National Records of Scotland (NRS) create and maintain digital settlement geographies to support the creation of statistics for areas that generally describe the urban or built up areas of Scotland. NRS define a settlement as a collection of contiguous high density postcodes, bounded by low density postcodes (or water), with a population of 500 or more. This dataset represents the population weighted centroids for each settlement. Current Settlement 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 download service provides spatial data published by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

National Records of Scotland (NRS) create and maintain digital settlement boundaries to support the creation of statistics for geographies that generally describe the urban areas of Scotland. NRS define a settlement as a collection of contiguous high density postcodes, bounded by low density postcodes (or water), with a population of 500 or more. While settlements can go a long way in defining the towns and cities in Scotland, some cover extensive areas and group together large populations. Current Settlement 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 view service provides spatial data published by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

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.

While Royal Mail (RM) allocate and maintain postcodes for the purposes of delivering mail, National Records of Scotland (NRS) create and maintain digital postcode geographies to support the production of high quality statistics. This dataset provides the boundaries for each live postcode (e.g. KY7 6DG) in Scotland. NRS publish these boundaries twice a year as part of the Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD) which should be considered the definitive source for postcode geographies in Scotland. The SPD also details a range of higher geographies to which each postcode is assigned. Note the published version of the SPD does not include Royal Mail information on Delivery Point Count (DPC), Delivery Point Count Non-Residential (DPCNR) or Household Count (HC). Those interested in this information should enquire with geographycustomerservices@nrscotland.gov.uk.

While Royal Mail (RM) allocate and maintain postcodes for the purposes of delivering mail, National Records of Scotland (NRS) create and maintain digital postcode geographies to support the production of high quality statistics. This dataset provides the grid reference (or centroid) for each live postcode (e.g. KY7 6DG) in Scotland. The grid reference is assigned by choosing either the building nearest to the centre of the most populous part of the postcode, or the grid reference from Gridlink®. Postcode grid references are used in point in polygon processes to allocate each postcode to a set of higher area geographies (e.g. Health Boards). Grid references are published twice a year as part of the Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD) which should be considered the definitive source for postcode geographies in Scotland. Note the published version of the SPD does not include Royal Mail information on Delivery Point Count (DPC), Delivery Point Count Non-Residential (DPCNR) or Household Count (HC). Those interested in this information should enquire with geographycustomerservices@nrscotland.gov.uk.

While Royal Mail (RM) allocate and maintain postcodes for the purposes of delivering mail, National Records of Scotland (NRS) create and maintain digital postcode geographies to support the production of high quality statistics. This dataset provides the geometric grid references (or centroids) of postcode sectors which are the next hierarchical level above the individual postcode, represented by the outward code plus the first character of the inward code. For example, if the individual postcode is EH12 7TB, then the sector of that postcode is EH12 7. NRS publish these grid references twice a year as part of the Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD) which should be considered the definitive source for postcode geographies in Scotland.

Workplace Zones (WZs) are a new output geography, initially produced using workplace data from the 2011 Census for England and Wales rather than the UK as a whole. They are designed to supplement the Output Area (OA) and Super Output Area (LSOA and MSOA) geographies that were introduced with the 2001 Census, and have been constructed from OAs, or sub-divisions of these called postcode-level building-blocks (PCBBs). While OAs are designed to contain consistent numbers of persons based on where they live, WZs are designed to contain consistent numbers of workers, based on where people work. Following publication of WZs for England and Wales, coverage has subsequently been extended to include Scotland and Northern Ireland using 2011 Census data to create a UK set of WZs produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of National Records of Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). WZs are designed to be a more suitable output geography for publishing workplace statistics.

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.