Firth of Forth

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The Firth of Forth from Calton Hill

The Forth Bridges cross the Firth

Satellite photo of the Firth and the surrounding area

Map of the Firth

Firth of Forth (Scottish Gaelic: Linne Foirthe) is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh, and East Lothian to the south. The river is tidal as far inland as Stirling, but generally it is considered that the inland extent of the firth ends at the Kincardine Bridge. There are a number of towns which line the shores, as well as the petrochemical complexes at Grangemouth, the commercial docks at Leith, oilrig construction yards at Methil, the ship-breaking facility at Inverkeithing and the naval dockyard at Rosyth, with numerous other industrial areas including the Forth Bridgehead area, Burntisland, Kirkcaldy, Bo'ness and Leven.

The Kincardine Bridge and the famous Forth Road Bridge and Forth Bridge carry traffic across the Firth. A third crossing, the Upper Forth Crossing, to be located next to the Kincardine Bridge is under construction and is expected to open in 2008.

The inner Firth, i.e. between the Kincardine and Forth bridges, has lost about half of its former intertidal area as a result of land being reclaimed, partly for agriculture, but mainly for industry and the large ash lagoons built to deposit the spoil from the coal fired Longannet Power Station near Kincardine.

The Firth is important for nature conservation. The Firth of Forth Islands SPA (Special Protection Area) is host to over 90,000 breeding seabirds every year. There is a bird observatory on the Isle of May.

Firth of Forth islands