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Created in 1996 from the district bearing the same name in Tayside region, it covers
an area of 2,080 square miles (5,388 sq. km.) and has a population of around 134,000.
It corresponds broadly to the traditional counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
Kinross is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, though traditionally in Kinross-shire.
It has expanded rapidly since the construction of the M90 motorway, which bypasses
the town. It lies on the shore of Loch Leven, and ferries sail from the burgh around
the lake, and to Loch Leven Castle.
In Perth and Kinross there are the popular towns of
Kinross, Meikleour,
Kirkmichael, Perth,
Bridge of Cally, Kirkmichael,
Kinloch Rannoch,
Dunning, Killiecrankie,
Path of Condie, Bankfoot and
Milton
Geography
Perth and Kinross extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter
in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south.
Perthshire is known as the "big county" and has a wide variety of landscapes, from
the rich agricultural straths in the east, to the high mountains of the southern
Highlands. It is the geological fault that gives the distinctive character to lowland
and highland Scotland passes southwest-northeast through the area. The population
is largely centred in the lowlands, along wide fertile valleys such as Strathearn,
and the Carse of Gowrie. To the north and west are the Grampians intersected by
narrow glens with lochs in their valley floors. Among the highest elevations in
the Grampians are Ben Lawers (3,984 feet) and Schiehallion (3,554 feet); in the
south are the lower Ochil and Sidlaw Hills.
Industry
Woollen manufacture, whisky distilling and blending, highly productive and varied
agricultural area with soft fruit, arable crops, livestock, salmon fisheries. The
main businesses, at the start of the new millennium, are the transport giant, Stagecoach,
Scottish and Southern Energy, and the insurance firm, CGNU (formerly the General
Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation). The biggest contributor to the local
economy, however, is tourism which historically owes its origins to the publication
in 1828 of Scott's classic novel, The Fair Maid of Perth.
History
Standing stones, stone circles and ancient hill forts and the remains of crannogs,
ancient water dwellings, which lie beneath the surface of many a Perthshire loch,
testify to the early history. The border of the Roman Empire cut across the northern
edge of the lowlands in a row of fortresses, and watchtowers. There was a Roman
fort at the confluence of the Tay and the Almond, a little to the north of today's
city of Perth, which in medieval times acquired the name of Bertha. The name Perth
derives from a p-Celtic word meaning 'wood' or 'copse'. The Picts left their legacy
in carved stones, which defy all attempts at translation. The names of early Celtic
saints and missionaries are commemorated in many of the older foundations. Later,
in the ninth century, the Scots invaded from the west, incorporating the Pictish
nation into the kingdom of Dalriada.
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