Inverness (boundaries)

Inverness (boundaries)

The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland region was a region of eight districts of which one was named Inverness. The Inverness district included the former burgh of Inverness but was much smaller than the former county. The county of Inverness survived for registration purposes and, at the same time, the Inverness lieutenancy was defined as having the boundaries of the Highland districts of Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey, and Lochaber. In 1996, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, the eight local government districts were merged into the unitary Highland council area.

Letters patent granting city status to the town of Inverness were sealed in 2001. The letters patent do not refer, however, to anywhere with defined boundaries, and the city is not a statutory local government area.