Strathclyde, City of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Strathclyde (Srath Chluaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The Strathclyde region had 19 districts. The region was named after the medieval Kingdom of Strathclyde but covered a broader geographic area than its namesake.

History The Strathclyde region was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Strathclyde covered the whole area of six counties and parts of another two, which were all abolished for local government purposes at the same time: • Argyll (except Ardnamurchan District and the electoral divisions of Ballachulish and Kinlochleven) • Ayrshire • Buteshire • Dunbartonshire • Glasgow • Lanarkshire • Renfrewshire • Stirlingshire (part, being the burgh of Kilsyth, Western No. 3 District, the electoral division of Kilsyth West, and the polling district of Kilsyth East (Banton))

The region was named after the ancient British or Brythonic Damnonii Kingdom of Strathclyde. The kingdom had broadly covered the southern part of the region created in 1975, with the Argyll and Buteshire parts of the region not having been within the ancient kingdom. Conversely, the kingdom had at times included areas further to the south which were not included in the region created in 1975, including Dumfries and Galloway and Cumbria.

Strathclyde Regional Council was responsible for education, social work, police, fire, sewage, strategic planning, roads, and transport. It employed almost 100,000 public servants, almost half of whom were teachers, lecturers and others in the education service.

Strathclyde region was abolished in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts with unitary council areas. The region was divided into twelve council areas: Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City (created as City of Glasgow), Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, and West Dunbartonshire (created as Dumbarton and Clydebank)

Geography The Strathclyde region was on the west coast of Scotland and stretched from the Highlands in the north to the Southern Uplands in the south. It included some of the Inner Hebrides in the north-west but also contained Scotland's largest urban area of Glasgow. As a local government region, its population, in excess of 2.5 million, was by far the largest of the regions and contained half of the population of Scotland.

Transport The name is still in use as a transport area, covered by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. The area covered by SPT however is smaller than the region, as most of Argyll and Bute lies outside its remit.