East Lothian, council area and historic county, southeastern Scotland. It lies on the southern coast of the Firth of Forth east of Edinburgh. Much of East Lothian is an undulating coastal lowland, but it extends inland to include part of the upland moors of the Lammermuir Hills. The council area and historic county occupy slightly different areas. A section of the Lammermuir Hills in the southeast belongs to the historic county of East Lothian but forms part of the Scottish Borders council area. In the west the area around Musselburgh is part of East Lothian council area but belongs to the historic county of Midlothian.
In the Middle Ages East Lothian (frequently called Haddingtonshire until the 20th century) formed part of the larger region known as Lothian. It lay in the path of the English invaders and suffered much destruction during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. In this period the feudal castles of Dirleton, Tantallon, and Hailes were built. There were also nunneries at Haddington and North Berwick, friaries at Haddington, Luffness, and Dunbar, and the holy well at Whitekirk, a place of pilgrimage. The Protestant leader and theologian John Knox was a native of East Lothian, and its people turned to the Reformed church during the 16th century. The last battles fought in the county were those of Dunbar (1650) and Prestonpans (1745).
Conditions were more settled in the 18th century, and there was further development of agriculture. The land was enclosed and drained, industries developed, and woods were planted. The old settlements of group holdings gave way to centralized farms, each with a slated farmhouse, large pantiled service buildings, and a group of rubble-and-pantiled cottages. Mansions were built, and parks were walled and planted. Some new villages were established (Gifford in 1722 and Ormiston in 1732, both of which are of architectural interest), and Haddington and Dunbar developed as market towns.
Farming reached the height of prosperity in the 1870s. In the last years of the 19th century, golfing and holiday facilities were developed at North Berwick, Gullane, and Dunbar. Also, deep coal mines were sunk in the west of the county, notably at Prestonpans, which then became a mining town. Coal mining declined in the mid-20th century, however.
East Lothian’s manufacturing now consists mainly of food processing, precision engineering, and electronics. Musselburgh and other towns in the west are residential suburbs of Edinburgh. Haddington is the administrative centre. Area 262 square miles (679 square km). Pop. (2006 est.) 92,830.