Material taken from postholes from an enclosure at Douglasmuir, near Friockheim, about five miles north of Arbroath has been radiocarbon dated to around 3500 BC.

Examples include the short-cist burials found near West Newbigging, about a mile to the North of the town.

Bordering it were the kingdoms of Cé (Mar and Buchan) to the North, Fotla (Atholl) to the West, and Fib (Fife) to the South.

The older territory called Angus was therefore gradually eclipsed in legal importance by the shire of Forfar (or Forfarshire) which covered the same area.

In 1667 Commissioners of Supply were established for each shire, which would serve as the main administrative body for the area until the creation of county councils in 1890.

[13] Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, taking most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930).

Robert Haldane-Duncan, 3rd Earl of Camperdown, a Liberal peer, was appointed the first chairman of the county council.

[18] Dundee was subsequently made a county of itself in 1894, also removing the city from Forfarshire for judicial and lieutenancy purposes.

The government responded by directing all departments to use Angus, but noted that the legal name would remain Forfar until such time as it could be changed by statute.

[22] The statutory change of name from Forfar to Angus eventually took place in 1947 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947.

(Scotland) Act 1994 saw the regions and districts created in 1975 abolished and replaced with council areas providing all local government services.

Glas Maol – the highest point in Angus at 1,068 m (3,504 ft) – can be found here, on the tripoint boundary with Perthshire and Aberdeenshire.

To the south and east the topography consists of rolling hills (such as the Sidlaws) bordering the sea; this area is well populated, with the larger towns.

In between lies Strathmore (the Great Valley), which is a fertile agricultural area noted for the growing of potatoes, soft fruit and the raising of Aberdeen Angus cattle.

This puts Angus as the council area with the sixth highest proficiency in Scots, behind only Shetland, Orkney, Moray, Aberdeenshire, and East Ayrshire.

[36][37] Angus Council are planning to raise the status of Gaelic in the county by adopting a series of measures, including bilingual road signage, communications, vehicle livery and staffing.

There have been seven Provosts since its establishment in 1996 – Frances Duncan, Bill Middleton, Ruth Leslie-Melville, Helen Oswald, Alex King, Ronnie Proctor and Brian Boyd.

[49] In 2007 the council moved its main offices to a new building called Angus House on Silvie Way in the Orchardbank Business Park on the outskirts of Forfar.

[52] The council later moved its main offices into the adjoining converted former prison of 1843, which subsequently became known as County Buildings instead.

The Edinburgh-Aberdeen railway line runs along the coast, through Dundee and the towns of Monifieth, Carnoustie, Arbroath and Montrose.