Administrative Boundary of Stirling

About Stirling

Stirling is a council area in central Scotland, straddling the historic boundary between the Lowlands and the Highlands at the narrowest crossing point of the River Forth. Covering approximately 2,196 square kilometres from the flat farmland of the Carse of Stirling to the mountains of the Trossachs, Stirling had a population of approximately 96,000 at the 2022 Census. Stirling Castle and the Wars of Independence Stirling Castle, perched on a volcanic crag above the city, was one of the most important royal strongholds in Scotland and the site of the coronations of both the infant Mary, Queen of Scots in 1543 and James VI in 1567; because it commanded the crossing of the Forth, control of Stirling was considered essential to control of Scotland, giving rise to the old saying that "he who holds Stirling, holds Scotland." The area was the setting for two of the most decisive battles in the Wars of Scottish Independence: the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, where William Wallace's forces defeated a much larger English army, and the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, where Robert the Bruce won a crushing victory over Edward II that secured Scottish independence for a generation. The National Wallace Monument, a 67-metre Victorian tower built in 1869 on the Abbey Craig overlooking the battle site, houses the sword reputedly carried by Wallace. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs The western part of the council area lies within Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, established in 2002 as Scotland's first national park; its mountains, forests, and lochs, including the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, draw hikers and watersports enthusiasts from across the world. Stirling remains known as the "Gateway to the Highlands." GIS and Boundary Data The administrative boundary of Stirling Council is available for free download in GeoJSON and KML formats, sourced from the OS Open Geography portal (Crown copyright 2024). Compatible with QGIS, ArcGIS, Mapbox, and Google Earth, the dataset supports battlefield heritage mapping, national park planning, tourism research, and demographic analysis across the Stirling council area.

📍 Administrative boundary of Stirling county