Fife (pop. 371,781) is a region lying on the east coast of central Scotland between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth. It is also a council area, the primary unit of local government in Scotland. The region has fertile agricultural land, Scotland’s leading coal field, and important manufacturing towns. Fife covers an area of 506 square miles (1,310 square kilometers). Glenrothes is its administrative center.
Coal mining is important in southern Fife. The mine shafts extend under the Firth of Forth. The chief manufactured products of Fife include electronic goods, oil production platforms, plastic floor covering, and textiles. Farmers in Fife grow barley, fruit, and potatoes and raise beef cattle and sheep.
Fife began to play an important part in Scottish history in the 1000’s. King Malcolm III transferred his court to Dunfermline in about 1060, and the town and its abbey prospered. Kings and court visited the town often during medieval times. The Scottish king Robert Bruce is buried in Dunfermline Abbey. During medieval times, the small ports of southern Fife carried on much trade.
A cathedral was established at Saint Andrews in 1160. It became the most important church center in Scotland. Its archbishop became the primate (church leader) of Scotland. Saint Andrews University was founded in 1412. The Reformation, a religious movement in the 1500’s that led to Protestantism, brought destruction of the church’s power. Afterward, Edinburgh gradually grew to overwhelming significance in Scottish life. These factors reduced Fife’s importance.
In the early 1800’s, with the start of the Industrial Revolution, a period of rapid industrialization, Fife began to develop again economically. New methods increased the productivity of its farms. New water-powered machinery produced large amounts of linen, and the coal mines expanded rapidly. Many more people moved into the area.
Two Scotsmen of international fame were born in the region. Adam Smith, the first great classical economist, was born in Kirkcaldy in 1723. Steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline in 1835. In 1848, he immigrated with his family to the United States, where he made a large fortune in the steel industry.
See also Carnegie, Andrew; Reformation; Saint Andrews; Smith, Adam.
