Stretching eastwards from Edinburgh in east central Scotland, East Lothian (666 sq. km / 257 sq. miles) has a coastline that is washed to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the east by the North Sea. Bounded to the south by the Lammermuir Hills, East Lothian is diverse; including former mining communities in the west, which have suffered from social problems, and more affluent resort and market towns further east. Its chief settlements are Musselburgh, Haddington (the administrative centre), Tranent, Aberlady, Cockenzie and Port Seton, Dunbar, East Linton, Gifford, Longniddry, Ormiston, Pencaitland, Prestonpans, Wallyford and the resorts of North Berwick and Gullane, the latter with its championship Muirfield golf course. Significant house-building has seen the major settlements all grow in the early years of the 21st century, with a 'new town' being developed on the site of the former Blindwells Opencast Mine, which will include up to 1600 new homes.
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