Kirkcudbrightshire | ||
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Historic county | ||
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Country | Scotland | |
County town | Kirkcudbright | |
Area | ||
• Total | 899 sq mi (2,328 km2) | |
Ranked 10th of 34 | ||
Chapman code | KKD |
Kirkcudbrightshire (/kərˈkuːbriːʃər/ kirr-KOO-bree-shər), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the informal Galloway area of south-western Scotland. For local government purposes, it forms part of the wider Dumfries and Galloway council area of which it forms a committee area under the name of the Stewartry.
The county is occasionally referred to as East Galloway, forming the larger Galloway region with Wigtownshire. It is bounded on the north and north-west by Ayrshire, on the west and south-west by Wigtownshire, on the south and south-east by the Irish Sea and the Solway Firth, and on the east and north-east by Dumfriesshire. It included the small islands of Hestan and Little Ross.
It maintains a strong regional and distinct political identity. It formed a district in the Dumfries and Galloway region and today the Stewarty is an area committee represented by eight councillors. Local administration of the area today is overseen by a Stewartry Area Manager, based in the county town of Kirkcudbright. The current Lord Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright, the Crown's representative in the area, is Lt Col Sir Malcolm Ross.