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Dumfries and Galloway

Unitary authority in southern Scotland, formed in 1996 from the regional council of the same name (1975-96).

Area

6,421 sq km/2,479 sq mi

Towns

Annan, Dumfries (administrative headquarters), Kirkcudbright, Stranraer, Castle Douglas, Newton Stewart

Physical

area characterized by an indented coastline, including Luce Bay and Wigtown Bay, backed by a low-lying coastal strip of varying width; intensively forested in the Galloways. Much of the inland area is upland: east to west this includes Eskdalemuir (Hart Fell 808 m/2,651 ft), the Lowther Hills (Green Lowther 732 m/2,402 ft) and the Galloway Hills (the Merrick 843 m/2,766 ft)

Features

Wanlockhead (the highest village in Scotland); the oldest working post office in the world at Sanquhar; Galloway Forest Park incorporating Glen Trool; the Ruthwell Cross, Whithorn archaeological dig

Industries

timber, chemicals, food processing, tourism

Agriculture

beef and dairy cattle, sheep, forestry

Population

(2001) 147,800

Economy Agriculture is the most important economic enterprise in the area, with poorer lands being intensively forested and better quality lands being intensively cropped or grazed. Tourism is also important, with many camping and caravan sites along the southern coast. The shortest ferry route to Ireland is via Stranraer.

Archaeology There are Neolithic tombs and a wide range of later prehistoric sites at Burnswark; also at Burnswark and Birrens are Roman artefacts. Early Christian monuments include those at Whithorn and Ruthwell.

Architecture There are many earthen mounds (mottes) for timber castles which testify to the Norman penetration of Scotland. Caerlaverock Castle (1270) is one of the foremost examples of medieval secular architecture in Scotland.

Environment There are several Sites of Special Scientific Interest, National Nature Reserves, Ramsars (wetland sites), Special Protection Areas, Biosphere Reserves, and National Scenic Areas.

Other features The Galloway Hills provided the setting of John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps. The region had a number of early innovators during the agrarian revolution, and has associations with Robert the Bruce, the poet Robert Burns, and the social historian Thomas Carlyle.

Administrative history Prior to 1975, the area was part of the counties of Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Dumfriesshire.

Beattock Dumfries Galloway

Kirkcudbrightshire Wigtownshire