Livingston, West Lothian

Livingston
New town and administrative centre
Aerial view of the north west of the town
Livingston is located in West Lothian
Livingston
Livingston
Location within West Lothian
Population56,840 (2022)[1]
LanguageEnglish, Scots
OS grid referenceNT054690
• Edinburgh14 mi (23 km) ENE
• London321 mi (517 km) SSE
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLIVINGSTON
Postcode districtEH53, EH54
Dialling code01506
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°53′00″N 3°30′57″W / 55.8834°N 3.5157°W / 55.8834; -3.5157

Livingston (Scots: Leivinstoun,[2] Scottish Gaelic: Baile Dhunlèibhe) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from a village of the same name incorporated into the new town, it was originally developed in the then-counties of Midlothian and West Lothian along the banks of the River Almond. It is situated approximately fifteen miles (25 km) west of Edinburgh and thirty miles (50 km) east of Glasgow, and is close to the towns of Broxburn to the north-east and Bathgate to the north-west.

The town was built around a collection of small villages, Livingston Village, Bellsquarry, and Livingston Station (now part of Deans). The town has a number of residential areas. These include Craigshill, Howden, Ladywell, Knightsridge, Deans, Dedridge, Murieston, Almondvale, Eliburn, Kirkton, and Adambrae. There are several large industrial estates in Livingston, including Houston industrial estate, Brucefield Industrial Estate, Alba Business Park, and Kirkton Campus. The locality of Livingston as defined by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) includes Uphall Station and Pumpherston. The wider urban settlement, also defined by the GROS, further includes Mid Calder and East Calder.[3] Other neighbouring villages include: Kirknewton, Polbeth and West Calder. The 2001 UK Census reported that the town had a population of 50,826. The 2011 UK Census showed the population of Livingston had increased to 56,269.[4] Livingston is the second-largest settlement in the Lothians, after Edinburgh.[5]

  1. ^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Scots Language Centre: Scottish Place Names in Scots". Scotslanguage.com. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  3. ^ "GROS Website" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007.
  4. ^ "Area Profile Populations for Localities in Scotland". Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  5. ^ Morrice, Graeme (5 March 2012). "Livingston New Town". Hansard. Retrieved 23 March 2021.