Dunbartonshire

Dunbartonshire (Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn in ) or the County of Dumbarton, is a and a  of. Between 1890 and 1975 it was a. The area had been previously been part of the historic district of, which was a in the , see.

was formerly the county town, and the county was originally also spelled Dumbartonshire. The County Council, set up under the adopted the spelling 'Dunbarton' at the start of the 20th century. Dumbarton is thought to derive from the Dùn Breatainn (Fort of the Britains), but the town stuck with the name Dumbarton, and some people continue to refer to the county as Dumbartonshire.

The county retained a large despite the boundary changes in the s elsewhere in Scotland, containing  and, between  and  : this area had originally been part of Stirlingshire, but had been annexed to Dunbarton in the reign of  at the request of , the owner of the land, who was also.

The was abolished in  by the, when it became part of the large. Strathclyde was divided into nineteen districts, with the area of the former county being divided between, , , and  Districts, the latter also containing a small part of the former.

The regional identity was retained for some major functions such as fire service and police at the next reorganisation of local government in, but for most purposes the former county then found itself served by three new unitary councils: Council (which took over the  part of Dumbarton District),  Council and  Council. Cumbernauld was not included in either of the new Dunbartonshire councils, instead being placed in the area.