| Conventional long name | Scotland''Alba'' |
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| Common name | Scotland |
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| Flag width | 127px |
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| Image coat | Lionrampant.svgborder |
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| Symbol width | 125px |
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| Symbol type | Royal Standard |
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| National motto | ''In My Defens God Me Defend'' (Scots)(often shown abbreviated as ''In Defens'') |
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| National anthem | None (''de jure'')Various ''de facto'' – see National anthem of Scotland and note 1 |
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| Map caption | |
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| Capital | Edinburgh |
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| Largest city | Glasgow |
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| Official languages | English |
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| Regional languages | Scottish Gaelic, Scots2 |
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| Ethnic groups | 89% Scottish, 7% English, Irish, Welsh, 4% other |
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| Demonym | Scottish or Scots3 |
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| Government type | Devolved government within a constitutional monarchy4 |
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| Leader title1 | Monarch |
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| Leader name1 | Elizabeth II |
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| Leader title2 | First Minister |
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| Leader name2 | Alex Salmond MSP |
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| Legislature | Scottish Parliament |
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| Legislature2 | UK Parliament |
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| Leader title4 | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |
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| Leader name4 | David Cameron, MP |
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| Sovereignty type | Establishment |
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| Sovereignty note | Early Middle Ages; exact date of establishment unclear or disputed; traditional 843, by King Kenneth MacAlpin |
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| Area magnitude | 1 E10 |
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| Area km2 | 78,387 |
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| Area sq mi | 30,414 |
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| Percent water | 1.9 |
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| Population estimate | 5,222,100 |
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| Population estimate year | mid-2010 |
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| Population census | 5,062,011 |
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| Population census year | 2001 |
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| Population density km2 | 65.9 |
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| Population density sq mi | 170.8 |
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| Gdp nominal | GBP 139.774 billion |
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| Gdp nominal year | 2010 |
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| Gdp nominal per capita | 26,766 |
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| Currency | Pound sterling |
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| Currency code | GBP |
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| Time zone | GMT |
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| Utc offset | 0 |
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| Time zone dst | BST |
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| Utc offset dst | +1 |
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| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy (AD or CE) |
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| Drives on | left |
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| Cctld | .uk5 |
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| Calling code | 44 |
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| Patron saint | St Andrew St Margaret St Columba |
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| Footnote1 | ''Flower of Scotland'', ''Scotland the Brave'' and ''Scots Wha Hae'' have been used in lieu of an official anthem. |
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| Footnote2 | English is the official language of the United Kingdom. Both Scots and Scottish Gaelic are officially recognised as autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; the Bòrd na Gàidhlig is tasked, under the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, with securing Gaelic as an official language of Scotland, commanding "equal respect" with English. |
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| Footnote3 | Historically, the use of "Scotch" as an adjective comparable to "Scottish" or "Scots" was commonplace, particularly outwith Scotland. However, the modern use of the term describes only ''products'' of Scotland, usually food or drink related. |
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| Footnote4 | Scotland's head of state is the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952). Scotland has limited self-government within the United Kingdom as well as representation in the UK Parliament. It is also a UK electoral region for the European Parliament. Certain executive and legislative powers have been devolved to, respectively, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh. |
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| Footnote5 | Also .eu, as part of the European Union. ISO 3166-1 is GB, but .gb is unused.
}} |
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Scotland ( ( )) is a
country that is
part of the
United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of
Great Britain, it shares a
border with
England to the south and is bounded by the
North Sea to the east, the
Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the
North Channel and
Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland constitutes over
790 islands including the
Northern Isles and the
Hebrides.
Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital.
The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707, although it had been in a personal union with the kingdoms of England and Ireland since James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English and Irish thrones in 1603. On 1 May 1707, Scotland entered into an incorporating political union with England to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain. This union resulted from the Treaty of Union agreed in 1706 and enacted by the twin Acts of Union passed by the Parliaments of both countries, despite widespread protest across Scotland. Scotland's legal system continues to be separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in public and in private law.
The continued existence of legal, educational and religious institutions distinct from those in the remainder of the UK have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity since the Union. In 1999, a devolved legislature, the Scottish Parliament, was founded with authority over many areas of home affairs following a successful referendum in 1997. In 2011, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won an overall majority in parliament and intends to hold a referendum on independence in the autumn of 2014.
Scotland is derived from the Latin ''
Scoti'', the term applied to Gaels, people from what is now Scotland and Ireland, and the
Dál Riata who are thought to have originated from Ireland and migrated to western Scotland. Accordingly, the
Late Latin word ''
Scotia'' ("land of the Gaels") was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, ''Scotia'' was being used to refer to (Gaelic-speaking) Scotland north of the
river Forth, alongside ''Albania'' or ''Albany'', both derived from the Gaelic ''
Alba''. The use of the words ''Scots'' and ''Scotland'' to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the
Late Middle Ages.
Repeated glaciations, which covered the entire land mass of modern Scotland, destroyed any traces of human habitation that may have existed before the Mesolithic period. It is believed that the first post-glacial groups of
hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, as the
ice sheet retreated after the
last glaciation.
Groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9500 years ago, and the first villages around 6000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the Mainland of Orkney dates from this period. Neolithic habitation, burial and ritual sites are particularly common and well-preserved in the Northern Isles and Western Isles, where a lack of trees led to most structures being built of local stone.
The discovery in Scotland of a 4000 year old tomb with burial treasures at Forteviot, near Perth, the capital of a Pictish Kingdom in the 8th and 9th centuries AD, is unrivalled anywhere in Britain. It contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves.
Scotland may have been part of a Late Bronze Age maritime trading culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that also included the other Celtic nations, England, France, Spain and Portugal.
The written
protohistory of Scotland began with the arrival of the
Roman Empire in southern and central Great Britain, when the Romans occupied what is now England and Wales, administering it as a
province called ''
Britannia''. Roman invasions and occupations of southern Scotland were a series of brief interludes.
According to the Roman historian Tacitus, the Caledonians "turned to armed resistance on a large scale", attacking Roman forts and skirmishing with their legions. In a surprise night-attack, the Caledonians very nearly wiped out the whole 9th Legion until it was saved by Agricola's cavalry.
In AD 83–84 the general Gnaeus Julius Agricola defeated the Caledonians at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Before the battle Tacitus wrote that the Caledonian leader Calgacus, gave a rousing speech in which he called his people the "last of the free" and accused the Romans of "making the world a desert and calling it peace". After the Roman victory Roman forts were briefly set along the Gask Ridge close to the Highland line (only Cawdor near Inverness is known to have been constructed beyond that line). Three years after the battle the Roman armies had withdrawn to the Southern Uplands.
The Romans erected Hadrian's Wall to control tribes on both sides of the wall, and the ''Limes Britannicus'' became the northern border of the empire, although the army held the Antonine Wall in the Central Lowlands for two short periods—the last of these during the time of Emperor Septimius Severus from 208 until 210.
The Roman military occupation of a significant part of northern Scotland only lasted about 40 years, although their influence on the southern section of the country, occupied by Brythonic tribes such as the Votadini and Damnonii, would still have been considerable between the first and fifth centuries. The Welsh term Hen Ogledd ("Old North") is used by scholars to describe the North of England and South of Scotland during its habitation by Brythonic speaking people around AD 500 to 800. In the 400s, Gaels from Ireland established the kingdom of Dál Riata.
The
Kingdom of the Picts (based in
Fortriu by the 6th century) was the state that eventually became known as "Alba" or "Scotland". The development of "Pictland", according to the historical model developed by
Peter Heather, was a natural response to Roman imperialism. Another view places emphasis on the
Battle of Dun Nechtain, and the reign of
Bridei m. Beli (671–693), with another period of consolidation in the reign of
Óengus mac Fergusa (732–761).
The Kingdom of the Picts as it was in the early 8th century, when Bede was writing, was largely the same as the kingdom of the Scots in the reign of Alexander I (1107–1124). However, by the tenth century, the Pictish kingdom was dominated by what we can recognise as Gaelic culture, and had developed a traditional story of an Irish conquest around the ancestor of the contemporary royal dynasty, Cináed mac Ailpín (Kenneth MacAlpin).
From a base of territory in eastern Scotland north of the River Forth and south of the River Oykel, the kingdom acquired control of the lands lying to the north and south. By the 12th century, the kings of Alba had added to their territories the English-speaking land in the south-east and attained overlordship of Gaelic-speaking Galloway and Norse-speaking Caithness; by the end of the 13th century, the kingdom had assumed approximately its modern borders. However, processes of cultural and economic change beginning in the 12th century ensured Scotland looked very different in the later Middle Ages.
The impetus for this change was the reign of David I and the Davidian Revolution. Feudalism, government reorganisation and the first legally recognised towns (called burghs) began in this period. These institutions and the immigration of French and Anglo-French knights and churchmen facilitated cultural osmosis, whereby the culture and language of the low-lying and coastal parts of the kingdom's original territory in the east became, like the newly acquired south-east, English-speaking, while the rest of the country retained the Gaelic language, apart from the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, which remained under Norse rule until 1468. The Scottish state entered a largely successful and stable period between the 12th and 14th centuries, there was relative peace with England, trade and educational links were well developed with the Continent and at the height of this cultural flowering John Duns Scotus was one of Europe's most important and influential philosophers.
The death of Alexander III in March 1286, followed by that of his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway, broke the centuries-old succession line of Scotland's kings and shattered the 200 year golden age that began with David I. Edward I of England was asked to arbitrate between claimants for the Scottish crown, and he organised a process known as the Great Cause to identify the most legitimate claimant. John Balliol was pronounced king in the Great Hall of Berwick Castle on 17 November 1292 and inaugurated at Scone on 30 November, St. Andrew's Day. Edward I, who had coerced recognition as Lord Paramount of Scotland, the feudal superior of the realm, steadily undermined John's authority. In 1294 Balliol and other Scottish lords refused Edward's demands to serve in his army against the French. Instead the Scottish parliament sent envoys to France to negotiate an alliance. Scotland and France sealed a treaty on 23 October 1295, that came to be known as the Auld Alliance (1295–1560). War ensued and King John was deposed by Edward who took personal control of Scotland. Andrew Moray and William Wallace initially emerged as the principal leaders of the resistance to English rule in what became known as the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1328).
The nature of the struggle changed significantly when Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick, killed rival John Comyn on 10 February 1306 at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries. He was crowned king (as Robert I) less than seven weeks later. Robert I battled to restore Scottish Independence as King for over 20 years, beginning by winning Scotland back from the Norman English invaders piece by piece. Victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 proved that the Scots had regained control of their kingdom. In 1315 Edward Bruce, brother of the King, was briefly appointed High King of Ireland during an ultimately unsuccessful Scottish invasion of Ireland aimed at strengthening Scotland's position in its wars against England. In 1320 the world's first documented declaration of independence, the Declaration of Arbroath, won the support of Pope John XXII, leading to the legal recognition of Scottish sovereignty by the English Crown.
However, war with England continued for several decades after the death of Bruce, and a civil war between the Bruce dynasty and their long-term Comyn-Balliol rivals lasted until the middle of the 14th century. Although the Bruce dynasty was successful, David II's lack of an heir allowed his half-nephew Robert II to come to the throne and establish the Stuart Dynasty. The Stewarts ruled Scotland for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The country they ruled experienced greater prosperity from the end of the 14th century through the Scottish Renaissance to the Reformation. The Education Act of 1496 made Scotland the first country since Sparta in classical Greece to implement a system of general public education. This was despite continual warfare with England, the increasing division between Highlands and Lowlands, and a large number of royal minorities. This period was the height of the Franco-Scottish alliance. The Scots Guard – la Garde Écossaise – was founded in 1418 by Charles VII of France. The Scots soldiers of the Garde Écossaise fought alongside Joan of Arc against England during the Hundred Years War. In March 1421 a Franco-Scots force under John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan, and Gilbert de Lafayette, defeated a larger English army at the Battle of Baugé. Three years later, at the Battle of Verneuil, the Scots lost around 6000 men, but the Scottish intervention bought France valuable time and likely saved the country from defeat.
In 1502,
James IV of Scotland signed the
Treaty of Perpetual Peace with
Henry VII of England. He also married Henry's daughter,
Margaret Tudor, setting the stage for the
Union of the Crowns. For Henry, the marriage into one of Europe's most established monarchies gave legitimacy to the new Tudor royal line. A decade later James made the fateful decision to invade England in support of France under the terms of the
Auld Alliance. He was the last British monarch to die in battle, at the
Battle of Flodden. Within a generation the
Auld Alliance was ended by the
Treaty of Edinburgh. France agreed to withdraw all land and naval forces and in the same year, 1560, the revolution of
John Knox achieved its ultimate goal of convincing the Scottish parliament to revoke papal authority in Scotland.
Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic and former queen of France, was forced to abdicate in 1567.
In 1603, James VI, King of Scots inherited the thrones of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland, and became King James I of England and Ireland, and left Edinburgh for London. With the exception of a short period under the Protectorate, Scotland remained a separate state, but there was considerable conflict between the crown and the Covenanters over the form of church government. The Glorious Revolution of 1688–89 saw the overthrow of the King James II of England by the English Parliament in favour of William and Mary. As late as the 1690s, Scotland experienced famine, which reduced the population of parts of the country by at least 20 percent.
In 1698, the Scots attempted an ambitious project to secure a trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama. Almost every Scottish landowner who had money to spare is said to have invested in the Darien scheme. Its failure bankrupted these landowners, but not the burghs, which remained cash rich. Nevertheless, the nobles' bankruptcy, along with the threat of an English invasion, played a leading role in convincing the Scots elite to back a union with England.
On 22 July 1706, the Treaty of Union was agreed between representatives of the Scots Parliament and the Parliament of England and the following year twin Acts of Union were passed by both parliaments to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain with effect from 1 May 1707.
With trade tariffs with England now abolished, trade blossomed, especially with
Colonial America. The clippers belonging to the
Glasgow Tobacco Lords were the fastest ships on the route to Virginia. Until the
American War of Independence in 1776, Glasgow was the world's premier tobacco port, dominating world trade. The disparity between the wealth of the merchant classes of the
Scottish Lowlands and the ancient clans of the
Scottish Highlands grew, amplifying centuries of division.
The deposed Jacobite Stuart claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly amongst non-Presbyterians, including Roman Catholics and Episcopalian Protestants. However, two major Jacobite risings launched in 1715 and 1745 failed to remove the House of Hanover from the British throne. The threat of the Jacobite movement to the United Kingdom and its monarchs effectively ended at the Battle of Culloden, Great Britain's last pitched battle. This defeat paved the way for large-scale removals of the indigenous populations of the Highlands and Islands, known as the Highland Clearances.
The Scottish Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution made Scotland into an intellectual, commercial and industrial powerhouse. So much so that Voltaire said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation." With the demise of Jacobitism and the advent of the Union thousands of Scots, mainly Lowlanders, took up numerous positions of power in politics, civil service, the army and navy, trade, economics, colonial enterprises and other areas across the nascent British Empire. Historian Neil Davidson notes that “after 1746 there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland.” Davidson also states that “far from being ‘peripheral’ to the British economy, Scotland – or more precisely, the Lowlands – lay at its core.”
Scotland became known across the world for its excellence in engineering, as typified by the
Clyde built ships and locomotives built in Glasgow. Prefabricated cast iron buildings made in Scotland are still in use in India, South America and Australia.
Prominent scientists, engineers and architects of the industrial age included
David Dale,
Joseph Black,
Thomas Telford,
Robert Stevenson,
James Watt,
James Nasmyth,
Robert Adam and
John MacAdam.
Scots born migrants also played a leading role in the foundation and principles of the United States (
John Witherspoon,
John Paul Jones,
Andrew Carnegie,
John Muir), Canada (
John A MacDonald,
James Murray,
Tommy Douglas), Australia (
Lachlan Macquarie,
Thomas Brisbane,
Andrew Fisher), and New Zealand (
James Mckenzie,
Peter Fraser).
Scotland played a major role in the British effort in the
First World War. It especially provided manpower, ships, machinery, fish and money. With a population of 4.8 million in 1911, Scotland sent over half a million men to the war, of whom over a quarter died in combat or from disease, and 150,000 were seriously wounded.
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig was Britain's commander on the Western Front.
The war saw the emergence of a radical movement called "Red Clydeside" led by militant trades unionists. Formerly a Liberal stronghold, the industrial districts switched to Labour by 1922, with a base among the Irish Catholic working class districts. Women were especially active in building neighbourhood solidarity on housing issues. However, the "Reds" operated within the Labour Party and had little influence in Parliament and the mood changed to passive despair by the late 1920s.
The shipbuilding industry expanded by a third and expected renewed prosperity, but instead a serious depression hit the economy by 1922 and it did not fully recover until 1939. The interwar years were marked by economic stagnation in rural and urban areas, and high unemployment. Indeed, the war brought with it deep social, cultural, economic, and political dislocations. Thoughtful Scots pondered their declension, as the main social indicators such as poor health, bad housing, and long-term mass unemployment, pointed to terminal social and economic stagnation at best, or even a downward spiral. Service abroad on behalf of the Empire lost its allure to ambitious young people, who left Scotland permanently. The heavy dependence on obsolescent heavy industry and mining was a central problem, and no one offered workable solutions. The despair reflected what Finlay (1994) describes as a widespread sense of hopelessness that prepared local business and political leaders to accept a new orthodoxy of centralized government economic planning when it arrived during the Second World War.
The Second World War brought renewed prosperity, despite extensive bombing of cities by the Luftwaffe. It saw the invention of radar by Robert Watson-Watt, which was invaluable in the Battle of Britain as was the leadership at RAF Fighter Command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding.
After 1945, Scotland's economic situation became progressively worse due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes. Only in recent decades has the country enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance. Economic factors that have contributed to this recovery include a resurgent financial services industry,
electronics manufacturing, (see
Silicon Glen), and the
North Sea oil and gas industry. The introduction in 1989 by Margaret Thatcher's government of the
Community Charge (widely known as the Poll Tax) one year before the rest of the United Kingdom, contributed to a growing movement for a return to direct Scottish control over domestic affairs. Following a
referendum on devolution proposals in 1997, the
Scotland Act 1998 was passed by the
United Kingdom Parliament to establish a devolved
Scottish Parliament and
Scottish Government with responsibility for most laws specific to Scotland.
Scotland's
head of state is the
monarch of the United Kingdom, currently
Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952). The title ''Elizabeth II'' caused
controversy around the time of the queen's coronation, as there had never been an ''Elizabeth I'' in Scotland. A legal case,
MacCormick v. Lord Advocate (1953 SC 396), was taken to contest the right of the Queen to title herself ''Elizabeth II'' within Scotland, arguing that to do so would be a breach of Article 1 of the Treaty of Union.
The Lord Advocate won the case and it was decided that future British monarchs would be numbered according to either their English or Scottish predecessors, whichever number is higher. Hence, any future King James would be styled James VIII (since the last Scottish King James was James VII (also James II of England, etc.)) while the next King Henry would be King Henry IX throughout the UK despite the fact that there have been no Scottish kings of the name.
Scotland has partial self-government within the United Kingdom as well as representation in the UK Parliament. Executive and legislative powers have been devolved to, respectively, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh. The United Kingdom Parliament retains power over a set list of areas explicitly specified in the Scotland Act 1998 as reserved matters, including, for example, levels of UK taxes, social security, defence, international relations and broadcasting.
The Scottish Parliament has legislative authority for all other areas relating to Scotland, as well as limited power to vary income tax. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in a BBC Scotland interview, indicated that the Scottish Parliament could be given more tax-raising powers.
The Scottish Parliament can give legislative consent over devolved matters back to Westminster by passing a Legislative Consent Motion if United Kingdom-wide legislation is considered to be more appropriate for a certain issue. The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have seen a divergence in the provision of public services compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. For instance, the costs of a university education, and care services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, while fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in enclosed public places.
The Scottish Parliament is a unicameral legislature comprising 129 Members, 73 of whom represent individual constituencies and are elected on a first past the post system; 56 are elected in eight different electoral regions by the additional member system, serving for a four year period. The Queen appoints one Member of the Scottish Parliament, (MSP), on the nomination of the Parliament, to be First Minister. Other Ministers are also appointed by the First Minister and serve at his/her discretion, together they make up the Scottish Government, the executive arm of government.
In the 2011 election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a majority government after winning 69 of the 129 seat Parliament; This was the first majority government since the modern post-devolutionary Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. The leader of the SNP, Alex Salmond, continued as First Minister. The Labour Party continued as the largest opposition party, with the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party also represented in the Parliament. Margo MacDonald is the only independent MSP sitting in Parliament. The next Scottish Parliament general election will be held on 5 May 2016. The Scotland Bill, put forward by the Calman Commission and cleared by the UK House of Commons, proposes devolving more power to Scotland. The bill has yet to be put into legislation. The Scottish National Party, who did not take part in the consultation, believe the bill does not devolve enough powers to the Scottish Parliament.
Scotland is represented in the British House of Commons by 59 MPs elected from territory-based Scottish constituencies. The Scotland Office represents the UK government in Scotland on reserved matters and represents Scottish interests within the UK government. The Scotland office is led by the Secretary of State for Scotland, who sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, the current incumbent being Michael Moore.
thumb|right|Glasgow City Chambers, viewed from George Square Historical subdivisions of Scotland included the
mormaerdom,
stewartry,
earldom,
burgh,
parish,
county and
regions and districts. These names are still sometimes used as geographical descriptors.
Modern Scotland is subdivided in various ways depending on the purpose. For local government, there have been 32 council areas since 1996, whose councils are unitary authorities responsible for the provision of all local government services. Community councils are informal organisations that represent specific sub-divisions of a council area.
For the Scottish Parliament, there are 73 constituencies and eight regions. For the Parliament of the United Kingdom, there are 59 constituencies. The Scottish fire brigades and police forces are still based on the system of regions introduced in 1975. For healthcare and postal districts, and a number of other governmental and non-governmental organisations such as the churches, there are other long-standing methods of subdividing Scotland for the purposes of administration.
City status in the United Kingdom is conferred by letters patent. There are seven cities in Scotland: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Stirling and Perth.
A policy of
devolution had been advocated by the three main UK parties with varying enthusiasm during recent history. The late Labour leader
John Smith described the revival of a Scottish parliament as the "settled will of the Scottish people". The constitutional status of Scotland is nonetheless subject to ongoing debate. In 2007, the Scottish Government established a "
National Conversation" on constitutional issues, proposing a number of options such as increasing the powers of the Scottish Parliament,
federalism, or a referendum on
Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. In rejecting the last option, the three main opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament have proposed a separate
Scottish Constitutional Commission to investigate the distribution of powers between devolved Scottish and UK-wide bodies. In August 2009 the SNP
proposed a referendum bill to hold a referendum on independence in November 2010. Immediate opposition from all other major parties led to an expected defeat.
These plans were put on hold by the
Scottish National Party until after the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. With the outcome of the May 2011 elections allowing an SNP majority in the Scottish Parliament, a referendum on Scotland's future within the UK is to be held in Autumn 2014, with the Scottish Government launching its consultation on 25 January 2012.
thumb|right|[[Parliament House, Edinburgh|Parliament House, in Edinburgh, is the home of the
Court of Session.]]Scots law has a basis derived from
Roman law, combining features of both uncodified
civil law, dating back to the ''
Corpus Juris Civilis'', and
common law with
medieval sources. The terms of the Treaty of Union with England in 1707 guaranteed the continued existence of a separate
legal system in Scotland from
that of England and Wales. Prior to 1611, there were several regional law systems in Scotland, most notably
Udal law in
Orkney and
Shetland, based on old
Norse law. Various other systems derived from common
Celtic or
Brehon laws survived in the
Highlands until the 1800s.
Scots law provides for three types of courts responsible for the administration of justice: civil, criminal and heraldic. The supreme civil court is the Court of Session, although civil appeals can be taken to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (or before 1 October 2009, the House of Lords). The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The Court of Session is housed at Parliament House, in Edinburgh, which was the home of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland with the High Court of Justiciary and the Supreme Court of Appeal currently located at the Lawnmarket. The sheriff court is the main criminal and civil court, hearing most of the cases. There are 49 sheriff courts throughout the country. District courts were introduced in 1975 for minor offences and small claims. The Court of the Lord Lyon regulates heraldry.
For many decades the Scots legal system was unique for a period in being the only legal system without a parliament. This ended with the advent of the Scottish Parliament, which legislates for Scotland. Many features within the system have been preserved. Within criminal law, the Scots legal system is unique in having three possible verdicts: "guilty", "not guilty" and "''not proven''". Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in an acquittal with no possibility of retrial. Many laws differ between Scotland and the rest of Britain, whereas many terms differ. Manslaughter, in England and Wales, becomes culpable homicide in Scotland, and arson becomes wilful fireraising. Procedure also differs. Scots juries consist of fifteen, not twelve jurors as is more common in English-speaking countries.
The civil legal system has however attracted much recent criticism from a senior Scottish Judge who referred to it as being "Victorian" and antiquated. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) manages the prisons in Scotland, which collectively house over 8,500 prisoners. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is responsible for the Scottish Prison Service within the Scottish Government.
The mainland of Scotland comprises the northern third of the land mass of the island of Great Britain, which lies off the northwest coast of
Continental Europe. The total area is , comparable to the size of the Czech Republic. Scotland's only land border is with England, and runs for between the basin of the
River Tweed on the east coast and the
Solway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast and the
North Sea is to the east. The island of Ireland lies only from the southwestern peninsula of
Kintyre; Norway is to the east and the
Faroes, to the north.
The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the 1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and the Kingdom of England and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway. Important exceptions include the Isle of Man, which having been lost to England in the 14th century is now a crown dependency outside of the United Kingdom; the island groups Orkney and Shetland, which were acquired from Norway in 1472; and Berwick-upon-Tweed, lost to England in 1482.
The geographical centre of Scotland lies a few miles from the village of Newtonmore in Badenoch. Rising to above sea level, Scotland's highest point is the summit of Ben Nevis, in Lochaber, while Scotland's longest river, the River Tay, flows for a distance of .
The whole of Scotland was covered by ice sheets during the
Pleistocene ice ages and the landscape is much affected by
glaciation. From a
geological perspective the country has three main sub-divisions.
The
Highlands and Islands lie to the north and west of the
Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from
Arran to
Stonehaven. This part of Scotland largely comprises ancient rocks from the
Cambrian and
Precambrian, which were uplifted during the later
Caledonian Orogeny. It is interspersed with
igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the
Cairngorms and
Skye Cuillins.
A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstones found principally along the Moray Firth coast. The Highlands are generally mountainous and the highest elevations in the British Isles are found here. Scotland has over 790 islands, which are divided into four main groups: Shetland, Orkney, and the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. There are numerous bodies of freshwater including Loch Lomond and Loch Ness. Some parts of the coastline consist of machair, a low lying dune pasture land.
The
Central Lowlands is a
rift valley mainly comprising
Paleozoic formations. Many of these sediments have economic significance for it is here that the coal and iron bearing rocks that fuelled Scotland's
industrial revolution are to be found. This area has also experienced intense
volcanism,
Arthur’s Seat in
Edinburgh being the remnant of a once much larger volcano. This area is relatively low-lying, although even here hills such as the
Ochils and
Campsie Fells are rarely far from view.
The
Southern Uplands are a range of hills almost long, interspersed with broad valleys. They lie south of a second
fault line (the Southern Uplands fault) that runs from
Girvan to
Dunbar. The geological foundations largely comprise
Silurian deposits laid down some 4–500 million years ago. The high point of the Southern Uplands is
Merrick with an elevation of . The Southern Uplands is home to the UK's highest village,
Wanlockhead ( above sea level). Winter maximums average in the lowlands, with summer maximums averaging . The highest temperature recorded was at
Greycrook,
Scottish Borders on 9 August 2003.
In general, the west of Scotland is usually warmer than the east, owing to the influence of Atlantic ocean currents and the colder surface temperatures of the North Sea. Tiree, in the Inner Hebrides, is one of the sunniest places in the country: it had more than 300 hours of sunshine in May 1975. Rainfall varies widely across Scotland. The western highlands of Scotland are the wettest place, with annual rainfall exceeding . In comparison, much of lowland Scotland receives less than annually. Heavy snowfall is not common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude. Braemar experiences an average of 59 snow days per year, while many coastal areas average fewer than 10 days of lying snow per annum.
Scotland's wildlife is typical of the north west of Europe, although several of the larger mammals such as the
lynx,
brown bear,
wolf,
elk and
walrus were hunted to extinction in historic times. There are important populations of
seals and internationally significant nesting grounds for a variety of
seabirds such as
gannets. The
golden eagle is something of a national icon.
On the high mountain tops species including ptarmigan, mountain hare and stoat can be seen in their white colour phase during winter months. Remnants of the native Scots pine forest exist and within these areas the Scottish crossbill, the UK's only endemic bird species and vertebrate, can be found alongside capercaillie, wildcat, red squirrel and pine marten. In recent years various animals have been re-introduced, including the white-tailed sea eagle in 1975, the red kite in the 1980s, and more recently there have been experimental projects involving the beaver and wild boar.
The flora of the country is varied incorporating both deciduous and coniferous woodland and moorland and tundra species. However, large scale commercial tree planting and the management of upland moorland habitat for the grazing of sheep and commercial field sport activities impacts upon the distribution of indigenous plants and animals. The UK's tallest tree is a grand fir planted beside Loch Fyne, Argyll in the 1870s, and the Fortingall Yew may be 5,000 years old and is probably the oldest living thing in Europe. Although the number of native vascular plants is low by world standards, Scotland's substantial bryophyte flora is of global importance.
thumb|left|A drilling rig located in the
North SeaScotland has a western style
open mixed economy that is closely linked with the rest of Europe and the wider world. Traditionally, the Scottish economy has been dominated by
heavy industry underpinned by the
shipbuilding in
Glasgow,
coal mining and
steel industries. Petroleum related industries associated with the extraction of
North Sea oil have also been important employers from the 1970s, especially in the north east of Scotland.
De-industrialisation during the 1970s and 1980s saw a shift from a manufacturing focus towards a more service-oriented economy. Edinburgh is the financial services centre of Scotland and the sixth largest financial centre in Europe in terms of funds under management, behind London, Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich and Amsterdam, with many large finance firms based there, including: Lloyds Banking Group (owners of the Halifax Bank of Scotland); the Government owned Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life.
In 2005, total Scottish exports (excluding intra-UK trade) were provisionally estimated to be £17.5 billion, of which 70% (£12.2 billion) were attributable to manufacturing. Scotland's primary exports include whisky, electronics and financial services. The United States, Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain constitute the country's major export markets. Scotland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), including oil and gas produced in Scottish waters, was estimated at £137.5 billion for the calendar year 2009.
Tourism is widely recognised as a key contributor to the Scottish economy. A briefing published in 2002 by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, (SPICe), for the Scottish Parliament's Enterprise and Life Long Learning Committee, stated that tourism accounted for up to 5% of GDP and 7.5% of employment.
As of May 2009 the unemployment rate in Scotland stood at 6.6%— slightly lower than the UK average and lower than that of the majority of EU countries. The Scottish Government's most recent figures (for 2009/10) suggest that Scotland's finances are in a healthier state than for the UK as a whole, with Scotland contributing 9.4% of UK taxes but receiving 9.3% of public expenditure.
Although the
Bank of England is the
central bank for the UK, three Scottish
clearing banks still issue their own
Sterling banknotes: the
Bank of Scotland; the
Royal Bank of Scotland; and the
Clydesdale Bank. The current value of the Scottish banknotes in circulation is £1.5 billion.
thumb|left|A Loganair Twin Otter at [[Barra Airport (Scotland)|Barra Airport, the only airport worldwide using a beach runway for scheduled services]] Scotland has five main
international airports (
Glasgow International,
Edinburgh,
Aberdeen,
Glasgow Prestwick and
Inverness), which together serve 150 international destinations with a wide variety of scheduled and
chartered flights.
BAA operates three airports, (Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow International), and
Highland and Islands Airports operates 11 regional airports, including Inverness, which serve the more remote locations.
Infratil operates Glasgow Prestwick.
The Scottish motorways and major trunk roads are managed by Transport Scotland. The remainder of the road network is managed by the Scottish local authorities in each of their areas. Regular ferry services operate between the Scottish mainland and many islands. These ferries are mostly run by Caledonian MacBrayne, but some are operated by local councils. Other ferry routes, served by multiple companies, connect to Northern Ireland, Belgium, Norway, the Faroe Islands and also Iceland. Network Rail Infrastructure Limited owns and operates the fixed infrastructure assets of the railway system in Scotland, while the Scottish Government retains overall responsibility for rail strategy and funding in Scotland. Scotland’s rail network has around 340 railway stations and 3000 kilometres of track. Over 62 million passenger journeys are made each year.
Scotland's rail network is managed by Transport Scotland. The East Coast and West Coast main railway lines connect the major cities and towns of Scotland with each other and with the rail network in England. Domestic rail services within Scotland are operated by First ScotRail. During the time of British Rail the West Coast Main Line from London Euston to Glasgow Central was electrified in the early 1970s followed by the East Coast Main Line in the late 1980s. British Rail created the ScotRail brand. When British Rail existed many railway lines in Strathclyde were electrified with Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive being at the forefront with the acclaimed: "The Largest electrified rail network outside London."
In addition, Glasgow has had a small integrated subway system since 1896. Completely gutted and modernised between 1977 and 1980, its 15 stations serve just under 40,000 passengers per day. There are plans to extensively refurbish the system in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The East Coast Main Line crosses the Firth of Forth by the Forth Bridge. Completed in 1890, this cantilever bridge has been described as "the one internationally recognised Scottish landmark".
The population of Scotland in the 2001 Census was 5,062,011. This has risen to 5,222,100 according to June 2010 estimates. This would make Scotland the 113th largest
country by population if it were a
sovereign state. Although
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland it is not the largest city. With a population of just over 584,000, this honour falls to
Glasgow. The
Greater Glasgow conurbation, with a population of almost 1.2 million, is home to nearly a quarter of Scotland's population.
The Central Belt is where most of the main towns and cities are located. Glasgow is to the west, while Edinburgh and Dundee lie on the east coast, with Perth (its city status restored in 2012) lying 20 miles upstream on the River Tay from Dundee. Scotland's only major city outside the Central Belt is Aberdeen, on the east coast to the north. The Highlands are sparsely populated, although the city of Inverness has experienced rapid growth in recent years.
In general only the more accessible and larger islands retain human populations, and fewer than 90 are currently inhabited. The Southern Uplands are essentially rural in nature and dominated by agriculture and forestry. Because of housing problems in Glasgow and Edinburgh, five new towns were created between 1947 and 1966. They are East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Livingston, Cumbernauld, and Irvine.
Following immigration since World War II, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee have small South Asian communities. Since the recent Enlargement of the European Union more people from Central and Eastern Europe have moved to Scotland, and it is estimated that between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles now live there. As of 2001, there are 16,310 ethnic Chinese residing in Scotland. The ethnic groups within Scotland are as follows: White, 97.99%; South Asian, 1.09%; Black, 0.16%; Mixed, 0.25%; Chinese, 0.32% and Other, 0.19%.
Scotland has three officially recognised languages: English, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic. Almost all Scots speak Scottish Standard English, and in 1996, the General Register Office for Scotland estimated that 30% of the population are fluent in Scots. Gaelic is mostly spoken in the Western Isles, where a large proportion of people still speak it; however, nationally its use is confined to just 1% of the population. The number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland dropped from 250,000 – 7% of the population – in 1881 to 60,000 today.
There are many more people with Scottish ancestry living abroad than the total population of Scotland. In the 2000 Census, 9.2 million Americans self-reported some degree of Scottish descent. Ulster's Protestant population is mainly of lowland Scottish descent, and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million descendants of the Scots-Irish migration now living in the U.S. In Canada, the Scottish-Canadian community accounts for 4.7 million people. About 20% of the original European settler population of New Zealand came from Scotland.
The Scottish education system has always remained distinct from that of the rest of United Kingdom, with a characteristic emphasis on a
broad education. Scotland was the first country since
Sparta in
classical Greece to implement a system of general
public education. Schooling was made compulsory for the first time in Scotland with the
Education Act of 1496; then, in 1561, the
Church of Scotland set out a national programme for spiritual reform, including a school in every
parish. Education continued to be a matter for the church rather than the state until the
Education Act (1872).
The "Curriculum for Excellence" provides the curricular framework for children and young people from age 3 to 18. All 3- and 4-year-old children in Scotland are entitled to a free nursery place. Formal primary education begins at approximately 5 years old and lasts for 7 years (P1–P7); today, children in Scotland study Standard Grades, or more recently Intermediate qualifications between the ages of 14 and 16. The school leaving age is 16, after which students may choose to remain at school and study for Access, Intermediate or Higher Grade and Advanced Higher qualifications. A small number of students at certain private, independent schools may follow the English system and study towards GCSEs and A and AS-Levels instead.
There are 15 Scottish universities, some of which are amongst the oldest in the world. These include the University of St Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, Robert Gordon University, and the University of Dundee—many of which are ranked amongst the best in the UK. The country produces 1% of the world's published research with less than 0.1% of the world's population, and higher education institutions account for 9% of Scotland's service sector exports.
Scotland's University Courts are the only bodies in Scotland authorised to award degrees.
Scotland's Universities are complemented in the provision of Further and Higher Education by 43 Colleges. Colleges offer National Certificates, Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas. These Group Awards, alongside Scottish Vocational Qualifications, aim to ensure that Scotland's population has the appropriate skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the workplace.
Scotland's regulatory body for qualifications is SQA Accreditation. Scotland's Qualifications are mapped on the SCQF (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework). The SCQF provides a language to help understand the complexity and size of qualifications, ranging from Access 1 (SCQF Level 1) to Doctorates (SCQF Level 12).
Just over two-thirds (67%) of the Scottish population reported having a religion in 2001, with Christianity representing all but 2% of these. By contrast, 28% of the population reported having no religious adherence.
Since the Scottish Reformation of 1560, the national church (the Church of Scotland, also known as The Kirk) has been Protestant and Reformed in theology. Since 1689 it has had a Presbyterian system of church government, and enjoys independence from the state. About 12% of the population are currently members of the Church of Scotland, with 40% claiming affinity. The Church operates a territorial parish structure, with every community in Scotland having a local congregation.
Scotland also has a significant Roman Catholic population, 19% claiming that faith, particularly in the west. After the Reformation, Roman Catholicism in Scotland continued in the Highlands and some western islands like Uist and Barra, and it was strengthened during the 19th century by immigration from Ireland. Other Christian denominations in Scotland include the Free Church of Scotland, various other Presbyterian offshoots, and the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Islam is the largest non-Christian religion (estimated at around 40,000, which is less than 0.9% of the population), and there are also significant Jewish, Hindu and Sikh communities, especially in Glasgow. The Samyé Ling monastery near Eskdalemuir, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007, includes the largest Buddhist temple in western Europe.
Healthcare in Scotland is mainly provided by
NHS Scotland, Scotland's public health care system. This was founded by the
National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 (later repealed by the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978) that took effect on 5 July 1948 to coincide with the launch of the NHS in England and Wales. However, even prior to 1948, half of Scotland's landmass was already covered by state funded health care, provided by the
Highlands and Islands Medical Service.
As at September 2009, NHS Scotland employed 168,976 staff including 68,681 nurses and midwives. In addition, there were 16,256 medical staff (including GPs), 5,002 dental staff (including dental support) and 11,777 allied health profession staff. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Well Being is responsible to the Scottish Parliament for the work of NHS Scotland.
Although Scotland has a long military tradition that predates the
Treaty of Union with England, its
armed forces now form part of the
British Armed Forces, with the notable exception of the
Atholl Highlanders, Europe's only legal private army. In 2006, the infantry
regiments of the
Scottish Division were amalgamated to form the
Royal Regiment of Scotland. Other distinctively Scottish regiments in the
British Army include the
Scots Guards, the
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the
Scottish Transport Regiment, a Territorial Army Regiment of the
Royal Logistic Corps.
Because of their topography and perceived remoteness, parts of Scotland have housed many sensitive defence establishments, with mixed public feelings. Between 1960 and 1991, the Holy Loch was a base for the U.S. fleet of Polaris ballistic missile submarines. Today, Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde, north west of Glasgow, is the base for the four Trident-armed ''Vanguard'' class ballistic missile submarines that comprise the UK's nuclear deterrent. Scapa Flow was the major Fleet base for the Royal Navy until 1956.
Two frontline Royal Air Force bases are also located in Scotland. These are RAF Leuchars and RAF Lossiemouth, the last of which is the most northerly air defence fighter base in the United Kingdom. A third, RAF Kinloss will be closed as an RAF unit in 2013–14. RAF Leuchars is due to be turned into an army barracks, ending the RAF's connection in Fife.
The only open-air live depleted uranium weapons test range in the British Isles is located near Dundrennan. As a result, over 7,000 radioactive munitions lie on the seabed of the Solway Firth.
Scottish music is a significant aspect of the nation's culture, with both traditional and modern influences. A famous traditional Scottish instrument is the
Great Highland Bagpipe, a wind instrument consisting of three drones and a melody pipe (called the chanter), which are fed continuously by a reservoir of air in a bag.
Bagpipe bands, featuring bagpipes and various types of drums, and showcasing Scottish music styles while creating new ones, have spread throughout the world. The
clàrsach (harp),
fiddle and
accordion are also traditional Scottish instruments, the latter two heavily featured in
Scottish country dance bands. Today, there are many successful Scottish bands and individual artists in varying styles including
Runrig,
Susan Boyle and
Texas.
Scotland has a literary heritage dating back to the early Middle Ages. The earliest extant literature composed in what is now Scotland was in Brythonic speech in the 6th century, but is preserved as part of Welsh literature. Later medieval literature included works in Latin, Gaelic, Old English and French. The first surviving major text in Early Scots is the 14th century poet John Barbour's epic ''Brus'', focusing on the life of Robert I, and was soon followed by a series of vernacular romances and prose works. In the 16th century the crown's patronage helped the development of Scots drama and poetry, but the accession of James VI to the English throne removed a major centre of literary patronage and Scots was sidelined as a literary language. Interest in Scots literature was revived in the 18th century by figures including James Macpherson, whose Ossian Cycle made him the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation and was a major influence on the European Enlightenment. It was also a major influence on Robert Burns, considered by many to be the national poet, and Walter Scott, whose Waverley Novels did much to define Scottish identity in the 19th century. Towards the end of the Victorian era a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations as writers in English, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, J. M. Barrie and George MacDonald. In the 20th century the Scottish Renaissance saw a surge of literary activity and attempts to reclaim the Scots language as a medium for serious literature. Members of the movement were followed by a new generation of post-war poets including Edwin Morgan, who would be appointed the first Scots Makar by the inaugural Scottish government in 2004. From the 1980s Scottish literature enjoyed another major revival, particularly associated with a group of Glasgow writers including Irvine Welsh. Scottish poets who emerged in the same period included Carol Ann Duffy, who was named as the first Scot to be UK Poet Laureate in May 2009.
Scottish theatre has for many years played an important role in Scottish society, from the music hall variety of Sir Harry Lauder and his contemporaries to the more serious plays put on at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and many other theatres throughout Scotland.
Television in Scotland is largely the same as UK-wide broadcasts, however the national broadcaster is BBC Scotland, a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It runs three national television stations, and the national radio stations, ''BBC Radio Scotland'' and ''BBC Radio nan Gaidheal'', amongst others. Scotland also has some programming in the Gaelic language. BBC Alba is the national Gaelic-language channel. The main Scottish commercial television station is STV. National newspapers such as the ''Daily Record'', ''The Herald'', and ''The Scotsman'' are all produced in Scotland. Important regional dailies include the Evening News in Edinburgh '''The Courier'' in Dundee in the east, and ''The Press and Journal'' serving Aberdeen and the north. Scotland is represented at the Celtic Media Festival, which showcases film and television from the Celtic countries. Scottish entrants have won many awards since the festival began in 1980.
As one of the Celtic nations, Scotland and Scottish culture is represented at interceltic events at home and over the world. Scotland hosts several music festivals including Celtic Connections (Glasgow), and the Hebridean Celtic Festival (Stornoway). Festivals celebrating Celtic culture, such as Festival Interceltique de Lorient (Brittany), the Pan Celtic Festival (Ireland), and the National Celtic Festival (Portarlington, Australia), feature elements of Scottish culture such as language, music and dance.
Sport is an important element in Scottish culture, with the country hosting many of its own national sporting competitions. It enjoys independent representation at many international sporting events including the
FIFA World Cup, the
Rugby Union World Cup, the
Rugby League World Cup, the
Cricket World Cup and the
Commonwealth Games, but not at the Olympic Games where Scottish athletes are part of the
Great Britain team. Scotland has its own national
governing bodies, such as the
Scottish Football Association (the second oldest national football association in the world) and the
Scottish Rugby Union. Variations of football have been played in Scotland for centuries with the earliest reference dating back to 1424.
Association football is now the most popular sport and the
Scottish Cup is the world's oldest national trophy.
Scotland contested the first ever international football game in 1872, a 0–0 draw against England. The match took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. Scottish clubs have been successful in European competitions with Celtic winning the European Cup in 1967, Rangers and Aberdeen winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1972 and 1983 respectively, and Aberdeen also winning the UEFA Super Cup in 1983. Dundee United have also made it to a European final, reaching the UEFA Cup Final in 1987, but losing on aggregate 2-1 to IFK Göteborg. The Fife town of St. Andrews is known internationally as the ''Home of golf'' and to many golfers the Old Course, an ancient links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage. There are many other famous golf courses in Scotland, including Carnoustie, Gleneagles, Muirfield, and Royal Troon. Other distinctive features of the national sporting culture include the Highland games, curling and Shinty, which, given its arrival with the Gaelic language and the original Scottish culture from Ireland, can claim to be Scotland's national sport. Scotland played host to the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and 1986, and will do so again in 2014 with Glasgow the host city.
thumb|left|upright|The thistle, Scotland's
Floral emblem. The national
flag of Scotland, known as the Saltire or St. Andrew's Cross, dates from the 9th century, and is thus the oldest national
flag still in use. Since 1606 the Saltire has also formed part of the design of the
Union Flag. There are numerous other symbols and symbolic artefacts, both official and unofficial, including the
thistle, the nation's
floral emblem (celebrated in the song,
The Thistle o' Scotland), 6 April 1320 statement of political independence the
Declaration of Arbroath, the textile pattern
tartan that often signifies a particular
Scottish clan, and the
Lion Rampant flag. Highlanders can thank
James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose, for the repeal in 1782 of the Act of 1747 prohibiting the wearing of tartans.
Although there is no official National anthem of Scotland, ''Flower of Scotland'' is played on special occasions and sporting events such as football and rugby matches involving the Scotland national teams and as of 2010 is also played at the Commonwealth Games after it was voted the overwhelming favourite by participating Scottish athletes. Other less popular candidates for the National Anthem of Scotland include ''Scotland the Brave'', ''Highland Cathedral'', ''Scots Wha Hae'' and ''A Man's A Man for A' That''.
St Andrew's Day, 30 November, is the national day, although Burns' Night tends to be more widely observed, particularly outside Scotland. Tartan Day is a recent innovation from Canada. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament passed the St. Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007, designating the day to be an official bank holiday.
Outline of Scotland
Celtic languages
Celtic nations
Celts
Ethnic groups in Europe
Brown, Dauvit, (1999) ''Anglo-French acculturation and the Irish element in Scottish Identity'' in Smith, Brendan (ed.), ''Insular Responses to Medieval European Change'', Cambridge University Press, pp. 135–53
Brown, Michael (2004) ''The Wars of Scotland, 1214–1371'', Edinburgh University Press., pp. 157–254
Devine, T.M. [1999] (2000). ''The Scottish Nation 1700–2000'' (New Ed. edition). London:Penguin. ISBN 0-14-023004-1
Flom, George Tobias. ''Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch. A Contribution to the Study of the Linguistic Relations of English and Scandinavian'' (Columbia University Press, New York. 1900)
MacLeod, Wilson (2004) ''Divided Gaels: Gaelic Cultural Identities in Scotland and Ireland: c.1200–1650''. Oxford University Press.
Pope, Robert (ed.), ''Religion and National Identity: Wales and Scotland, c.1700–2000'' (University of Wales Press, 2001)
Sharp, L. W. ''The Expansion of the English Language in Scotland'', (Cambridge University Ph.D. thesis, 1927), pp. 102–325;
Trevor-Roper, Hugh, ''The Invention of Scotland: Myth and History'', Yale, 2008, ISBN 0-300-13686-2
Gazetteer for Scotland – Extensive guide to the places and people of Scotland, by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and University of Edinburgh
Maps and digital collections at the National Library of Scotland
National Archives of Scotland – official site of the National Archives of Scotland
Scottish Census Results On Line – official government site for Scotland's census results
Scottish economic statistics 2005 (pdf) – from the Scottish Executive
Scottish Government – official site of the Scottish Government
Scotland.org – the official online gateway to Scotland, managed by the Scottish Government
Scottish Parliament – official site of the Scottish Parliament
ScotlandsPeople – official government resource for Scottish genealogy
Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics – Scottish Government's programme of small area statistics in Scotland
Visit Scotland – official site of Scotland's national tourist board
Your Scotland, Your Referendum – official website on independence referendum consultation
Category:Great Britain
Scotland
Category:NUTS 1 statistical regions of the United Kingdom
Category:English-speaking countries and territories
Category:Scots-speaking countries
Category:Northern Europe
Category:Western Europe
Category:Island countries
Category:Celtic nations
Category:Autonomous regions
af:Skotland
als:Schottland
ang:Scotland
ar:إسكتلندا
an:Escocia
roa-rup:Scotlandia
ast:Escocia
az:Şotlandiya
bn:স্কটল্যান্ড
zh-min-nan:Scot-tē
be:Шатландыя
be-x-old:Шатляндыя
bg:Шотландия
bar:Schottland
bo:སི་ཁོ་ཁྲི་ལན་ཌི།
bs:Škotska
br:Bro-Skos
ca:Escòcia
cv:Шотланди
cs:Skotsko
cy:Yr Alban
da:Skotland
de:Schottland
dsb:Šotiska
et:Šotimaa
el:Σκωτία
es:Escocia
eo:Skotlando
ext:Escócia
eu:Eskozia
fa:اسکاتلند
fo:Skotland
fr:Écosse
fy:Skotlân
ga:Albain
gv:Nalbin
gd:Alba
gl:Escocia - Scotland
hak:Sû-kak-làn
xal:Скотишин Таңһч
ko:스코틀랜드
hy:Շոտլանդիա
hi:स्कॉटलैण्ड
hsb:Šotiska
hr:Škotska
io:Skotia
ilo:Eskósia
id:Skotlandia
ia:Scotia
ie:Scotia
os:Шотланди
zu:IsiKotilandi
is:Skotland
it:Scozia
he:סקוטלנד
jv:Skotlandia
kn:ಸ್ಕಾಟ್ಲೆಂಡ್
krc:Шотландия
ka:შოტლანდია
csb:Szkòckô
kk:Шотландия
kw:Alban
sw:Uskoti
ht:Ekòs
ku:Skotland
lad:Eskosia
la:Scotia
lv:Skotija
lb:Schottland
lt:Škotija
lij:Scòçia
li:Sjotland
ln:Ekósi
lmo:Scozia
hu:Skócia
mk:Шкотска
ml:സ്കോട്ട്ലൻഡ്
mi:Koterana
mr:स्कॉटलंड
xmf:შოტლანდია
arz:اسكوتلاندا
mzn:اسکاتلند
ms:Scotland
mn:Шотланд
my:စကော့တလန်နိုင်ငံ
nah:Escotlālpan
nl:Schotland
nds-nl:Schotlaand
ja:スコットランド
pih:Skotlund
no:Skottland
nn:Skottland
nrm:Êcosse
nov:Skotia
oc:Escòcia
pnb:سکاٹلینڈ
pap:Eskosia
km:ស្កុតឡែន
pms:Scòssia
tpi:Skotlan
nds:Schottland
pl:Szkocja
pt:Escócia
kaa:Shotlandiya
ksh:Schottland
ro:Scoția
rm:Scozia
qu:Iskusya
ru:Шотландия
sco:Scotland
sq:Skocia
scn:Scozzia
simple:Scotland
ss:Sikoshilandi
sk:Škótsko
sl:Škotska
szl:Szkocyjo
so:Skotland
sr:Шкотска
sh:Škotska
su:Skotlandia
fi:Skotlanti
sv:Skottland
tl:Eskosya
ta:இசுக்கொட்லாந்து
tt:Шотландия
te:స్కాట్లాండ్
tet:Eskósia
th:สกอตแลนด์
tg:Шотландия
tr:İskoçya
uk:Шотландія
ur:سکاٹ لینڈ
ug:Shotlandiye
vec:Scozia
vi:Scotland
vo:Skotän
fiu-vro:Sotimaa
wa:Escôsse
zh-classical:蘇格蘭
vls:Schotland
war:Escocia
wuu:苏格兰
yi:סקאטלאנד
yo:Skọ́tlándì
zh-yue:蘇格蘭
diq:İskoçya
zea:Schotland
bat-smg:Škuotėjė
zh:蘇格蘭
