This is a list of counties in Scotland, ordered by population as at the 1971 census.
| Rank | County | Total population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasgow City | 897,484 |
| 2 | Lanark | 626,787 |
| 3 | Edinburgh City | 453,585 |
| 4 | Renfrew | 362,130 |
| 5 | Ayr | 361,248 |
| 6 | Fife | 327,126 |
| 7 | Dunbarton | 237,540 |
| 8 | Stirling | 208,958 |
| 9 | Dundee City | 182,204 |
| 10 | Aberdeen City | 182,071 |
| 11 | Midlothian | 142,213 |
| 12 | Aberdeen | 137,962 |
| 13 | Perth | 127,104 |
| 14 | West Lothian | 108,484 |
| 15 | Angus | 97,312 |
| 16 | Inverness | 89,655 |
| 17 | Dumfries | 88,215 |
| 18 | Argyll | 59,777 |
| 19 | Ross and Cromarty | 58,284 |
| 20 | East Lothian | 55,908 |
| 21 | Moray | 51,502 |
| 22 | Clackmannan | 45,544 |
| 23 | Banff | 43,500 |
| 24 | Roxburgh | 41,960 |
| 25 | Caithness | 27,792 |
| 26 | Kirkudbright | 27,639 |
| 27 | Wigtown | 27,337 |
| 28 | Kincardine | 26,066 |
| 29 | Selkirk | 20,868 |
| 30 | Berwick | 20,778 |
| 31 | Zetland | 17,331 |
| 32 | Orkney | 17,082 |
| 33 | Peebles | 13,675 |
| 34 | Bute | 13,309 |
| 35 | Sutherland | 13,055 |
| 36 | Nairn | 11,050 |
| 37 | Kinross | 6,423 |