Scottish Parliamentary Region Boundaries from May 2016

Digital vector boundaries for the Scottish parliamentary regions as of 5 May 2016. The dataset contains three boundary versions: full resolution (extent of the realm), full resolution clipped to the coastline, and a generalised (20m) version clipped to the coastline. It is provided by the Office for National Statistics and contains Ordnance Survey and ONS intellectual property rights.

Use Cases

• Mapping electoral constituencies based on the provided vector boundaries.
• Analyzing regional political representation based on the 2016 Scottish parliamentary region definitions.
• Performing spatial joins with demographic data using the clipped coastline boundaries.
• Creating generalised maps for publication using the 20m simplified boundary files.

Strengths

• Provides three specific boundary versions for different use cases.
• Contains explicit file size information (e.g., 2 MB for the generalised version).
• Includes multiple access methods via REST URLs for ArcGIS services.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic/temporal bias inherent to the specific 2016 snapshot.

Provenance

Source

Office for National Statistics

Collection Method

Likely digitized from official electoral boundary definitions.

Time Range

Snapshot as of 5 May 2016.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:33:13.013478; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Scotland