High Street, Dunfermline Scotland UK

46/365: yellow car, originally uploaded by xxxrmt.

Dunfermline (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Phàrlain) is a town in Fife which had official city status until 1970. It is located on high ground five miles from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth on the route of major road and rail crossings across the firth to Edinburgh and the south.

Dunfermline was an ancient capital of Scotland and is the burial place for many in the country's line of monarchs including Robert I and Saint Margaret. The poet Robert Henryson, one of the country's major literary figures, also lived in Dunfermline and was associated with its abbey. Ruins of the former monastic buildings around the abbey, now a parish church, include the remains of the royal palace and are an important tourist attraction.

In modern times, the most famous son of Dunfermline was the wealthy industrialist, businessman, and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. He was the central figure in promoting its early twentieth century urban renewal and his financial legacy is still of major importance.

Traditional industries in Dunfermline's catchment area have principally involved textiles, engineering, defence and electronics. In more recent times this has begun to diversify into the service sectors, including tourism.

According to the recent population estimate (2006), the town has 45,462 people living within its boundaries, this is a substantial rise from the 41,508 people recorded living there in 2001 which has resulted from the major expansion of the town in the east. It also falls under the wider Dunfermline and West-Fife Local Plan area which has an overall total population of around 100,324