Stirling (council area)

Stirling Sruighlea Stirlin
Coat of arms Council logo
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Lieutenancy area	Stirling and Falkirk
Admin HQ	Stirling
Government
• Body	Stirling Council
• Control	Lab minority (council NOC)
• MPs	Alyn Smith
• MSPs	Keith Brown Evelyn Tweed
Area
• Total	844 sq mi (2,186 km2)
• Rank	Ranked 9th
Population  (2022)
• Total	92,530
• Rank	Ranked 25th
• Density	110/sq mi (42/km2)
ONS code	S12000030
ISO 3166 code	GB-STG
Website	www.stirling.gov.uk

The Stirling council area (Scots: Stirlin; Scottish Gaelic: Sruighlea) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 92,530 (2022 estimate).^[1] It was created in 1975 as a lower-tier district within the Central region. The district covered parts of the historic counties of Stirlingshire and Perthshire, which were abolished for local government purposes. In 1996 the Central region was abolished and Stirling Council took over all local government functions within the area.

The administrative centre of the area is the city of Stirling, with the headquarters at Old Viewforth.

The area borders the council areas of Clackmannanshire (to the east), North Lanarkshire (to the south), Falkirk (to the south east), Perth and Kinross (to the north and north east), Argyll and Bute (to the north and north west), and both East and West Dunbartonshire to Stirling's southwest.

The majority of the population of the area is located in its southeast corner, in the city of Stirling and in the surrounding lowland communities: Bridge of Allan and Dunblane to the north, Bannockburn to the immediate south, and the three former coal mining communities of Cowie, Fallin, and Plean, known collectively as the "Eastern Villages".

The rest of the council area's population is sparsely distributed across the rural, mainly highland, expanse in the north and west of the area. The southern half of this rural area comprises the flat western floodplain of the River Forth, bounded on the south by the Touch Hills and the Campsie Fells. North of the glen lie the Trossachs mountains, and the northern half of the council area is generally mountainous in character.