ABERDEENSHIRE, a large maritime co. in the e. of Scotland, between 56' 52 and sr 42' n. lat., and 1° 49' and 3' 48' w. long.; bounded n. by Banffshire and the North sea; e. by the North sea; s. by Kincardine, Forfar, and Perth shires; w, by Inver ness and Banff shires. It is the fifth in size of the Scottish counties; greatest length. 102 Tn.; greatest breadth, 50 m.; with 60 m. of sea-coast, and an area of 1970 sq.m. It has long been popularly divided into five districts (proceeding from s.w. to Mar, Strathbogie, Garioch, Formartin, and Buchan. A. is generally hilly, and in the s.w. (Braemar) entirely mountainous, the Grampians running along the s. side. and branching off to the n.e. and n. Braemar contains the highest mountains: Ben-Mnic Dhui (next to Ben Nevis, the highest hill in the British isles), 4296 feet; Cairntoul, 4245; Cairngorm, 4083; Ben-na-I3uird, 3860; Lochnagar, 3770. The predominant rocks are granite and gneiss. The granite is very durable, and is much used for building and polishing. The chief rivers are the Dee (96 m. long), Don (78 m.), and Ythan (37 ni.), which run eastward into the North sea; and the Doveran (58 m.), which runs n.c. into the North sea (see DEE, DON, DOVERAN). On the upper part of the Dee is Balmoral (q.v.). The Ythan yields the pearl-muscle, but rarely pearls of any value. The mean annual rainfall of A. varies from 30 to 37 in. Clay soils predominate near the coast, loamy soils near the centre, and poor, gravelly, sandy, and peaty soils elsewhere. The
most fertile parts lie between the Don and Ythan, and in the n.e. angle of the co. Nowhere in the kingdom have the natural disadvantages of soil and climate been more successfully overcome. A. has 188 m. of railway, and 2359 m. of public roads, the latter supported by rates, and not by tolls. The chief towns and villages are Aberdeen (new and old), Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Iluntly, Kintore, Inverury, and Turiff. The co. returns two members to parliament ; the city of Aberdeen, one; and the burghs of Peterhead, Kintore, and Invernry, with Elwin, Cullen, and Banff, one. About 37 per cent of the area of A. is cultivated. In 1875, it had 193,111 acres in oats, 19,756 in barley and bert. 95,363 in turnips; and 169,739 cattle. A. produces one fifth of the turnips and one seventh of the cattle reared in Scotland, and is unsurpassed in breeding and feeding stock. The fisheries on the coast are very productive. Pop. in '71, 244.603, with 34,589 inhabited houses, and 84.83 per cent of the children, of ages 5 to 13, receiving education. The munificent Dick and Milne bequests for parochial schoolmasters has given A. a high place in the statistics of education. A. has about 290 places of worship. 105 being established, and 100 free. Value of real property (exclusive of railways), in 1878-79, f:849,102.