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Unitary authority in western Scotland, created in 1996 from the district of the same name and part of Dumbarton district, which were both parts of Strathclyde region; it includes the islands of Gigha, Bute, Mull, Islay, Jura, Tiree, Coll, Colonsay, Iona, and Staffa. In area it covers 2,709 square miles (7,016 sq. Km.) and has a population of around 92,000. Its border runs through Loch Lomond, and it adjoins the regions of West Dunbartonshire and Highland. Argyllshire, one of the traditional counties of Scotland, covers the council area Argyll and Bute except for the Isle of Bute itself (which is part of Buteshire) and the area to the south of Loch Lomond which is part of Dunbartonshire. In addition, Morvern, north of the isle of Mull is also part of the county.

Geography

It is a largely rural area consisting of mainland and islands; the coast is heavily indented. Inland the area is mountainouswith the highest peak, Ben Cruachan rising to 3,693 feet. Lochs Fyne and Long are the largest sea lochs; freshwater lochs include Loch Awe and Loch Lomond; Fingal’s Cave (Staffa); Corryvrekan Whirlpool (Jura-Scarba); Ben Arthur (The Cobbler 2,900 feet).

Industry

limited manufacture, seaweed processing, fish, timber harvesting, sheep, forestry.

History

Kilmartin valley in Mid Argyll comprises Scotland's richest prehistoric landscape with a concentration of cairns, standing stones and other impressive remains which have dotted the landscape from around 3000 B.C. Almost every area of Argyll and Bute contains visible and often dramatic evidence of pre-historic occupation. Argyll formed a key role in the creation of the Scottish nation and of its Christian faith through the arrival of the "Scotti" from Ulster to form the Kingdom of Dalriada in Argyll around 500 A.D. From their hill fort capital at Dunadd in Mid Argyll they enlarged their kingdom until, in 843 A.D., King Kenneth MacAlpine conquered the native Picts. From its founding in 563 A.D. by St Columba, Iona became the most significant ecclesiastical centre in Scotland. Its power grew with the Scotti until, the triumph of MacAlpine led to the shifting of civil and ecclesiastical power out of Argyll, increasingly ravaged by Norse invasions. The Norse raids dealt serious blows to church and state in Argyll, those Norsemen who had settled moulded a new local power base, firstly as an extension of the Norwegian Kingdom, but later in the creation of the Lordship of the Isles under Somerled. Somerled and his MacDougall and MacDonald successors to the Lordship of the Isles became as much a threat to the Scottish Crown as Somerled had been to Norwegian influence. Castles proliferated throughout the Medieval Period, as did clan groups. Both benefited from shifts in power and influence. Some castles (such as Tarbert) owe their 13th and 14th century evolution to extensions of Royal power; others such as Dunstaffnage (founded by the MacDougall Lords of Lorn in the 13th century) were power-bases for the dominant local power.