| Central Belt | |
|---|---|
| Area | |
 2012 night image of Scotland from space, with band of near-continuous light from habitation across the Central Belt | |
  Central Belt Location within Scotland | |
| OS grid reference | NS 83764 74675 |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
The Central Belt of Scotland is the area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in 2019), including multiple major Scottish settlements such as Paisley, Glasgow, East Kilbride, Livingston and Edinburgh.
Despite the name, it is not geographically central[a] but is nevertheless at the "waist" of Scotland on a conventional map and the term "central" is used in many local government, police and NGO designations.
It was formerly known as the Midlands or Scottish Midlands but this term has fallen out of fashion.
The Central Belt lies between the Highlands to the north and the Southern Uplands to the south.
In the early 21st century, predictions were made that due to economic migration indicators, the urban areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh, whose centres are approximately 41 miles (66 km) apart, could merge to create a megalopolis over the coming decades.[3][4]
- ^ "Where is the centre of mainland Scotland?" Ordnance Survey Retrieved 11 December 2010.
- ^ See "The 'Where Are We' page" Archived 2005-12-01 at the Wayback Machine highlandhostel.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2007.
- ^ Central belt 'to meld as megacity', The Sunday Times, 9 November 2014
- ^ Leader comment: Central belt megacity?, The Scotsman, 28 December 2017
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