Editing Town (section)

==== Scotland ====
{{Main|List of burghs in Scotland|List of towns and cities in Scotland by population}}
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2023}}

In Scotland the word ''town'' has no specific legal meaning and (especially in areas which were or are still [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]]-speaking) can refer to a mere collection of buildings (e.g. a ''farm-town'' or in [[Scots language|Scots]] {{lang|sco|ferm-toun}}), not all of which might be inhabited, or to an inhabited area of any size which is not otherwise described in terms such as [[city]], [[burgh]], etc. Many locations of greatly different size will be encountered with a name ending with ''-town'', ''-ton'', ''-toun'' etc. (or beginning with the Gaelic equivalent {{lang|gd|baile}} etc.).<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 December 2021 |title=Here all the Scottish towns and areas applying for city status in 2021 |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/homes-and-gardens/here-all-the-scottish-towns-applying-for-city-status-in-2021-3505403 |access-date=23 May 2023 |website=The Scotsman |language=en}}</ref>

"[[Burgh]]" (pronounced ''burruh'') is the [[Scots language|Scots]] term for a town or a municipality. They were highly [[Autonomous area|autonomous]] units of [[Local government in Scotland|local government]] from at least the 12th century until their abolition in 1975, when a new [[Local government areas of Scotland 1973 to 1996|regional structure of local government]] was introduced across the country. Usually based upon a town, they had a [[municipal corporation]] and certain rights, such as a degree of [[self-governance]] and representation in the sovereign [[Parliament of Scotland]] adjourned in 1707.

The term no longer describes units of local government, although various claims are made from time to time that the legislation used was not competent to change the status of the Royal Burghs described below. The status is now chiefly ceremonial but various functions have been inherited by current councils (e.g. the application of various endowments providing for public benefit) which might only apply within the area previously served by a burgh; in consequence a burgh can still exist (if only as a defined geographical area) and might still be signed as such by the current local authority. The word 'burgh' is generally not used as a synonym for 'town' or 'city' in everyday speech, but is reserved mostly for government and administrative purposes.

Historically, the most important burghs were [[royal burgh]]s, followed by [[burgh of regality|burghs of regality]] and [[burgh of barony|burghs of barony]]. Some newer settlements were only designated as [[police burgh]]s from the 19th century onward, a classification which also applies to most of the older burghs.