Outwith Kirkcaldy, the district encompassed the Levenmouth conurbation, coastal villages such as Burntisland, mining communities including Cardenden, and the expanding new town of Glenrothes which was chosen as the regional capital for Fife and had its own Development Corporation, but was required to seek agreement with the District Council at Kirkcaldy (essentially the rival town) for matters at local level, a situation which frequently caused tensions between the administrations. It had the sixth-largest population of the 53 districts of the era. Other than its two Fife neighbours to the north and south and the North Sea to the east, Kirkcaldy had a short western border with Perth and Kinross district in the Tayside region.