<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberdeenshire</span>

Aberdeenshire

<p><b>Aberdeenshire</b> (<a href="/en/Scots_language" title="Scots language" class="wl">Scots</a><span>: </span><i lang="sco">Aiberdeenshire</i>; <a href="/en/Scottish_Gaelic_language" title="Scottish Gaelic language" class="mw-redirect wl">Scottish Gaelic</a><span>: </span><i lang="gd">Siorrachd Obar Dheathain</i>) is one of the 32 <a href="/en/Subdivisions_of_Scotland#council_areas_of_Scotland" title="Subdivisions of Scotland" class="wl">council areas of Scotland</a>.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Council area of Scotland</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1033289096" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}</style>
<p>
</p>
<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt9">Place in Scotland</div><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1043192559" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement{width:23em;border-collapse:collapse;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement td,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement th{border-top:1px solid #a2a9b1;padding:0.4em 0.6em 0.4em 0.6em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-full-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-header,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-label,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedtoprow .infobox-below{border-top:1px solid #a2a9b1;padding:0.4em 0.6em 0.2em 0.6em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedrow .infobox-full-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedrow .infobox-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedrow .infobox-label{border:0;padding:0 0.6em 0.2em 0.6em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedbottomrow .infobox-full-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedbottomrow .infobox-data,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .mergedbottomrow .infobox-label{border-top:0;border-bottom:1px solid #a2a9b1;padding:0 0.6em 0.4em 0.6em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .maptable{border:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .infobox-header,.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .infobox-below{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .infobox-above{font-size:125%;line-height:1.3em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement .infobox-subheader{background-color:#cddeff;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-native{font-weight:normal;padding-top:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-other-name{font-size:78%}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-official{font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-caption{padding:0.3em 0 0 0}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-caption-link{padding:0.2em 0}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-nickname{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-fn{font-weight:normal;display:inline}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Aberdeenshire Aiberdeenshire Siorrachd Obar D...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox ib-settlement vcard mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above"><div class="fn org">Aberdeenshire<br><i><span><i lang="sco">Aiberdeenshire</i></span></i><br><i><span><i lang="gd">Siorrachd Obar Dheathain</i></span></i></div></th></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><span><a href="/en/File:Aberdeenshire_in_Scotland.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Aberdeenshire_in_Scotland.svg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Aberdeenshire_in_Scotland.svg/250px-Aberdeenshire_in_Scotland.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="1128" data-file-height="1483" data-file-type="drawing" height="329" width="250" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Aberdeenshire_in_Scotland.svg/375px-Aberdeenshire_in_Scotland.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Aberdeenshire_in_Scotland.svg/500px-Aberdeenshire_in_Scotland.svg.png 2x" alt="Aberdeenshire_in_Scotland.svg"></a></span></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data maptable"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1028600610" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-cols{text-align:center;display:table;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-cols-row{display:table-row}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-cols-cell{display:table-cell;vertical-align:middle}.mw-parser-output .ib-settlement-cols-cellt{display:table-cell;vertical-align:top}</style>
<div class="ib-settlement-cols">
<div class="ib-settlement-cols-row"><div class="ib-settlement-cols-cell"><span><a href="/en/File:Coat_of_arms_of_Aberdeenshire_District_Council.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" title="Coat of arms of AberdeenshireAiberdeenshireSiorrachd Obar Dheathain" data-hash="File:Coat_of_arms_of_Aberdeenshire_District_Council.svg"><img loading="lazy"alt="Coat of arms of AberdeenshireAiberdeenshireSiorrachd Obar Dheathain" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Coat_of_arms_of_Aberdeenshire_District_Council.svg/85px-Coat_of_arms_of_Aberdeenshire_District_Council.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="346" data-file-height="408" data-file-type="drawing" height="100" width="85" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Coat_of_arms_of_Aberdeenshire_District_Council.svg/127px-Coat_of_arms_of_Aberdeenshire_District_Council.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Coat_of_arms_of_Aberdeenshire_District_Council.svg/170px-Coat_of_arms_of_Aberdeenshire_District_Council.svg.png 2x"></a></span><div class="ib-settlement-caption-link">Coat of arms</div></div><div class="ib-settlement-cols-cell"><span><a href="/en/File:Aberdeenshire_Council.svg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" title="Official logo of AberdeenshireAiberdeenshireSiorrachd Obar Dheathain" data-hash="File:Aberdeenshire_Council.svg"><img loading="lazy"alt="Official logo of AberdeenshireAiberdeenshireSiorrachd Obar Dheathain" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/12/Aberdeenshire_Council.svg/130px-Aberdeenshire_Council.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="501" data-file-height="104" data-file-type="drawing" height="27" width="130" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/12/Aberdeenshire_Council.svg/195px-Aberdeenshire_Council.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/12/Aberdeenshire_Council.svg/260px-Aberdeenshire_Council.svg.png 2x"></a></span><div class="ib-settlement-caption-link">Council logo</div></div></div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data">Coordinates: <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1073938472" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="//geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Aberdeenshire&amp;params=57_9_3.6_N_2_7_22.8_W_type:adm2nd_region:GB" class="external text" target="_blank"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms"><span class="latitude">57°9′3.6″N</span> <span class="longitude">2°7′22.8″W</span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Sovereign_state" title="Sovereign state" class="wl">Sovereign state</a></th><td class="infobox-data">United Kingdom</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span class="nowrap"><a href="/en/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Countries of the United Kingdom" class="wl">Country</a></span></th><td class="infobox-data">Scotland</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/Lieutenancy_areas_of_Scotland" title="Lieutenancy areas of Scotland" class="wl">Lieutenancy areas</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/County_of_Aberdeen" title="County of Aberdeen" class="mw-redirect wl">Aberdeenshire</a>, <a href="/en/Banffshire" title="Banffshire" class="wl">Banffshire</a> (Part), <a href="/en/Kincardineshire" title="Kincardineshire" class="wl">Kincardineshire</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Admin HQ</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Aberdeen" title="Aberdeen" class="wl">Aberdeen</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Government<div class="ib-settlement-fn"></div></th></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Body</th><td class="infobox-data agent">Aberdeenshire Council</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Control</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Scottish_Conservative_Party" title="Scottish Conservative Party" class="mw-redirect wl">Con</a> + <a href="/en/Scottish_Liberal_Democrats" title="Scottish Liberal Democrats" class="wl">LD</a> + <a href="/en/Independent_politician" title="Independent politician" class="wl">Ind</a> (council <a href="/en/No_overall_control" title="No overall control" class="wl">NOC</a>)</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="/en/List_of_MPs_for_constituencies_in_Scotland_2017-" title="List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland 2017-" class="mw-redirect wl">MPs</a></th><td class="infobox-data">
<ul><li><a href="/en/Andrew_Bowie_(politician)" title="Andrew Bowie (politician)" class="wl">Andrew Bowie</a> (Con)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Richard_Thomson_(politician)" title="Richard Thomson (politician)" class="wl">Richard Thomson</a> (SNP)</li>
<li><a href="/en/David_Duguid_(politician)" title="David Duguid (politician)" class="wl">David Duguid</a> (Con)</li></ul>
</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="/en/Members_of_the_5th_Scottish_Parliament" title="Members of the 5th Scottish Parliament" class="mw-redirect wl">MSPs</a></th><td class="infobox-data">
<ul><li><a href="/en/Alexander_Burnett_(politician)" title="Alexander Burnett (politician)" class="wl">Alexander Burnett</a> (Con)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Mairi_Gougeon" title="Mairi Gougeon" class="wl">Mairi Gougeon</a> (SNP)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Gillian_Martin" title="Gillian Martin" class="wl">Gillian Martin</a> (SNP)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Karen_Adam" title="Karen Adam" class="wl">Karen Adam</a> (SNP)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Audrey_Nicoll" title="Audrey Nicoll" class="wl">Audrey Nicoll</a> (SNP)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Maurice_Golden" title="Maurice Golden" class="wl">Maurice Golden</a> (Con)</li>
<li><a href="/en/Liam_Kerr" title="Liam Kerr" class="wl">Liam Kerr</a> (Con)</li></ul>
</td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Area<div class="ib-settlement-fn"></div></th></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Total</th><td class="infobox-data">2,437<span>&nbsp;</span>sq<span>&nbsp;</span>mi (6,313<span>&nbsp;</span>km<sup>2</sup>)</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Rank</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/List_of_Scottish_council_areas_by_area" title="List of Scottish council areas by area" class="mw-redirect wl">Ranked 4th</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header">Population<div class="ib-settlement-fn"><span class="nowrap"><span>&nbsp;</span></span>(2021)</div></th></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Total</th><td class="infobox-data">261,470</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Rank</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/List_of_Scottish_council_areas_by_population" title="List of Scottish council areas by population" class="mw-redirect wl">Ranked 6th</a></td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span>&nbsp;</span>•<span>&nbsp;</span>Density</th><td class="infobox-data">110/sq<span>&nbsp;</span>mi (41/km<sup>2</sup>)</td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/ONS_coding_system" title="ONS coding system" class="wl">ONS code</a></th><td class="infobox-data">S12000034</td></tr><tr class="mergedrow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/en/ISO_3166" title="ISO 3166" class="wl">ISO 3166 code</a></th><td class="infobox-data nickname">GB-ABD</td></tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="url"><a rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow" href="https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/" class="external text" target="_blank">www<wbr>.aberdeenshire<wbr>.gov<wbr>.uk</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>

<p>It takes its name from the <a href="/en/County_of_Aberdeen" title="County of Aberdeen" class="mw-redirect wl">County of Aberdeen</a>, which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area includes all of the area of the <a href="/en/Counties_of_Scotland" title="Counties of Scotland" class="mw-redirect wl">historic counties</a> of Aberdeenshire and <a href="/en/Kincardineshire" title="Kincardineshire" class="wl">Kincardineshire</a> (except the area making up the <a href="/en/City_of_Aberdeen" title="City of Aberdeen" class="mw-redirect wl">City of Aberdeen</a>), as well as part of <a href="/en/Banffshire" title="Banffshire" class="wl">Banffshire</a>. The county boundaries are officially used for a few purposes, namely land registration and <a href="/en/Lieutenancy_areas_of_Scotland" title="Lieutenancy areas of Scotland" class="wl">lieutenancy</a>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span></p>

<p>Aberdeenshire Council is headquartered at Woodhill House, in <a href="/en/Aberdeen" title="Aberdeen" class="wl">Aberdeen</a>, making it the only Scottish council whose headquarters are located outside its jurisdiction. Aberdeen itself forms a different council area (Aberdeen City). Aberdeenshire borders onto <a href="/en/Angus,_Scotland" title="Angus, Scotland" class="wl">Angus</a> and <a href="/en/Perth_and_Kinross" title="Perth and Kinross" class="wl">Perth and Kinross</a> to the south, <a href="/en/Highland_(council_area)" title="Highland (council area)" class="wl">Highland</a> and <a href="/en/Moray" title="Moray" class="wl">Moray</a> to the west and Aberdeen City to the east.</p>

<p>Traditionally, it has depended economically on the primary sector (agriculture, fishing, and forestry) and related processing industries. Over the last 40 years, the development of the oil and gas industry and associated service sector has broadened Aberdeenshire's economic base, and contributed to a rapid population growth of some 50% since 1975.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-Aberdeenshire_Profile_2012_2-0"><a href="#cite_note-Aberdeenshire_Profile_2012-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> Its land represents 8% of Scotland's overall territory. It covers an area of <span>6,313 square kilometres (2,437</span><span>&nbsp;</span><span>sq</span><span>&nbsp;</span><span>mi)</span>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="#cite_note-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-Turner_4-0"><a href="#cite_note-Turner-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[4]</span></a></span></p>



Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen, which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area includes all of the area of the historic counties of Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire , as well as part of Banffshire. The county boundaries are officially used for a few purposes, namely land registration and lieutenancy. 