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Geonivora
District

Aberdeenshire

Local name: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain

Located in Scotland, United Kingdom Coordinates: 57°10′00″ N 2°40′00″ W

Aberdeenshire
Stanley Howe · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Population
265,080
265.1K
Elevation
381 m
above sea level
Local time
UTC+00:00
Europe/London · UTC+00:00
Places inside
1,391
listed under Aberdeenshire
When to go
June–August
See the climate
Airports
ABZ Aberdeen International Airport29 km
DND Dundee Airport82 km

About Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is a district. Location: Scotland, United Kingdom. Population: 265,080.

From Wikipedia

Aberdeenshire (Scots: Aiberdeenshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the historic county of Aberdeenshire, which had substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area includes all of the areas of the historic counties of Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire except the area making up Aberdeen City Council area, as well as part of Banffshire.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

Area
6,313 km²
Official website
aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Source: Wikidata

Travel notes for Aberdeenshire

From Wikivoyage

Aberdeenshire is a county in the north east of Scotland. It's a long way north - the coastline around Fraserburgh is further north than Newfoundland - but it's mostly lowland, fertile and productive, having more in common with the central belt of Scotland than with the Highlands. To the west rise the Grampian Mountains, with the scenic River Dee flowing out.

This page describes the historic or traditional county, but as elsewhere in Britain, administrative boundaries have chopped and changed. The City of Aberdeen now forms its own metropolis, with a population in 2020 of 490,000. The rest is the local government county of Aberdeenshire, with a 2019 population of 263,000, yet its county seat is still the city.

Understand+

"Understand" is what you are not destined to do if addressed in the local "Doric", see Talk below.

The lowland-highland boundary runs from Helensburgh in the southwest to Stonehaven in the northeast, where it funnels the overland routes to a pinch-point guarded by a much-assaulted castle. But north of that, the terrain opens up again. It's low-lying and well-drained upon a bedrock of Old Red Sandstone, with Aberdeen Angus cattle grazing upon grass that looks greener against the bright red soil. In early modern times the cultural boundary advanced a long way north of the geological boundary, and Aberdeenshire developed industries based on agriculture, forestry and North Sea fish — especially herring, the "silver darling".

To the west rise the Grampian mountains, cloud-wreathed, granite and ill-drained, with poor soil. These were the badlands until the Victorians romanticised them, the Queen herself had a retreat at Balmoral, and sporting guns boomed out against the grouse and deer. Anyone who was wealthy and needed a comfortable base to collect his farm rents while impressing the salons of London with his credentials as a Clan Chieftain would need a castle in Aberdeenshire, so there are lots and lots of these. The railways put tourism within reach of a mass market. Meanwhile the granite was quarried to rebuild Aberdeen, which had suffered far too many fires in its wooden buildings, creating the grey city landscape you see today.

Get in+

Aberdeen is the transport hub for the county, with good air, rail and road connections, and car ferries to Orkney and the Shetland Islands.

In 2019 the A90 was re-routed west of Aberdeen, with the opening of the "Aberdeen Western Peripheral Road" to relieve the congested A92.

For the north end of the county along the Moray Firth, another approach is via Inverness and Elgin.

Source: Wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · abridged

Population of Aberdeenshire over time

Population of Aberdeenshire over time
2008 246,830
2009 249,020
2010 251,430
2011 253,650
2012 255,560
2013 257,770
2014 260,530
2015 261,960
2016 262,190
2017 261,800
2018 261,470
2019 261,210

Censuses and official estimates; source: Wikidata.

Climate of Aberdeenshire

Best months for sightseeing

Best months for sightseeing: June–August.

This month · November

A cold month

Day 7° · Night 0° · Rain 84 mm

Hottest month
July (day 17°)
Coldest month
February (night -2°)
Wettest month
October (90 mm)
Driest month
April (56 mm)

Bars: average monthly low and high temperature. Below: precipitation. Monthly averages for 1970–2000 at about 18 km resolution, adjusted for elevation. Highlighted months are mild and relatively dry. Source: WorldClim 2.1 (CC BY 4.0).

Show values as a table
Climate of Aberdeenshire
Month JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Average high (°C)4°5°6°9°12°15°17°17°14°10°7°5°
Average low (°C)-2°-2°0°1°4°7°9°8°6°4°0°-1°
Precipitation (mm)876064565957597074908476

Other places to visit in this season: June July August

How to get to Aberdeenshire

The nearest airport is Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ), 29 km to the east as the crow flies. The nearest large city is Aberdeen, 35 km to the east.

Airports

  • Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) Aberdeen 29 kmeast
  • Dundee Airport (DND) Dundee 82 kmsouth
  • Inverness Airport (INV) Inverness, Highland 93 kmnorthwest

Nearby large cities

  • Aberdeen Population: 198.6K 35 kmeast
  • Dundee Population: 148.2K 80 kmsouth
  • Edinburgh Population: 515K 139 kmsouth
  • Glasgow Population: 626.4K 175 kmsouthwest
  • Newcastle upon Tyne Population: 300.1K 253 kmsouth

Straight-line distances; road distances are longer. Airport data: OurAirports.

Day trips from Aberdeenshire

Within 100 km: 85 historic and cultural sites, 2,061 natural sites, 348 lakes, rivers and coasts.

0–25 km256 places

  • Balbithan Island Island 22 kmNE
  • Loch of Skene Lake 19 kmE
  • Loch Kinord Lake 19 kmSW
  • Loch Davan Lake 18 kmSW

25–60 km1,044 places

  • Findlays Seat Mountain 55 kmNW
  • Sunnyside Beach Beach 59 kmN
  • Newburgh Seals Beach Beach 44 kmE
  • Aberdeen Beach Beach 36 kmE

60–100 km1,194 places

  • Lossiemouth East Beach Beach 72 kmNW
  • Mugdrum Island Island 98 kmS
  • Keith Inch Island 66 kmNE
  • Moncreiffe Island Island 99 kmSW

Straight-line distances.

Places in Aberdeenshire

1,391 places
  1. 61 Cuminestown 540
  2. 62 Fyvie 499
  3. 63 Echt 300

Bar: population relative to the most populous place in this list.

Cities & villages30

Mountains & nature22

Lakes, rivers & coasts5

Nearby attractions & nature

Everything nearby

Sources & licences

Data last updated: · 2 independent sources