Monklands is an area of Lanarkshire just east of Glasgow between the larger industrial towns of Airdrie and Coatbridge.

The name Monklands was first recorded in the Steward’s Charter of 1323, but the area had been inhabited by tribes as far back as the Mesolithic Age (c.6500-4000BC). Bronze Age remains have been discovered in the area and Lochend Loch is host to an Iron Age Crannog.

In 1162 the Royal Charter of King Malcolm IV gifted the land to the Cistercian Abbey of Newbattle and it became known as Monkland. Over the years the monks leased their land to private individuals and at the time of the Reformation the whole area passed into private ownership.

Its later prosperity depended on the rich Lanarkshire coal fields. The Monks were the first to mine for coal in the area in the 15th century and the black stones were distributed to the poor as alms. Agriculture remained the main industry until the 1700s when mass mining for "black gold" began.

Coal and ironstone were discovered on most farms. The Monklands Canal was developed to transport the minerals to markets. Such abundance resulted in the coal and iron industry booming. The rise in population created a similar increase in building and quarrying to meet the demand of the population and brickworks sprang up in every area. 

The Monkland and Kirkintilloch railway opened in 1826 having begun as a "waggonway" before becoming one of the first railways in Scotland. Like the canal it was developed out of necessity, following the industrial revolution, to transport coal and iron from Monklands to the Clyde and Forth canals.

A maternity hospital was built in Airdrie in 1919 after businessman and local politician Sir John Wilson gifted his estate to the area upon his death. The maternity hospital was demolished in 1963 and Monklands General District Hospital was built on the site.

The hospital now serves approximately 260,000 people from both North and South Lanarkshire and is run by NHS Lanarkhire.

The local government district of Monklands was created in 1975 and abolished in 1996 when it was combined with Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Motherwell and parts of Strathkelvin to become North Lanarkshire.