Highland (council area)
Highland (Scottish Gaelic: Gàidhealtachd, pronounced [ˈkɛːəl̪ˠt̪əxk]; Scots: Hieland) is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It shares borders with the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Moray and Perth and Kinross. Their councils, and those of Angus and Stirling, also have areas of the Scottish Highlands within their administrative boundaries.
Highland A' Ghàidhealtachd (Scottish Gaelic) Hieland (Scots) | |
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Coat of arms Council logo | |
| Coordinates: 57°30′N 5°00′W | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Scotland |
| Lieutenancy areas | Inverness, Nairn, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness |
| Admin HQ | Inverness |
| Government | |
| • Body | The Highland Council |
| • Control | SNP + Ind (council NOC) |
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| Area | |
| • Total | 9,905 sq mi (25,653 km2) |
| • Rank | Ranked 1st |
| Population (2021) | |
| • Total | 238,060 |
| • Rank | Ranked 7th |
| • Density | 24/sq mi (9.3/km2) |
| ONS code | S12000017 |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-HLD |
The Highland area covers most of the mainland and inner-Hebridean parts of the historic counties of Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty, all of Caithness, Nairnshire and Sutherland and small parts of Argyll and Moray. Despite its name, the area does not cover the entire Scottish Highlands.