The majority of the population of the area is located in its southeast corner, in the city of Stirling and in the surrounding lowland communities: Dunblane and Bridge of Allan to the north, Bannockburn to the immediate south, and the three former coal mining communities of Cowie, Fallin, and Plean (known collectively as "The Eastern Villages").
The remaining 30 percent of the region's population is sparsely distributed across the rural, mainly highland, expanse in the north of the region. The southern half of this rural area comprises the flat western floodplain of the River Forth, bounded on the south by the Touch Hills and the Campsie Fells. North of the glen lie the Trossachs mountains, and the northern half of the region is generally mountainous in character.
