North Lanarkshire

North Lanarkshire, council area, west-central Scotland, on the eastern periphery of the Glasgow metropolitan area. It lies mostly within the historic county of Lanarkshire, but the area around Cumbernauld, in the north, is part of the historic county of Dunbartonshire, and the council area’s northernmost extension, around Kilsyth, belongs to the historic county of Stirlingshire. North Lanarkshire encompasses a portion of the Midland Valley (Central Lowlands) extending from the valley of the River Clyde in the west to the upper valley of the River Almond in the east. It also incorporates an area of rolling hills in the southeast and a section of the Kilsyth Hills in the far north.

Most of the population lives in the southwestern portion of North Lanarkshire, which is urban and suburban in character. Many of the smaller towns are residential suburbs of Glasgow, and many residents of larger towns, such as Airdrie, commute to work in other parts of the metropolitan area. The older industrial towns of Motherwell, Wishaw, and Coatbridge owe their early development to local coal and iron ore production, which supplied a large-scale iron and steel industry. By the end of the 20th century, coal mining had ceased in the area, and the collapse of heavy industry had caused economic hardship in these towns. The development of specialized manufactures and financial and business services has partly compensated for this loss. High freight traffic has also made distribution and warehousing significant employment sectors. The new town of Cumbernauld, the largest in the council area, is a centre of high-tech industries and supports a range of services. North Lanarkshire also incorporates agricultural areas in the north and east devoted largely to dairy farming, pig raising, poultry farming, and fodder crop production, and there are forests in the far north. Motherwell is the main administrative centre. Area 181 square miles (470 square km). Pop. (2001) 321,067; (2011) 337,727.