An DC sector is one of 2 special postcode sectors created for 2011 Census Output. A postcode sector comprises all the unit postcodes that have the same identifier except for the last two characters. Special postcode sectors are created for census output to ensure sectors conform to a minimum threshold and do not cross Council Area boundaries. DC sectors have a minimum threshold of 400 households and 1000 persons. There are 866 DC sectors. Revisions and Corrections Revision to Detailed Characteristic (DC) sector boundaries at boundary between East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire Council areas. (7 October 2013) DC Sectors S28000494, S28000496, and S280007669 have been amended following a correction to Ordnance Survey BoundaryLine.

A 2011 LC sector was one of 2 special postcode sectors created for 2011 Census Output. A postcode sector comprises all the unit postcodes that have the same identifier except for the last two characters. Special postcode sectors are created for census output to ensure sectors conform to a minimum threshold and do not cross Council Area boundaries. LC sectors have a minimum threshold of 20 households and 50 persons, the same minimum threshold as Census Output Areas. There are 1,012 LC sectors. Corrections and Revisions Revision to Local Characteristic (LC) sector boundaries at boundary between East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire Council areas. (7 October 2013) LC Sectors S29000556, S29000558, and S29000870 have been amended following a correction to Ordnance Survey BoundaryLine.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) create and maintain digital locality boundaries to support the creation of statistics for geographies that generally describe the urban areas of Scotland. Localities have a minimum rounded population of 500 people or more and generally correspond with the more recognisable towns and cities of Scotland. This dataset represents the population weighted centroids for each locality. Current Locality geographies are reflective of mid-2016 populations, having been created using an amended version of postcodes from the Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD) 2016, release 2. Older versions of Settlements and Localities geographies are available from the NRS website.

This dataset shows the 2011 Census Output Areas (OAs). OAs are the smallest geographical unit for which Census data is released, and as a result, they act as the basic “building-blocks” for the creation of other “higher” geographies, eg Datazones, council areas. The OAs are constructed by aggregating together a small number of postcodes. Because the OAs cover small areas and contain relatively small numbers of households and population (households in the range 20 to 77; population >/= 50), there is only a limited amount of Census data that can be released without infringing confidentiality. One of the main requirements during the creation of the 2011 OAs was to attempt to keep the 2011 boundaries the same as the 2001 OAs – this would make it easier to comparison over 10 years. There are 46,351 Census 2011 OAs in Scotland. Revisions and Corrections Revision to 2011 Output Area codes (13 September 2013) An anomaly was discovered in the 2011 Census Output Area (OA) codes which were published on 15 August 2013. The anomaly meant that, whilst all the current 2011 Census OA codes were unique, they did not always run in sequential order by council area. We decided to replace the codes with new ones that start at S00088956 and end with S00135306. Revision to Output Area boundaries at boundary between East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire Council areas (7 October 2013) Output Areas S00102734, S00102787, and S00128636 have been amended following a correction to Ordnance Survey BoundaryLine. Correction to Output Area boundaries (7 October 2013) Output Areas S00092480, S00092699, S00093130, S00094559, S00094726, S00102583, S00119179, S00119262, S00126169, S00126157, and S00133403 have been amended as part of the cosmetic exercise/spatial improvement.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) create and maintain digital locality boundaries to support the creation of statistics for geographies that generally describe the urban areas of Scotland. Localities have a minimum rounded population of 500 people or more and generally correspond with the more recognisable towns and cities of Scotland. Localities nest within NRS Settlements geography, with every settlement having at least one locality (i.e. the Locality is the Settlement). Current Locality boundaries are reflective of mid-2016 populations, having been created using an amended version of postcodes from the Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD) 2016, release 2. Older versions of Settlements and Localities geographies are available from the NRS website.

This Council area boundary dataset was created December 2013 by NRS Geography branch. The dataset has been cliipped to MHW and inland water has been removed. If users want details of the complete OS BoundaryLine product they should go to: http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business-and-government /products/boundary-line.html Population estimates from the 2011 Census have been included in this dataset. Data has been extracted from 'Table QS103SC - Age by single year'. Information on the variables and associated classifications for the topics are available on the Scotland's Census website: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/variables In order to protect against disclosure of personal information, some records have been swapped between different geographic areas. Some cell values will be affected, particularly small values at the most detailed geographies.

This download service provides spatial data published by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

The geography of Scotland comprises the mainland plus many islands. Some of these islands are inhabited and through time their inhabited/uninhabited status can change. The prime reason for identifying inhabited islands was to aid the delivery and collection of Census questionnaires. If an island is inhabited, then Royal Mail will allocate postcodes to the island’s addresses. Many of the larger islands, with relatively large populations, will have postcodes that cover only the island. However, some of the smaller inhabited islands have very few households and in some cases the postcode for these island addresses is the same as that of some households on the mainland. In order to ensure that Census questionnaires are collected and delivered correctly, it is important that both parts of the postcode (the island addresses and the mainland addresses) are contained within the same Census Enumeration District. The identification of inhabited islands helps with the creation of meaningful Census Enumeration Districts. In addition to the enumeration aspect of the census, there has always been an interest in the statistics associated with Scotland’s inhabited islands and this dataset helps ensure that they are all identified. This “Inhabited Island” dataset was not rigorously maintained in the period between 2010 and 2012 and in January 2013 the dataset was re-established with some revisions.

Local Administrative Units (LAU) - Level 1 are part of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) hierarchical classification of UK areas created by the European Office Statistics (Eurostat) in order to produce regional statistics which are comparable across the European Union. There are 3 NUTS levels moving from larger to smaller areas, NUTS 1 is Scotland, NUTS 2 divides Scotland into 4 areas and NUTS 3 divides Scotland into 23 areas. NUTS areas are stable and are only amended periodically. NUTS 4 and NUTS 5 have been superseded by Local Administrative Units (LAU), which were introduced in July 2003 as there was a requirement for statistics at local level which were compatible with NUTS. LAUs are amended to reflect administrative boundary changes. LAU boundaries were created by National Records of Scotland (NRS) from existing geographies. LAU Level 1 (formerly NUTS level 4) are Council Areas, Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) or a combination of both. Scotland is covered by 41 LAU1 areas.

This dataset shows the 2011 Census Output Areas (OAs) – Part Removed. This dataset contains the polygons which were removed in order to make the OA whole. The area of these polygons is included in the area figure for the 2011 OA. There were 349 non contiguous census output areas not caused by water. A decision was made to delete one of the polygons to make the OA whole. This was purely a cosmetic exercise. The part to be removed did not contain the master postcode and in the majority of the cases it was the smaller of the polygons but in a few instances it may have been the large part simply because the smaller part was more dense and master postcode assigned to it. Revisions and Corrections Revision to 2011 Output Area codes (13 September 2013) An anomaly was discovered in the 2011 Census Output Area (OA) codes which were published on 15 August 2013. The anomaly meant that, whilst all the current 2011 Census OA codes were unique, they did not always run in sequential order by council area. We decided to replace the codes with new ones that start at S00088956 and end with S00135306. Correction to 2011 Output Area boundaries (7 October 2013) Ten boundaries have been added to the dataset following amendments in line with the cosmetic exercise/spatial improvement described earlier