Highland

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This article is about the Highland council area in Scotland. For other uses, see Highland (disambiguation).

The Highland Council Area (Sgire Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd)
Location
Geography
Area	Ranked 1st
-Total	25,659 km²
-% Water	?
Admin HQ	Inverness
ISO 3166-2	GB-HLD
ONS code	00QT
Demographics
Population	Ranked 7th
-Total (2005)	213,590
-Density	8 / km²
Politics
The Highland Council http://www.highland.gov.uk/ (Comhairle na Gaidhealtachd http://www.highland.gov.uk/gaidhlig.htm)
Control	Independent
MPs	Danny Alexander for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Charles Kennedy for Ross, Skye and Lochaber John Thurso for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
MSPs	Eleanor Scott for Highlands and Islands Fergus Ewing for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber Jamie McGrigor for Highlands and Islands Jamie Stone for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Jim Mather for Highlands and Islands John Farquhar Munro for Ross, Skye and Inverness West Dave Petrie for Highlands and Islands Maureen MacMillan for Highlands and Islands Peter Peacock for Highlands and Islands Rob Gibson for Highlands and Islands

Logo of the Highland Council.

The Highland Council Area ('Sgìre Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd'^[1] in Gaelic) is a local government area in the Scottish Highlands and the largest local government area in Scotland, and in the UK as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and Stirling, also have areas of the Scottish Highlands within their administrative boundaries. The Highland area covers most of the mainland and inner-Hebridean parts of the former counties of Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty, all of Sutherland, Caithness and Nairnshire, and small parts of Argyll and Moray.

The area was created as a two-tier region in 1975, with an elected council for the whole region and, in addition, elected councils for each of eight disricts, Badenoch and Strathspey, Caithness, Inverness, Lochaber, Nairn, Ross and Cromarty, Skye and Lochalsh and Sutherland. In 1996 the Highland Regional Council and the included District Councils were wound up and their functions were transferred to the new Highland Council. This council maintains area committees named after the old districts.

The Council Area headquarters is located in Inverness with most previous District Council offices retained as outstations.

[edit] Politics

Main article Politics of the Highland council area

[edit] Councillors

The council represents 80 wards. Each ward elects one councillor by the first past the post system of election. There are plans, however, to abolish existing wards and to create new larger wards for the next round of elections, with each ward electing three or four councillors by the single transferable vote system. The total number of councillors will remain the same.^[2]

The next round of elections is scheduled to be held in 2007.

[edit] Political representation

• Independent - 53 councillors
• Liberal Democrat - 13 councillors
• Labour - 8 councillors
• Scottish National Party - 6 councillors

[edit] Members of the Scottish Parliament

For elections to the Scottish Parliament the Highland area is within the Highlands and Islands electoral area, which elects eight first past the post constituency Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and seven additional member MSPs. Three of the region's constituencies, each electing one MSP, are within the Highland area: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber and Ross, Skye and Inverness West.

[edit] Members of Parliament

In the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom the Highland area is represented by Members of Parliament (MPs) elected from three constituencies: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross; Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; and Ross, Skye and Lochaber. Each constituency elects one MP by the first past the post system of election.

[edit] Towns and villages in the Highland Council Area

• Alness, Altnaharra, Applecross, Aviemore
• Back of Keppoch, Ballachulish
• Cromarty
• Dalwhinnie, Dingwall, Dornoch, Durness
• Fort Augustus, Fortrose, Fort William
• Gairloch
• Glencoe, Golspie
• Helmsdale
• Invergordon
• John o' Groats
• Kingussie, Kinlochbervie, Kinlochleven, Kyle of Lochalsh
• Mallaig
• Nairn, Newtonmore, North Ballachulish
• Plockton
• Portmahomack
• South Ballachulish
• Tain, Thurso, Tobermory, Tongue, Torridon
• Ullapool
• Wick

[edit] Places of interest in the Highland Council Area

• Cairngorms National Park
• Castle Tioram
• Cawdor Castle
• Culloden Battlefield
• Fort George
• Glencoe
• Glenfinnan
• Glen Orchy
• Glen Spean
• Highland Folk Museum
• Loch Linnhe
• Loch Lochy
• Loch Ness
• Rannoch Moor
• Skibo Castle
• Tor Castle
• Urquhart Castle
• West Highland Way

See Scottish Highlands for more information.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ 'Gàidhealtachd' in 'Sgìre Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd' is used to translate 'Highland'
   In other contexts it is used to translate 'Scottish Highlands' and 'Gaeldom'
2. ^ The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland (external link: Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland website) has now made its final recommendations, dated 3 August 2006
   Copies have been deposited at various council offices, and should be available for public inspection for a period of six months

[edit] External links

• The Highland Council (Comhairle na Gaidhealtachd)
  • Political composition of the council

• Scottish Highlands and Islands Film Commission