Since 1996 Scotland has been divided into 32 council areas, single-tier local authorities, each with a council elected every five years by the single transferable vote. Councils run schools, social care, council housing, waste, planning, local roads and libraries, while police and fire services have been organised nationally since 2013.
The 32 areas
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 (Outer Hebrides), North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Shetland, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian.
The areas vary greatly in size: Highland covers almost a third of Scotland's land with fewer than 240,000 people, while the city of Glasgow, with over 620,000, is the most populous; Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides have their own councils. The Outer Hebrides council officially uses its Gaelic name, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
Historic counties and other divisions
Before the reforms of 1975 and 1996 Scotland was divided into 33 historic counties (shires), such as Aberdeenshire, Fife, Perthshire, Ayrshire or Lanarkshire, whose names are still widely used and partly survive in today's areas. From 1975 to 1996 there were nine large regions, such as Strathclyde and Lothian. There are also lieutenancy areas for the Crown's ceremonial functions, and constituencies for the Scottish Parliament, elected by a mixed system: 73 single-member constituencies and eight regions with proportional seats.
See also Scotland, the history of Scotland and Edinburgh.