Overview of Old County of Lanarkshire

By far the most populous of the former counties, Lanarkshire lay in Central Scotland, between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and had an area of 882 sq. miles (2284 sq. km). Bounded by Dunbartonshire and Stirling to the N, West Lothian to the NE, Peeblesshire to the E, Dumfriesshire to the S and Ayrshire and Renfrewshire to the E, the county of Lanarkshire formed the greater part of the basin of the River Clyde whose sheltered valleys were a centre of fruit growing and whose boundaries contained the greater part of Scotland's industry. It was formerly divided into three wards: lower (Glasgow), middle (Hamilton) and upper (Lanark). The much smaller district of Lanark in Strathclyde Region was created in 1974 and, in 1996, the Council Areas of North and South Lanarkshire were established, the two together forming what has been termed a 'Supercounty'.