West Lothian Wast Lowden Lodainn an Iar
Logo Coat of arms
Location
Geography
Area	Ranked 20th
- Total	427 km2 (165 sq mi)
- % Water	?
Admin HQ	Livingston
ISO 3166-2	GB-WLN
ONS code	00RH
Demographics
Population	Ranked 10th
- Total (2008)	169,500
- Density	397 /km2 (1,028 /sq mi)
Politics
West Lothian Council http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/
Control	Scottish National Party/Action to Save St John's Hospital/Conservative
MPs	Michael Connarty Jim Devine
MSPs	Angela Constance Mary Mulligan

County of West Lothian until circa 1890
Geography
Area - Total	Ranked 32nd 76,806 acres
County town	Livingston
Chapman code	WLN

West Lothian (Scots: Wast Lowden, Scottish Gaelic: Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk.

The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the West Lothian district of the Lothian region.

Contents 1 Towns 2 Villages 3 Former status 3.1 County 3.2 District 3.3 Areas of West Lothian 4 Places of interest 5 Mentions in popular culture 6 Town twinnings 7 Council political composition 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Towns

Armadale Bathgate

Broxburn Linlithgow

Livingston Whitburn

[edit] Villages

Abercorn Addiewell Blackburn Blackridge Breich Bridgend Dechmont East Calder East Whitburn Ecclesmachan

Fauldhouse Greenrigg Kingscavil Kirknewton Longridge Mid Calder Newton Philpstoun Polbeth Pumpherston

Seafield Stoneyburn Threemiletown Torphichen Uphall Uphall Station West Calder Westfield Wilkieston Winchburgh

[edit] Former status

[edit] County

The county of West Lothian was called Linlithgowshire or the County of Linlithgow until 1921.

As abolished in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the county contained six burghs. Two are outside the West Lothian unitary council area:

Burgh	Unitary council area
Armadale	West Lothian
Bathgate
Linlithgow
Whitburn
Bo'ness	Falkirk
South Queensferry	City of Edinburgh

On abolition in 1975 the county, with the exception of the Bo'ness area, was included in the Lothian Region. Bo'ness became part of the Central Region. Lothian Region was divided into four districts, one of which was named West Lothian and approximated to the former county.

[edit] District

West Lothian District was created in 1975, comprising the county of West Lothian; less the burghs of Bo'ness and South Queensferry and the Kirkliston area; it also included the East Calder and West Calder districts of the former county of Midlothian. The council's headquarters were originally in Bathgate, later moving to the new town of Livingston. The unitary authority created in 1996 used the same boundaries.

[edit] Areas of West Lothian

Livingston: East Calder, West Calder, Mid Calder, Wilkieston, Pumpherston

Broxburn: Uphall, Winchburgh, Dechmont, Bridgend

Bathgate: Armadale, Whitburn, Fauldhouse, Longridge, Torphichen, Blackburn, Seafield

[edit] Places of interest

• Beecraigs Country Park
• Blackness Castle
• Cairnpapple Hill
• Linlithgow Palace, birth place of Mary Queen of Scots
• Polkemmet Country Park
• Torphichen Preceptory

[edit] Mentions in popular culture

The West Lothian question is so named as it was raised by Tam Dalyell, then member of Parliament for the former West Lothian constituency, in his 1977 book Devolution: The End of Britain ?.

Author and actor Ian Colquhoun is from Livingston, West Lothian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Colquhoun_(Scottish_author)

Leon Jackson, the winner of The X Factor UK 2007, is from Whitburn, West Lothian.

David Tennant, best known for portraying the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who, is from West Lothian.

Susan Boyle, who lives in West Lothian, is a world-renowned singing contestant on the 3rd series of Britain's Got Talent. Her launch performance not only helped to draw a record TV viewing audience of 10.3 million people, but also led to a YouTube video of her performance, generating an estimated 100 million viewers within the first eight days, and widespread international media coverage.^[1][2]

[edit] Town twinnings

West Lothian is twinned with the following cities:

• Grapevine, Texas, USA
• Hochsauerland, Germany

[edit] Council political composition

	Party	Councillors
	Labour	14
	Scottish National Party	13
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	3
	Conservative	1
	Independent	1

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• West Lothian Council official government website
• West Lothian at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e Council areas of Scotland Aberdeen · Aberdeenshire · Angus · Argyll and Bute · Clackmannanshire · Dumfries and Galloway · Dundee · East Ayrshire · East Dunbartonshire · East Lothian · East Renfrewshire · Edinburgh · Falkirk · Fife · Glasgow · Highland · Inverclyde · Midlothian · Moray · Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) · North Ayrshire · North Lanarkshire · Orkney · Perth and Kinross · Renfrewshire · Scottish Borders · Shetland · South Ayrshire · South Lanarkshire · Stirling · West Dunbartonshire · West Lothian

v • d • e Former local government counties of Scotland Subdivisions created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 and abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 Aberdeenshire · Angus · Argyll · Ayrshire · Banffshire · Berwickshire · Bute · Caithness · Clackmannanshire · Dumfriesshire · Dunbartonshire · East Lothian · Fife · Inverness-shire · Kincardineshire · Kinross-shire · Kirkcudbrightshire · Lanarkshire · Midlothian · Moray · Nairnshire · Orkney · Peeblesshire · Perthshire · Renfrewshire · Ross and Cromarty · Roxburghshire · Selkirkshire · Shetland · Stirlingshire · Sutherland · West Lothian · Wigtownshire

Coordinates: 55°55′N 3°30′W / 55.917°N 3.5°W / 55.917; -3.5