South Lanarkshire facts for kids

Quick facts for kids South Lanarkshire Scots: Sooth Lanrikshire Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas
Coat of arms
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Lieutenancy area	Lanarkshire
Admin HQ	Hamilton
Government
• Body	South Lanarkshire Council
Area
• Total	684 sq mi (1,772 km2)
Area rank	Ranked 11th
Population  (2020)
• Total	319,020
• Rank	Ranked 5th
• Density	466.29/sq mi (180.03/km2)
ONS code	S12000029
ISO 3166 code	GB-SLK
Largest town	East Kilbride
Largest urban area	Hamilton, South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire (Scots: Sooth Lanrikshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the City of Glasgow and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, also containing many rural towns and villages. It also shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian. It includes most of the historic county of Lanarkshire.

South Lanarkshire Council

South Lanarkshire Council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1bn. The large and varied council area takes in rural and upland areas, market towns such as Lanark, Strathaven and Carluke, the urban burghs of Rutherglen, Cambuslang, and East Kilbride which was Scotland's first new town.

There are 20 council wards in South Lanarkshire, each represented on the council by 3 or 4 elected councillors using single transferable vote. South Lanarkshire operates a cabinet style system, with key decisions being taken by the Executive Committee, under the leadership of the Council Leader, and approved by the council, led by the provost.

South Lanarkshire shares borders with the unitary authorities of Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, City of Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, West Lothian and Scottish Borders.

The area was formed in 1996, from the areas of Clydesdale, Hamilton and East Kilbride districts, and some outer areas of Glasgow District (Rutherglen/Fernhill, Cambuslang/Halfway and part of King's Park/Toryglen).

Political composition

Since the 2012 local government election, a by-election was held for Rutherglen South (Ward 11) on Thursday 14 February 2013 and for Hamilton South (Ward 19) on Thursday 24 October 2013. The current political composition is 2 Independents, 3 Conservative, 35 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat and 26 SNP. The Council is currently ruled by a Labour Group majority administration.

Towns and villages

Principal settlements

Other settlements

Places of interest

• Hamilton Mausoleum
• Bothwell Castle
• Strathaven Castle
• John Hastie Museum, Strathaven
• Low Parks Museum, Hamilton
• Rutherglen Town Hall and medieval church tower
• Chatelherault Country Park, near Hamilton, including Cadzow Castle
• Craignethan Castle
• David Livingstone Centre, in Blantyre
• Dollan Baths, East Kilbride
• Falls of Clyde
• Little Sparta, near Dunsyre near Lanark
• New Lanark, a World Heritage Site
• Clyde Valley
• Sites of the Battle of Drumclog and the Battle of Bothwell Bridge

Tertiary education

• South Lanarkshire College
• University of the West of Scotland (formerly Bell College, University Of Paisley)

See also

In Spanish: South Lanarkshire para niños