Scottish Local Council Electoral Wards – General, Geographic & Electoral Knowledge Atlas (30 Sep 2019)
- September 30, 2019
There are 354 Electoral Wards in Scotland’s 32 Local Councils, to which 3 or 4 local councillors are elected every 5 years (the last Scottish National Local Election was 4th May 2017). Obviously this is a political process with an unpredictable outcome, but this map is about connecting the general, geographic & electoral knowledge resources about them that remain valid no matter who is currently elected.
So using the Scottish Local Councils General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas (19 Sep 2019) as a base, we have added a knowledge seed branch for all the wards in each council as a whole, with sub-branches for each individual ward. Embedded within each of these is a high resolution official ward boundary map as well as contextual ‘facts & figures’ such as geographic area and population. We have also done some rudementary spatial anaysis using this data and embedded the results for handy reference. Calculations for ‘Area Per Councillor’ or ‘Population Per Councillor’ – at whole council and individual ward level – make for interesting comparison, and as fas we know are not available anywhere else in the public domain.
Collections of sub-branch links to general, geographic & electoral knowledge resources about each individual ward, and the all the wards in each council as a whole, complete this first national local knowledge map of Local Council Electoral Wards in Scotland. It will provide us with a comprehensive & robust visual knowledge framework upon which to build many other maps about the building blocks of Scotland based on ward areas in the future.

Angus McDonald
Scotland The Map Project Director and Knowledge Mappers Founder & CEO
Part of the 'Governance & Politics' Category
- On This Page
Map
The options to view / download this Scottish Local Council Electoral Wards General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas (30 Sep 2019) map are in the panel below. If you are new to our maps then please browse the Knowledge Map Mini Guide first before viewing / downloading. Further down this page you can also see a summary of the map content, the main features, and some fun facts 😉 we discovered when compiling it. Please provide your feedback, or suggest additional content, in the map comments, and please also share it with your networks. You can also find other maps using the map finder panel, or the map of maps.
View / Download Options
Anybody can view the html version of this map as a standalone, full-screen webpage in a new browser tab, using the ‘View HTML map full screen’ button below. However to download the HTML5 file – for viewing on-, or off-, line in any modern browser, on any device, without additional plugins – you will need to register for basic membership (it’s free 🙂 To download the original map in MindManager (.mmap) format – for amending, adapting & repurposing in MindManager software – you will need PRO membership, available for a modest annual, or one off lifetime, fee. Already joined? Login here.
Download Map As A MindManager (.mmap) File [16.1 MB]
Knowledge Map Mini Guide
We create our digital knowledge maps linking to 100’s of public domain knowledge resources about the ‘building blocks’ of Scotland using MindManager, the market leading information mapping software for over 20 years. One of MindManger’s many unique features is the ability to publish a knowledge map as an HTML5 document that…
- retains all of the knowledge, and most of the interactivity, of the original.
- is viewable in any modern browser, on any device, as a stand-alone webpage that doesn’t require any external plug-ins or internet connection to ‘work’ (ie. they can be viewed offline).
- can be embedded in an existing webpage using a standard i-frame and URL (whilst being hosted elsewhere).
- can be shared in the usual ways that files are shared, including being sent as an email attachment.
- is ‘thumb friendly’ for viewing & interacting on touch screen devices such as mobile phones.
If you have not encountered an HTML knowledge map before, treat it like a Google Map. You can pan about, zoom in and out, and clicking on map branches will activate content (single hyperlinks, multiple hyperlinks, notes, embedded data feature toggles etc.). Notes & hyperlinks will open up in a side panel in the browser window (mobile users – see ‘Tips For Mobile Users’ below).
We make the HTML versons of our maps available to the world for free by publishing them within ‘map blog posts’ on the ScotlandtheMap.info WordPress blog website. This video explains the layout of the posts and how the maps can be viewed online as a stand alone page in your web browser, or downloaded to your device and viewed offline at your convenience.
As stated already our HTML knowledge maps are “thumb friendly and viewable in any modern browser, on any device”. Here are a few extra tips to enhance your user experience if viewing maps on a small touch-screen device…
1) Vertical Scrolling Of Webpage – If your ‘scrolling thumb’ is anywhere within the embedded map window when it slides across the touch-screen, you will pan around the map rather than scroll the webpage as a whole. To counter this there is always a narrow margin around the map panel at the edges of the screen, which you can ‘drag’ to move the page. (Viewing the map full screen in a new browser tab also gets round this issue :-).
2) Activating Branch Content – Clicking on map branches will activate content. Notes & the list of attached hyperlinks will open up in a side panel in the browser window. On mobile phones this panel can be take up a disconcertingly large proportion of the screen. If you don’t want to access this content, just click on the map background away from the activated branch, and the panel will disappear.
3) Following Hyperlinks – If there is a single hyperlink on a branch then clicking on the favicon symbol at the end once will activate it and the web resource linked to will open up in a new browser tab. If the topic has multiple hyperlinks attached (another unique MindManager feature) then these can only be followed by clicking on the link in the list in the side panel that opens up within the browser window when the branch is clicked. Note that notes and hyperlinks are on separate tabs within the sidepanel if both are present. Hyperlinks are listed in the ‘Attachments’ tab.
4) Map Content Version – Work the ‘Lo-Fi’ (most images removed) version of the map if your device has limited capacity. But that is not to say that the ‘Hi-Fi’ version can’t be viewed, and they do not work fine once they have loaded. It will just take longer for them to load, say 30s – 2 mins depending on the connection. For example we have viewed & worked with the ‘Hi-Fi’ version of the Scottish Local Councillor map – 2000+ branches, 6000+ hyperlinks, 1600+ embedded images, including a location map for all 32 councils and 324 electoral wards as well as a colour photo of every one of the 1227 councillors – on a Samsung Galaxy S7 no problem.
1) Maps In Native MindManager (.mmap) Format – Whilst our HTML maps are interactive, they are not editable. This can only be done within MindManager and the maps republished as HTML. Generally speaking ScotlandtheMap maps will be available to download in native MindManager (.mmap) format from the Knowledge Mappers map store. Click the button below the map if present to go to the map page on the store website (opens up in a new browser tab).
2) Other Information Mapping Software Users – Many other information software programmes have the capability of importing MindManager map files (MindManager was the first software of it’s type and has been the market leader for over 20 years). A word of caution however. Our maps fully utilise the large range of unique ‘information cartography’ features available in MindManager – large maps (1000’s of branches), ‘rich (ie. variable) formatting’ of topic text, multiple hyperlinks, embedded data features (spreadsheets, charts & topic properties), layout variations within the same map etc. – which are not supported by other information mapping software programs. Thus even if your program can import a MindManager file, how it copes with each of these features, and what it renders on-screen as a result, will vary from the MindManager version so user beware!
Map Summary
Scottish Local Council Electoral Wards – General, Geographic & Electoral Knowledge Atlas (30 Sep 2019)
Description
There are 354 Electoral Wards in Scotland’s 32 Local Councils, to which 3 or 4 local councillors are elected every 5 years (the last Scottish National Local Election was 4th May 2017). Obviously this is a political process with an unpredictable outcome, but this map is about connecting the general, geographic & electoral knowledge resources about them that remain valid no matter who is currently elected.
So using the Scottish Local Councils General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas (19 Sep 2019) as a base, we have added a knowledge seed branch for all the wards in each council as a whole, with sub-branches for each individual ward. Embedded within each of these is a high resolution official ward boundary map as well as contextual ‘facts & figures’ such as geographic area and population. We have also done some rudementary spatial anaysis using this data and embedded the results for handy reference. Calculations for ‘Area Per Councillor’ or ‘Population Per Councillor’ – at whole council and individual ward level – make for interesting comparison, and as fas we know are not available anywhere else in the public domain.
Collections of sub-branch links to general, geographic & electoral knowledge resources about each individual ward, and the all the wards in each council as a whole, complete this first national local knowledge map of Local Council Electoral Wards in Scotland. It will provide us with a comprehensive & robust visual knowledge framework upon which to build many other maps about the building blocks of Scotland based on ward areas in the future.
Version
1.0
'Knowledge Seed' Branches
With embedded features and attached multiple hyperlinks & index marker tags, ‘seed branches’ provide a ‘base level’ of contextual knowledge resources about the subject, which is retained if the seed branch is repurposed / used in other maps in future.
Scottish Local Council Seed Branch
Logo & thumbnail location map of the council relative to the other councils in Scotland
Council unique identifying codes for cross-referencing with other data…
- Council Type
- ISO3166-2 code
- ONS code
- EU NUTS code
Council & Area ‘Facts & Figures’ embedded as single data fields…
- Total Elected Councillors
- Total Electoral Wards
- Council Area Total
- Council Area Non-Inland
- Council Area Inland
- Council Population (latest est)
- Population Density
Index Marker Tags for additional contextual knowledge and dynamic map filtering…
- Border ‘Status’ (island, landlocked or mixed)
- Mutually Bordering Councils
- UK EU-NUTS2 Region
- ISO3166-2 code
- ONS Code
- UK Parliament Constituency
- Scottish Parliament Region
- Scottish Parliament Constituency
- Strategic Development Planning Authority
Shape of topic indicates nature of boundaries with neighbouring councils…
- all coastal (‘island’)
- all land (‘land-locked’)
- mixed
General & Geographic Knowledge Resources
Council Website – Home page
Council Website – A-Z page
Council Website – Councillors directory page
Council Website – Map page(s) (if present)
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) – Council Profile
Gazetteer for Scotland – Index of Entries In Council Area
Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland – Council Area Overview Map 2017 [PDF]
National Map Library of Scotland Boundaries (1840’s, 1960’s & 2017) Map Viewer – Council Area
National Records of Scotland – Council Area Profile
Scottish Government Statistics Portal – Council Area
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation – SIMD16 Council Area Profile [PDF]
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation Online Map – View centred on Council Area
Wikipedia – Article on the geographic area administered by the council
Wikipedia – Lists of articles about places in the Council Area
All Local Council Electoral Wards Seed Branch
Thumbnail boundary map screenshot image of the currently applicable Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland static ward boundary map
Council & All Wards Geostatistics embedded as single data fields…
- Total Electoral Wards
- Total Elected Councillors
- Council Area Inland
- Council Average Ward Area
- Council Average Area Per-Councillor
- Council Population (latest est)
- Council Average Population Per-Councillor)
General & Geographic Knowledge Resources
Council Website – ‘Councillors by Ward’ page (general ‘Councillors’ page if not present)
Council Website – Static ward boundary maps [PDF’s] (if present)
Council Website – Online interactive mapping ward boundaries (if present)
Electoral Knowledge Resources
Council Website – ‘Election’ pages
Denis Mollison Scottish Council Election May 2017 – Summary of Election Results for Council Area
Wikipedia – Summary article of 2017 Scottish Council Election Results for Council Area
Wikipedia – Article sub-section summarising changes to councillor composition since the last election
Individual Electoral Ward Seed Branch
Thumbnail location map of the ward relative to the other wards in the council area
Ward unique identifying codes for cross-referencing with other data…
- LGBCS Ward Number
- ISO3166-2 code
- ONS code
Ward & Area Geostatistics embedded as single data fields…
- Elected Councillors In Ward
- Ward Area Total
- Ward Area Non-inland
- Ward Area Inland
- Ward Area Per-Councillor
- Ward Population (latest est)
- Ward Population Per-Councillor
Index marker ‘geo’ tags for additional contextual knowledge and dynamic map filtering…
- Border ‘Status’ (island, landlocked or mixed)
- Scottish Parliamentary Region
- UK Parliament Constituency
- ONS Code
Shape of topic indicates nature of boundaries with neighbouring councils…
- all coastal (‘island’)
- all land (‘land-locked’)
- mixed
General & Geographic Knowledge Resources
Council Website – ‘Councillors by Ward’ page (general ‘Councillors’ page if not present)
Council Website – Individual ward profiles (if present)
Scottish Government Statistics Portal – Individual electoral ward profile
Council Website – Static Ward Map [PDF]
Electoral Knowledge Resources
Denis Mollison – Scottish Council Election May 2017 individual ward results
Wikipedia – Scottish Council Election May 2017 individual ward results
Electoral Ward Knowledge Resource Link Collections
The links to official / definitive / ‘plain old useful’ public domain knowledge resources contained in these branches is the main focus of this map. Each link is attached to a single sub-branch which desctibes what it is, with sub-branches grouped into related collections, such as ‘General Knowledge Resources’ or ‘Geographic Knowledge Resources’. This makes for easier, more ‘thumb friendly’ browsing & knowledge discovery. Sub-branches can easily become ‘seed points’ if users start adding newly new knowledge discovered during their browsing.
**Note – The collections of links to general, geographic & electoral knowledge resources about electoral wards are presented in 2 ‘levels’ – a single, ‘Whole Council’ collection for all the wards in the council as a whole, and collections for each ‘Individual Ward’.**
General Knowledge Resources
General Knowledge Resources
Council Website – ‘Ward’ page(s) (if present)
Council Website – ‘Councillors by Ward’ page (general ‘Councillors’ page if not present)
Council Website – Individual ward profiles (if present)
Scottish Government Statistics Portal – Individual electoral ward profile
Geographic Knowledge Resources
Geographic Knowledge Resources
Council Website – Static ward boundary maps [PDF’s] (if present)
Council Website – Online interactive mapping ward boundaries (if present)
Electoral Knowledge Resources
Electoral Knowledge Resources
Council Website – Election ‘home’ page
Council Website – Local Council Elections page(s)
Council Website – Local Council By-Elections page(s) (if applicable)
Denis Mollison – Scottish Council Election May 2017 overall council & individual ward results
Wikipedia – Scottish Council Election May 2017 overall council & individual ward results
Changelog
We are continually striving to find further, freely accessible in the public domain definitive / official / plain old useful 🙂 knowledge resources to link to in our maps, as well as keeping the existing links up to date. The changelogs below summarise the actions undertaken to initially create – and subsequently update – this knowledge map.
Scottish Local Council Electoral Wards General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas (30 Sep 2019)
Version – 1.0
Links to knowledge resources – 5.511
Map Branches – 4,461
File Sizes – HTML5 – 23.5 MB; MindManager (.mmap) – 16.1 MB
Basemap Framework – Scottish Local Councils General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas (19 Sep 2019) (v1.0)
Actions – The main work done in making this version of the map was…
- Initial creation of knowledge seed branch framework of local council electoral wards, as additions to the main branch framework of Local Councils from the basemap.
- Addition of collections of sub-branch links to general, geographic & electoral knowledge resources about them.
Note(s)
i) Given the reasonably constant ‘churn’ of local councillors due to illness, death and party shenanigans, it’s our intention to update this map every 3 to 4 months. The precisie timing though is dependant on the actual dates of the local by-elections, which tend to come in clumps.
Map Facts
Here are some of the ‘fun facts’ 😉 about Scotland’s 354 Local Council Electoral Wards that we have discovered (and embedded!) during the process of creating this map…
Geographic Area
Smallest & Largest
Hillhead Ward [Glasgow City Council]
Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh Ward [Highland Council]
Population (2018 Est)
Smallest & Largest
Lerwick North Ward [Shetland Islands Council]
Southside/Newington Ward [City of Edinburgh Council]
Population Density
Smallest & Largest
North, West and Central Sutherland Ward [Highland Council]
Hillhead Ward [Glasgow City Council]
Borders With Neighbouring Electoral Wards
With respect to land & sea
All Coastal Borders
(ie. 'Islands')
Land & Coastal Borders
(ie. 'Mixed')
All Land Borders
(ie. 'Land-Locked')
Map Features
We take full advantage of MindManager’s many unique ‘information cartography’ features when creating our unique maps so we can pack in 1000’s of ‘bits’ of knowledge into a single, visually structured, intuitive to navigate document that can be easily shared. Here are the main features of this Scottish Local Council Electoral Wards General & Geographic Knowledge Atlas (30 Sep 2019) …
Big Map With 1000's Of Branches & Links And Capacity For Plenty More
With 5,512 knowledge resource links over 4,460 branches, this map is a useful, contextual knowledge resource in it’s own right, as well as being a visually structured index of the best definitive / official / plain old useful knowledge resources available in the public domain about Scotland’s 354 Local Council Electoral Wards. Thanks to MindManager’s unique capabilities it has plenty of spare capacity for further content to be added in the future, or re-purposed as a basis for other maps.
Main Branches Create Robust Visual Framework For 'Seed Branches'
The 1st level branches form the main (‘org-tree’) visual framework within which the map content of interest sits. It is a simple ‘A – Z’ layout, with the 32 Scottish Local Councils arranged alphabetically in 5 columns of approximately equal sizes to pack as much in to a ‘single screen view’ as possible.
Visually Rich 'Knowledge Seed' Branch For Every Scottish Local Council
The 2nd level branches are ‘knowledge seed points’ for each Scottish Local Council, to which links to public domain knowledge resources about them are attached. Visually rich & information dense, they contain the name & official area identifier codes in variably formatted (‘rich’) text – a unique MindManager featue. Visually the combined logo & thumbnail location map image aids user navigation and provides spatial context, whilst the variation in topic shape indicates the status of the borders with neighbouring councils – all coastlal (ie. island), mixed or all land (ie. landlocked). The full list of visual knowledge embedded within this seed topic is given in the map summary above.
Visually Rich 'Knowledge Seed' Branch For All Electoral Wards In The Local Council
The 3rd level branches are ‘knowledge seed points’ for the electoral wards that make up the Local Council, both as a whole and individually. Visually rich & information dense, they contain a good quality thumbnail image (ie. still readable & usable when zoomed in) of the official Local Government Boundary Commission ward overview map to provide spatial context. Embedded data fields – many of them autocalculated and not available elsewhere in the public domain – give geodemographic context. There are also multiple hyperlinks to public domain knowledge resources about the wards as a whole. The full list of knowledge embedded within, and attached to, this seed topic is given in the map summary above.
General, Geographic & Electoral Knowledge Resource Collections For All Wards As A Whole
The Council Electoral Wards as a whole sub-branch collections – each with a single hyperlink to official / definitive / at least practical & useful online knowledge resources – are grouped into related collections for ‘general’, ‘geographic’ and ‘electoral’ knowledge resources. These are starting points for knowledge discovery and subsequent more detailed (‘desktop’) research. (MindManager software users have the advantage of being able to add to these branches as they go). The full list of links in the sub-branch collections attached to this seed branch is given in the map summary above.
Visually Rich 'Knowledge Seed' Branch For Each Of Scotland's 354 Electoral Wards
As for the ‘Local Council’, the seed branches for each individual ward are a visually rich mixture of embedded and attached knowledge. They contain the name & official ward identifier codes in variably formatted (‘rich’) text, a thumbnail location map image aids user navigation and provides spatial context, aided by the variation in topic shape indicating the status of the borders with neighbouring councils – all coastlal (ie. island), mixed or all land (ie. landlocked. The data fields – many of them autocalculated and not available elsewhere in the public domain – provide geodemographic context, supplemented by the topic shape, which indicates the status of the borders with neighbouring councils – all coastlal (ie. island), mixed or all land (ie. landlocked). There are also multiple hyperlinks to the public domain general, geographic & electoral knowledge resources. The full list of knowledge embedded within, and attached to, this seed topic is given in the map summary above.
General, Geographic & Electoral Knowledge Resource Collections For Each Individual Ward
The sub-branch collections for each individual Electoral Ward is the same as those for all wards as a whole – ‘general’, ‘geographic’ and ‘electoral’ knowledge resources. The full list of links in the sub-branch collections attached to this seed branch is given in the map summary above.
Attached Multiple Hyperlinks To Public Domain Knowledge Resources
Seed Branches have multiple hyperlinks attached to them (yet another unique feature of MindManager maps), which link to the best definitive / official / plain old useful knowledge resources available in the public domain about the subject. The ‘definable link text’ gives clarty as to the resource being linked to (which can be very variable if left to the default). As well as increasing the amount of knowledge that can be ‘squeezed’ into a map without increasing the ‘visual clutter’ of additional branches, it means these links can be retained if the seed branches are used in other maps, or this map is re-purposed. The full list of multiple knowledge resource hyperlinks attached to all the seed topics in this map is given in the map summary above.
Index Marker Tag Groups Enable 'Geo Intelligent' & Other Map Filtering
Branches in the map may be tagged with one or more ‘index markers’ from one or more ‘marker groups’. These enable intelligent map filtering and quick navigation. Many of the tags are ‘geographic’ in nature such that branches are tagged with ‘where’ they are – eg. administrative or electoral areas. This gives the map in-built ‘spatial intelligence’ and the ability to be ‘geo-filtered’. (MindManager software users can copy and paste any of the marker groups in any other maps). The full list of index marker tags attached to all the seed topics in this map is given in the map summary above.
Embedded Data Elements Provide Additional Contextual Knowledge
Data features embedded within seed branches – like spreadsheets, charts & data fields (another unique MindManager feature) – provide another ‘channel’ of knowlegde that adds context to the more detailed knowledge contained in the public domain resources linked to in the map. Just like in a normal spreadsheet, some of the data field values may be ‘auto-calculated’ from the others using formulae, creating data not found elsewhere in the public domain. They can also be used to ‘conditionally format’ the map eg. colouring the branches based on a particular data value (the equivelant of ‘thematic mapping’ in GIS). The full list of data embedded within all the seed topics in this map is given in the map summary above.
Map Legend Branch Describes Each Topic 'Type' With Links To Further Information
Every map needs to have a legend that explains the cartographic structure, colours and symbology used. The ‘Map Legend’ branch describes the sub-components of each ‘type’ of map branch, with links to further knowledge resources where necessary.
'Contributing Online Knowledge-bases Branch' With Links To Further Information
We hunt down and assess many official / definitive / at least practical & useful online knowledge resources in the process of creating our maps. The ‘Contributing Online Knowledge-bases’ branch has links to all the ones that are actually linked to in the main map content, as well as some others that are a good source of general knowledge about the subject. It is a frustrating fact of life that some resources are organised better than others, and not all are ‘linkable to’ at the individual ‘building block’ level and so can’t be included in seed branches.
Built-in Topic Styles Enable Quick Visual Reformatting
The visual formatting of all the map elements is controlled via our structured system of topic styles, which makes for easier alteration ‘on the hoof’ and therefore quicker map building. (MindManager software users can change the appearance of the whole map with just a few clicks eg. to match their own ‘in-house’ style & branding.)






Pretty awsome dude. particularly love the embedded map.