A local government area of SW Scotland with an area of 6,439 sq km (2486 sq miles) whose coast of rocky headlands and sandy bays is washed to the south by the Solway Firth and to the west by the North Channel which separates Scotland from Ireland. The rolling hills of the Southern Uplands are drained to the Solway Firth by the rivers Nith, Annan and Esk whose valleys form the three districts of Nithsdale, Annandale and Eskdale. Some 30% of Scotland's dairy cattle come from Dumfries and Galloway and textiles, engineering and food processing are important industries in towns such as Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Wigtown, Newton Stewart, New Galloway, Moffat, Lockerbie, Annan, Castle Douglas, Dalbeattie and the ferry port of Stranraer. Bordered to the north and east by South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and the Scottish Borders, it comprises the former counties of Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Wigtown. Its administrative centre is Dumfries.
