The Central Belt of

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 ...

is the area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in 2019), including multiple major Scottish settlements such as Paisley,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, East Kilbride, Livingston, and

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 ...

. Despite the name, it is not geographically central but is nevertheless at the "waist" of Scotland on a conventional map and the term "central" is used in many local government, police, and NGO designations. It was formerly known as the Midlands or Scottish Midlands, but this term has fallen out of fashion. The Central Belt lies between the Highlands to the north and the

Southern Uplands The Southern Uplands () are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the others being the Central Lowlands and the Highlands). The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to col ...

to the south. In the early 21st century, predictions were made that due to economic migration indicators, the urban areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh, whose centres are approximately apart, could merge to create a

megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enough ...

over the coming decades.

Smaller Central Belt

The area is often considered as the triangle defined by the M8, M80 and M9 motorways stretching from

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

and

in the west to

in the east, and has been referred to as the Lowland Triangle. encompassing towns such as Paisley,

Cambuslang Cambuslang (, from ) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th-largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be cons ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

, Livingston and

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

. The population of the local authority areas which are wholly within this territory and have no extensive unpopulated areas was approximately 2.39 million in 2018.Scotland
Scottish Government Statistics

Larger Central Belt

The larger Central Belt is a trapezoid, not precisely defined, but essentially encompassing the generally low-lying areas from

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

to Montrose (the

Highland Boundary Fault The Highland Boundary Fault is a major fault zone that traverses Scotland from Arran and Helensburgh on the west coast to Stonehaven in the east. It separates two different geological terranes which give rise to two distinct physiographic ter ...

) and from

Girvan Girvan (, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ayr, and north of St ...

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

(the Southern Uplands Fault). This also takes in fairly densely populated regions such as

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

and

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

, and encompasses all the major cities of Scotland, except for

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 ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

which are located in the north of the country, as well as the bulk of Scotland's industrial works. Including rural parts of the council areas involved, the total population was around 4.28 million in 2018.

Similar terms

There are several terms in common usage in a Scottish context with a similar meaning to "Central Belt". * The

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 ...

is geologically defined and covers an area that stretches further to the north east than the Central Belt. * The "Midland Valley" is a less commonly used expression synonymous with "

". * The

Scottish Lowlands The Lowlands ( or , ; , ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. The region is characterised by its relatively flat or gently rolling terrain as opposed to the mountainous landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. This area includes ci ...

are topographically and culturally defined and include all of Scotland outside of the

Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act o ...

, including the

. * Central Scotland is a less well-defined term used to mean various things, including "Central Lowlands" and "Central Belt".

Notes

Citations

External links

Central Belt Way

VisitScotland VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board (), is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and ...