Tayside

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Tayside. From 1973 an administrative region in east Scotland created from the city of Dundee, all Angus and Kinross, and most of Perthshire. The combination of urban and rural populations meant that none of the political parties could be confident of a majority, and Conservative, Labour, and the Scottish National Party have all provided the convenor. In 1996 it was divided into three all-purpose authorities (Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross) whose boundaries are almost the same as the previous districts. In addition to survival of older industries—some jute is still woven—agriculture (especially soft fruit), food-processing, and manufacture of hole-in-the-wall cash machines are important to the economy; among the services in which the region specializes are wholesaling and insurance. The most distinctive offerings to tourism are surviving Pictish monuments, castles, and Royal Research Ship Discovery (at Dundee).

A. S. Hargreaves

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