The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland.
It shares borders with council areas, the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway,
East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian.
It is bordered to the south and east by the non-metropolitan counties of Cumbria and Northumberland
in England.
The administrative centre of the area is Newtown St. Boswells.
Historically, the name Scottish Borders designated the entire border region of southern Scotland
and, together with neighbouring areas of England, was part of the historical Borders region.
Geography The Scottish Borders are located in the eastern
part of the Southern Uplands.
The region is hilly and largely rural, with the River Tweed flowing west to east through
the region.
In the east of the region the area that borders the River Tweed is flat and is known as 'The
Merse'.
The Tweed and its tributaries drain the entire region with the river flowing into the North
Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed, and forming the border with England for the last twenty miles
or so of its length.
The term Central Borders refers to the area in which the majority of the main towns of
Galashiels, Selkirk, Hawick, Jedburgh, Earlston, Kelso, Newtown St. Boswells, St Boswells,
Peebles, Melrose and Tweedbank are located.
History Historically, the term Borders has a wider
meaning, referring to all of the burghs adjoining the English border, also including Dumfriesshire
and Kirkcudbrightshire — as well as Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland in England.
Roxburghshire and Berwickshire historically bore the brunt of the conflicts with England,
both during declared wars such as the Wars of Scottish Independence, and armed raids
which took place in the times of the Border Reivers.
Thus, across the region are to be seen the ruins of many castles, abbeys and even towns.
The council area was created in 1975, by merging the former counties of Berwickshire, Peeblesshire,
Roxburghshire, and Selkirkshire and part of Midlothian, as a two-tier region with the
districts of Berwickshire, Ettrick and Lauderdale, Roxburgh, and Tweeddale within it.
In 1996 the region became a unitary authority area and the districts were wound up.
The region was created with the name Borders.
Following the election of a shadow area council in 1995 the name was changed to Scottish Borders
with effect from 1996.
Although there is evidence of some Scottish Gaelic in the origins of place names such
as Innerleithen, Kilbucho and Longformacus, which contain identifiably Goidelic rather
than Brythonic Celtic elements, the language has tended to be weak to non-existent in most
parts of the region.
Since the 5th century, there has been evidence of two main languages in the area: Brythonic
and Old English, the latter of which developed into its modern forms of English and Scots.
Politics There are two British Parliamentary constituencies
in the Borders.
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk covers most of the region and is represented by Liberal
Democrat Michael Moore.
The western Tweeddale area is included in the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale
constituency and is represented by Conservative David Mundell.
At Scottish Parliament level, there are also two seats.
The eastern constituency is Roxburgh & Berwickshire, which is currently represented by Conservative
John Lamont.
The western constituency is Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale and is represented by SNP Christine
Grahame.
Following the 2012 local elections, the council administration is now a coalition of Independents,
Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats.
Prior to the election a coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents ruled.
The Conservatives are the biggest party on the council with 10 seats, the Liberal Democrats
have six.
The SNP have nine seats and the Independents have seven.
Two councillors form the Borders Party.
Population At the Census held on 27 March 2011, the population
of the region was 114,000, an increase of 6.78% from the 106,764 enumerated at the previous
Census.
Transport The region has no working railway stations.
Although the area was well connected to the Victorian railway system, the branch lines
that supplied it were closed in the decades following the Second World War.
A bill has been passed by the Scottish Parliament to extend the Waverley Line, which would be
a commuter service from Edinburgh to Stow, Galashiels and Tweedbank.
Today, the East Coast Main Line is the only railway which runs through the region, with
Edinburgh Waverley, Dunbar and Berwick being the nearest stations on that line, all of
which are outwith the Borders.
To the west, Carlisle, Carstairs and Lockerbie on the West Coast Main Line are the nearest.
The area is served by buses which connect the main population centres.
Express bus services link the main towns with rail stations at Edinburgh and Carlisle.
The region also has no commercial airports; the nearest are Edinburgh and Newcastle, both
of which are international airports.
The main roads to and from the region are: The A1, which runs along the east coast from
London to Edinburgh; passing near Eyemouth.
The A7 which runs north to south from Edinburgh to Carlisle and the M6; passing through Galashiels,
Selkirk and Hawick.
The A68 running from Darlington to Edinburgh; passing through Jedburgh, St. Boswells, Earlston
and Lauder.
The A72, which runs east to west from Galashiels to Hamilton; passing through Innerleithen
and Peebles Towns and villages
Abbey St. Bathans, Allanton, Ancrum, Ashkirk Broughton, Burnmouth
Cardrona, Chirnside, Clovenfords, Cockburnspath, Coldingham, Coldstream
Denholm, Dryburgh, Duns Earlston, Edrom, Eddleston, Ettrick, Ettrickbridge,
Eyemouth Foulden
Galashiels, Grantshouse, Greenlaw Hawick, Heriot, Hutton
Innerleithen Jedburgh
Kelso, Kirk Yetholm Lauder, Lilliesleaf, Longformacus
Melrose, Morebattle Newcastleton, Newstead, Newtown St. Boswells
Peebles, Preston Roxburgh
Selkirk, St. Abbs, St. Boswells, Stow, Stichill Teviothead, Town Yetholm, Traquair, Tweedbank,
Tweedsmuir Walkerburn, West Linton, Whitsome
Yair Places of interest
Notes and references ^ Local councils of Scotland, Directgov website
^ Visit Southern Scotland ^ Notice of change of name of local authority
area, Edinburgh Gazette, 26 May 1995 See also
Scottish Marches Anglo-Scottish border
Debatable lands List of places in the Scottish Borders
Scottish Lowlands Alexander Jeffrey, historian of Scottish Borders
External links Scottish Borders at DMOZ
Borders' Dialect Scots Language Centre page on Borders' Dialect
Scottish Borders Council