South Lanarkshire (Scots: Sooth Lanrikshire, Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages.

South Lanarkshire Council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1bn. The council plan for 2007-2012 when the next council elections are due is Connect. The large and varied council area takes in rural and upland areas, market towns such as Lanark, Strathaven and Carluke, the urban burghs of Rutherglen, Cambuslang, and East Kilbride which was Scotland's first new town.

There are 20 council wards in South Lanarkshire, each represented on the council by 3 or 4 elected councillors using Single Transferable Vote. South Lanarkshire operates a cabinet style system, with key decisions being taken by the Executive Committee, under the leadership of the Council Leader, and approved by the council, led by the Provost.

Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically, Lanarkshire was the most populous county in Scotland and, in earlier times, had considerably greater boundaries, including neighbouring Renfrewshire until 1402. In modern times, it was bounded to the north by Stirlingshire and a detached portion of Dunbartonshire, to the northeast by Stirlingshire, West Lothian, to the east by Peeblesshire, to the southeast and south by Dumfriesshire, to the southwest by Dumfriesshire and Ayrshire and to the west by Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire.

Lanarkshire was historically divided between two administrative areas then, in the mid-18th century, was divided again into three wards: the upper, middle and lower wards with their administrative centres at Lanark, Hamilton and Glasgow respectively and remained this way until the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. Other significant settlements include East Kilbride, Motherwell, Airdrie, Coatbridge, Blantyre, Cambuslang, Rutherglen and Wishaw.