Livingston, West Lothian

Livingston, West Lothian

Coordinates: 55°53′00″N 3°30′57″W / 55.8834°N 3.5157°W / 55.8834; -3.5157

Livingston (Scots: Leivinstoun), (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Dhùn Lèibhe) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-WWII new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is about 15 miles (25 km) west of Edinburgh and 30 miles (50 km) east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.

Livingston (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Dhùn Lèibhe) is the biggest town in West Lothian. It was built around a collection of small villages, Livingston Village, Bellsquarry and Livingston Station (now part of Deans). It has a number of residential precincts or areas. These include Craigshill, Howden, Dedridge, Ladywell, Knightsridge, Murieston, Adambrae, Deans, Deer Park and Eliburn. The core locality of Livingston is defined by the General Register Office for Scotland (GRO) as including Uphall Station and Pumpherston. The wider urban settlement area also includes Mid Calder and East Calder. Other neighbouring villages include Kirknewton, Polbeth and West Calder. The 2001 census showed the town had a locality population of 50,826 (24,451 male and 26,375 female) and an urban settlement population of 59,511. The town's current locality population is estimated to be 54,740 and the urban settlement population is 63,160 (2008 GRO mid-year estimates released in 2010).

Livingston is the second biggest settlement in the Lothians after Edinburgh. Until 1963 the area surrounding the ancient village of Livingston was open farm land and the ancient village is now called Livingston Village. The name was taken from this village which dates back to 12th century when a Flemish entrepreneur called De Leving was granted land in the area. He built a fortified tower which is long since gone and the settlement that grew up around it became known as Levingstoun, Layingston and eventually Livingston.