Dunbartonshire borders Perthshire to the north, Stirlingshire to the east, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire to the south, and Argyllshire to the west.The county covered a similar area to the earldom and later duchy of Lennox.

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).

The new building was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, on 28 June 1965 during a royal visit to the area.

[16] Local government in Scotland was reorganised again in 1996, with the regions and districts abolished and replaced with unitary council areas.

The area is also home to Ben Vorlich, the highest point of Dunbartonshire at 943 m (3,094 ft) and the 229th tallest mountain in Scotland.

The area east of the river Leven is dominated geographically by the Kilpatrick Hills which also contains a number of small lochs and reservoirs.

This area had originally been part of Stirlingshire, but had been annexed to Dunbarton in the reign of David II at the request of Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigtown, the owner of the land, who was also Sheriff of Dumbarton.

Section 70 of the act allowed for the parishes to be transferred to the jurisdiction of either Stirlingshire or Lanarkshire Constabulary on resolution of two-thirds of the Commissioners of Supply for the County of Dumbarton.

[20] Similar provisions allowing for the transfer of the area for all purposes were included in the County General Assessment (Scotland) Act 1868.

It was originally anticipated that the area would be transferred to Stirlingshire for all other purposes by the boundary commissioners proposed by the Local Government Bill of 1889.

The clause was vigorously opposed by the Stirlingshire Commissioners of Supply as they had incurred considerable expense in maintaining the roads of the two parishes.

The Act as passed provided that the Dunbartonshire County Council was to financially compensate Stirlingshire on the transfer of road powers.