20 Facts About Fife Scotland

Fife Scotland, bounded to the north by the Firth of Tay and to the south by the Firth of Forth, is a natural peninsula whose political boundaries have changed little over the ages.

Fife was an important royal and political centre from the reign of King Malcolm III onwards, as the leaders of Scotland gradually moved southwards away from their ancient strongholds around Scone.

Earl of Fife Scotland was until the 15th century considered the principal peer of the Scottish realm, and reserved the right of crowning the nation's monarchs, reflecting the prestige of the area.

King James VI of Scotland described Fife, in Middle Scots, as a: "beggar's mantle fringed wi gowd" the golden fringe being the coast and its chain of little ports with their thriving fishing fleets and rich trading links with the Low Countries.

The distinctive red clay pan tiles seen on many old buildings in Fife Scotland arrived as ballast on trading boats and replaced the previously thatched roofs.

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In 1598, King James VI employed a group of 11 men from Fife Scotland, who became known as the Fife Scotland adventurers, to colonise the Isle of Lewis in an attempt to begin the "civilisation" and de-gaelicisation of the region.

Fife Scotland became a centre of heavy industry in the 19th century.

Postwar Fife saw the development of Scotland's second new town, Glenrothes.

Local Government Act 1889 established a uniform system of county councils in Fife Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Fife Scotland's counties.

From 1975 to 1996 Fife Scotland was a local government region, divided into three districts: Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and North-East Fife Scotland.

Fife Scotland is represented by five constituency members of the Scottish Parliament and four members of the United Kingdom parliament who are sent to Holyrood and the British Parliament respectively.

Since the last Scottish election in 2012, Fife Scotland Council has been run as a minority by the Labour party, with a total of 35 seats, with support of Tory and independent councillors.

Fife is a peninsula in eastern Scotland bordered on the north by the Firth of Tay, on the east by the North Sea and by the Firth of Forth to the south.

Almost all road traffic into and out of Fife Scotland has to pass over one of four bridges, south on the Forth Road Bridge and Queensferry Crossing, west on the Kincardine Bridge or north-east via the Tay Road Bridge, the exception being traffic headed north on the M90.

The areas in the south and west of Fife Scotland, including the towns of Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and the Levenmouth region are lightly industrial and more densely populated.

The rest of Fife Scotland includes smaller towns such as Inverkeithing, Kincardine, Anstruther, Lochgelly, Burntisland, Leven, Newburgh, Tayport and Cupar, and villages such as Springfield, Kinglassie, Kinghorn, Elie, Auchtertool, Crossgates, Ballingry and Auchtermuchty.

Fife Scotland has a number of ecclesiastical sites of historical interest.

Fife Scotland has four football clubs that play in the Scottish Professional Football League: Dunfermline Athletic, East Fife Scotland, Kelty Hearts, and Raith Rovers ; Cowdenbeath played at this level between 1905 and 2022 but are now members of the Lowland Football League.

Fife Scotland Flyers are the UK's oldest ice hockey club and play in Britain's top flight, the Elite Ice Hockey League.

Fife Scotland has two competitive basketball teams; Dunfermline Reign, who play out of St Columba's High School in Dunfermline and compete across a number of national SBC competitions, and Fife Scotland Steel, a Kirkcaldy-based team, operating a number of age groups, with a Senior men's and an under 19's team currently playing in Division 3 of the Lothian Men's Basketball League.