City of Edinburgh Council

The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann) is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the area of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. The council took on its current form in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, replacing the City of Edinburgh District Council of the Lothian region, which had been created in 1975. The history of local government in Edinburgh, however, stretches back much further. Around 1130, David I made the town a royal burgh and a burgh council, based at the Old Tolbooth is recorded continuously from the 14th century. The council is currently based in Edinburgh City Chambers with a main office nearby at Waverley Court. History The date of Edinburgh's formation as a burgh is unknown, but it is referred to as a royal burgh from the reign of David I (reigned 1124–1153). The town council of the burgh was granted the right to appoint its own sheriff by James III in a charter dated 16 November 1482. This had the effect of making the town a county of itself, separating it from the jurisdiction of the surrounding county of Midlothian (which was formally called the "county of Edinburgh" or Edinburghshire until 1947). The burgh was subsequently described as the "city and county of the city of Edinburgh" to distinguish it from the surrounding "county of Edinburgh" (Midlothian).