Scotland

Scotland (/ˈskɒt.lənd/; Scots: [ˈskɔt.lənd]; Scottish Gaelic: Alba [ˈal̪ˠapə]) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the south-west. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Edinburgh, the country's capital and second-largest city, 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.

North Coast

North Coast or Northcoast may refer to :

History of Scotland

The History of Scotland is known to have begun by the end of the last glacial period (in the paleolithic), roughly 10,000 years ago. Prehistoric Scotland entered the Neolithic Era about 4000 BC, the Bronze Age about 2000 BC, and the Iron Age around 700 BC. Scotland's recorded history began with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the line between the firths of Clyde to the Forth. North of this was Caledonia, whose people were known in Latin as "Picti", "the painted ones". Constant risings forced Rome's legions back: Hadrian's Wall attempted to seal off the Roman south and the Antonine Wall attempted to move the Roman border north. The latter was swiftly abandoned and the former overrun, most spectacularly during the Great Conspiracy of the 360s. As Rome finally withdrew from Britain, Gaelic raiders called the Scoti began colonizing Western Scotland and Wales.

According to 9th- and 10th-century sources, the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata was founded on the west coast of Scotland in the 6th century. In the following century, the Irish missionary Columba founded a monastery on Iona and introduced the previously pagan Scoti and pagan Picts to Celtic Christianity. Following England's Gregorian mission, the Pictish king Nechtan chose to abolish most Celtic practices in favor of the Roman rite, restricting Gaelic influence on his kingdom and avoiding war with Saxon Northumbria. Towards the end of the 8th century, the Viking invasions began. Successive defeats by the Norse forced the Picts and Gaels to cease their historic hostility to each other and to unite in the 9th century, forming the Kingdom of Scotland.

North Coast 500

The North Coast 500 is a 516-mile (830 km) scenic route around the north coast of Scotland, starting and ending at Inverness Castle. The North Coast 500 (Also known as NC500) was created by the North Highland Initiative and was designed to bring together the best of the north Highlands of Scotland in one iconic touring route.

The route was named fifth in Now Travel Magazine's "Top 5 Coastal Routes in the World".

Route

The route runs through the traditional counties of Inverness-shire, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland and Caithness.

Working clockwise, the route starts at Inverness and runs via Muir of Ord, Applecross, Gairloch, Ullapool, Durness, Thurso, John o'Groats, Wick and Dunrobin Castle then back to Muir of Ord and Inverness.

History

The concept of the North Coast 500 was created by the Tourism Project Board of the North Highland Initaitive (NHI) in an attempt to work with all aspects of the tourism sector to bring unified benefits to businesses across the route. It was identified that a gap existed in the market within the North Highlands for a tourism offering that included each county of the area (Caithness, Sutherland & Ross-shire) and that the North Coast 500 would address that. Supported by Visit Scotland and Highlands & Islands Enterprise.

BMW R1200GS

The BMW R1200GS and R1200GS Adventure are motorcycles manufactured in Berlin, Germany by BMW Motorrad, part of the BMW group. It is one of the BMW GS family of dual sport motorcycles. Both motorcycles have an 1,170 cc (71 cu in), two-cylinder boxer engine with 4-valves per cylinder. The Adventure has a larger capacity fuel tank and longer travel suspension. As of 2012, BMW's R1200GS bikes are their top-selling models.

History

At its launch in 2004, the R1200GS was 30 kg (66 lb) lighter than the R1150GS it replaced, and produced 100 bhp (75 kW), an increase of 19%. BMW continued to produce the R1150GS Adventure, releasing a final run-out special edition model, before launching the R1200GS Adventure at the end of 2005, for the 2006 model year.

Upgrades for model year 2008 included increased power to 105 bhp (78 kW), a new Integral ABS II anti-lock braking system was released without servo assistance and new options were added including electronic suspension adjustment (ESA) and the Automatic Stability Control (ASC) traction control system.