West Dunbartonshire

From Free net encyclopedia

West Dunbartonshire (Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn an Iar in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary authority areas in Scotland. Bordering onto Argyll and Bute, Stirling, East Dunbartonshire, the City of Glasgow, and Renfrewshire, it incorporates most of the old Dumbarton District Council and Clydebank District Council areas (indeed, the authority was initially called Dumbarton and Clydebank before the name was changed to West Dunbartonshire).

Note that the town is spelt Dumbarton (with an 'm'), but the region and traditional county are known as Dunbartonshire (with an 'n'). This anomaly in the spelling of the two variants originates from when the names were translated into English from the Gaelic Dùn Breatainn (Dumbarton) and Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn (Dunbartonshire).

The area is essentially composed of three parts: the towns of Dumbarton and Clydebank and the Vale of Leven district.

West Dunbartonshire is administered from Dumbarton, although Clydebank is the largest town.

[edit]