''marmelada'') is a fruit preserves, fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It also has been made from lemons ...
production, and the publishing firm
DC Thomson
DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Courier (Dundee), The Courier'', ''Evening Telegraph (Dundee), The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Pos ...
, which was founded in the city in 1905. Dundee was said to be built on the 'three Js': Jute, Jam and Journalism.
The town was also the location of one of the worst rail disasters in British history, the
Tay Bridge disaster. The first
Tay Rail Bridge was opened in 1878. It collapsed some 18 months later during a storm, as a passenger train passed over it, resulting in the loss of 75 lives. The
most destructive fire in the city's history came in 1906, reportedly sending "rivers of burning whisky" through the street.
20th and 21st centuries
The jute industry fell into decline in the early 20th century, partly due to reduced demand for jute products and partly due to an inability to compete with the emerging industry in
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
. This gave rise to unemployment levels far in excess of the national average, peaking in the inter-war period, but major recovery was seen in the post-war period, thanks to the arrival first of American light engineering companies like
Timex and
NCR, and subsequent expansion into microelectronics.
Dundee was the first city in Scotland to gain official
city status
City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, ci ...
, after
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
signed a patent announcing the transition of Dundee from a royal burgh into a city. Dundee would officially gain city status on 26 January 1889. The patent still exists and is kept in storage in the city archives.
A £1 billion master plan to regenerate Dundee Waterfront is expected to last for a 30-year period between 2001 and 2031.
[; ; ] The aims of the project are to reconnect the city centre to the waterfront; to improve facilities for walking, cyclists and buses; to replace the existing inner ring road with a pair of east/west tree-lined boulevards; and to provide a new civic square and a regenerated railway station and arrival space at the western edge. A new
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
opened on 15 September 2018. A new
Eden Project
The Eden Project () is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay clay pit, pit.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map 107 – Fowey, Looe & Lostwithiel''. .
The complex is dominated by two h ...
attraction is also set to open in Dundee by the 2030s.
Governance
Representation
Dundee City is one of 32
council areas of Scotland
For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" (), which are all governed by single-tier authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Sc ...
, administered by
Dundee City Council
Dundee City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Dundee City council area, Dundee City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Dundee was formerly governed by a municipal c ...
.
The council meets at
Dundee City Chambers
Dundee City Chambers is a municipal facility in City Square, Dundee, Scotland. The city chambers, which is headquarters of Dundee City Council, is a Category B listed building.
History
The building was commissioned to replace the old town house ...
in City Square and has its mains offices at
Dundee House on North Lindsay Street. The civic head and chair of the council is the
Lord Provost
A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...
. The council area is also divided into eighteen
community council areas, three of which (
Broughty Ferry,
City Centre and Harbour, and
West End) had community councils operating as at August 2024.
For elections to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
at
Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
, the city area and portions of the
Angus
Angus may refer to:
*Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland
* Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario
Animals
* Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle
Media
* ...
council area are divided into two
constituencies
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
.
The constituencies of
Arbroath and Broughty Ferry and
Dundee West are represented by
Stephen Gethins
Stephen Patrick Gethins (born 28 March 1976) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and academic serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry since the 2024 general election.
He previously served as the MP ...
(
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
) and
Chris Law
Christopher Murray Alexander Law (born 21 October 1969) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dundee Central, formerly Dundee West, since 2015. He was first elected at the 2015 general el ...
(Scottish National Party), respectively, both of whom were elected and re-elected respectively at the
2024 general election. For elections to the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...
at
Holyrood, the city area is divided across three constituencies. The
Dundee City East constituency and the
Dundee City West constituency are entirely within the city area. The
Angus South (Holyrood) constituency includes north-eastern and north-western portions of the city area.
All three constituencies are within the
North East Scotland electoral region:
Shona Robison
Shona McRory Robison (born 26 May 1966) is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she previously served as Deputy First Minister of Sc ...
(SNP) is the
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.
Electoral system
The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...
(MSP) for the Dundee East constituency;
Joe Fitzpatrick (SNP) is the current MSP for the Dundee West constituency and
Graeme Dey
Graeme James Dey (born 29 October 1962) is a Scottish politician currently serving as the Minister for Veterans and the Minister for Higher and Further Education since 2023. He served as Minister for Transport from 2021 to 2022, having previou ...
(SNP) is the current MSP for the Angus South constituency.
Winston Churchill served as one of two MPs for Dundee from
1908 to
1922.
Administrative history

Dundee appears to have been made a
burgh
A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...
sometime between 1181 and 1195.
It was then raised to
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 ...
status on the coronation of
John Balliol as King of Scotland in 1292.
The city has two mottos: ('Gift of God') and ('With Thought and Purity') although usually only the latter is used for civic purposes.
Dundee was declared a city in 1889, being the first Scottish place to have the title of city explicitly conferred on it rather than assuming it by customary usage.
[ In 1894, Dundee was made a county of itself, removing it from ]Angus
Angus may refer to:
*Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland
* Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario
Animals
* Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle
Media
* ...
. The city's boundaries were enlarged on numerous occasions, notably in 1913 when it absorbed the neighbouring burgh of Broughty Ferry.
From 1975 to 1996, Dundee was governed by the City of Dundee District Council, one of three district-level authorities within the Tayside region. The district was created under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government of Scotland, local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975.
The act followed and largely impleme ...
and covered a larger area than the pre-1975 city, taking in the burgh of Monifieth
Monifieth () is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In , the population of Monifieth was estimated at , making it the fifth largest town ...
and most of the landward district of Monifieth (covering a number of villages north of Dundee) from Angus, and the parish of Longforgan (which included Invergowrie
Invergowrie () is a village on the northwest bank of the Firth of Tay to the west of Dundee. Historically part of Perthshire, it was formerly incorporated as part of the city of Dundee, but is now administered as part of Perth and Kinross.
H ...
) from Perthshire
Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
. In 1996, the Dundee City council area was created under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994
The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the current Local government in Scotland, local government structure of 32 Unitary authority, unitary authori ...
. Monifieth and the villages north of Dundee itself were transferred back to Angus, and the Longforgan area (including Invergowrie) was transferred to Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...
, largely reinstating the pre-1975 boundaries. Some controversy has ensued as a result of these boundary changes, with Dundee city councillors arguing for the return of Monifieth and Invergowrie.
Independence referendum
On 18 September 2014, Dundee was one of four council areas to vote "Yes" in the Scottish independence referendum, with 57.3% voting "Yes" on a 78.8% turnout. With the highest Yes vote for any local authority in Scotland, some in the Yes Scotland campaign nicknamed Dundee the "Yes City", including former First Minister Alex Salmond.
Geography
Dundee sits on the north bank of the Firth of Tay
The Firth of Tay (; ) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which empties the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow). The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, Dundee City, and Angus. ...
on the eastern, North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
Coast of Scotland. The city lies NNE of Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
and NNW of London. The built-up area occupies a roughly rectangular shape long by wide, aligned in an east to west direction and occupies an area of . The town is bisected by a line of hills stretching from Balgay Hill (elevation of 143 m) in the west end of the city, through the Dundee Law (174 m) which occupies the centre of the built up area, to Gallow Hill (83 m), between Baxter Park and the Eastern Cemetery. North of this ridge lies a valley through which cuts the Dighty Water burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...
, the elevation falling to around 45 m. North of the Dighty valley lie the Sidlaw Hills, the most prominent hill being Craigowl Hill (455 m).
The western and eastern boundaries of the city are marked by two burns that are tributaries of the River Tay
The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...
. On the westernmost boundary of the city, the Lochee burn meets the Fowlis burn, forming the Invergowrie
Invergowrie () is a village on the northwest bank of the Firth of Tay to the west of Dundee. Historically part of Perthshire, it was formerly incorporated as part of the city of Dundee, but is now administered as part of Perth and Kinross.
H ...
burn, which meets the Tay at Invergowrie basin.[ The Dighty Water enters Dundee from the village of Strathmartine and marks the boundaries of a number of northern districts of the city, joining the Tay between Barnhill and ]Monifieth
Monifieth () is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In , the population of Monifieth was estimated at , making it the fifth largest town ...
.[ The Scouring burn in the west end of the city and Dens Burn in the east, both of which played important roles in the industrial development of the city, have now been ]culvert
A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...
ed over.
Geology
The city lies within the Sidlaw-Ochil anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...
, and the predominant bedrock type is Old Red Sandstone
Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It ...
of the Arbuthnott-Garvock group.[; ] Differential weathering of a series of igneous intrusion
In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...
s has yielded a number of prominent hills in the landscape, most notably the Dundee Law (a late Silurian
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...
/early Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
Mafic
A mafic mineral or rock is a silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks include ...
rock intrusion) and Balgay hill (a Felsic
In geology, felsic is a grammatical modifier, modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz.Marshak, Stephen, 2009, ''Essentials of Geology,'' W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. It is contrasted ...
rock intrusion of similar age).[ In the east of the city, in Craigie and Broughty Ferry, the bedrock geology is of ]extrusive rock
Extrusive rock refers to the mode of igneous volcanic rock formation in which hot magma from inside the Earth flows out (extrudes) onto the surface as lava or explodes violently into the atmosphere to fall back as pyroclastics or tuff. In cont ...
s, including mafic lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...
and tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...
.[
The land surrounding Dundee, particularly that in the lower lying areas to the west and east of the city, bears high quality soil that is particularly suitable for arable farming. It is predominantly of a brown forest soil type with some gleying, the lower parts being formed from raised beach sands and gravels derived from Old Red Sandstone and lavas.
]
Urban environment
Very little of pre-Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
Dundee remains, the destruction suffered in the War of the Rough Wooing being almost total, with only scattered, roofless shells remaining. The area occupied by the medieval burgh of Dundee extends between East Port and West Port, which formerly held the gates to the walled city. The shoreline has been altered considerably since the early 19th century through development of the harbour area and land reclamation. Several areas on the periphery of the burgh saw industrial development with the building of textile mills from the end of the 18th century. Their placement was dictated by the need for a water supply for the modern steam powered machinery, and areas around the Lochee Burn (Lochee
Lochee () is an area in the west of Dundee, Scotland. Until the 19th century, it was a separate town, but was eventually surrounded by the expanding Dundee. It is notable for being home to Camperdown Works, which was the largest jute production ...
), Scouring Burn ( Blackness) and Dens Burn (Dens Road area) saw particular concentrations of mills. The post war period saw expansion of industry to estates along the Kingsway.
Working-class housing spread rapidly and without control throughout the Victorian era, particularly in the Hawkhill, Blackness Road, Dens Road and Hilltown areas. Despite the comparative wealth of Victorian Dundee as a whole, living standards for the working classes were very poor. A general lack of town planning coupled with the influx of labour during the expansion of the jute industry resulted in insanitary, squalid and cramped housing for much of the population. While gradual improvements and slum clearance
Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
began in the late 19th century, the building of the groundbreaking Logie housing estate marked the beginning of Dundee's expansion through the building of planned housing estates, under the vision of city architect James Thomson, whose legacy also includes the housing estate of Craigiebank and the beginnings of an improved transport infrastructure by planning the Kingsway bypass.
Modernisation of the city centre continued in the post-war period. The medieval Overgate was demolished in the early 1960s to make way for a shopping centre, followed by construction of the inner ring road and the Wellgate Shopping Centre. The Tay Road Bridge, completed in 1966, had as its northern landfall the docklands of central Dundee, and the new associated road system resulted in the city centre being cut off from the river. An acute shortage of housing in the late 1940s was addressed by a series of large housing estates built in the northern environs, including the Fintry, Craigie, Charleston and Douglas areas in the 1950s and early 1960s. These were followed by increasingly cost-effective and sometimes poorly planned housing throughout the 1960s. Much of this, in particular the high-rise blocks of flats at Lochee, Kirkton, Trottick, Whitfield, Ardler and Menzieshill, and the prefabricated Skarne housing blocks at Whitfield, has been demolished since the 1990s or is scheduled for future demolition.
Areas of Dundee:
Climate
The climate, like the rest of lowland Scotland, is Oceanic ( Köppen-Geiger classification Cfb). Mean temperature and rainfall are typical for the east coast of Scotland, and with the city's sheltered estuarine position, mean daily maxima are slightly higher than coastal areas to the North, particularly in spring and summer. The summers are still chilly when compared with similar latitudes in continental Europe, something compensated for by the mild winters, similar to the rest of the British Isles. The nearest official Met Office
The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
weather station is Mylnefield, Invergowrie
Invergowrie () is a village on the northwest bank of the Firth of Tay to the west of Dundee. Historically part of Perthshire, it was formerly incorporated as part of the city of Dundee, but is now administered as part of Perth and Kinross.
H ...
which is about west of the City Centre.
A record high of was recorded in July 2013. The warmest month was July 2006, with an average temperature of (average high , average low ). In an 'average' year the warmest day should reach , and in total just 1.86 days[ ] should equal or exceed a temperature of per year, illustrating the rarity of such warmth.
On average, 4.73 days should record a minimum temperature at or below -5 °C and there are 53.26 days of air frost on average. From 1991 to 2020, Mylnefield averaged 0.9 ice days, 50 days with precipitation of more than 5mm and 19.56 days with more than 10mm. The weather station is in plant hardiness zone 10a.
Demography

Population
Dundee's recorded population reached a peak of 182,204 at the 1971 census. According to the 2011 census, the City of Dundee had a population of 147,268. A more recent population estimate of the City of Dundee has been recorded at 149,680 in 2020. The demographic make-up of the population is much in line with the rest of Scotland. The age group from 30 to 44 forms the largest portion of the population (20%). The median age of males and females living in Dundee was 37 and 40 years, respectively, compared to 37 and 39 years for those in the whole of Scotland.
Residents
The place of birth of the town's residents was 94.16% United Kingdom (including 87.85% from Scotland), 0.42% Ireland, 1.33% from other European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
(EU) countries, and 3.09% from elsewhere in the world. The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 35.92% in full-time employment, 10.42% in part-time employment, 4.25% self-employed, 5.18% unemployed, 7.82% students with jobs, 4.73% students without jobs, 15.15% retired, 4.54% looking after home or family, 7.92% permanently sick or disabled, and 4.00% economically inactive for other reasons. Compared with the average demography of Scotland, Dundee has both low proportions of people born outside the United Kingdom and for people over 75 years old.
Natives of Dundee are called Dundonians and are often recognisable by their distinctive dialect of Scots as well as their accent, which most noticeably substitutes the monophthong
A monophthong ( ) is a pure vowel sound, or one whose articulation at beginning and end is relatively fixed, with the tongue moving neither up nor down and neither forward nor backward towards a new position of articulation. A monophthong can be ...
/ɛ/ (pronounced "eh") in place of the diphthong
A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...
/aj/ (pronounced "ai"). Dundee, and Scotland more generally, saw rapid population increase at end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, with the city's population increasing from 12,400 in 1751 to 30,500 in 1821. Of particular significance was an influx of Irish workers in the early to mid-19th century, attracted by the prospect of employment in the textiles industries. In 1851, 18.9% of people living in Dundee were of Irish birth.
The city has also attracted immigrants from Italy, fleeing poverty and famine, in the 19th century Jews, fleeing from the Russia controlled portions of partitioned Poland and from German occupation in the 20th. Today, Dundee has a sizeable ethnic minority
The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...
population, and has around 4,000 Asian residents which is the fourth-largest Asian community in Scotland. The city also has 1.0% of residents from a Black/African/Caribbean background.
Students
Dundee has a higher proportion of university students – one in seven of the population – than any other town in Europe, except Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
and Tübingen
Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...
. The 14.2% come from all around the world to attend the local universities and colleges. Dundee is a major attraction for Northern Irish students who make up 5% of the total student population. The city's universities are believed to hold the highest percentage of Northern Irish students outside of Northern Ireland and have a big impact on the local economy and culture. However, this has declined in recent years due to the increase of tuition fees for students elsewhere in the UK. Dundee also has a lot of students from abroad, mostly from the Republic of Ireland and other EU countries but with an increasing number from countries from the Far East and Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
.
Ethnicity
The proportion of people residing in Dundee born outside the UK was 12.9% in 2022, compared with 9.0% in 2011 and 4.9% in 2001. Below are the fifteen largest overseas-born groups in Dundee according to the 2022 census, alongside the two previous censuses.[ > 'Dundee City' > 'Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion' > 'Country of birth: UV204']
Religion
The Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
Presbytery of Dundee is responsible for overseeing the worship of 37 congregations in and around the Dundee area, although changing population patterns have led to some of the churches becoming linked charges. Due to their city centre location, the City Churches, Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's) and the Steeple Church, are the most prominent Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
buildings in Dundee. They are on the site of the medieval parish kirk of St Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. ...
, of which only the 15th-century west tower survives. The attached church was once the largest parish church in medieval Scotland.
Dundee was unusual among Scottish medieval burghs in having two parish kirks; the second, dedicated to St Clement, has disappeared, but its site was approximately that of the present City Square. Other presbyterian groups include the Free Church which meet at St. Peters (the historic church of Robert Murray M'Cheyne).
In the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
Dundee was also the site of houses of the Dominicans
Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...
(Blackfriars), and Franciscans
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...
(Greyfriars), and had a number of hospitals and chapels. These establishments were sacked during the Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation.
Fr ...
, in the mid-16th century, and were reduced to burial grounds, now Barrack Street (also referred to as the Dek-tarn street) and The Howff burial ground, respectively.
St. Paul's Cathedral is the seat of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Brechin. It is charged with overseeing the worship of 9 congregations in the city, as well as a further 17 in Angus, the Carse of Gowrie and parts of Aberdeenshire. Since 2018 the diocese has been led by Bishop Andrew Swift. St. Andrew's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
Diocese of Dunkeld, led by Bishop Stephen Robson. The diocese is responsible for overseeing 15 congregations in Dundee and 37 in the surrounding area, including St Mary, Our Lady of Victories Church in the city.
There are Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
, Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
, Congregationalist, Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...
and Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
churches in the city, and non-mainstream Christian groups are also well represented, including the Unitarians, the Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
, the Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
, Seventh-day Adventists, Christadelphians
The Christadelphians () are a Restorationism, restorationist and Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Biblical unitarianism, (Biblical Unitarian) Christian denomination. The name means 'brothers and sisters in Christ',"The Christadelphians, or breth ...
, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
.
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s are served by the Dundee Central Mosque, built in 2000 to replace their former premises on the Hilltown. There are three other mosques in the city including Jamia Masjid Tajdare Madina on Victoria Road, Jame Masjid Bilal on Dura Street and Al Maktoum Mosque on Wilkie's Lane. Alongside these there is an Islamic Society on the University of Dundee campus.
The Sikh
Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
community is served by the Guru Nanak Gurdwara
A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...
on Victoria Road, which serves its community in Dundee.
A recorded Jewish community has existed in the city since the early 19th century. There is a small Orthodox synagogue
A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
at Dudhope Park which was built in the 1960s, with the Hebrew Burial Grounds located to the east. Dundee Buddhist Group is a Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
Temple based in Reform Street. There is also a Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
mandir
A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to whom it is dedica ...
in Taylor's Lane, situated in the West End of the city.
Economy
In 1911 40% of the city's population was employed in the jute industry. By 1951 this had dropped to 20%, and now is effectively zero. The period following World War II was notable for the transformation of the city's economy. While jute still employed one-fifth of the working population, new industries were attracted and encouraged. NCR Corporation
NCR Voyix Corporation, previously known as NCR Corporation and National Cash Register, is a global software, consulting and technology company providing several professional services and Electronics, electronic products. It manufactured Self-c ...
selected Dundee as the base of operations for the UK in late 1945, primarily because of the lack of damage the city had sustained in the war, good transport links and high productivity from long hours of sunshine. Production started in the year before the official opening of the plant on 11 June 1947. A fortnight after the tenth anniversary of the plant the 250,000th cash register was produced. By the 1960s, NCR had become the principal employer of the city producing cash register
A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a Cash register#Cash drawer, drawer fo ...
s, and later ATMs, at several of its Dundee plants. The firm developed magnetic-strip readers for cash registers and produced early computers. Astral, a Dundee-based firm that manufactured and sold refrigerators and spin dryers was merged into Morphy Richards
Morphy Richards is a British brand of electrical appliances headquartered in Swinton, in South Yorkshire, England. Its products were formerly made at its historic home of Mexborough, and in other facilities across the United Kingdom. However, ...
and rapidly expanded to employ over 1,000 people. The development in Dundee of a Michelin
Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...
tyre-production facility helped to absorb the unemployment caused by the decline of the jute industry, particularly with the abolition of the jute control by the Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
on 30 April 1969.
Employment in Dundee changed dramatically during the 1980s with the loss of nearly 10,000 manufacturing jobs due to closure of the shipyards, cessation of carpet manufacturing and the disappearance of the jute trade. To combat growing unemployment and declining economic conditions, Dundee was declared an Enterprise Zone
An urban enterprise zone is an area in which policies to encourage economic growth and development are implemented. Urban enterprise zone policies generally offer tax concessions, infrastructure incentives, and reduced regulations to attract invest ...
in January 1984. In 1983, the first ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...
home computers were produced in Dundee by Timex. In the same year the company broke production records, despite a sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
by workers protesting against job cuts and plans to demolish one of the factory buildings to make way for a supermarket. Timex closed its Dundee plant in 1993 following an acrimonious six-month industrial dispute. The Michelin Tyre factory closed in June 2020, with the loss of 850 jobs.
Dundee is a regional employment and education centre, with around 325,000 people within 30 minutes' drive of the city centre and 860,000 people within one hour. Many people from North East Fife, Angus and Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...
commute to the city. As of 2015, there were 395 employers who employed 250 or more staff; over a five-year period (2011–2015) the number of registered enterprises in Dundee increased by 20.9% from 2,655 to 3,210. The largest employers in the city are NHS Tayside, Dundee City Council, University of Dundee, Tayside Contracts, Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
, D. C. Thomson & Co and BT. Several government agencies and public sector organisations are based in Dundee, such as the Care Inspectorate (Scotland)
The Care Inspectorate (formally known as Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland) () is a scrutiny body which supports improvement. They look at the quality of care in Scotland to ensure it meets high standards. Where improvement is n ...
, the Scottish Social Services Council and Social Security Scotland.
Other employers include limited and private companies such as NCR, Michelin
Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...
, Alliance Trust, Aviva
Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 19 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...
, Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...
, Asda
Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
, Stagecoach Strathtay, Tokheim, Scottish Citylink, Rochen Limited, C J Lang & Son ( SPAR Scotland), Joinery and Timber Creations, Xplore Dundee, and W. L. Gore and Associates. Between 2009 and 2014 the hardest-hit sectors, in terms of jobs, were Information and Communication, Construction and Manufacturing which each lost around 500 full-time jobs. By contrast, the Professional, Scientific and Technical sector saw an upsurge in jobs in addition to the Business Administration and Support Service sector which increased by approximately 1,000 full-time and 300 part-time jobs in the same six-year period. Gross median weekly earnings of full-time employees in Dundee in 2015 was £523.50; men received £563.40 and women £451.80. Gross weekly pay for all employees in Dundee has increased from £325.00 in 2000 to £380.00 in 2015.
The biomedical
Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine) and biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
sectors, including start-up biomedical companies arising from university research, employ just under 1,000 people directly and nearly 2,000 indirectly. Information technology and video game development
Video game development (sometimes shortened to gamedev) is the process of creating a video game. It is a multidisciplinary practice, involving programming, design, art, audio, user interface, and writing. Each of those may be made up of more speci ...
have been important industries in the city for more than 20 years. Rockstar North, developer of ''Lemmings
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also incl ...
'' and the ''Grand Theft Auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...
'' series was founded in Dundee as DMA Design by David Jones; an undergraduate of the Abertay University. Rockstar Games returned to Dundee in 2020 when they acquired Ruffian Games to form Rockstar Dundee. Other game development studios in Dundee include Denki, Dynamo Games, 4J Studios
4J Studios Limited is a British video game developer based in Dundee. It has a second office located in East Linton. Founded in April 2005 by VIS Entertainment alumni Chris van der Kuyl, Paddy Burns and Frank Arnot, the company is best known ...
and Outplay Entertainment, among others.
Dundee is also a key retail destination for North East Scotland and has been ranked fourth in Retail Rankings in Scotland. The city centre offers a wide variety of retailers, department stores and independent/specialist stores. The Murraygate and High Street forms the main pedestrian area and is home to a number of main anchors such as Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...
, Accessorise. The main pedestrian area also connects the two large shopping centres; the Overgate Centre which is anchored by Primark, H&M, Next
NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...
, Argos, and The Perfume Shop and the Wellgate Centre by Home Bargains, T. J. Hughes, B&M, Superdrug, Iceland, Holland & Barrett, Poundland, Savers, The Works, Hydro Electric, Other retail areas in the city include Gallagher Retail Park, Kingsway East Retail Park and Kingsway West Retail Park. The new Myrekirk Retail Park opened in 2022.
Transport
Road
Dundee is served by the A90 road
The A90 road is a major north-to-south road in eastern Scotland, running from Edinburgh to Fraserburgh, through Dundee and Aberdeen. Along with the A9 road (Scotland), A9 and the A82 (road), A82 it is one of the three major north–south tr ...
, which connects the city to the M90 and Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
in the west with Forfar
Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280.
The town ...
and Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
in the north. The part of the road that is in the city is a dual carriageway and forms the city's main bypass on its north side, known as the Kingsway. East of the A90's Forfar Road junction, the Kingsway East continues as the A972 and meets the A92 at the Scott Fyffe roundabout. Travelling east, the A92 connects the city to Arbroath
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...
and Montrose and to the south with Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
, via the Tay Road Bridge.
The A930 links the city with coastal settlements to the east, including Monifieth
Monifieth () is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In , the population of Monifieth was estimated at , making it the fifth largest town ...
and Carnoustie
Carnoustie (; ) is a town and former police burgh in the subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland. It is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast. In the UK census 2011, 2011 census, Carnoustie had a population of ...
. Progressing westward from where the A92 meets the Tay Road Bridge at the Riverside Roundabout, the A85 follows the southern boundary of the city along Riverside Drive and towards the A90 at the Swallow Roundabout. The A85 multiplexes with the A90 and diverges again at Perth.
Also meeting the A92 and A85 at the Riverside Roundabout is the A991 Inner Ring Road, which surrounds the perimeter of the city centre, returning to the A92 on the east side of the Tay Road Bridge. The A923 Dundee to Dunkeld road meets the A991 at the Dudhope Roundabout, and the A929 links the A991 to the A90 via Forfar Road.
Bus
Dundee has an extensive network of bus routes. The Seagate bus station is the city's main terminus for journeys out of town. Xplore Dundee operates most of the intra-city services, with other more rural services operated by Stagecoach Strathtay and Moffat & Williamson. In the Dundee built‑up area, there is five railway stations: Invergowrie
Invergowrie () is a village on the northwest bank of the Firth of Tay to the west of Dundee. Historically part of Perthshire, it was formerly incorporated as part of the city of Dundee, but is now administered as part of Perth and Kinross.
H ...
, Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
, Broughty Ferry, Balmossie, and Monifieth
Monifieth () is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In , the population of Monifieth was estimated at , making it the fifth largest town ...
. Although Invergowrie
Invergowrie () is a village on the northwest bank of the Firth of Tay to the west of Dundee. Historically part of Perthshire, it was formerly incorporated as part of the city of Dundee, but is now administered as part of Perth and Kinross.
H ...
is part of Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...
, and Balmossie and Monifieth
Monifieth () is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In , the population of Monifieth was estimated at , making it the fifth largest town ...
lie within Angus
Angus may refer to:
*Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland
* Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario
Animals
* Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle
Media
* ...
, all three form part of a contiguous urban area with Dundee. The main station, named Dundee, is situated near the waterfront and was rebuilt in 2018 as part of the waterfront redevelopment programme. The station now also includes a hotel and a Tesco Express.
There are also many inter-city bus services offered by Megabus, Citylink
CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, linking the Tullamarine Freeway, Tullamarine, West Gate Freeway, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other ...
, National Express
Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...
and more recently, Ember
Rail, air and sea
Passenger services at Dundee are provided by ScotRail
ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail (), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise as an operator of las ...
, CrossCountry
CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the current CrossCountry franchise.
The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2006, ...
, Caledonian Sleeper
''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight Sleeping car, sleeper train services between London and Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom ...
and London North Eastern Railway
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company which operates most services on the East Coast Main Line. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the Londo ...
. There are other nearby stations at Invergowrie
Invergowrie () is a village on the northwest bank of the Firth of Tay to the west of Dundee. Historically part of Perthshire, it was formerly incorporated as part of the city of Dundee, but is now administered as part of Perth and Kinross.
H ...
, Balmossie and Monifieth
Monifieth () is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Tay on the east coast. In , the population of Monifieth was estimated at , making it the fifth largest town ...
. No freight trains have served the city since the Freightliner terminal in Dundee was closed in the 1980s.
Dundee Airport offers commercial flights to Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...
, Kirkwall Airport, and Sumburgh (Shetland) by Loganair
Loganair is a Scottish regional airline headquartered at Glasgow Airport in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The airline primarily operates domestic flights within the United Kingdom. It is the largest regional airline in Scotland by passenger ...
. The airport is capable of serving small aircraft and is located west of the city centre, adjacent to the River Tay. The nearest major international airport is Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport is an international airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located west of the city centre, just off the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 and M9 motorway (Scotland), M9 motorways. It is owned and oper ...
, to the south.
The cargo port of Dundee is one of the largest economic generators in the city and is operated by Forth Ports. Seafarers arriving at the port are offered welfare and pastoral assistance by seafarers charity Apostleship of the Sea. The seaport in recent years has saw a significant increase in cruises arriving at port. In 2023, Ambassador Cruise Line made Dundee a port call following the launch of their second ship '' Ambition''. Cruises from Dundee depart to Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, France, Spain, Sweden, Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
and the Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
.
Education
Dundee is home to two universities and a student population of approximately 20,000. The University of Dundee became an independent entity in 1967, after 70 years of being incorporated into the University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...
. It was founded in 1881 by Mary Ann Baxter
Mary Ann Baxter (1801 – 19 December 1884) was a philanthropist in the Scottish city of Dundee.
Family
Mary Ann Baxter was the daughter of William Baxter, founder of the Baxter Brothers And Co. Ltd. textile business.
She outlived all of her ...
and her distant cousin John Boyd Baxter as University College, Dundee, and teaching began in 1883. It fully merged with the University of St Andrews in 1897 and was reorganised as Queen's College, Dundee in 1954. Significant research in biomedical
Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine) fields is carried out in the School of Life Sciences. The university is also home to Dundee Law School, situated in the Scrymgeour Building on the main campus and the School of Medicine, based at the city's Ninewells Hospital. The university also incorporates the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) is part of the University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland. It is ranked as one of the top schools of art and design in the United Kingdom.
History
Attempts were made to establish an art sch ...
and the teacher training college.
Abertay University was founded as Dundee Institute of Technology in 1888. Previously, the buildings formed Bell Street Technical College, a further education college. It was granted university status in 1994 under the Further and Higher Education Act, 1992. The university is noted for its computing and creative technology courses, particularly in the fields of computer games
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
technology and cyber-security. Notable alumni include David Jones, founder of DMA Design (now known as Rockstar North), Sir Brian Souter, founder of Stagecoach
A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
, and Lord Iain McNicol, former General Secretary of the Labour Party.
Dundee College is the city's umbrella further education
Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...
college, which was established in 1985 as an institution of higher education and vocational training. As of 2013, it merged with Angus College in Arbroath
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...
, to become Dundee and Angus College (D&A college). The Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education was established in Dundee in Blackness Road in 2002. It is a research-led institution of higher education which are currently offering programmes accredited by SQA in the study of Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s, Arabic language and Islamic Economics and Finance. It is an independent institution. It is named after its patron, Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Schools in Dundee have a pupil enrolment of over 20,300. There are 37 primary state schools and 8 secondary state schools in the city. There are 11 primary and 2 secondary Roman Catholic denominational schools which, as in the rest of Scotland, are open to children of all denominations. The remainder are non-denominational. There is also one specialist school that caters for pupils with learning difficulties aged between five and 18 from Dundee and the surrounding area.
Dundee has one independent school, the High School of Dundee, which was founded in the 13th century by the Abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
and monk
A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
s of Lindores Abbey. The current building was designed by George Angus in a Greek Revival style and built in 1832–34. Notable students in the early modern period included Thomas Thomson, Hector Boece
Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Ancient university governance in Scotland, Principal of King's College, Aberdeen, ...
, and the brothers James, John and Robert Wedderburn who were the authors of '' The Gude and Godlie Ballatis'', used early in the Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation.
Fr ...
as a vehicle to spread Protestant theology. According to Blind Harry's largely apocryphal work '' The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace'', William Wallace was also educated in Dundee.
Culture
Dundee made a bid to be named the 2017 UK City of Culture
UK City of Culture is a designation given to a local area (specifically a city before 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneratio ...
, and on 19 June 2013 was named as one of the four short-listed cities alongside Hull, Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
and Swansea Bay
Swansea Bay () is a bay on the southern coast of Wales. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tidal range. The sh ...
. Ultimately, Dundee's bid was unsuccessful, with Hull winning the contest. Dundee came in fifth place in a newspaper survey regarding numbers of cultural venues in the United Kingdom, ahead of other Scottish cities.
In August 2021, Dundee made a joint bid with Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...
, Angus
Angus may refer to:
*Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland
* Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario
Animals
* Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle
Media
* ...
and Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
for the UK City of Culture again in 2025 under the title of 'Tay Cities'.
Dundee also went to bid to become the European Capital of Culture
A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...
in 2023 but due to the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union in June 2016, Dundee's bid, along with those of other British cities submitting bids, was discontinued by the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
.
Museums and galleries
The city's main museum and art gallery, McManus Galleries
The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum is a Gothic Revival-style building, located in the centre of Dundee, Scotland. The building houses a museum and art gallery with a collection of fine and decorative art as well as a natural history co ...
, is in Albert Square. The exhibits include work by James McIntosh Patrick, Alberto Morrocco and David McClure amongst the collection of fine and decorative art, items from Dundee's history and natural history artefacts. Dundee Contemporary Arts
Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) is an art centre in Dundee, Scotland, with two contemporary art galleries, a two-screen movie theater, cinema, a printmaking, print studio, a learning and public engagement programme, a shop and a café bar. The cur ...
(abbreviated DCA) opened in 1999 is an international art centre in the Nethergate close to Dundee Rep, which houses two contemporary art galleries, a two-screen arthouse cinema, a print studio, a visual research centre and a café bar. Britain's only full-time public observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed.
Th ...
, Mills Observatory at the summit of the city's Balgay Hill, was given to the city by linen manufacturer and keen amateur scientist John Mills in 1935. Dundee Science Centre in the Greenmarket is a science centre based on the five senses with a series of interactive shows and exhibits. Verdant Works is a museum dedicated to the once dominant jute industry in Dundee and is based in a former jute mill.
The University of Dundee also runs several public museums and galleries, including the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum and the Tayside Medical History Museum. The university, through Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) is part of the University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland. It is ranked as one of the top schools of art and design in the United Kingdom.
History
Attempts were made to establish an art sch ...
also offers the Cooper Gallery for contemporary art, and its archives including: the abcD (artists' books collection Dundee); the REWIND Archive (video art collection); and the Richard Demarco Digital Archive.
The V&A Dundee
V&A Dundee is a design museum in Dundee, Scotland, which opened on 15 September 2018. The V&A Dundee is the first design museum in Scotland and the first Victoria and Albert museum outside London. The V&A Dundee is also the first building in the ...
Museum of Design opened in September 2018 and is built south of Craig Harbour onto the River Tay
The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...
in a building designed by Kengo Kuma
is a Japanese architect and emeritus professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolif ...
. It was officially opened by the Earl and Countess of Strathearn in 2019. It is the centrepiece of the city's waterfront redevelopment. The new museum may bring another 500,000 extra visitors to the city and create up to 900 jobs.
The city's archival records are mostly kept by two archives: Dundee City Archives, operated by Dundee City Council
Dundee City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Dundee City council area, Dundee City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Dundee was formerly governed by a municipal c ...
and the University of Dundee's Archive Services.
Dundee City Archives holds the official records of the city and of the former Tayside Regional Council. The archive also holds the records of various people, groups and organisations connected to the city. The university's Archive Services hold a wide range of material relating to the university and its predecessor institutions and to individuals associated with the university, such as D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson
Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology, travelled on expeditions to the Bering Strait ...
. Archive Services also holds the archives of several individuals, businesses and organisations based in Dundee and the surrounding area. The records held include a substantial number of business archives relating to the jute and linen industry in Dundee; records of other businesses including the archives of the Alliance Trust and the department store G. L. Wilson; the records of the Brechin Diocese of the Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church (; ) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, ecclesiastical provi ...
; and the NHS Tayside Archive. The same archive also holds the Michael Peto Michael Peto (also known as Mihály Petö) (1908 – 25 December 1970) was an internationally recognized Hungarian people, Hungarian-British photojournalist of the twentieth century. Emigrating to London before World War II through business, in the ...
collection which includes thousands of the photojournalist
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...
's photographs, negatives, slides, publications and papers.["Michael Peto Photographic Collection"](_blank)
, University of Dundee. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
Literature
Dundee has a strong literary heritage, with several authors having been born, lived or studied in the city. These include A. L. Kennedy, Rosamunde Pilcher, Kate Atkinson, Thomas Dick, Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...
, Mick McCluskey, John Burnside and Neil Forsyth
Neil Forsyth (born 1978) is a Scottish author, television writer and journalist. He has written and created a number of British television shows including '' The Gold'', '' Guilt'', and '' Bob Servant Independent'', and has won numerous televisio ...
. The Dundee International Book Prize is a biennial competition open to new authors, offering a prize of £10,000 and publication by Polygon Books. Past winners have included: Andrew Murray Scott, Claire-Marie Watson and Malcolm Archibald. William McGonagall, regularly cited as the "world's worst poet", worked and wrote in the city, often giving performances of his work in pubs and bars. Many of his poems are about the city and events therein, such as his work ''The Tay Bridge Disaster''.
Dundee's poetic heritage is represented by the 2013 poetry anthology ''Whaleback City'' edited by W. N. Herbert and Andy Jackson (Dundee University Press) containing poems by McGonagall, Don Paterson, Douglas Dunn, John Burnside and many others. City of Recovery Press was founded in Dundee, and has become a controversial figure in documenting the darker side of the city.
Cinema
The Dundee Mountain Film Festival (DMFF), held in the last weekend of November, presents the best presenters and films of the year in mountaineering, mountain culture and adventure sport, along with an art and trade exhibition. DMFF is also one of the members of International Alliance for Mountain Film (IAMF) among other important international mountain film festivals.
Dundee Contemporary Arts
Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) is an art centre in Dundee, Scotland, with two contemporary art galleries, a two-screen movie theater, cinema, a printmaking, print studio, a learning and public engagement programme, a shop and a café bar. The cur ...
hosts an annual horror film festival called ''Dundead'', which started in 2011. It also hosts the Discovery Film Festival, an international film festival targeted for young audiences.
The city also has two Multiplex
Multiplex may refer to:
Science and technology
* Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel
** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast
* ...
cinemas, Odeon and Cineworld
Regal Cineworld Group (trading as Cineworld) is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,139 screens across 747 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czec ...
.
Theatre, drama, dance
Dundee is home to a full-time repertory
A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom ...
ensemble, which originated in 1939. One of its alumni, Hollywood actor Brian Cox, is a native of the city. The Dundee Repertory Theatre, built in 1982, is also the base for the Scottish Dance Theatre company.
The Whitehall Theatre opened in 1969.
The Little Theatre at the foot of the Hilltown is home to and maintained by Dundee Dramatic Society.
Music
Dundee's principal concert auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...
, the Caird Hall (named after its benefactor, the jute baron James Key Caird) in the City Square regularly hosts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Various smaller venues host local and international musicians during Dundee's annual Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
, Guitar and Blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
Festivals.
Dundee has hosted the National Mod a number of times – 1902, 1913, 1937, 1959 and 1974.[List of Mod's places]
for each year on Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (; ) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, Scotland with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay. Sabhal Mòr is an independent Academic Part ...
website
Dundee also hosted BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend back in 2006 and was due to host for a second time in 2020 but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Dundee hosted the event again on 26th-28 May 2023 at Camperdown Park in the north-west of the city.
Popular music groups such as the 1970s soul-funk outfit Average White Band, the Associates, the band Spare Snare, Danny Wilson, the Hazey Janes, and the Indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
bands the View and the Law are from Dundee. Musician, songwriter and performer Michael Marra
Michael Marra (17 February 1952 – 23 October 2012) was a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician from Dundee, Scotland. Known as the Bard of Dundee, Marra was a solo performer who toured the UK and performed in arts centres, theatres, folk cl ...
was born and raised in Dundee. Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue and singer-songwriter KT Tunstall
Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', and h ...
are former pupils of the High School of Dundee, although Tunstall is not a native of the city. The Northern Irish indie rock band Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...
was formed by students at the University of Dundee. Brian Molko
Brian Molko (born 10 December 1972) is a British-American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist of the band Placebo (band), Placebo. He is known for his nasal voice and high registered vocals, feminine/androgynous appearance ...
, lead singer of Placebo
A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...
, grew up in the city as did Ian Cussick, singer of Lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
. At the end of June, Dundee hosts an annual blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
festival known as the ''Dundee Blues Bonanza''.
Media
Dundee is home to DC Thomson & Co. Ltd, established in 1905, which produces over 200 million magazines, newspapers and comics every year; these include ''The Beano
''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and ...
'', '' The Dandy'' and '' The Press and Journal''.
Dundee is home to one of eleven BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
broadcasting centres, located within the Nethergate Centre. STV North
Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 (UK), Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and which, decades later, was merged with the Central Belt channel STV. The northern region's coverage area includes th ...
's Tayside news and advertising operations are based in the Seabraes area of the city, from where an ''STV News Tayside'' opt-out bulletin is broadcast, (though not on Digital Satellite), within the nightly regional news programme, '' STV News at Six''. The city also had a community internet TV station called The Dundee Channel which was launched on 1 September 2009.
Dundee formerly had three local radio stations that were based in the city. Radio Tay was launched on 17 October 1980. The station split frequencies in January 1995, launching Tay FM for a younger audience and Tay AM playing classic hits (now called Greatest Hits Radio Tayside & Fife). Neither Tay FM or Greatest Hits Radio are based within the city of Dundee, with their only locally targeted show (Tay FM breakfast) being broadcast from a Bauer studio in Edinburgh. In 1999, Discovery 102 was launched, later to be renamed Wave 102 following a claim by The Discovery Channel that the station could mistakenly be linked to its brand. The station was further rebranded to Wave FM and Pure Radio. The 102FM frequency now carries a relay of Aberdeen-based radio station Original 106 (Scotland) which features news, content and commercials tailored for Tayside.
Landmarks
The city and its landscape are dominated by The Law and the Firth of Tay
The Firth of Tay (; ) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which empties the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow). The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, Dundee City, and Angus. ...
. The Law, a large hill to the north of the City Centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
was the site of an Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
Hill Fort
A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...
, upon which the Law War Memorial, designed by Thomas Braddock, was erected in 1921 to commemorate the fallen of World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The waterfront, much altered by reclamation in the 19th century, retains several of the docks that once were the hub of the jute and whaling industries, including the Camperdown and Victoria Docks. The Victoria Dock is the home of the frigate HMS ''Unicorn'' and the North Carr Lightship, while Captain Scott's RRS ''Discovery'' occupies Craig Pier, from where the ferries to Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
once sailed.
The oldest building in the city is St Mary's Tower, which dates from the late 15th century. This forms part of the City Churches, which consist of St Clement's Church, dating to 1787–8 and built by Samuel Bell, Old St Paul's and St David's Church, built in 1841–42 by William Burn
William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...
, and St Mary's Church, rebuilt in 1843–44, also by Burn, following a fire. Other significant churches in the city include the Gothic Revival St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, built by Sir George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...
in 1853 on the former site of Dundee Castle in the High Street, and the Catholic St. Andrew's Cathedral, built in 1835 by George Mathewson in Nethergate.
As a result of the destruction suffered during the Rough Wooing
The Rough Wooing (; December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following the English Reformation, the break with the Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland ...
, little of the mediaeval city (aside from St Mary's Tower) remains and the earliest surviving domestic structures date from the Early Modern Era
The early modern period is a historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There is no exact date ...
. A notable example is the Wishart Arch (or East Port) in Cowgate. It is the last surviving portion of the city walls. Dating from prior to 1548, it owes its continued existence to its association with the Protestant martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...
George Wishart, who is said to have preached to plague victims from the East Port in 1544. Another is the building complex on the High Street known as Gardyne's Land, parts of which date from around 1560. The Howff burial ground in the northern part of the City Centre also dates from this time; it was given to the city by Mary Queen of Scots in 1564, having previously served as the grounds of a Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
abbey.
Several castles can be found in Dundee, mostly from the Early Modern Era. The earliest parts of Mains Castle
Mains Castle (also known as Claverhouse Castle or Fintry Castle ) is a 16th-century castle in Dundee, Scotland. The castle consists of several buildings surrounding a courtyard, although several of the original western buildings no longer exist ...
in Caird Park were built by David Graham in 1562 on the site of a hunting lodge of 1460. Dudhope Castle, originally the seat of the Scrymgeour family, dates to the late 16th century and was built on the site of a keep of 1460. Claypotts Castle, a striking Z plan castle in West Ferry, was built by John Strachan and dates from 1569 to 1588. In 1495 Broughty Castle was built and remained in use as a major defensive structure until 1932, playing a role in the Anglo-Scottish Wars and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union un ...
. The castle stands on a shallow tip projecting into the Firth, alongside two beaches, one of sand, the other of pebbles. The ruins of Powrie Castle, north of Fintry, date from the 16th-century castle north.
North of the City Churches, at the end of Reform Street, lies the High School of Dundee, built in 1829–34 by George Angus in a Greek Revival style. Another school building of note is Morgan Academy
Morgan Academy is a Secondary School, secondary school in the Stobswell area of Dundee, Scotland. Morgan Academy was founded in 1889 and is the second oldest state school in Dundee behind Harris Academy.
History
The building was designed in 18 ...
on Forfar Road, built in 1863, designed by John Dick Peddie in a Dutch Gothic style.
Dundee's industrial history as a centre for textile production is apparent throughout the city. Numerous former jute mills remain standing and while some lay derelict, many have been converted for other uses. Of particular note are the Tay Works, built by the Gilroy Brothers –1865, Camperdown Works in Lochee, which built and owned by Cox Brothers, one of Europe's largest jute manufacturing companies, and begun in 1849, and Upper Dens Mill and Lower Dens Works, built by the Baxter Brothers in the mid-19th century.
A more recent landmark is the Tower Building of the University of Dundee built between 1959 and 1961. At the time of its construction only the Old Steeple was taller in the city. The Tower was built to replace the original college buildings which stood on the site. The building houses the university's main administration and includes galleries and the university's Archive, Records Management and Museum Services.
Many 1960s landmark multi-storey housing buildings were demolished in the late 2000s. The former Tayside House block, nicknamed 'Faulty Towers' by many local people, was demolished in 2013 as part of the waterfront redevelopment program. According to the architectural historian Charles McKean and his co-authors of Lost Dundee, the best views in the city were from Tayside House, because these were the only views from which the building itself could not be seen.
Sport and recreation
Football
Dundee has two professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
clubs: Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
, founded in 1893, and Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
, founded in 1909 as Dundee Hibernian. Dundee FC and Dundee United currently play in the Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
. Their grounds the ScotFoam Stadium and Tannadice Park are just 100 metres apart, closer together than any other football stadiums in the UK. The Dundee derby
The Dundee derby is a football match between Dundee and Dundee United. The clubs are based yards apart in the city of Dundee, the fourth-largest city in Scotland.
History
Dundee is the older of the two, having been founded in 1893, compared t ...
is one of the most highly anticipated fixtures in Scottish football.
Dundee is one of four British cities to have produced two European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
semi-finalists. Dundee lost to A.C. Milan in 1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
and Dundee United lost to A.S. Roma in 1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
. Dundee also reached the semi-finals of the forerunner to the UEFA Cup in 1968
Events January–February
* January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
* January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
and Dundee United were runners-up in the UEFA Cup in 1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
. There are also seven junior football teams in the area: Dundee North End, East Craigie, Lochee Harp, Lochee United, Dundee Violet, Broughty Athletic and Downfield.
Ice hockey
Dundee Stars, the main ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team, play at the Dundee Ice Arena. The team joined the Elite League in the 2010/2011 season. They are one of three professional ice hockey teams in Scotland, and play against teams from England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the Elite League. In the 2013/2014 season, Dundee Stars won the Gardiner Conference trophy, their only one to date. The majority of the players are from Canada and the United States. Marc LeFebvre is the current head coach and general manager of the Dundee Stars.
There also is an amateur ice hockey team, Dundee Rockets, who play in the Scottish National League.
Rugby
The city is also home to six rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
teams. Dundee High School Former Pupils play in Scottish National League Division One, the second tier of Scottish club rugby. The remainder of the teams compete in the Caledonia Regional League – Harris Academy FP play in Caledonia Division One, Morgan Academy FP and Panmure in Caledonia Division Two Midlands, Dundee University Medics and Stobswell in Caledonia Division Three Midlands.
Athletics
Liz McColgan and Eilish McColgan both hail from Dundee and have been members of the Dundee Hawkhill Harriers athletics club.
Other sports
Local sports clubs include Dundee Handball Club, Grove Menzieshill Hockey Club; Dundee Wanderers Hockey Club, Dundee Volleyball Club, Dundee Northern Lights Floorball
Floorball (also known by other names) is a sport played with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. It is played indoors with sticks and a hollow plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three periods. The sport of bandy also playe ...
Club, Dundee Hawkhill Harriers, Dundee City Aquatics, Dundee Hurricanes, Dundee Roller Derby and Dundee & Angus Radio Controlled Car Klub (DARCCK).
The Olympia Leisure Centre, opened in 2013, has a swimming pool.
There is a velodrome, Caird Park Velodrome.
Public services
Dundee and the surrounding area is supplied with water by Scottish Water. Dundee, along with parts of Perthshire and Angus is supplied from Lintrathen and Backwater reservoirs in Glen Isla. Electricity distribution is by Scottish Hydro Electric plc, part of the Scottish and Southern Energy group.
Waste management is handled by Dundee City Council
Dundee City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Dundee City council area, Dundee City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Dundee was formerly governed by a municipal c ...
. There is a kerbside recycling scheme that currently only serves 15,500 households in Dundee. Cans, glass and plastic bottles are collected on a weekly basis. Compostable material and non-recyclable material are collected on alternate weeks. Paper is collected for recycling on a four-weekly basis.
Recycling centres and points are at a number of locations in Dundee.[; ] Items accepted include steel and aluminium cans, cardboard, paper, electrical equipment, engine oil, fridges and freezers, garden waste, gas bottles, glass, liquid food and drinks cartons, plastic bottles, plastic carrier bags, rubble, scrap metal, shoes and handbags, spectacles, textiles, tin foil, wood and yellow pages. Recent figures taken in 2008, suggest the city council has a recycling rate of 36.1%.
Law enforcement is provided by Police Scotland. The headquarters of the Dundee Branch of Police Scotland is situated in West Bell Street. There are also four police stations which serve the city: Maryfield, Lochee, Downfield and Longhaugh.
Healthcare
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...
is supplied in the area by NHS Tayside. Ninewells Hospital, is the only hospital with an accident and emergency department in the area. Dundee is also served by the East Central Region of the Scottish Ambulance Service
The Scottish Ambulance Service () is part of NHS Scotland, which serves all of Scotland, Scotland's population. The Scottish Ambulance Service is governed by a NHS Scotland#Special health boards, special health board and is funded directly by t ...
which covers the city, Tayside and Kingdom of Fife. There is one ambulance station for the city; on West School Road.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service operate three fire stations, covering the city and surrounding villages. The main station is at Blackness Road and there is a control room at Macalpine Road fire station.
Sister cities
Chronologically:
* Orléans
Orléans (,["Orleans"](_blank)
(US) and [Zadar
Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...]
, Croatia (1959)
* Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, United States (1962)
* Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...
, Germany (1962)
* Nablus
Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
, Palestine (1980)
* Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, United Arab Emirates (2004)
* West Dundee, United States (2013)
Freedom of the City
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Dundee.
Individuals
* William Arrol: 1889.
* Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author, and politician famous for his exploration of Central Africa and search for missi ...
: 1890.
* William Harcourt: 1898.
* Sir John Leng: 1902.
* Whitelaw Reid: 1906.
* H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...
: October 1912.
* Emma Grace Marryat: 1918.
* David Middleton Greig: 1920.
* Agnes Husband: 1926.
* Thomas Johnston: 1947.
* Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...
: 1954.
* Maurice McManus: 1981.
* Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
: 9 October 1993.
* Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
: 2008.
* Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...
* Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (3 August 186714 December 1947), was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was prominent in the political leadership of the United Kingdom between the world wars. He was prime ministe ...
* Rev. William Macmillan
* James McLean
Military units
* The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment): 1954.
See also
* Brittle Bone Society, a UK charity established in 1968 in Dundee
* Dundee Museum of Transport
* History of Dundee#Notable Dundonians and people associated with Dundee
* Alexander Crawford Lamb, Alexander C. Lamb and references to the Lamb Collection, which is held in the City Museum and the Local History Centre of Dundee Central Library
Notes
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External links
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National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE
(selection of archive films about Dundee)
{{Authority control
Dundee,
Port cities and towns in Scotland
Port cities and towns of the North Sea
Lieutenancy areas of Scotland
Council areas of Scotland
Cities in Scotland
Civil parishes of Scotland
Populated places in Dundee
Districts of Scotland