Dumfries and Galloway lieutenancy purposes, the historic counties are largely maintained with its three lieutenancy areas being Dumfries, Wigtown and the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. To the north, Dumfries and Galloway borders East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire; in the east the Borders; and to the south the county of Cumbria in England and the Solway Firth. To the west lies the Irish Sea. The Dumfries and Galloway Council region is composed of counties and their sub-areas. From east to west: The term 'Dumfries and Galloway' has been used since at latest the 19th century – by 1911 the three counties had a
Dumfries and Galloway coalition until June 2014 when the SNP left due to concerns about how a decision was taken to site a learning hub in Dumfries. The council was then run by a minority administration led by Scottish Labour and Craig Peacock an Independent until the 2017 Scottish local elections. The result of the 2017 election returned the following number of councillors for each party as follows: By political groupings. Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It comprises the historic counties of Dumfriesshire,