Difference between revisions of "Scotland"

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{{about|the country}}
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{{Country
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{{Infobox UK nation
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|name          =''Scotland'' <br/> '''Alba'''
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|native_name              = Scotland
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|map         =Scotland-map.jpg
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|native_name_language    = [[English language|English]] and [[Scots language|Scots]]
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|flag         =Flag of Scotland.png
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|second_name              = ''[[Alba]]''
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|arms         =Lion rampant.png
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|second_name_language    = [[Scottish Gaelic]]
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|capital =Edinburgh
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|common_name              = Scotland
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|largest city    =Glasgow
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|flag_name                = Flag of Scotland
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|capital-raw =
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|arms_name                = Coat of arms
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|government =Totalitarian socialist dictatorship within a devolved administration
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|flag                    = [[Image:Flag of Scotland.svg|125px|Flag of Scotland]]
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|government-raw =
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|arms                    = [[Image:Royal Arms of Scotland.png|70px|Coat of arms of Scotland]]
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|language =
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|symbol_type              = Royal Coat of Arms
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* [[English]]
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|image_map                = LocationScotland.png
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* [[Gaelic]]
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|national_motto          = <div style="line-height:1.33em;">{{lang|la|''[[Nemo me impune lacessit]]''}}{{nbsp|2}}<small>([[Latin]])<br/>"No one provokes me with impunity"([[English language|English]])<br/>''Wha daur meddle wi me?'' ([[Scots language|Scots]])<ref>See [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/25/wirq325.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/10/25/ixnewstop.html "Nemo me impune lacessit - which translates as, "touch me not with impunity", or more commonly, "wha daur meddle wi' me"."], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 25 October 2004. The Royal motto of the United Kingdom is ''[[Dieu et mon droit]]'' ([[French language|French]] for "God and my right") and is only used in Scotland by UK-wide bodies.</ref></small></div>
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* [[Scots]]
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|national_anthem          = [[National Anthem of Scotland|Multiple unofficial anthems]]
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* [[Urdu]] (language of government)
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|official_languages      = [[Scottish English|English]], [[Scottish Gaelic language|Gaelic]]<ref>[[Language in Scotland|Officially recognised languages]]: English (established by precedent) and Scottish Gaelic, the latter to become "an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language"&nbsp;[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2005/50007--a.htm#1]</ref>
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|king         = Charles III
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|capital                 = [[Edinburgh]]
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|queen         =  
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|latd=55| latm=57 |latNS=N |longd=3 |longm=10 |longEW=W
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|monarch-raw =
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|largest_city            = [[Glasgow]]
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|president =
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|latd=55| latm=51|32|N|longd=4 |longm=15|longEW=W
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|president-raw =
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|government_type          = {{nowrap|[[Constitutional monarchy]]}}
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|chancellor =
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|leader_title1            = [[British monarchy|Queen]]
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|chancellor-raw =
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|leader_name1            = [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]]
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|pm         =
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|leader_title2            = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]]
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|pm-raw         =
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|leader_name2            = [[Tony Blair]] [[MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005|MP]]
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|fm             = John Swinney
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|leader_title3            = [[First Minister of Scotland|First Minister]]
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|area         =
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|leader_name3            = [[Jack McConnell]] [[Members of the Scottish Parliament, 2003-2007|MSP]]
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|borders        = [[England]]
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|area_rank                = 2<sup>nd</sup>
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|pop         =
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|area_magnitude          = 1 E10
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|pop-basis =
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|area                    = 78,772
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|gdp         =  
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|areami²                  = 30,414
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|gdp-year =
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|percent_water            = 1.9
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|gdp-pc         =$38,900 (2020)
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|population_estimate      = 5,094,800
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|currency =Pound Sterling (£) 
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|population_estimate_rank = 2<sup>nd</sup>
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|idd =
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|population_estimate_year = 2005<ref>From the [http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics General Register Office for Scotland]</ref>
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|tld           =
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|population_census        = 5,062,011
 
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|population_census_year  = 2001
 
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|population_density      = 65<ref>See [http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files/univariate.pdf] for population density.</ref>
 
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|population_densitymi²    = 167.5
 
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|population_density_rank  = 4<ref>The [[United Kingdom|UK]] has a rank of 48. For a rank for Scotland itself, which would be circa 127, see [[List of countries by population density]].</ref>
 
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|GDP_PPP                  = [[US$]]130 billion
 
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|GDP_PPP_rank             = n/a
 
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|GDP_PPP_year            = 2002
 
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|GDP_PPP_per_capita      = [[US$]]25,546
 
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|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank  = n/a
 
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|sovereignty_type         = [[Unification]]
 
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|established_event1      = by [[Kenneth I of Scotland|Kenneth I]]
 
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|established_date1        = 843
 
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|HDI_year                = 2003
 
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|HDI                      = 0.939
 
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|HDI_rank                = 15th
 
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|HDI_category            = <font color="#009900">high</font><sup>4</sup>
 
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|currency                 = [[Pound sterling]]
 
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|currency_code            = GBP
 
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|country_code            =
 
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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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|cctld                    = [[.uk]]<ref>Also [[.eu]], as part of the [[European Union]]. [[ISO 3166-1]] is [[Great Britain|GB]], but [[.gb]] is unused.</ref>
 
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|calling_code            = 44
 
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|patron_saint            = [[Saint Andrew|St. Andrew]]<ref>By convention. St. Andrew was the patron saint of the [[Bishop of St Andrews|bishopric]] and [[Archbishop of St Andrews|archbishopric of St. Andrews]], the most powerful Scottish bishopric. [[Columba]] held higher status among the Scots until the later middle ages.</ref>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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'''Scotland''' (اسکاٹ لینڈ) is ruled by the decaying [[Scottish National Party]] regime and the second-largest and northernmost of the four countries in the [[United Kingdom]].
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It is about three-fifths the size of its southern neighbour [[England]], but is much less populous; most of the population lives in the ''central belt'', a band across central Scotland between the capital [[Edinburgh]] and the largest city, [[Glasgow]]. Other major cities are [[Aberdeen]] and [[Dundee]].
  
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'''Scotland''' ({{lang-gd|[[Alba]]}}) is a [[nation]] in northwest [[Europe]] and one of the four [[constituent country|constituent]] [[Country|countries]]<ref>[http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page823.asp The website of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom] refers to "Countries within a country", stating "The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland".</ref> of the [[United Kingdom]]. It occupies the northern third of the island of [[Great Britain]] and shares a land border to the south with [[England]]. It is bounded by the [[North Sea]] to the east, the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the north and west, and the [[North Channel (British Isles)|North Channel]] and [[Irish Sea]] to the southwest. Apart from the mainland, Scotland consists of over 790 [[List of islands of Scotland|islands]].<ref name="Scottish Executive">{{cite web | title = Scottish Executive Resources| work = Scotland in Short| url = http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/923/0010669.pdf | accessdate = September 14 | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref>
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The [[Scottish National Party]] established a dictatorship and [[police state]] within the devolved administration of Scotland, especially under the rule of [[Nicola Sturgeon]], who ruled from 2014 to 2023. Brendan O'Neill described the SNP's Scotland as "the most [[authoritarian]] country in [[Western Europe]]".<ref>https://twitter.com/spikedonline/status/1374001716794900484?lang=en-GB</ref>  In 2018, Scotland became the first "country" to require "LGBT+" education in schools, with no exemptions or opt-outs.<ref>Chasmar, Jessica (November 9, 2018). [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/9/scotland-becomes-first-country-require-lgbt-educat/ Scotland becomes first country to require LGBT+ education]. ''The Washington Times''. Retrieved November 10, 2018.</ref><ref>Cummings McLean, Dorothy (November 14, 2018). [https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/scotland-pushes-lgbt-agenda-into-catholic-schools.-bishops-hope-impact...wi Scotland pushes LGBT agenda into Catholic schools. Bishops hope ‘impact…will be positive for all’]. ''LifeSiteNews''. Retrieved November 14, 2018.</ref>
  
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[[Edinburgh]], the country's [[capital]] and second largest [[City status in the United Kingdom|city]], is one of Europe's largest [[Finance industry|financial]] centres.<ref>[http://www.edinburghbrand.com/news/information/ Edinburgh, Inspiring Capital - Information for Journalists] - "Edinburgh is Europe's sixth largest fund management centre".</ref> Scotland's largest city is [[Glasgow]], which is the centre of the [[Greater Glasgow]] conurbation. Greater Glasgow is home to approximately 40% of [[Demographics of Scotland|Scotland's population]]. [[Scottish waters]] consist of a large sector<ref>[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/99112601.gif Image showing 1999 Scottish Fishing and Territorial Waters] www.opsi.gov.uk</ref> of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest [[Oil resources|oil reserves]] in the [[European Union]].
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Following the downfall of the Sturgeon regime, the [[Anti-white sentiment|anti-white racist]] [[Radical Islam|Muslim extremist]] ruler [[Humza Yousaf]] (حمزہ یوسف) was installed against the will of the Scottish people. Yousaf is known for enforcing the Hate Crime Act, politically-correct thought-policing which has been compared to [[Sharia Law]] (شرعی قانون).<ref name="blitzsharia">[https://www.weeklyblitz.net/opinion/humza-yousaf-pushes-sharia-law-in-scotland/ Humza Yousaf pushes sharia law in Scotland]</ref>
  
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The [[Kingdom of Scotland]] was an [[Independence|independent]] [[state]] until [[1 May]] [[1707]], when the [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]] (despite widespread protest across Scotland) resulted in a [[political union]] with the [[Kingdom of England]] to create the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]. Scotland's [[Legal systems of the world|legal system]] continues to be separate from those of [[English law|England, Wales]], and [[Northern Ireland law|Northern Ireland]], and Scotland still constitutes a discrete [[jurisdiction]] in [[public international law|public]] and in [[private international law]].<ref>[http://assets.cambridge.org/052178/2600/sample/0521782600ws.pdf pdf file] "For the purposes of the English [[conflict of laws]], every country in the world which is not part of [[England and Wales]] is a foreign country and its foreign laws. This means that not only totally foreign independent countries such as [[France]] or [[Russia]]... are foreign countries but also [[British Colonies]] such as the [[Falkland Islands]]. Moreover, the other parts of the United Kingdom - Scotland and Northern Ireland - are foreign countries for present purposes, as are the other [[British Islands]], the [[Isle of Man]], [[Jersey]] and [[Guernsey]]." ''Conflict of Laws'', JG Collier, Fellow of [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge|Trinity Hall]] and lecturer in Law, [[University of Cambridge]]</ref> The continued independence of [[Scots law]], the [[Scottish education system]], and the [[Church of Scotland]] have been the three cornerstones contributing to the continuation of [[Scottish culture]] and [[Scottish national identity]] since the Union. However, Scotland is no longer a [[Sovereignty|sovereign]] state and does not have direct membership of either the [[United Nations]] or the European Union.
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==Symbol==
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The symbol of Scotland is the [[thistle]]. The Scottish [[flag]] is the Cross of St. Andrew, a white diagonal cross on a dark blue background. The design originated in the 9th century.  
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Scotland's motto is ''Nemo Me Impune Lacessit'' ("No one provokes me with impunity")<ref>http://www.scotland-guide.co.uk/ALL_AREAS_IN_SCOTLAND/Glasgow/Areas/Centre/Mercat_Cross.htm</ref>  
  
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==Etymology==
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==Geography==
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[[Image:Scota & Gaedel Glas.jpg|thumb|The founders of Scotland of late medieval legend, [[Scota]] (left) with [[Goídel Glas]] (right), voyaging from Egypt, as depicted in a 15th century manuscript of the ''Scotichronicon'' of [[Walter Bower]]; in this version Scota and Goídel Glas (Latinized as Gaythelos) are wife and husband. In older versions, Scota is a descendent of Goidel.]]
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Scotland is split into three distinct geographical regions; the mountainous Highlands to the north, the rolling countryside of the Central Lowlands (where the major urban centres are located) and the hilly Southern Uplands that lie next to the English border. Scotland also includes the island groups of [[Orkney]], [[Shetland]], the [[Inner Hebrides|Inner]] and [[Outer Hebrides]], the islands of the [[Firth of Clyde]] including [[Arran]], [[Bute]], [[Cumbrae]] and [[Wee Cumbrae]], as well as the outlying [[St. Kilda]] archipelago, [[Rockall]] and various other smaller islands.
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The [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]] first uses the [[Old English]] word ''Scotland'' in the 10th century. This was derived from the [[Latin]] ''[[Scoti]]'', of uncertain origin, applied to [[Gaels]]. The [[Late Latin]] word ''[[Scotia]]''&mdash;land of the Gaels&mdash;was eventually used only of Gaelic-speaking Scotland. This name was employed alongside ''Albania'', from the Gaelic ''[[Alba]]''. This had originally meant Britain, but was later restricted to the same Gaelic-speaking regions as ''Scotia''. The use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of modern Scotland became common only in the [[Scotland in the Late Middle Ages|Late Middle Ages]]. Medieval [[origin myths]] derived Scotland's name from the [[Egypt]]ian princess [[Scota]], mother of [[Goídel Glas]], [[eponym]]ous ancestor of the Gaels. In modern times the word Scot is applied equally to all inhabitants regardless of their ancestral [[ethnicity]], as the nation has had a [[civil society|civic]], rather than an ethnic or linguistic, orientation for most of the last millennium.
 
  
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==History==
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[[Ben Nevis]], the highest mountain in the [[United Kingdom]], is in the Scottish [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]], as are most of the nation's highest mountains. Those with heights above 3000 feet are eponymously named [[Munro]]s after Sir Hector Munro, the first person to compile a list of such mountains.<ref>for a complete list of Munros see http://www.sol.co.uk/d/dickwall/munroes.htm</ref>
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{{main|History of Scotland}}
 
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===Early Scotland===
 
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{{main|Prehistoric Scotland}}
 
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[[Image:Jfb skara brae.jpg|thumb|175px|left|[[Skara Brae]], a [[neolithic]] settlement, located in the [[Bay of Skaill]] on the west coast of mainland [[Orkney]].]]
 
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Repeated [[glaciation]]s, which covered the entire land-mass of modern Scotland, have destroyed any traces of human habitation before the [[mesolithic]] period. It is believed that the first post-glacial group(s) of [[hunter-gatherers]] arrived in Scotland around 11,000 years ago, as the [[ice sheet]] retreated after the [[Wisconsin glaciation|last ice age]]. Groups of settlers began building the first permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. A site from this period is the well-preserved village of [[Skara Brae]] on the Mainland of [[Orkney]]. [[Neolithic]] habitation, burial and ritual sites are particularly common and well-preserved in the [[Northern Isles]] and [[Western Isles]], where lack of trees led to most structures being built of local stone.
 
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[[Image:HiltonofCadboll01.JPG|thumb|175px|The Picts left a larger number of [[Pictish stones|decorated stones]]. This one is a replica of the [[Hilton of Cadboll Stone]], standing ''in situ'', with the original version now in the [[Museum of Scotland]].]]
 
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The written [[history]] 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 [[Roman province|province]] called ''[[Roman Britain|Britannia]]''. Roman occupation of Scotland was a series of brief interludes. In 83/4 AD the general [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola]] defeated the [[Picts|Pictish]] [[Caledonians]] at the [[battle of Mons Graupius]], and Roman forts were briefly set along the [[Gask Ridge]] close to the [[Highland Boundary Fault|Highland Line]] (none are known to have ever been constructed beyond that line). Three years after the battle the Roman armies had withdrawn to the [[Southern Uplands]].<ref>Hanson, William S. ''The Roman Presence: Brief Interludes'', in Edwards, Kevin J. & Ralston, Ian B.M. (Eds) (2003) Scotland After the Ice Age: Environment, Archaeology and History, 8000 BC - AD 1000. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press</ref> They erected [[Hadrian's Wall]] to control tribes on both sides of the wall,<ref name=snyder>{{Citation | last = Snyder | first = Christopher A. | year = 2003 | title = The Britons | publisher = Blackwell Publishing | isbn = 0-631-22260-X}}</ref> but it effectively became the main northern border for the Romans throughout much of the later occupation of Britain, although they held the [[Antonine Wall]] in the [[Central Lowlands]] for two short periods. The last of these was during the time of Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] from 208 until 210.<ref>Robertson, Anne S. (1960) ''The Antonine Wall''. Glasgow Archaeological Society.</ref> The extent of Roman occupation of any significant part of Scotland was limited to a total of about 40 years, although their influence on the southern section of the country occupied by [[Brython]]ic tribes such as the [[Votadini]] and [[Damnonii]] would still have been considerable.<ref name=snyder/>
 
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===Medieval Scotland===
 
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{{main|Picts|Scotland in the High Middle Ages|Scotland in the Late Middle Ages}}
 
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The [[Kingdom of the Picts]] (based in [[Fortriu]] by the 6th century) was the state which 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.<ref>Peter Heather, "State Formation in Europe in the First Millennium A.D.", in Barbara Crawford (ed.), ''Scotland in Dark Ages Europe'', (Aberdeen, 1994), pp. 47&ndash;63</ref> Another view places emphasis on the [[Battle of Dunnichen]], and the reign of [[Bridei III of the Picts|Bruide mac Der Ilei]] (671-693), with another period of consolidation in the reign of [[Óengus I of the Picts|Óengus mac Fergusa]] (732–761).<ref>For instance, Alex Woolf, "The Verturian Hegemony: a mirror in the North", in M. P. Brown & C. A. Farr, (eds.), ''Mercia: an Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe'', (Leicester, 2001), pp. 106-11.</ref> 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 of Scotland|Alexander]] (1107–1124). However, by the tenth century, the Pictish kingdom was increasingly dominated by what we can recognise as [[Gaels|Gaelic]] culture, and had developed an Irish conquest myth around the ancestor of the contemporary royal dynasty, [[Kenneth I of Scotland|Cináed mac Ailpín]] (Kenneth MacAlpin).<ref> Dauvit Broun, "Dunkeld and the origin of Scottish identity", in ''Innes Review'', 48 (1997), pp. 112–124, repr. in eds. Dauvit Broun and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.), ''Spes Scotorum: Hope of Scots'',  (1999), pp. 95–111; Dauvit Broun, "Kenneth mac Alpin", in M. Lynch (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'', (New York, 2001), p.359; Sally Foster, ''Picts, Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland'', (London, 1996); Simon Taylor, "Place-names and the Early Church in Eastern Scotland", in Barbara Crawford (ed.), ''Scotland in Dark Age Britain'', (Aberdeen, 1996), pp. 93–110; David N. Dumville, "St Cathróe of Metz and the Hagiography of Exoticism," in  John Carey ''et al'' (eds.), ''Irish Hagiography: Saints and Scholars'', (Dublin, 2001), pp. 172–176; Maire, Herbert, "Rí Érenn, Rí Alban, kingship and identity in the ninth and tenth centuries", in Simon Taylor (ed.), ''Kings, Clerics and Chronicles in Scotland, 500–1297'', (Dublin, 2000), pp. 63-72.</ref>  
 
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[[Image:Robert the Bruce3.jpg|thumb|175px|left|The decisive victory of [[Robert I of Scotland|Robert the Bruce]] over the English at [[Battle of Bannockburn|Bannockburn]] was a defining moment establishing the Bruce dynasty and hence the independence of the [[Kingdom of the Scots]].]]
 
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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 south-east and attained overlordship of [[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 stimulus for this was the reign of [[David I of Scotland|King David I]] and the so-called [[Davidian Revolution]]. [[Feudalism]], government reorganisation and the first legally defined towns, called [[burgh]]s, began in this period. These institutions and the immigration of French and Anglo-French knights and churchmen facilitated a process of 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.<ref>The only extensive study of this is L. W. Sharp, ''The Expansion of the English Language in Scotland'', (Cambridge University Ph.D. thesis, 1927), pp. 102-325; another more concise and more recent survey can be found in Derick S. Thomson, ''Gaelic in Scotland, 1698-1981'', (Edinburgh, 1984), pp. 16-41; the best place to look for studies of the transformation of Gaelic institutions will be the two collections of essays by G.W.S. Barrow, ''The Kingdom of the Scots'', 2nd Edn, (Edinburgh, 2003) and ''Scotland and Its Neighbours In the Middle Ages'', (London, 1992); see also Dauvit "Broun, Anglo-French acculturation and the Irish element in Scottish Identity", in Brendan Smith (ed.), ''Insular Responses to Medieval European Change'', (Cambridge, 1999), pp. 135-53; Wilson MacLeod, ''Divided Gaels: Gaelic Cultural Identities in Scotland and Ireland: c.1200–1650'', (Oxford, 2004), and Thomas Owen Clancy, [http://www.bord-na-gaidhlig.org.uk/about-gaelic/history.html "Gaelic Scotland: a brief history"].</ref>
 
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The death of [[Alexander III of Scotland|Alexander III]] in 1286, followed by the death of his grand-daughter [[Margaret, Maid of Norway]], broke the succession line of Scotland's kings. This led to the intervention of [[Edward I of England]]. Edward established [[John of Scotland|John Balliol]] as a sub-king, but this relationship broke down, leading to an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at total takeover by the English crown. This was famously opposed by [[William Wallace]] and others in the [[Wars of Scottish Independence]], and in the divided country [[Robert I of Scotland|Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick]], became king (as Robert I). War with England continued for several decades, and a civil war between the Bruce dynasty and the English-backed Balliols lasted until the middle of the 14th century. Although the Bruce dynasty was successful, [[David II of Scotland|David II]]'s lack of an heir allowed his nephew [[Robert II of Scotland|Robert II]] to come to the throne and establish the [[Stewart Dynasty]].<ref>For accounts of these events, see Alexander Grant, ''Independences and Nationhood: Scotland, 1306-1469'', (Edinburgh, 1984), pp. 3-57; Michael Brown, ''The Wars of Scotland, 1214-1371'', (Edinburgh, 2004), pp. 157-254; [[G. W. S. Barrow]],  ''Robert Bruce & the Community of the Realm of Scotland'', 4th Edition, (Edinburgh, 2005)</ref> 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 [[Scottish Reformation|Reformation]]. This was despite continual warfare with England, the increasing division between [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]] and [[Scottish Lowlands|Lowlands]], and a large number of royal minorities.<ref>See Alexander Grant, ''Independences and Nationhood: Scotland, 1306-1469'', (Edinburgh, 1984) and Jenny Wormald, ''Court, Kirk and Community'', New Edition, (Edinburgh, 1991).</ref>
 
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===Modern Scotland===
 
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[[Image:North Sea Oil Platforms.jpg|thumb|The discovery of [[North Sea oil]] transformed the Scottish economy in the late 20th century]]
 
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In 1603, [[James VI of Scotland|James VI King of Scots]] inherited the throne of the [[Kingdom of England]], and became also [[King James I of England]]. 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 [[Presbyterian church governance|church government]]. After the [[Glorious Revolution]] and the overthrow of the [[Roman Catholic]] [[James VII of Scotland|James VII]] by [[William and Mary]], Scotland briefly threatened to select a different [[Protestant]] monarch from England. In 1707, however, following English threats to end [[trade]] and free movement across the border, the [[Parliament of Scotland|Scots Parliament]] and the [[Parliament of England]] enacted the twin [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]], which created the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]].
 
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Two major [[Jacobitism|Jacobite risings]] launched from the Highlands of Scotland in 1715 and 1745 failed to remove the [[House of Hanover]] from the [[British throne]]. The deposed [[Jacobites|Jacobite Stuart]] claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly amongst non-[[Presbyterian]]s.
 
  
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Following the [[Scottish Enlightenment]] and the [[Industrial Revolution]], Scotland became one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of [[Europe]]. After [[World War II]], Scotland experienced an industrial decline which was particularly acute. Only in recent decades has the country enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance. Factors which have contributed to this recovery include a resurgent [[financial services]] and [[Electronics industry|electronics]] sector (see [[Silicon Glen]]), the proceeds of [[North Sea oil]] and [[gas]], and latterly the [[devolved]] [[Scottish Parliament]], established by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|UK government]] under the [[Scotland Act 1998]].
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Scotland has some 2,300 miles of coastline, including numerous estuaries called ''firths'' and sea lochs. Major rivers include the Spey, Tweed, Clyde, and Forth with the Tay being Scotland's longest river. Lakes, called ''lochs'' in the region, are abundant, with the name applied both to freshwater lakes and to sea inlets; Lochs Lomond, Morar, and Ness are the largest in the British Isles and well known for their picturesque beauty, with [[Loch Ness]] having additional fame as the home of a [[Loch Ness Monster|legendary monster]].
  
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==Politics==
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==People==
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{{main|Politics of Scotland|Scottish Parliament}}
 
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[[Image:Scottish royal coat of arms.png||float|thumb|150px|The [[Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom for use in Scotland|Royal Arms]] of [[Elizabeth of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] in Scotland. A version without the helm is used by the [[Scottish Executive]]]]
 
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[[Image:Jack McConnell.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Jack McConnell]] [[Member of the Scottish Parliament|MSP]] has been the [[First Minister of Scotland]] since November [[2001]]]]
 
  
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As one of the [[constituent countries]] of the United Kingdom, the [[head of state]] in Scotland is the [[British monarch]], currently [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] (since 1952). Constitutionally the United Kingdom is a [[unitary state]] with one sovereign parliament and government. Under a system of [[devolution]] (or [[home rule]]) Scotland was granted limited [[self-government]] after a [[Scottish devolution referendum, 1997|referendum on devolution proposals in 1997]]. The British Parliament in Westminster retains the ability to amend, change, broaden or abolish the devolved government system at will. As such the Scottish Parliament is not [[Sovereignty|sovereign]].
 
  
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[[Executive power]] in the United Kingdom is vested in the [[Queen-in-Council]], while legislative power is vested in the [[Queen-in-Parliament]] (the Crown and the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] at [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]] in [[London]]). Under devolution executive and legislative powers in certain areas have been constitutionally delegated to the [[Scottish Executive]] and the Scottish Parliament at [[Holyrood]] in [[Edinburgh]] respectively. The United Kingdom Parliament retains active power over Scotland's [[UK tax system|tax]]es, [[UK social security|social security]] system, the [[UK military|military]], [[UK international relations|international relations]], [[UK broadcasting|broadcasting]], and some other areas explicitly specified in the [[Scotland Act 1998]] as [[reserved matters]]. The Scottish Parliament has [[legislative]] authority for all other areas relating to Scotland, and has limited power to vary [[income tax]] - also known as [[tartan tax]] - but has never exercised this power. The Scottish Parliament can refer devolved matters back to Westminster to be considered as part of United Kingdom-wide legislation by passing a [[Legislative Consent Motion]] if United Kingdom-wide legislation is considered to be more appropriate for certain issues. 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 is the first country in the UK to ban smoking in public places.<ref>BBC Scotland News Online "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4845260.stm Scotland begins pub smoking ban]", ''BBC Scotland News'', 2006-03-26. Retrieved on [[2006-07-17]]. (in English)</ref>
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====Religion====
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* see [[Church of Scotland]]
  
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The Scottish Parliament is a [[unicameral]] [[legislature]] comprising 129 [[Members of the Scottish Parliament|Members]], 73 of whom represent individual [[Scottish Parliament constituencies|constituencies]] and are elected on a [[first past the post]] system; 56 are elected in eight different electoral regions by the [[additional member system (Scottish Parliament)|additional member system]], first elected on the 6 May 1999 and serving for a four year period. The Queen appoints one of the members of the Parliament, on the nomination of the Parliament, to be [[First Minister of Scotland|First Minister]]. Other Ministers are also appointed by the Queen on the nomination of the Parliament and together with the First Minister they make up [[Scottish Executive]], the [[Executive (government)|executive]] arm of [[government]]. The current (since 2001) First Minister is [[Jack McConnell]] of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], who forms the government on a [[coalition]] basis with the [[Liberal Democrats]], the leader of whom is the Deputy First Minister, currently [[Nicol Stephen]]. The main [[Opposition (politics)|opposition]] party is the [[Scottish National Party]], which campaigns for [[Scottish independence]]. Other parties include the [[Conservative and Unionist Party]], the [[Scottish Green Party]], the [[Scottish Socialist Party]] and [[Solidarity (Scotland)|Solidarity]].
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Scotland is historically [[Christianity|Christian]]; the national [[church]] is the [[Church of Scotland]].  
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[[Image:Scotparialmentinside.jpg|float|left|thumb|The debating chamber of the [[Scottish Parliament Building]] contains a shallow horseshoe of seating for the Members of the Scottish Parliament]]
 
  
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Scotland is represented in the [[British House of Commons]] by 59 [[Member of Parliament|MPs]] elected from territory-based [[List of UK Parliamentary constituencies in Scotland|Scottish constituencies]]. The [[Scotland Office]], a department of the United Kingdom government led by [[The Secretary of State for Scotland]], is responsible for reserved matters. The Secretary of State for Scotland sits in the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom]] and prior to devolution headed the system of government in Scotland. The current Secretary of State for Scotland is [[Douglas Alexander]]. Until 1999, [[Peerage of Scotland|Scottish peers]] were entitled to sit in the [[House of Lords]].
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Scotland was a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] nation until the time of the [[Reformation]], when [[John Knox]] (1510-1572), George Wishart(1513-46) and other scholars returned from their travels in Germany excited by the works of [[John Calvin]] and to a lesser extent [[Martin Luther]].  
  
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Political debate in Scotland has revolved around the constitution and this dominated the Scottish political scene in the latter half of the 20th century. Under the pressure of growing support for [[Scottish independence]] all three UK-wide parties advocated a policy of [[devolution]] to some degree during their history (although Labour and the Conservatives have also at times opposed it). Now that devolution has occurred, debate continues over whether the Scottish Parliament should accrue additional powers (for example over [[fiscal policy]]), or seek to obtain full [[independence]] with full sovereign powers (either through independence, a federal United Kingdom or a confederal arrangement). It remains to be seen whether the current devolution system satisfies Scottish demands for self-government or will strengthen demands for full independence.
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Many of the lords became Protestant and in 1560, the Scottish Parliament formally rejected Papal jurisdiction. The Protestants ousted the Catholic queen, Mary Stuart ('Mary, Queen of Scots') and replaced her with her son, [[James VI]] (later to become [[James I]] of England).  
  
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==Law==
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Scotland became overwhelmingly [[Protestantism|Protestant]] with Catholicism surviving only in the remote and sparsely populated Highlands. About a third of the [[Presbyterian]]s split off in the "Disruption of 1843" to form the Free Church of Scotland.  After various other splits most of the Free Church reunited with the Church of Scotland in 1929. The Church of Scotland had about 960,000 adult members in 1980 but only 600,000 in 2006.
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{{main|Scots law}}
 
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[[Image:Parliament House, Edinburgh.JPG|thumb|[[Parliament House, Edinburgh|Parliament House]] in Edinburgh is home to the [[High Court of Justiciary]] and the [[Court of Session]] which are the supreme courts of Scotland]]
 
  
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[[Scots law]] has a basis derived from [[Roman law]] combining features of both uncodified [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]], dating back to the [[Corpus Juris Civilis]], and [[common law]] with [[mediaeval]] sources. The terms of the [[Acts of Union 1707|Treaty of Union]] with [[England]] in 1707, guaranteed the continued existence of a separate legal system in Scotland from that of [[English law|England and Wales]]. Prior to 1611, there were several regional law systems in Scotland, most notably [[Udal Law]] in [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland]] &mdash; based on [[Old Norse]] Law. Various other systems derived from common [[Celt]]ic or [[Brehon Laws]] survived in the Highlands until the 1800s.
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From the mid 19th century until the inter war period, there were large scale immigrations of [[Ireland|Irish]] Catholics to Scotland's industrial urban centres and this changed the religious demography. Today there are a similar number of communicants of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland although both religions have suffered considerable declines in church going attendances. The Anglican (Episcopalian) Church is predominant in the north-east. Recent immigration has produced significant populations of [[Islam|Muslims]], [[Hinduism|Hindus]], [[Judaism|Jews]] and [[Sikhism|Sikhs]] in Scotland's major cities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee).
  
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Scots law provides for three types of [[Courts of Scotland|courts]] responsible for the administration of [[justice]] in Scotland: [[Private law|civil]], [[criminal law|criminal]] and [[heraldry|heraldic]]. The supreme civil court is the [[Court of Session]], although civil appeals can be taken to the House of Lords in London. The [[High Court of Justiciary]] is the supreme criminal court. Both courts are housed at [[Parliament House, Edinburgh]] which was the home of the pre-Union [[Parliament of Scotland]]. The [[sheriff court]] is the main criminal and civil court. There are 49 sheriff courts throughout the country.<ref>[http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/locations/index.asp Scottish Court Information] www.scotcourts.gov.uk </ref> [[District court]]s were introduced in 1975 for minor offences. The [[Court of the Lord Lyon]] regulates heraldry in Scotland.
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====Culture and sports====
  
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Scots law is also unique in that it allows three verdicts in criminal cases including the controversial '[[not proven]]' verdict.<ref name="Parliament of Victoria, Australia">{{cite web | title = Jury Service in Victoria, Chapter 6| work = This three verdict system is unique to Scotland and has existed there for around 300 years| url = http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lawreform/jury/jury4/chap6.html#Heading45 | accessdate = September 13 | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref><ref name="The Journal Online">{{cite web | title = Law Society of Scotland| work = England may adopt "Not Proven" Verdict| url = http://www.journalonline.co.uk/news/1002964.aspx | accessdate = September 13 | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref>
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Scotland has given the English speaking world many of the language's finest writers, poets and philosophers. Among these are Adam Smith, David Hume, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Frances Hutcheson, James Hogg, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, J.M Barrie and Hugh MacDiarmid. The Scottish intellectual and cultural tradition can be traced back to the Scottish Enlightenment, a remarkable period in the 18th century characterized by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. Indeed, it was Voltaire who said "we look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilization." Scotland is also famous for its disproportionate amount of inventors and scientists such as Alexander Graham Bell (telephone), Lord Kelvin (the Kelvin si unit of temperature), James Watt (condensed steam power), John Napier (logarithms and the decimal point), Joseph Lister (pioneer of antiseptics), Alexander Fleming (penicillin) James Clark Maxwell (electro-magnetism), Robert Watson Watt (radar) and John Logie Baird (television). It is home to ancient world class universities including the three Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews and being one of the first industrialized and urbanized nations in the world.
  
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==Administrative subdivisions==
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Above all else the national preoccupation is [[football (soccer)]]. Other popular pastimes include [[Rugby (sport)|rugby]], [[lawn bowls]], [[motorsports]], [[horseracing]], [[shinty]],  [[curling]], sports of the [[Highland Games]] - such as tossing the [[caber]]- and, of course, [[golf]]. Scotland is the home of golf. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at [[St Andrews]] is the governing body of world golf.
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{{main|Subdivisions of Scotland}}
 
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[[Image:Wfm glasgow cityhall.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Glasgow City Chambers|City Chambers]] in [[George Square]], [[Glasgow]]]]
 
  
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Historical subdivisions of Scotland include the [[mormaerdom]], [[Stewartries|stewartry]], [[earldom]], [[burgh]], [[parish]], [[Counties of Scotland|county]] and [[Regions and districts of Scotland|regions and districts]]. The names of these areas are still sometimes used as geographical descriptors.
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Other things associated with the country are [[kilt]]s ([[tartan]] skirt-like garments worn traditionally worn by Scotsmen), and the haunting music of the [[bagpipes]]. Scottish soldiers wore the kilt in battle up to the First World War and the pipes have signalled attacks by Scottish armies from mediaeval times. Famously, Brigadier Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, led a commando attack on [[Pegasus Bridge]] during the [[D-Day]] invasion of France accompanied by his piper Bill Millin, an event commemorated in the film ''[[The Longest Day]]''. Famous Scottish products include [[haggis]] and Scotch [[whisky]].
  
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Modern Scotland is subdivided in various ways depending on the purpose. For [[Local government of Scotland|local government]], 32 [[council areas]] were set up in 1996,<ref>[[Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994]]</ref> which are administered by [[unitary authorities]] responsible for the provision of all local government services. [[Community council]]s are informal organisations that represent specific sub-divisions of a council area.
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==Government==
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Scotland has its own [[Scottish Parliament|Parliament]] comprising 129 members (MSPs) as well as sending 59 Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent its interests in the [[United Kingdom]] parliament which sits in [[London]]. Scottish MPs have historically been recognized for their political skills and appointed to the Cabinet in larger numbers than is proportionate; former Prime Ministers [[Gordon Brown]] and [[Tony Blair]] were born in Scotland.
  
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For the Scottish Parliament, there are 73 [[Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions|constituencies]]. For the Parliament of the United Kingdom there are 59 [[list of UK Parliamentary constituencies in Scotland|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.
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The '''Scottish Government''' is the government in Scotland for devolved matters. Responsibility for all devolved matters was passed to the Scottish Executive from the
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'''Scottish Office''' and other UK Government departments in 1999. The members of the Scottish Government are chosen from the party or parties holding most seats in the Parliament. The Scottish Government is led by the First Minister, who forms a ministerial team of Cabinet Secretaries. In the election on May 5, 2011, the [[Scottish National Party]] won a majority, a remarkable achievement given that the Scottish electoral system is intended to produce coalition governments.
  
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[[City status in the United Kingdom]] is determined by [[letters patent]].<ref>http://www.dca.gov.uk/constitution/city/cityhome.htm</ref> There are six cities in Scotland: [[Aberdeen]], [[Dundee]], [[Edinburgh]], [[Glasgow]], and more recently [[Inverness]], and [[Stirling]].
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===Principal Government Officials===
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{{Scottish Parliament}}
 
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{{Scotland subdivisions}}
 
  
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==Geography & Natural History==
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The Government of Scotland has a number of departments within the cabinet, headed up by a cabinet secretary, as follows:
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[[image:Scotland_map.png|thumb|Map of Scotland]]
 
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{{main|Geography of Scotland}}
 
  
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Scotland comprises the northern third of the island of [[Great Britain]], which lies off the coast of north west [[Europe]]. The total land mass is 78,772 [[square kilometres|km²]] (30,414 [[square mile|mi²]]).<ref name=Whitaker>''Whitaker's Almanack'' (1991) London. J. Whitaker and Sons.</ref> Scotland's only land border is with [[England]], and runs for 96 [[kilometres]] (60 [[mile]]s) between 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 30 kilometres (20 mi) from the south western peninsula of [[Kintyre]], [[Norway]] is 400 kilometres (250 mi) to the north east, and the [[Faroes]] and [[Iceland]] are to the north. The geographical [[centre of Scotland]] lies a few miles from the village of [[Newtonmore]] in [[Badenoch]], far to the north of the modern population heartlands.<ref>See [http://www.highlandhostel.co.uk/wherearewe.htm http://www.highlandhostel.co.uk].</ref>
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[[Nicola Sturgeon]] - First Minister<br />
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John Swinney - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills<br />
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Derek Mackay - Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth<br />
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Mike Russell - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning<br />
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Kenny MacAskill - Cabinet Secretary for Justice<br />
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Richard Lochhead - Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment<br />
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Bruce Crawford - Cabinet Secretary for Parliament and Government Strategy <br />
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Fiona Hyslop - Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs <br />
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Alex Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment <br />
  
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The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the [[1237]] [[Treaty of York]] between Scotland and [[England]]<ref>National Archives. [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/utk/scotland/conquered.htm] Retrieved 21.11.06</ref> and the [[1266 Treaty of Perth]] between Scotland and [[Norway]].<ref> Mackie, J.D. (1969) ''A History of Scotland''. London. Penguin.</ref> Exceptions include: the [[Isle of Man]], which is now a [[crown dependency]] outside the United Kingdom, the 15th century acquisitions of Orkney and Shetland from [[Norway]];<ref name=Whitaker/> and [[Rockall]], a small rocky islet in the North Atlantic which was annexed by the UK in 1955 and later declared part of Scotland by the [[Island of Rockall Act 1972]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/21/newsid_4582000/4582327.stm "In 1972 the Isle of Rockall Act was passed, which made the rock officially part of Inverness-shire, Scotland."], [[bbc.co.uk]]</ref><ref>[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199798/ldhansrd/vo970624/text/70624-02.htm House of Lords Hansard, June 24 1997]</ref> However, the legality of the claim is disputed by the [[Republic of Ireland]], [[Denmark]] and [[Iceland]] and it is probably unenforceable in international law.<ref>[http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0268/D.0268.197311010090.html Oral Questions] to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the [[Dáil Éireann]], [[November 1]] [[1973]] Retrieved 17.01.2007.</ref><ref>MacDonald, Fraser (2006) ''The last outpost of Empire: Rockall and the Cold War''. Journal of Historical Geography 32. P627-647. [http://www.sages.unimelb.edu.au/staff/macdonald.html available in pdf]</ref>
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These secretaries are aided in their work by ministers, working within the cabinet departments, and each having their own specific area of devolved responsibility.<ref>http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/Scottish-Cabinet</ref>
  
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===Geology & Geomorphology===
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===Relations with England===
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{{main|Geology of Scotland}}
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Relationships between Scottish and English MPs before [[devolution]] were sometimes tense because of what the former [[Conservative|Conservative Party]] MP, by then an [[Ulster Unionist]], [[Enoch Powell]] dubbed ''The West Lothian question''. The name arose in 1977 after [[Tam Dalyell]], Labour MP for West Lothian in Scotland, asked during a debate in the [[Houses of Parliament]] over Scottish and Welsh [[devolution]]:
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The whole of Scotland was covered by ice sheets during the [[Pleistocene]] [[ice ages]] and the landscape is much affected by [[glaciation]]. From a [[geology|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 [[Isle of Arran|Arran]] to [[Stonehaven]]. This part of Scotland largely comprises ancient rocks from the [[Cambrian]] and [[Precambrian]] which were uplifted during the later [[Caledonian Orogeny]]. These foundations are interspersed with many [[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 Sandstone]]s found principally along the [[Moray Firth]] coast. The [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]] are generally mountainous and are bisected by the [[Great Glen]]. The highest elevations in the [[British Isles]] are found here, including [[Ben Nevis]], the highest peak at 1,344 [[metres]] (4,409 [[Foot (unit of length)|ft]]). Scotland has over 790 islands, divided into four main groups: [[Shetland Islands|Shetland]], [[Orkney Islands|Orkney]], and the [[Hebrides]], sub-divided into the [[Inner Hebrides]] and [[Outer Hebrides]]. There are numerous bodies of [[freshwater]] including [[Loch Lomond]] and [[Loch Ness]].
 
  
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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 [[vulcanism]], [[Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh|Arthur’s Seat]] in [[Edinburgh]] being the remnant of a once much larger [[volcano]] active in the [[Carboniferous]] period some 300 million years ago. Also known as the Midland Valley, this area is relatively low-lying, although even here hills such as the [[Ochil Hills|Ochils]] and [[Campsie Fells]] are rarely far from view.
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<blockquote>''For how long will English constituencies and English Honourable members tolerate... at least 119 Honorable Members from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland exercising an important, and probably often decisive, effect on British politics while they themselves have no say in the same matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?''</blockquote>
  
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The Southern Uplands are a range of hills almost 200&nbsp;km (125 miles) long, interspersed with broad valleys. They lie south of a second fault line running from [[Stranraer]] towards [[Dunbar]]. The geological foundations largely comprise [[Silurian]] deposits laid down some 4-500 million years ago.<ref name=Keay>Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) ''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland''. London. HarperCollins.</ref><ref>Murray, W.H. (1973) ''The Islands of Western Scotland''. London. Eyre Methuen</ref><ref>Murray, W.H. (1977) ''The Companion Guide to the West Highlands of Scotland''. London. Collins.</ref>
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He pointed out that he as MP for West Lothian could vote on matters affecting English constituencies but not his own constituency.
  
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===Climate===
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On January 10, 2012, [[Alex Salmond]], First Minister of Scotland and [[Michael Moore]], British Secretary of State for Scotland agreed on an independence referendum in the autumn of 2014. According to Alex Salmond, it would be Scotland’s “most important decision for 300 years.” <ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/world/europe/scotland-plans-independence-vote.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=scotland&st=cse</ref>
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{{main|Climate of Scotland}}
 
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[[Image:BenNevis2005.jpg|thumb|[[Ben Nevis]], the highest peak in the [[British Isles]], is in [[Lochaber]], the wettest district in the British Isles]]
 
  
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The [[climate]] of Scotland is [[temperate]] and [[Oceanic climate|oceanic]], and tends to be very changeable. It is warmed by the [[Gulf Stream]] from the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]], and as such has much milder winters (but cooler, wetter summers) than areas on similar latitudes, for example [[Oslo]] or [[Moscow]]. However, temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK, with the coldest ever UK temperature of -27.2°[[Celsius|C]] (-16.96°[[Fahrenheit|F]]) recorded at [[Braemar]] in the [[Grampian Mountains (Scotland)|Grampian Mountains]], on [[11 February]] [[1895]] and [[10 January]] [[1982]] and also at [[Altnaharra]], [[Highland]], on [[30 December]] [[1995]].<ref>BBC Weather Features UK Records [http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/uk_records.shtml UK Records]</ref> Winter maximums average 6°C (42.8°F) in the lowlands, with summer maximums averaging 18°C (64.4°F). The highest temperature recorded was 32.9°C (91.22°F) at [[Greycrook]], [[Scottish Borders]] on [[9 August]] [[2003]].<ref name="Met Office UK">{{cite web | title = Met Office| work = Met Office - Details for Scotland| url = http://www.met-office.gov.uk/climate/uk/location/scotland/index.html | accessdate = September 14 | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref>
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===Lockerbie bombing===
  
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In general, the west of Scotland is usually warmer than the east, due to the influence of the 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 300 days of sunshine in 1975. Rainfall varies widely across Scotland. The western highlands of Scotland are the wettest place, with annual rainfall exceeding 3,000&nbsp;[[Millimetre|mm]] (120 [[inch]]es).<ref name="Met Office UK"/> In comparison, much of lowland Scotland receives less than 800&nbsp;mm (31 inches) annually.<ref name="Met Office UK"/> Heavy snowfall is not common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude. [[Braemar]] experiences an average of 59 snow days per year,<ref> BBC Weather features [http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/scotland_01.shtml Scottish Weather Part One]</ref> while coastal areas have an average of fewer than 10 days.<ref name="Met Office UK"/>
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The Government of Scotland has recently come under global scrutiny for its decision, led by Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahl, the only man convicted of the terrorist attack leading to the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over [[Lockerbie]], Scotland in 1988. He had served only 8 years of his term when he was released on grounds of compassion because he had terminal cancer, as required by Scots Law. A majority of the victims were American, and this decision received strong criticism from many Americans as well as the FBI Director Robert Mueller.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/22/fbi-director-slams-scotland-lockerbie-bomber-release/</ref> The original conviction of al-Magrahi was controversial, however, both within Scotland and in the UK in general because the evidence leading to his conviction was extremely flimsy and it has been alleged that the key witness had been paid for giving his evidence by the [[Clinton]] administration or [[Blair]] government.<ref>http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=in_the_back&article=122</ref>
  
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===Flora and Fauna===
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Libyan ruler Qaddafi profusely thanked British officials, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, for helping secure the release of the terrorist back to Libya. British Prime Minister Brown replied with a confusing set of denials, a disapproval of the hero's welcome that the terrorist received upon return to Libya, and a partial release of voluminous communications leading up to the release.<ref>https://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14376240</ref>
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{{main|Fauna of Scotland}}
 
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Scotland's wildlife is typical of the north west of [[Europe]] although several of the larger mammals such as the [[European Brown Bear|Brown Bear]], [[Eurasian wolf|Wolf]], [[Eurasian Lynx]], [[European Beaver|Beaver]], [[Reindeer]], [[Elk]] and [[Walrus]] were hunted to extinction in historic times. A population of [[Wild Cat]]s remains.<ref>Matthews, L.H. (1968) ''British Mammals''. London. Bloomsbury.</ref> There are important populations of [[pinniped|seals]] and internationally significant nesting grounds for a variety of [[seabird]]s such as [[Northern Gannet]]s.<ref> Fraser Darling, F. & Boyd, J.M. (1969) ''Natural History in the Highlands and Islands.'' London. Bloomsbury.</ref> The [[Golden Eagle]] is something of a national icon, and [[White-tailed Eagle]]s and [[Osprey]]s are recent re-colonisations. The [[Scottish Crossbill]] is Britain's only endemic bird.<ref>Gooders, J. (1994) ''Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland''. London. Kingfisher.</ref> The flora of the country is varied incorporating both [[deciduous]] and [[coniferous]] woodlands, and [[moorland]] and [[tundra]] species. Significant remnants of the native [[Scots Pine]] forest, can be found in places.<ref>Preston, C.D., Pearman, D.A., & Dines, T.D. (2002) ''New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora''. Oxford University Press.</ref>
 
  
 
==Economy==
 
==Economy==
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{{main|Economy of Scotland}}
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Scotland's position at the forefront of the industrial revolution in the 19th century bequeathed a legacy of heavy engineering and manufacturing that lasted well into the 20th century. However, with de-industrialisation from the 1970s onwards and latterly the relocation of manufacturing jobs to countries with lower labour costs (e.g. Eastern Europe) the Scottish economy is now heavily dependant on tourism, the oil industry, agriculture, the service industry and public sector jobs.
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[[Image:Scottish Bank Notes.JPG|float|left|thumb|200px|Scottish ten pound notes feature historical figures such as [[Sir Walter Scott]], [[Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll|the Duke of Argyll]] and [[Mary Slessor]]]]
 
  
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Scotland has a highly developed western style [[Open economy|open]] [[mixed economy]] which is closely linked with that of the rest of Europe and the wider world. Traditionally, the Scottish economy has been dominated by [[heavy industry]] underpinned by the [[shipbuilding]], [[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 [[services]] orientated 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,<ref name=Milner>{{cite news
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==History==
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|author = Milner M. and Treanor J.
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* see [[History of Scotland]]
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|url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/Scotland/Story/0,,205573,00.html
 
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|title = Devolution may broaden financial sector's view
 
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|publisher = The Guardian
 
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|pages =
 
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|page =
 
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|date = 1999-06-02
 
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|accessdate = 2006-08-08
 
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|language = English
 
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}}</ref> with many large finance firms based there, including: the [[Royal Bank of Scotland]] (the second largest bank in Europe); [[HBOS plc|HBOS]] (owners of the [[Bank of Scotland]]);  and [[Standard Life]].
 
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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.<ref name="Trade">{{cite web |url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/933/0020661.pdf |title=Global Connections Survey |publisher=Scottish Executive |accessdate=2006-12-03}}</ref> Scotland's primary exports include [[whisky]], electronics and financial services. The [[United States]], [[The Netherlands]], [[Germany]], [[France]] and [[Spain]] constitute the country's major export markets.<ref name="Trade"/> In 2002, the [[Gross Domestic Product]] (GDP) of Scotland was just over £74 billion ($130 billion), giving a per capita GDP of £14,651 ($25,546).<ref name=GDP>{{cite web
 
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|author = The Scottish Executive
 
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|url = http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/ses/ses-00m.asp
 
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|title = Scottish Economic Statistics
 
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|publisher = The Scottish Executive
 
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|date = 2006
 
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|accessdate = 2006-08-08
 
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}}</ref> As of 2006, the [[unemployment]] rate in Scotland stood at 5.1% - marginally above the UK average, but lower than in the majority of EU countries.<ref name="Unemployment">{{cite web |url=http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=216&id=398592006 |title=Unemployment in Scotland lowest since records began |publisher=The Scotsman |accessdate=2006-12-04}}</ref>
 
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Although the [[Bank of England]] is the [[central bank]] for the UK, three Scottish [[clearing banks]] still issue their own [[Pound sterling|Sterling]] [[banknote]]s: the [[Bank of Scotland]]; the [[Royal Bank of Scotland]]; and the [[Clydesdale Bank]]. These notes have no status as [[legal tender]] anywhere in the United Kingdom, although they are fungible with the Bank of England banknotes.<ref name="Banknotes">{{cite web |url=http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/notes.htm |title=History of Scottish Banknotes |publisher=Scottish Clearing Banks |accessdate=2006-12-04}}</ref> Despite this, Scottish-issued notes are often refused in England and they are not always accepted by banks and exchange bureaus outside the UK. The Royal Bank of Scotland still produces a £1 note, unique among British banks.<ref name="BanknoteDesign">{{cite web |url=http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/design_rbos.htm |title=Banknote Design |publisher=Scottish Clearing Banks |accessdate=2006-12-04}}</ref> The current value of the Scottish banknotes in circulation is £1.5 billion.<ref name="Banknotes"/>
 
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{{details|British banknotes}}
 
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==Demographics==
 
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{{main|Demographics of Scotland}}
 
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{{seealso|Language in Scotland|Religion in Scotland}}
 
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[[Image:St Andrews Cathedral Ruins Front.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The ruins of [[St Andrew's Cathedral, St Andrews|St Andrew's Cathedral]] in [[Fife]]]]
 
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The population of Scotland in the 2001 census was 5,062,011. This has risen to 5,094,800 according to July 2005 estimates.<ref>[http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/2006-news/scotlands-population-rises-for-third-year-in-a-row.html Scotland's Population rises for the third year in a row.] General Register Office for Scotland April 2006</ref> This would make Scotland the 112th largest [[List of countries by population|country by population]] if it were a [[Sovereignty|sovereign]] [[state]]. Although [[Edinburgh]] is the capital of Scotland it is not the largest [[City status in the United Kingdom|city]]. With a population of 629,501, this honour falls to [[Glasgow]]. Indeed, the [[Greater Glasgow]] conurbation, with a population of up to 2.2 million, is home to almost half of Scotland's population.<ref>Strathclyde Passenger Transport [http://www.spt.co.uk/publications/SPTS2000/SPTS1.pdf#search=%22population%20of%20greater%20glasgow%20conurbation%202.2%20million%22]</ref><ref>TalentScotland, Scottish Enterprise [http://www.talentscotland.com/view_item.aspx?item_id=2028]</ref>
 
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The [[Central Lowlands|Central Belt]] is where most of the main towns and cities are located. Glasgow is to the west whilst the other three main cities of [[Edinburgh]], [[Dundee]] and [[Aberdeen]] lie on the east coast. 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.<ref>Clapperton, C.M. (ed) (1983) ''Scotland: A New Study''. London. David & Charles.</ref><ref>Miller, J. (2004) ''Inverness''. Edinburgh. Birlinn.</ref>
 
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Due to immigration since [[World War II]], Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee have significant ethnically Asian populations.<ref>Urdustan. net 2004 [http://www.urdustan.net/2004/11/scotland-speaks-urdu.html Scotland speaks Urdu]</ref> Since the recent [[Enlargement of the European Union]] there has been an increased number of people from [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]] moving to Scotland, and it is estimated that between 40,000 and 50,000 [[Poles]] are now in living in the country.<ref>''The Pole Position'' (August 6, 2005). Glasgow. Sunday Herald newspaper.</ref> As of [[2001]], there are 16,315 [[Overseas Chinese|ethnic Chinese]] residents in Scotland.<ref>Scottish Executive, Statistics [http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/02/18876/32939]</ref>
 
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Scotland has three officially recognised<!-- The s in recognised is the correct English English spelling. It is not spelt with a Z --> languages: [[English language|English]], [[Scots language|Scots]] and [[Scottish Gaelic language|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 language|Scots]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/census/censushm/censcr02/census-user-needs-and-legislation/cenrep10.html | title = Scotland's Census 2001, Part 1: Census User Needs and Legislation | publisher = General Register Office for Scotland }}</ref>  Gaelic is mostly spoken in the [[Western Isles]], where a majority of people still speak it, however nationally its use is confined to just 1% of the population.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/SESLL/STELLA/STARN/lang/GAELIC/focus.htm | title = A Century on the Census - Gaelic in Twentieth Century Focus | author = Dr. Kenneth MacKinnon | publisher = [[University of Glasgow]] }}</ref>
 
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The [[Church of Scotland]], also sometimes popularly known as The [[Kirk]], is the [[national church]] and has a [[Presbyterian]] system of church government. Other [[Christian]] denominations in Scotland include the [[Free Church of Scotland]], the [[Scottish Episcopal Church]], and [[Roman Catholic Church in Scotland|Roman Catholicism]]. The latter survived the [[Reformation]], on islands like [[Uist]] and [[Barra]], and was strengthened, particularly in the west of Scotland, during the 19th century by [[immigration]] from [[Ireland]]. [[Islam]] is the largest non-Christian [[religion]] in Scotland (estimated population, 50,000).<ref name="GROSCOT">{{cite web | url = http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/news2005/analysis-of-religion-in-the-2001-census.html | title = General Register Office for Scotland 2001 Census analysis }}</ref> There are also significant [[History of the Jews in Scotland|Jewish]] and [[Sikh]] communities, especially in Glasgow. 28% of the population regard themselves as belonging to 'no religion'.<ref name="GROSCOT"/>
 
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==Military==
 
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{{main|Military of Scotland}}
 
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[[Image:Vanguard class image.jpg|thumb|250|''[[Vanguard class submarine|Vanguard]]'' class submarines of the [[Royal Navy]], which carry the UK's nuclear deterrent, are based in Scotland]]
 
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Although Scotland has a long military tradition that predates the [[Acts of Union 1707|Act of Union]] with England, its [[armed force]]s now form part of the [[British Armed Forces]]. In 2006, the [[regiments]] of the [[Scottish Division]] were amalgamated to form the [[Royal Regiment of Scotland]].
 
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Due to 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 submarine]]s. Today, [[List of fleet bases of the Royal Navy|Her Majesty's Naval Base]] [[HMNB Clyde|Clyde]], 25 miles (40 km) west of Glasgow, is the base for the four [[Trident missiles|Trident]]-armed [[Vanguard class submarine|''Vanguard'' class]] [[ballistic missile submarine]]s that comprise the [[Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom|UK's nuclear deterrent]]. HMS Caledonia at [[Rosyth]] in [[Fife]] is the support base for navy operations in Scotland and also serves as the Naval Regional Office (NRO Scotland and [[Northern Ireland]]). The [[Royal Navy's]] [[Rolls-Royce PWR|submarine nuclear reactor]] development establishment, is located at [[Dounreay]], which was also the site of the UK's [[fast breeder]] [[nuclear reactor]] programme. [[HMS Gannet]] is a search and rescue station based at [[Prestwick Airport]] in [[Ayrshire]] and operates three Sea King Mk 5 helicopters. RM Condor at [[Arbroath]], [[Angus]] is home to 45 [[Commando]], [[Royal Marines]].
 
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Three important [[Royal Air Force]] bases are in Scotland today. These are [[RAF Lossiemouth]], the [[RAF]]'s primary base for the [[Panavia Tornado]] [[Panavia Tornado variants|GR4]] [[strike aircraft]], [[RAF Kinloss]], home to the [[Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod|Nimrod]] maritime patrol aircraft and [[RAF Leuchars]], the most northerly air defence [[Fighter aircraft|fighter]] base in the United Kingdom. The only open air live [[depleted uranium]] weapons test range in the British Isles is located near [[Dundrennan Range|Dundrennan]].<ref>BBC Scotland News Online "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1179662.stm DU shell test-firing resumes]", ''BBC Scotland News'', [[2001-02-21]]. Retrieved on [[2006-09-13]]. (in English)</ref> As a result, over 7000 radioactive munitions lie on the seabed of the [[Solway Firth]].<ref> Parliament of the United Kingdom - Debates 7 February 2001 [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmhansrd/vo010207/debtext/10207-35.htm Depleted Uranium (Shelling)]</ref> This has led to many environmental concerns.<ref name=Mackay>{{cite news |author = Mackay, N and Wilson, A. |url = http://www.sundayherald.com/40306 |title = MOD "lied" over depleted Uranium |publisher = Sunday Herald
 
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|date = |accessdate = |language = English}}</ref> The large number of military bases in Scotland has led some to use the euphemism "Fortress Scotland".<ref> Spaven, Malcolm (1983) ''Fortress Scotland''. London. Pluto Press in association with Scottish CND.</ref>  In 2005, the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|MoD]] land holdings in Scotland (owned, leased or with legal rights) was 115,300 hectares representing 31.5% of the MoD's UK estate.<ref>UK Defence Statistics, 2004 [http://www.dasa.mod.uk/natstats/ukds/2005/c6/table62.html].</ref>
 
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==Education==
 
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{{main|Education in Scotland}}
 
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The [[education]] system in Scotland is distinct from the rest of the United Kingdom and was the first country since [[Sparta]] in [[classical Greece]] to implement a system of general [[public education]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Intro to Scottish Education| work = The Scottish Education Act of 1696 heralded the first National system of education in the World since ancient Sparta| url = http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/17_1.html | accessdate = March 7 | accessyear = 2007 }}</ref> Schooling was made compulsory for the first time in Scotland with the [[Education Act 1496|Education Act of 1496]] since it forced all nobles and [[freehold]]ers to educate their eldest sons in [[Latin]], followed by the Arts, and [[Scots law]]. Then, in 1561, the [[Church of Scotland|Kirk]] 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)|Education Act of 1872]]. As a result, for over two hundred years Scotland had a higher percentage of its population educated at primary, secondary and tertiary levels than any other country in [[Europe]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
 
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Today, children in Scotland sit [[Standard Grade]] exams at the age of 15 or 16, sometimes earlier, for up to eight subjects (although some schools study for nine) including compulsory exams in [[English language|English]], [[mathematics]], a [[foreign language]], a [[science]] subject and a social subject. Each school may vary these compulsory combinations. The school leaving age is 16, after which students may choose to remain at school and study for [[Access exams|Access]], [[Intermediate exams|Intermediate]] or [[Higher Grade]] and [[Advanced Higher (Scottish)|Advanced Higher]] exams. A small number of students at certain private, [[Independent school (UK)|independent schools]] may follow the [[Education in England|English system]] and study towards [[GCSE]]s instead of Standard Grades, and towards [[A-Level|A]] and [[AS-Level]]s instead of Higher Grade and Advanced Higher exams.
 
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The [[Scottish Funding Council]] funds over forty [[List of further and higher education colleges in Scotland|further and higher education college]]s where students can study for more [[vocational]] qualifications; [[Academic degree|degree]]-entry qualifications such as [[diploma]]s; and specialist courses in [[the arts]] or [[agriculture]]. Scotland has 13 [[List of universities in Scotland|universities]] and one [[university college]]. This includes the [[Ancient universities of Scotland|four ancient universities]] of [[University of Aberdeen|Aberdeen]], [[University of Edinburgh|Edinburgh]], [[University of Glasgow|Glasgow]] and [[University of St Andrews|St Andrews]] which were founded during the [[mediaeval]] period. [[Bachelor's degree]]s at Scottish universities are bestowed after four years of study, some conferred by the ancient universities being confusingly known as Masters of Arts (MA), with the option to graduate with an [[ordinary degree]] after three years or continue with the fourth year of study to obtain an [[honours degree]]. Unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, Scottish students studying at a Scottish university do not have to pay for tuition fees. The [[Students Awards Agency for Scotland]] (SAAS) pay course fees for all Scottish students domiciled in Scotland and offer bursaries to eligible students. Scottish students have the option of accepting a loan from the [[Student Loans Company]] (SLC), and if eligible, this is paid back after graduation. Scottish students studying outside of Scotland but within the UK have to pay for tuition, but at a reduced rate depending upon how much their chosen institution charges. All Scottish universities attract a high percentage of overseas students, and many have links with overseas institutions.
 
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==Culture==
 
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{{main|Culture of Scotland}}
 
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{{seealso|Music in Scotland|Scottish Literature|Media in Scotland|Cuisine of Scotland|Sport in Scotland}}
 
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[[Image:Bagpipe performer.jpg|thumb|left|150px|A piper playing the [[Great Highland Bagpipe]]]]
 
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Over the course of many centuries, an amalgamation of various traditions has moulded the culture of Scotland. There is a robust arts scene, with both music and literature heavily influenced by Scottish sources and a variety of national media outlets. Several Scottish sporting traditions are unique to the [[British Isles]], and co-exist with  more popular games such as [[Football (soccer)|Football]] and [[Rugby football|Rugby]].
 
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The [[Scottish music]] scene is a significant aspect of Scottish culture, with both traditional and modern influences. An example of a traditional Scottish instrument is the [[Great Highland Bagpipe]], a [[wind instrument]] consisting of one or more musical pipes which are fed continuously by a reservoir of air in a bag. The [[Clàrsach]], [[Musical styles (violin)#Fiddle|fiddle]] and [[accordion]] are also traditional Scottish instruments, the latter two heavily featured in [[Scottish country dance]] bands. [[Scottish emigrants]] took traditional Scottish music with them and it influenced early local styles such as [[country music]] in [[North America]]. Today, there are many successful Scottish bands and individual artists in varying styles.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.list.co.uk/fiftybandsmain.html | title=Best Scottish Band of All Time | accessdate=2006-08-02}}</ref>
 
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[[Scottish literature]] includes text written in [[English language|English]], [[Scottish Gaelic language|Scottish Gaelic]], [[Scots language|Scots]], [[French language|French]], and [[Latin language|Latin]]. The poet and songwriter [[Robert Burns]] wrote in the [[Scots language]], although much of his writing is also in English and in a "light" Scots dialect which is more accessible to a wider audience. Similarly, the writings of [[Sir Walter Scott]] and [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] were internationally successful during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.<ref name="Scotti">{{cite web | url=
 
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http://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/articles/suny/1997suny-buchenau.html | title='Wizards of the West'? How Americans respond to Sir Walter Scott, the 'Wizard of the North' | author= Barbara Buchenau | publisher=Goettingen University | accessdate=2006-12-11}}</ref> [[J. M. Barrie]] introduced the movement known as the "[[Kailyard school|kailyard tradition]]" at the end of the 19th century, which brought elements of [[fantasy]] and [[folklore]] back into fashion.<ref name="Kailyard">{{cite web | url=http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/sesll/ScotLit/bibliography/4thsection.html | title=Scottish Literature | publisher=University of Glasgow Faculty of Arts | accessdate=2006-12-11}}</ref> This tradition has been viewed as a major stumbling block for Scottish literature, as it focused on an idealised, pastoral picture of Scottish culture.<ref name="Kailyard"/> Some modern novelists, such as [[Irvine Welsh]] (of ''[[Trainspotting (novel)|Trainspotting]]'' fame), write in a distinctly [[Scottish English]] that reflects the harsher realities of contemporary life.<ref name="Dialect">{{cite web | url=http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth120 | title=Contemporary Writers | publisher=British Council | accessdate=2006-12-12}}</ref>
 
  
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The national broadcaster is [[BBC Scotland]] ([[BBC Alba]] in Gaelic), a constituent part of the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]], the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It runs two national [[Scottish television stations|television stations]] and the national radio stations, ''[[BBC Radio Scotland]]'' and ''[[BBC Radio nan Gaidheal]]'' amongst others. The main Scottish commercial television station is [[STV]]. National [[List of Scottish newspapers|newspapers]] such as the [[Daily Record (Scotland)|''Daily Record'']], [[The Herald (Glasgow)|''The Herald'']], and ''[[The Scotsman]]'' are all produced in Scotland.<ref name="Newspapers">{{cite web | url=http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla68/papers/051-127e.pdf | title=Newspapers and National Identity in Scotland | publisher=IFLA University of Stirling | accessdate=2006-12-12}}</ref> Important regional dailies include ''[[The Courier and Advertiser|The Courier]]'' in Dundee in the east, and ''[[Press and Journal (Scotland)|The Press and Journal]]'' serving Aberdeen and the north.<ref name="Newspapers"/>
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Scotland has been inhabited since the first [[Mesolithic]] hunter-gatherers are thought to have migrated to Scotland.<ref>At least 8500 years before recorded history dealt with Britain, according to the uniformitarian timescale. [http://www.scotlandhistory.net/ Scotland History], Wormland, Jenny. Scotland: a History.  2005, Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.1</ref> These inhabitants showed advanced knowledge of astronomy, creating several [[Stonehenge]]-like monuments.
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[[Image:18th Green and Clubhouse.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Old Course at St Andrews]]]]
 
  
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[[Sport in Scotland|Sport]] is an important element in Scottish culture, with the country hosting many of its own national sporting competitions, and enjoying independent representation at many international sporting events such as the [[FIFA World Cup]], the [[Rugby World Cup]] and the [[Commonwealth Games]] (although not the [[Olympic Games]]). Scotland has its own national [[sport governing body|governing bodies]], such as the [[Scottish Football Association]] (the second oldest national football association in the world)<ref>Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. By James Mills, Paul Dimeo: Page 18 - Oldest Football Association is England's FA, then Scotland and third oldest is the Indian FA.</ref> and the [[Scottish Rugby Union]]. Variations of football have been played in Scotland for centuries with the earliest reference being in 1424.<ref name=FIFA>{{cite web | author=Gerhardt, W. | publisher=[[FIFA]] | publishyear= | url=http://www.fifa.com/en/history/history/0,1283,1,00.html | title=The colourful history of a fascinating game. More than 2000 Years of Football | accessdate = August 11 | accessyear = 2006 }}</ref> [[Football in Scotland|Association football]] is now the [[national sport]] and the [[Scottish Cup]] is the world's oldest national trophy.<ref name="Trophy">{{cite web |url=
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At the time of the [[Roman]]s the tribes in what became Scotland were similar to those further south, and can be considered to be [[Celtic]] peoples. Those from the North-East were called ‘Picti’ (Picts) by Roman writers, which could mean ‘painted people' and refer to tattoos. The Romans never subdued these northern tribes, and after a brief period when the Antonine Wall between the Firths of Forth and Clyde was the Roman Empire’s northern frontier, they drew back and had [[Hadrian’s Wall]] as the frontier. They did try to influence the tribes between the two Walls, and when kingdoms like Strathclyde emerged in the early [[Dark Ages]], their rulers often bore Roman names or titles, the dynasties having been founded by Roman officials. The Scots themselves began arriving as settlers in the West of Scotland at this time (AD 400-500).  They were from  a part of the north of [[Ireland]] and spoke Old Irish, which changed to become Scottish [[Gaelic]], and eventually replaced Pictish.  They sometimes warred with the Picts and [[Briton]]s and sometimes allied with them, but a unified kingdom under the Scottish king Kenneth Mac Alpin was established in AD 843, called ‘Alba’ (still the [[Gaelic]] name for Scotland). This kingdom took over Strathclyde in the early 11th century to form the basis of Mediaeval Scotland. [[Normans]] and their descendants such as Robert the Bruce ('de Brus' was a Norman surname) became important nobles in Scotland.
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http://www.scottishcup.org/museum.html |title=Official Site of the Tennents Scottish Cup |publisher=The Tennents Scottish Cup |accessdate=2006-12-10}}</ref> The Fife town of [[St. Andrews]] is known internationally as the ''Home of [[Golf]]''<ref>TALES from PINEHURST: Stories from the Mecca of American Golf. By Robert Hartman: Page 89.</ref> and to many golfers the [[Old Course at St Andrews|Old Course]], an ancient [[Links (golf)|links]] course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage.<ref>Science and Golf IV: proceedings of the World Scientific Congress of Golf. By Eric Thain: Page 849.</ref> There are many other famous golf courses in Scotland, including [[Carnoustie Golf Links|Carnoustie]], [[Gleneagles, Scotland|Gleneagles]], [[Muirfield (Scotland)|Muirfield]] and [[Royal Troon]]. Other distinctive features of the national sporting culture include the [[Highland games]], [[curling]] and [[shinty]]. Scotland played host to the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and 1986.
 
  
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==Transport==
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Scotland had the earliest system of general public education in the world in modern times, dating from 1496. Education was further promoted by the Church of Scotland following the Reformation in 1560, because it was believed important that each person could read the Bible for him or herself in English.
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{{main|Transport in Scotland}}
 
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[[Image:Plane arrival at Barra Airport.jpg|thumb|A [[Loganair]] aircraft at [[Barra Airport]], the only airport in the world where scheduled air services land on a beach runway]]
 
  
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Scotland has four main [[international airports]] ([[Glasgow International Airport|Glasgow]], [[Edinburgh Airport|Edinburgh]], [[Glasgow Prestwick International Airport|Prestwick]] and [[Aberdeen Airport|Aberdeen]]) that serve a wide variety of European and intercontinental routes with scheduled and [[chartered flights]]. [[Highlands and Islands Airports Limited|Highland and Islands Airports]] operate 10 regional airports serving the more remote locations of Scotland.<ref name="HIAL">[http://www.hial.co.uk/ Informational Site of Highlands and Islands Airports]</ref> There is technically no national airline, however various airlines have their base in Scotland including [[Loganair]] (operates as a [[Franchising|franchise]] of [[British Airways]]), [[Flyglobespan]], [[City Star Airlines]], [[Air Scotland]] and [[ScotAirways]].
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====Union with England====
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After the death of Queen [[Elizabeth I]] of England in 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended to the throne of England, becoming [[James I]] of England. This is referred to as the union of the crowns. James was also at this time king of [[Ireland]].
  
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Scotland has a large and expanding rail network, which, following the Railways Act of 2005, is now managed independently from the rest of the UK.<ref name="TRANSSCOT">[http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/defaultpage1221cde0.aspx?pageID=30 Transport Scotland, Official transportation site of the Scottish Executive]</ref> The [[East Coast Main Line|East Coast]] and [[West Coast Main Line|West Coast]] Main Railway lines and the [[Cross Country Route (MR)|Cross Country Line]] connect the major cities and towns of Scotland with the English network. [[First ScotRail]] operate services within Scotland. The [[Scottish Executive]] has pursued a policy of building new railway lines, and reopening closed ones. Operators to English destinations include First ScotRail, [[GNER]] and [[Virgin Trains]].
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The [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688 made parliament supreme, and King [[William III]] neglected Scotland. The social and economic problems of this period were thrown into the lap of the inexperienced Scottish parliament, historically a tool of the crown. The failure of the Darien Scheme to establish a Scottish colony in Panama in 1700 led to a wave of anti-English sentiment. At the same time, the episode exposed Scottish financial weakness and its inability to challenge English dominance effectively. In 1701, the English Parliament passed the Act of Settlement to adjust the rules of royal succession. This act made the ruler of Hanover next in line to the English throne, although he was only distantly related to the British royal family. A law enacted in 1704 provided that the Scottish Parliament would pick a successor to the Scottish throne upon Queen Anne's death. The English feared that the two thrones might pass to rival Jacobite and Hanoverian candidates. The French under [[Louis XIV]] would then back Scotland against England. The English army, led by Marlborough at this time, included many Scottish soldiers. The English Parliament demanded that Scotland agree to union and threatened sanctions in 1705. Scotland capitulated and a joint commission was set up to iron out terms. A customs unions was agreed to, something Scottish business interests had long sought. The two parliaments were merged in 1707. Free trade brought prosperity, but it could not replace the Stuart monarchy in Scottish hearts. In a poem written in 1791, [[Robert Burns]] called those responsible for union "a parcel of rogues" who said "fareweel our ancient glory."
  
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The Scottish [[motorway]]s and major [[trunk roads]] are managed by the Scottish Executive. The rest of the road network is managed by the [[Scottish local authorities]] in each of their areas. The country's busiest motorway is the [[M8 motorway|M8]] which runs from the outskirts of [[Edinburgh]] to central [[Glasgow]], and on to [[Renfrewshire]].
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==== Devolution and failed independence referendum (1999-2014) ====
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In 1997, Scotland voted in favour of establishing its own devolved parliament. The [[Scottish Parliament]], with powers relating to economics, education, healthcare, justice, rural affairs, housing, environment, equal opportunities, consumer advocacy and advice, transport and taxation devolved from Westminster, was established in May 1999.
  
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Regular [[ferry]] services operate between the Scottish mainland and [[Scottish island|island]] communities. These services 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]].
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A referendum on independence took place in September 2014 to determine whether Scotland will become an independent country. Most people wanted to stay in the [[United Kingdom]].<ref>https://www.bbc.com/news/events/scotland-decides/results</ref>
  
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==National symbols==
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==== Sturgeon regime (2014-2023) ====
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[[Image:Royal stewart.jpg|thumb|The distinctive [[Royal Stewart Tartan]] is the personal tartan of [[Queen Elizabeth II]].]]
+
[[Nicola Sturgeon]] became First Minister of Scotland in 2014. Her [[far-left]] regime has been marked by a merging of party and nation comparable to Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union and in 2016, British political commentator [[Cid Lazarou]] stated that Scotland was turning into the "[[North Korea]] of Europe".<ref name="ts21">[https://thinkscotland.org/2021/02/how-authoritarian-is-the-snps-rule-in-scotland/ How authoritarian is the SNP’s rule in Scotland?]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66ChWZvOiGk Scotland's Agenda to Control the Family]</ref>
−
*The [[Flag of Scotland]], the Saltire or St. Andrew's Cross, dates (at least in legend) from the [[9th century]], and is thus the oldest national [[flag]] still in use, and it can be found flying all over Scotland. The Saltire now also forms part of the design of the [[Union Flag]].
 
−
*The [[Royal Standard of Scotland]], a [[Flag|banner]] showing the [[Royal Arms of Scotland]], is also frequently to be seen, particularly at sporting events involving a Scottish team. Often called the [[Lion Rampant]] (after its chief [[heraldic]] device), it is technically the property of the monarch and its use by anybody else is illegal, although this is almost universally ignored, and never enforced.
 
−
*The [[unicorn]] is also used as a heraldic symbol of Scotland. The [[Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland]], used prior to 1603 by the [[Kings of Scotland]], incorporated a [[lion]] [[rampant]] shield supported by two unicorns. On the [[Union of the Crowns]], the Arms were quartered with those of [[Arms of England|England]] and [[Arms of Ireland|Ireland]], and one unicorn was replaced by a lion (the supporters of England).
 
−
* [[William Wallace]], a national hero and a leader in the [[Scottish Wars of Independence]].
 
−
*The [[thistle]], the [[national emblem|floral emblem]] of Scotland, features in many Scottish symbols and [[logos]], and on UK currency. [[Heather]] is also considered to be a symbol of Scotland.
 
−
*''[[Flower of Scotland]]'' is popularly held to be the [[National Anthem of Scotland]], and is played at international events such as football or rugby matches involving the Scotland national team. However, since devolution, more serious discussion of a national anthem has led to this being disputed. Other candidates include ''[[Scots Wha Hae]]'', ''[[Scotland the Brave]]'' and ''[[A Man's A Man for A' That]]''.<ref>BBC Scotland News Online "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4036123.stm Anthem demand falls on deaf ears]", ''BBC Scotland News'', [[2004-11-24]].  Retrieved on [[2006-09-13]]. (in English)</ref>
 
−
*[[Tartan]] is a specific [[woven]] [[textile]] pattern that often signifies a particular [[Scottish clan]], as featured in a [[kilt]].
 
−
*[[St Andrew's Day]], the [[30 November|30th of November]], is the [[national day]], although [[Burns' Night]] tends to be more widely observed. [[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 offical [[bank holiday]].<ref>[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/en2007/2007en02.htm Explanatory Notes to St. Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007 asp 2]</ref>
 
  
−
==Notes==
+
====Monarchs of Scotland====
−
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
+
Before the Union of the Scottish and English crowns in 1603
−
<references />
+
(the years in brackets are the years during which the monarch ruled)
−
</div>
+
 +
'''House Of Alpin'''
 +
*[[Malcolm II (1005-1034)]]
 +
'''House Of Dunkeld'''
 +
*[[Duncan I (1034-1040)]]
 +
*[[Macbeth (1040-1057)]]
 +
*[[Malcolm III (1057-1093)]]
 +
*[[Donald Bane (1093-1094)]]
 +
*[[Duncan II (1094)]]
 +
*[[Donald Bane (1093-1097)]]
 +
*[[Edgar (1097-1107)]]
 +
*[[Alexander I (1107-1124)]]
 +
*[[David I (1124-1153)]]
 +
*[[Malcolm IV (1153-1195)]]
 +
*[[William (The Lion) (1165-1214)]]
 +
*[[Alexander II (1214-1249)]]
 +
*[[Alexander III (1249-1286)]]
 +
*[[Margaret of Norway (1286-1290)]]
 +
'''House Of Balliol'''
 +
*[[John Balliol]]      (1292-1296)
 +
*[[Edward Balliol]]    (periods between 1332 and 1356)
 +
'''House Of Bruce'''
 +
*[[Robert I (1306-1329)]]
 +
*[[David II|David II (1329-1371)]]
 +
'''House Of Stewart'''
 +
*[[Robert II]] (1371-1390)
 +
*[[Robert III]]          (1390-1406)
 +
*[[James I]]            (1406-1437)
 +
*[[James II]]            (1437-1460)
 +
*[[James III]]          (1460-1488)
 +
*[[James IV]]            (1488-1513)
 +
*[[James V]]            (1513-1542)
 +
'''House Of Stuart'''
 +
*[[Mary Queen of Scots]]  (1542-1567)
 +
*[[James I|James VI]]    (1567-1625)
 +
*[[Charles I]]            (1625-1649)
 +
*[[Charles II]]          (1649-1685)
 +
*[[James VII]]            (1685-1688)
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
−
{{Scottish topics}}
+
*[[Alloa]]
−
{{United Kingdom}}
+
*[[Dirk]]
−
{{Countries and territories bordering the North Sea}}
 
−
{{Countries and territories bordering the Norwegian-Greenland-Barents Sea}}
 
−
{{Celtic nations}}
 
−
{{British Isles}}
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
−
{{portalpar|Scotland|Flag of Scotland.svg}}
+
*[http://www.n-cyclopedia.com/scottish-history/index.htm A Brief History of Scotland]
−
{{sisterlinks|Scotland}}
 
−
*[http://www.scotland.gov.uk/ Scottish Executive] - official site of the [[Scottish Executive]]
 
−
*[http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/ Scottish Parliament] - official site of the [[Scottish Parliament]]
 
−
*[http://www.visitscotland.com/ Scottish Tourist Board] - official site of Scotland's national tourist board, [[VisitScotland]]
 
−
*[http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/index.html Maps] and [http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/index.html digital collections] at the [[National Library of Scotland]]
 
−
*[http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/ The Gazetteer for Scotland] - Extensive guide to the places and people of Scotland, by the [[Royal Scottish Geographical Society]] and [[University of Edinburgh]]
 
−
*[http://www.scotland.gov.uk/resource/doc/76169/0019773.pdf (PDF file) Scottish economic statistics 2005] - from the Scottish Executive
 
−
*[http://www.scrol.gov.uk/ Scottish Census Results On Line] - official government site for Scotland's census results
 
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*[http://www.sns.gov.uk Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics] - Scottish Executive's programme of small area statistics in Scotland
 
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*{{wikitravel}}
 
  
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[[Category:Scotland| ]]
+
==References==
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[[Category:NUTS 1 Statistical Regions of Europe]]
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<references/>
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[[Category:British Isles]]
 
  
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[[af:Skotland]]
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[[Category:Scotland]]
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[[als:Schottland]]
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[[Category:United Kingdom]]
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[[ang:Scotland]]
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[[Category:Scottish Culture]]
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[[ar:أسكتلندا]]
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[[Category:Dictatorships]]
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[[an:Escozia]]
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[[Category:Socialism]]
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[[roa-rup:Scotlandia]]
 
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[[ast:Escocia]]
 
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[[az:Şotlandiya]]
 
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[[zh-min-nan:Scot-tē]]
 
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[[be:Шатляндыя]]
 
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[[bs:Škotska]]
 
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[[br:Skos]]
 
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[[bg:Шотландия]]
 
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[[ca:Escòcia]]
 
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[[cs:Skotsko]]
 
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[[cy:Yr Alban]]
 
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[[da:Skotland]]
 
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[[de:Schottland]]
 
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[[et:Šotimaa]]
 
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[[el:Σκωτία]]
 
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[[es:Escocia]]
 
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[[eo:Skotlando]]
 
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[[eu:Eskozia]]
 
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[[fa:اسکاتلند]]
 
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[[fo:Skotland]]
 
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[[fr:Écosse]]
 
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[[fy:Skotlân]]
 
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[[ga:Albain]]
 
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[[gv:Nalbin]]
 
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[[gd:Alba]]
 
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[[gl:Escocia - Alba]]
 
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[[ko:스코틀랜드]]
 
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[[hsb:Šotiska]]
 
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[[hr:Škotska]]
 
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[[io:Skotia]]
 
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[[id:Skotlandia]]
 
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[[ia:Scotia]]
 
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[[is:Skotland]]
 
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[[it:Scozia]]
 
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[[he:סקוטלנד]]
 
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[[ka:შოტლანდია]]
 
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[[kw:Alban]]
 
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[[sw:Uskoti]]
 
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[[ht:Ekòs]]
 
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[[ku:Îskoçya]]
 
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[[la:Scotia]]
 
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[[lv:Skotija]]
 
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[[lb:Schottland]]
 
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[[lt:Škotija]]
 
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[[li:Sjotland]]
 
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[[ln:Ekósi]]
 
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[[hu:Skócia]]
 
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[[mi:Koterana]]
 
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[[ms:Scotland]]
 
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[[nl:Schotland]]
 
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[[nds-nl:Schotlaand]]
 
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[[ja:スコットランド]]
 
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[[no:Skottland]]
 
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[[nn:Skottland]]
 
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[[nrm:Êcosse]]
 
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[[oc:Escòcia]]
 
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[[ug:شوتلاندىيە]]
 
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[[pms:Scòssia]]
 
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[[pl:Szkocja]]
 
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[[pt:Escócia]]
 
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[[ro:Scoţia]]
 
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[[rm:Scozia]]
 
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[[ru:Шотландия]]
 
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[[sco:Scotland]]
 
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[[simple:Scotland]]
 
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[[sk:Škótsko]]
 
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[[sl:Škotska]]
 
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[[sr:Шкотска]]
 
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[[sh:Škotska]]
 
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[[fi:Skotlanti]]
 
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[[sv:Skottland]]
 
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[[th:สกอตแลนด์]]
 
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[[vi:Scotland]]
 
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[[tg:Шотландия]]
 
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[[tr:İskoçya]]
 
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[[uk:Шотландія]]
 
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[[bat-smg:Škotėjė]]
 
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[[zh:蘇格蘭]]
 

Latest revision as of 23:33, December 26, 2024

Scotland
Alba
Scotland-map.jpg
Flag of Scotland.png
Lion rampant.png
Flag Coat of Arms
Capital Edinburgh
Government Totalitarian socialist dictatorship within a devolved administration
Language [[* English
Monarch King Charles III
First minister John Swinney
Borders England
GDP per capita $38,900 (2020)
Currency Pound Sterling (£)

Scotland (اسکاٹ لینڈ) is ruled by the decaying Scottish National Party regime and the second-largest and northernmost of the four countries in the United Kingdom. It is about three-fifths the size of its southern neighbour England, but is much less populous; most of the population lives in the central belt, a band across central Scotland between the capital Edinburgh and the largest city, Glasgow. Other major cities are Aberdeen and Dundee.

The Scottish National Party established a dictatorship and police state within the devolved administration of Scotland, especially under the rule of Nicola Sturgeon, who ruled from 2014 to 2023. Brendan O'Neill described the SNP's Scotland as "the most authoritarian country in Western Europe".[1] In 2018, Scotland became the first "country" to require "LGBT+" education in schools, with no exemptions or opt-outs.[2][3]

Following the downfall of the Sturgeon regime, the anti-white racist Muslim extremist ruler Humza Yousaf (حمزہ یوسف) was installed against the will of the Scottish people. Yousaf is known for enforcing the Hate Crime Act, politically-correct thought-policing which has been compared to Sharia Law (شرعی قانون).[4]

Symbol

The symbol of Scotland is the thistle. The Scottish flag is the Cross of St. Andrew, a white diagonal cross on a dark blue background. The design originated in the 9th century. Scotland's motto is Nemo Me Impune Lacessit ("No one provokes me with impunity")[5]

Geography

Scotland is split into three distinct geographical regions; the mountainous Highlands to the north, the rolling countryside of the Central Lowlands (where the major urban centres are located) and the hilly Southern Uplands that lie next to the English border. Scotland also includes the island groups of Orkney, Shetland, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the islands of the Firth of Clyde including Arran, Bute, Cumbrae and Wee Cumbrae, as well as the outlying St. Kilda archipelago, Rockall and various other smaller islands.

Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the United Kingdom, is in the Scottish Highlands, as are most of the nation's highest mountains. Those with heights above 3000 feet are eponymously named Munros after Sir Hector Munro, the first person to compile a list of such mountains.[6]

Scotland has some 2,300 miles of coastline, including numerous estuaries called firths and sea lochs. Major rivers include the Spey, Tweed, Clyde, and Forth with the Tay being Scotland's longest river. Lakes, called lochs in the region, are abundant, with the name applied both to freshwater lakes and to sea inlets; Lochs Lomond, Morar, and Ness are the largest in the British Isles and well known for their picturesque beauty, with Loch Ness having additional fame as the home of a legendary monster.

People

Religion

Scotland is historically Christian; the national church is the Church of Scotland.

Scotland was a Catholic nation until the time of the Reformation, when John Knox (1510-1572), George Wishart(1513-46) and other scholars returned from their travels in Germany excited by the works of John Calvin and to a lesser extent Martin Luther.

Many of the lords became Protestant and in 1560, the Scottish Parliament formally rejected Papal jurisdiction. The Protestants ousted the Catholic queen, Mary Stuart ('Mary, Queen of Scots') and replaced her with her son, James VI (later to become James I of England).

Scotland became overwhelmingly Protestant with Catholicism surviving only in the remote and sparsely populated Highlands. About a third of the Presbyterians split off in the "Disruption of 1843" to form the Free Church of Scotland. After various other splits most of the Free Church reunited with the Church of Scotland in 1929. The Church of Scotland had about 960,000 adult members in 1980 but only 600,000 in 2006.

From the mid 19th century until the inter war period, there were large scale immigrations of Irish Catholics to Scotland's industrial urban centres and this changed the religious demography. Today there are a similar number of communicants of both the Roman Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland although both religions have suffered considerable declines in church going attendances. The Anglican (Episcopalian) Church is predominant in the north-east. Recent immigration has produced significant populations of Muslims, Hindus, Jews and Sikhs in Scotland's major cities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee).

Culture and sports

Scotland has given the English speaking world many of the language's finest writers, poets and philosophers. Among these are Adam Smith, David Hume, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Frances Hutcheson, James Hogg, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, J.M Barrie and Hugh MacDiarmid. The Scottish intellectual and cultural tradition can be traced back to the Scottish Enlightenment, a remarkable period in the 18th century characterized by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. Indeed, it was Voltaire who said "we look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilization." Scotland is also famous for its disproportionate amount of inventors and scientists such as Alexander Graham Bell (telephone), Lord Kelvin (the Kelvin si unit of temperature), James Watt (condensed steam power), John Napier (logarithms and the decimal point), Joseph Lister (pioneer of antiseptics), Alexander Fleming (penicillin) James Clark Maxwell (electro-magnetism), Robert Watson Watt (radar) and John Logie Baird (television). It is home to ancient world class universities including the three Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews and being one of the first industrialized and urbanized nations in the world.

Above all else the national preoccupation is football (soccer). Other popular pastimes include rugby, lawn bowls, motorsports, horseracing, shinty, curling, sports of the Highland Games - such as tossing the caber- and, of course, golf. Scotland is the home of golf. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews is the governing body of world golf.

Other things associated with the country are kilts (tartan skirt-like garments worn traditionally worn by Scotsmen), and the haunting music of the bagpipes. Scottish soldiers wore the kilt in battle up to the First World War and the pipes have signalled attacks by Scottish armies from mediaeval times. Famously, Brigadier Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, led a commando attack on Pegasus Bridge during the D-Day invasion of France accompanied by his piper Bill Millin, an event commemorated in the film The Longest Day. Famous Scottish products include haggis and Scotch whisky.

Government

Scotland has its own Parliament comprising 129 members (MSPs) as well as sending 59 Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent its interests in the United Kingdom parliament which sits in London. Scottish MPs have historically been recognized for their political skills and appointed to the Cabinet in larger numbers than is proportionate; former Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair were born in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is the government in Scotland for devolved matters. Responsibility for all devolved matters was passed to the Scottish Executive from the Scottish Office and other UK Government departments in 1999. The members of the Scottish Government are chosen from the party or parties holding most seats in the Parliament. The Scottish Government is led by the First Minister, who forms a ministerial team of Cabinet Secretaries. In the election on May 5, 2011, the Scottish National Party won a majority, a remarkable achievement given that the Scottish electoral system is intended to produce coalition governments.

Principal Government Officials

The Government of Scotland has a number of departments within the cabinet, headed up by a cabinet secretary, as follows:

Nicola Sturgeon - First Minister
John Swinney - Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Derek Mackay - Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth
Mike Russell - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
Kenny MacAskill - Cabinet Secretary for Justice
Richard Lochhead - Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment
Bruce Crawford - Cabinet Secretary for Parliament and Government Strategy
Fiona Hyslop - Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs
Alex Neil - Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment

These secretaries are aided in their work by ministers, working within the cabinet departments, and each having their own specific area of devolved responsibility.[7]

Relations with England

Relationships between Scottish and English MPs before devolution were sometimes tense because of what the former Conservative Party MP, by then an Ulster Unionist, Enoch Powell dubbed The West Lothian question. The name arose in 1977 after Tam Dalyell, Labour MP for West Lothian in Scotland, asked during a debate in the Houses of Parliament over Scottish and Welsh devolution:

For how long will English constituencies and English Honourable members tolerate... at least 119 Honorable Members from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland exercising an important, and probably often decisive, effect on British politics while they themselves have no say in the same matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

He pointed out that he as MP for West Lothian could vote on matters affecting English constituencies but not his own constituency.

On January 10, 2012, Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland and Michael Moore, British Secretary of State for Scotland agreed on an independence referendum in the autumn of 2014. According to Alex Salmond, it would be Scotland’s “most important decision for 300 years.” [8]

Lockerbie bombing

The Government of Scotland has recently come under global scrutiny for its decision, led by Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahl, the only man convicted of the terrorist attack leading to the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. He had served only 8 years of his term when he was released on grounds of compassion because he had terminal cancer, as required by Scots Law. A majority of the victims were American, and this decision received strong criticism from many Americans as well as the FBI Director Robert Mueller.[9] The original conviction of al-Magrahi was controversial, however, both within Scotland and in the UK in general because the evidence leading to his conviction was extremely flimsy and it has been alleged that the key witness had been paid for giving his evidence by the Clinton administration or Blair government.[10]

Libyan ruler Qaddafi profusely thanked British officials, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, for helping secure the release of the terrorist back to Libya. British Prime Minister Brown replied with a confusing set of denials, a disapproval of the hero's welcome that the terrorist received upon return to Libya, and a partial release of voluminous communications leading up to the release.[11]

Economy

Scotland's position at the forefront of the industrial revolution in the 19th century bequeathed a legacy of heavy engineering and manufacturing that lasted well into the 20th century. However, with de-industrialisation from the 1970s onwards and latterly the relocation of manufacturing jobs to countries with lower labour costs (e.g. Eastern Europe) the Scottish economy is now heavily dependant on tourism, the oil industry, agriculture, the service industry and public sector jobs.

History

Scotland has been inhabited since the first Mesolithic hunter-gatherers are thought to have migrated to Scotland.[12] These inhabitants showed advanced knowledge of astronomy, creating several Stonehenge-like monuments.

At the time of the Romans the tribes in what became Scotland were similar to those further south, and can be considered to be Celtic peoples. Those from the North-East were called ‘Picti’ (Picts) by Roman writers, which could mean ‘painted people' and refer to tattoos. The Romans never subdued these northern tribes, and after a brief period when the Antonine Wall between the Firths of Forth and Clyde was the Roman Empire’s northern frontier, they drew back and had Hadrian’s Wall as the frontier. They did try to influence the tribes between the two Walls, and when kingdoms like Strathclyde emerged in the early Dark Ages, their rulers often bore Roman names or titles, the dynasties having been founded by Roman officials. The Scots themselves began arriving as settlers in the West of Scotland at this time (AD 400-500). They were from a part of the north of Ireland and spoke Old Irish, which changed to become Scottish Gaelic, and eventually replaced Pictish. They sometimes warred with the Picts and Britons and sometimes allied with them, but a unified kingdom under the Scottish king Kenneth Mac Alpin was established in AD 843, called ‘Alba’ (still the Gaelic name for Scotland). This kingdom took over Strathclyde in the early 11th century to form the basis of Mediaeval Scotland. Normans and their descendants such as Robert the Bruce ('de Brus' was a Norman surname) became important nobles in Scotland.

Scotland had the earliest system of general public education in the world in modern times, dating from 1496. Education was further promoted by the Church of Scotland following the Reformation in 1560, because it was believed important that each person could read the Bible for him or herself in English.

Union with England

After the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended to the throne of England, becoming James I of England. This is referred to as the union of the crowns. James was also at this time king of Ireland.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 made parliament supreme, and King William III neglected Scotland. The social and economic problems of this period were thrown into the lap of the inexperienced Scottish parliament, historically a tool of the crown. The failure of the Darien Scheme to establish a Scottish colony in Panama in 1700 led to a wave of anti-English sentiment. At the same time, the episode exposed Scottish financial weakness and its inability to challenge English dominance effectively. In 1701, the English Parliament passed the Act of Settlement to adjust the rules of royal succession. This act made the ruler of Hanover next in line to the English throne, although he was only distantly related to the British royal family. A law enacted in 1704 provided that the Scottish Parliament would pick a successor to the Scottish throne upon Queen Anne's death. The English feared that the two thrones might pass to rival Jacobite and Hanoverian candidates. The French under Louis XIV would then back Scotland against England. The English army, led by Marlborough at this time, included many Scottish soldiers. The English Parliament demanded that Scotland agree to union and threatened sanctions in 1705. Scotland capitulated and a joint commission was set up to iron out terms. A customs unions was agreed to, something Scottish business interests had long sought. The two parliaments were merged in 1707. Free trade brought prosperity, but it could not replace the Stuart monarchy in Scottish hearts. In a poem written in 1791, Robert Burns called those responsible for union "a parcel of rogues" who said "fareweel our ancient glory."

Devolution and failed independence referendum (1999-2014)

In 1997, Scotland voted in favour of establishing its own devolved parliament. The Scottish Parliament, with powers relating to economics, education, healthcare, justice, rural affairs, housing, environment, equal opportunities, consumer advocacy and advice, transport and taxation devolved from Westminster, was established in May 1999.

A referendum on independence took place in September 2014 to determine whether Scotland will become an independent country. Most people wanted to stay in the United Kingdom.[13]

Sturgeon regime (2014-2023)

Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister of Scotland in 2014. Her far-left regime has been marked by a merging of party and nation comparable to Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union and in 2016, British political commentator Cid Lazarou stated that Scotland was turning into the "North Korea of Europe".[14][15]

Monarchs of Scotland

Before the Union of the Scottish and English crowns in 1603 (the years in brackets are the years during which the monarch ruled)

House Of Alpin

House Of Dunkeld

House Of Balliol

House Of Bruce

House Of Stewart

House Of Stuart

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/spikedonline/status/1374001716794900484?lang=en-GB
  2. ↑ Chasmar, Jessica (November 9, 2018). Scotland becomes first country to require LGBT+ education. The Washington Times. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  3. ↑ Cummings McLean, Dorothy (November 14, 2018). Scotland pushes LGBT agenda into Catholic schools. Bishops hope ‘impact…will be positive for all’. LifeSiteNews. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  4. ↑ Humza Yousaf pushes sharia law in Scotland
  5. ↑ http://www.scotland-guide.co.uk/ALL_AREAS_IN_SCOTLAND/Glasgow/Areas/Centre/Mercat_Cross.htm
  6. ↑ for a complete list of Munros see http://www.sol.co.uk/d/dickwall/munroes.htm
  7. ↑ http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/Scottish-Cabinet
  8. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/world/europe/scotland-plans-independence-vote.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=scotland&st=cse
  9. ↑ https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/22/fbi-director-slams-scotland-lockerbie-bomber-release/
  10. ↑ http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=in_the_back&article=122
  11. ↑ https://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14376240
  12. ↑ At least 8500 years before recorded history dealt with Britain, according to the uniformitarian timescale. Scotland History, Wormland, Jenny. Scotland: a History. 2005, Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.1
  13. ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/events/scotland-decides/results
  14. ↑ How authoritarian is the SNP’s rule in Scotland?
  15. ↑ Scotland's Agenda to Control the Family
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