County Dossier
Kinross-shire
A little lochside shire with royal echoes.
Kinross-shire is a small inland county nestled between Perthshire and Fife. The landscape is mostly flat, with the Ochil Hills rising in the north-west and the Cleish Hills marking the southern boundary.
At a glance
Kinross-shire at a glance
A little lochside shire with royal echoes.
- Head of the point”
- Established 13th century
- Loch Leven Castle
- Area: 73 sq miles / 189 sq km
- Population: 11,223
- County Top: Innerdouny Hill (1,631ft / 497m)
County Geography
Kinross-shire meets Perthshire and Fife. Its boundaries are shaped by the Ochil Hills to the north-west, the Cleish Hills to the south, and the Loch Leven basin and surrounding low ground at the county’s centre.
Loch Leven gives Kinross-shire a strong centre, while the Ochils and Cleish Hills close the county around it. That structure makes the county small, compact, and easy to read.
Map Reference
View Kinross-shire on the map
Kinross-shire is the county. The map also shows lieutenancies and council areas that use the county name.
The county.
The lieutenancy.
Council areas.
Places and routes
Kinross, Milnathort, Kinnesswood, Scotlandwell, and Crook of Devon show the county from lochside town and roadside settlement to hill-foot village and western crossing place. Together they show Kinross-shire through its central places and compact geography.
Connections
Kinross-shire’s movement runs around Loch Leven, between Kinross and Milnathort, and outward to the hill-foot villages and western road line. Those routes belong to one loch-centred county pattern.
Names
- Kinross-shire
- County of Kinross
- Siorrachd Chinn Rois
Siorrachd Chinn Rois is the Gaelic form of Kinross-shire. Kinross-shire is the settled county name, while County of Kinross is the formal historical style.
The shire was established by the thirteenth century and took shape around the old burgh of Kinross and the loch basin beside it. Loch Leven, its towns, and its enclosing hills still form a recognisable county.