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Aberdeenshire

One of the 32 council areas that make up Scotland is called Aberdeenshire.

Aberdeen County, from which it takes its name, is a completely different geographical entity. The area administered by the Aberdeenshire Council comprises the entirety of the former counties of Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire, with the exception of the City of Aberdeen, and a portion of Banffshire. Counties are used for a few official functions, including land registration and lieutenancy. 

Aberdeenshire Council is unique among Scottish councils in that its headquarters, Woodhill House, are located outside of the county. The city of Aberdeen itself is in its own council district (Aberdeen City). Bordering counties to the south include Angus and Perth and Kinross, to the west are Highland and Moray, and to the east is Aberdeen City.

The primary sector (including agriculture, fishing, and forestry), as well as related processing industries, have historically fueled the economy there. Aberdeenshire's economy has diversified thanks to the growth of the oil and gas industry and related service sector over the past 40 years, and the region's population has increased by roughly 50% since 1975. The area it occupies accounts for 8% of Scotland's total land mass. It's 6,313 square kilometers in size (2,437 sq mi).

Economy

An estimated £3,496M in GDP was produced in Aberdeenshire in 2011, or 5.2% of Scotland's total. The economy of Aberdeenshire is intertwined with that of Aberdeen City (GDP £7,906M), and in 2011 it was estimated that the region as a whole accounted for 16.8% of Scotland's GDP. The combined Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City economic forecast GDP growth rate is 8.6% between 2012 and 2014, which is higher than the Scottish rate of 4.8% and the highest growth rate of any local council area in the UK. 

Aberdeen City is the workplace for a large percentage of Aberdeenshire's working population; the percentage varies from 11.5% in Fraserburgh to 65% in Westhill.

In 2011, full-time workers in Aberdeenshire earned a median gross weekly wage of £572.60. This is 2.6% less than what it was in 2010, and it's £2.10 less than the Scottish average. Residents of Aberdeenshire earn a significantly higher average gross weekly wage of £741.90 than those of the rest of the UK because so many of them commute out of the county, most to Aberdeen City. 

Aberdeenshire's total employment is estimated at 93,700 people (not including farm data) (Business Register and Employment Survey 2009). The service industry, especially government, schools, and hospitals, employs the vast majority of the labor force. Almost one-fifth of all workers are employed by the government. Many residents of Aberdeenshire work in the oil industry, which keeps the county's economy tied to that of Aberdeen City and the North Sea.

In 2011, Aberdeenshire's unemployment rate (as measured by the number of people filing for unemployment benefits) averaged 1.5% per month. The national average is 3.8%, while Scotland's is 4.2%, and Aberdeen City's is 2.3%.

Key Economic Sectors

Energy: The energy sector is a major one in Aberdeenshire, with a lot of relevant infrastructure, presence, and expertise. Peterhead serves as a pivotal hub for the global energy market. With its large new quay and adjacent lay down area at Smith Quay, Peterhead Port is a crucial hub for supplying the burgeoning North Sea oil and gas exploration and production industry, as well as the global sub-sea sector. St. Fergus Gas Terminal supplies about 15% of the United Kingdom's natural gas needs, and Peterhead Power Station may soon be the site of the country's first carbon capture and storage power generation project. Offshore wind farms are abundant in coastal areas.

Fishing: If you're interested in fishing, you should head to Aberdeenshire, which is Scotland's premier fishing region. Over half of all Scottish fish landings in 2010 came through ports in Aberdeenshire, and nearly 45 percent of all UK landings. A large number of jobs in these fields are located in Aberdeen City and the ports of Peterhead and Fraserburgh. There are plenty of salmon in the River Dee.

Agriculture: Aberdeenshire has a lot of farmland and is famous for its cattle farms; the agricultural industry employs around 9,000 people. Sheep play a crucial role in the mountains.

Tourism: Due to the many interesting attractions in the region, the tourism industry is booming. Aberdeenshire offers a little bit of everything, from the lively Cairngorm Mountain range to the bustling fishing ports on the north-east coast. Aberdeenshire is a popular tourist destination due to its beautiful landscape, which includes a rugged coastline and numerous sandy beaches. In 2011, there were nearly 1.3 million visitors, a 3% increase from the year before.

Hydrology and Climate

Cowie Water, Carron Water, Burn of Muchalls, River Dee, River Don, River Ury, River Ythan, Water of Feugh, Burn of Myrehouse, Laeca Burn, and Luther Water are just a few of the rivers and burns that run through Aberdeenshire. Along Aberdeenshire's coastline you'll find a number of bays and estuaries, such as Banff Bay, Ythan Estuary, Stonehaven Bay, and Thornyhive Bay. As per the Köppen climate classification, Aberdeenshire has a marine west coast climate. Aberdeenshire lies in the rain shadow of the Grampians and, as a result, has an unusually arid climate for a coastal area, with only the coastal regions receiving the average annual precipitation of 25 inches (64 cm). Aberdeenshire has warm summers and cold winters, with the coast being slightly cooler in the summer and slightly warmer in the winter due to the moderating effect of the North Sea. Haar, or coastal fog, can also affect coastal areas.

Scotland, UK Description

Scotland is the most northern of the UK's four constituent countries, occupying roughly one-third of the island. In the 5th century CE, Irish Celts settled on the west coast of Britain, naming it "Scotland." Scotland's name comes from the Latin Scotia, meaning "land of the Scots." Caledonia is a term frequently used to refer to Scotland, particularly in poetry. Caledonii was the Roman name for a tribe that lived in what is now northwest Scotland.

Scotland's harsh climate and extreme weather conditions have made it difficult for many generations to live there, but they have cherished it for its natural beauty and unique culture. During the Scottish Enlightenment, philosophers like Francis Hutcheson and Adam Smith forged important contributions to political and practical theories of progress. Scottish inventors, engineers, and businessmen like Alexander Graham Bell, James Watt, Andrew Carnegie, and John McAdam helped Scotland's influence far beyond its borders.

Scotland-England relations have been strained since the two countries united in 1707 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Despite heavy English influence, Scotland has long maintained its independence, clinging to historical fact and legend to preserve national identity and the Scots dialect of English.

Geographical Description of Scotland

The Aegean, Atlantic, North, and English Channels border Scotland's southern, western, and northern borders, as well as its eastern border. The west coast is dotted with large islands ranging in size from small rocks to the massive Lewis and Harris, Skye, and Mull landmasses (sea lochs or fjords). Orkney and Shetland islands are located north of Scotland. 274 miles (441 kilometers) from Cape Wrath to the Mull of Galloway, and 154 miles wide from Applecross in the western Highlands to Buchan Ness in the eastern Grampians. Scotland's mainland has two halves: north and south (248 km). With only 30 miles of land separating the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth, Scotland's two major estuarine inlets on its west and east coasts, from the sea, the vast majority of places are within 40 to 50 miles (65 to 80 kilometers) of the sea.

The Highlands are in the north, the Midland Valley (Central Lowlands) is in the middle, and the Southern Uplands are in the south. (The latter two are part of the Lowlands cultural region, which includes the former two.) Low-lying areas run the length of the Midland Valley and the US east coast. The east coast's smoother outline contrasts with the west coast's rugged outline, resulting in a topographic as well as a north-south divide. The Glen Mor (Glen Albyn) fault line separates the Highlands from the rest of the country. To the north of Glen Mor is an ancient plateau eroded into a series of peaks of similar height separated by glens carved by glaciers (valleys). The Lewisian Complex rocks have been worn down by severe glaciation to form a hummocky landscape punctuated by small lochs and protruding rocks from thin, acidic soil. The magnificent Torridonian sandstone mountains have weathered into sheer cliffs, rock terraces, and pinnacles.

The Grampian Mountains are located southeast of Glen Mor, though there are intrusions such as the Cairngorm Mountains' granitic masses. The Grampians are less rocky and rugged than the Northwest Mountains, being more rounded and grassy, with larger plateau areas. The area has some of Britain's highest mountains, including Ben Nevis (4,406 feet), which has cliffs and pinnacles that make climbing difficult (1,343 metres). Rannoch Moor, a desolate expanse of bogs and granitic rocks punctuated by narrow, deep lochs such as Rannoch and Ericht, is the most striking example (Rannoch Moor is the most striking of these). The Highland Boundary Fault runs northeast-southwest from Stonehaven, just south of Aberdeen, to Helensburgh on the River Clyde, passing through Loch Lomond, Scotland's largest freshwater body. The southern boundary of the Midland Valley is divided by a fault that runs from northeast to southwest, beginning with the Lammermuir and Moorfoot hills. It's misleading to call this part of Scotland the Lowlands because, while it's low compared to other parts of Scotland, it's not flat. Volcanic hills like the Sidlaws, Ochils, Campsies, and Pentlands dominate the landscape (579 metres). The Southern Uplands are not as high as the Highlands. Glaciation has created narrow, flat valleys that divide rolling mountains into sections. The gently sloping, grassy, and rounded hills just east of Nithsdale open up into fertile Merse farming land to the south. With time, the landscape west of Nithsdale becomes more rugged, with granitic intrusions around Loch Doon, and the soil becomes more peaty and wet. Merrick's high moorlands and hills can support a sheep farm at 2,766 feet (843 metres) above sea level. The uplands slope down to the Solway Firth's coastal plains in the south and the machair and Mull of Galloway in the west.

The Economy of Scotland

As a result of the problems that plagued many European countries during the 1970s and 1980s, including the widespread failure of heavy industries, Scotland's economy suffered greatly during this period. Unemployment became a significant issue, particularly in areas where major industries were in decline at the same time. A variety of measures were implemented by successive governments to improve the situation. Because of the extraction of North Sea oil and natural gas, as well as the development of high-technology industries and other economic sectors, Scotland's economy began to prosper during the 1980s.

Scotland's economy remains small but open, accounting for approximately 5% of the total export revenue of the United Kingdom. Aside from London and the eastern regions of England, no other region in the United Kingdom has a higher gross domestic product (GDP) per capita than the West Midlands, and its unemployment rate is relatively low. To be sure, wealth distribution in Scotland is not evenly distributed, and the average unemployment rate conceals pockets of significantly higher unemployment in specific regions and localities. Scottish economic development, education, and training are all overseen by the Scottish Parliament, despite the fact that the British government has control over macroeconomic policy in the country. This includes central government spending, interest rates, and monetary policy in Scotland.