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Introduction

Flag of Scotland

Scotland (Scots: Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its only land border, which is 96 miles (154 km) long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,436,600 and accounts for 8% of the population of the UK. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the largest of the cities of Scotland.

The Kingdom of Scotland emerged in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI inherited England and Ireland, forming a personal union of the three kingdoms. On 1 May 1707 Scotland and England combined to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain, with the Parliament of Scotland subsumed into the Parliament of Great Britain. In 1999 a Scottish Parliament was re-established, and has devolved authority over many areas of domestic policy. The country has a distinct legal system, educational system, and religious history from the rest of the UK, which have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity. Scottish English and Scots are the most widely spoken languages in the country, existing on a dialect continuum with each other. Scottish Gaelic speakers can be found all over Scotland, however the language is largely spoken natively by communities within the Hebrides. The number of Gaelic speakers numbers less than 2% of the total population, though state-sponsored revitalisation attempts have led to a growing community of second language speakers.

The mainland of Scotland is broadly divided into three regions: the Highlands, a mountainous region in the north and north-west; the Lowlands, a flatter plain across the centre of the country; and the Southern Uplands, a hilly region along the southern border. The Highlands are the most mountainous region of the British Isles and contain its highest peak, Ben Nevis, at 4,413 feet (1,345 m). The region also contains many lakes, called lochs; the term is also applied to the many saltwater inlets along the country's deeply indented western coastline. The geography of the many islands is varied. Some, such as Mull and Skye, are noted for their mountainous terrain, while the likes of Tiree and Coll are much flatter. (Full article...)

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Lewis Grassic Gibbon, who wrote *A Scots Quair*, one of the defining works of the 20th century Scottish Renaissance

The Scottish Renaissance (Scottish Gaelic: Ath-bheòthachadh na h-Alba; Scots: Scots Renaissance) was a mainly literary movement of the early to mid-20th century that can be seen as the Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as the Scottish literary renaissance, although its influence went beyond literature into music, visual arts, and politics (among other fields). The writers and artists of the Scottish Renaissance displayed a profound interest in both modern philosophy and technology, as well as incorporating folk influences, and a strong concern for the fate of Scotland's declining languages.

It has been seen as a parallel to other movements elsewhere, including the Irish Literary Revival, the Harlem Renaissance (in the USA), the Bengal Renaissance (in Kolkata, India) and the Jindyworobak Movement (in Australia), which emphasised indigenous folk traditions. (Full article...) Read more ...

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" ... Old and young, we are all on our last cruise ... "

— Robert Louis Stevenson

" ... None of Nature's landscapes are ugly so long as they are wild ... "

— John Muir

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In the news

25 April 2024 – Premiership of Humza Yousaf: The Scottish National Party's coalition in the Scottish government with the Scottish Greens collapses as the Scottish National Party withdraws, although the party announces its intention to continue as a minority government. In response, the Scottish Conservatives call a no confidence vote against First Minister Humza Yousaf. (Reuters) (BBC News)

Selected biography

James Gordon Brown HonFRSE (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline East from 1983 to 2005, and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from 2005 to 2015. Brown is the most recent Labour Party prime minister and the most recent not to be from England.

A doctoral graduate, Brown studied history at the University of Edinburgh. He spent his early career as a lecturer at a further education college and television journalist. Brown was elected to the House of Commons at the 1983 general election as the MP for Dunfermline East. He joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1989 as Shadow Secretary of State for Trade, and was promoted to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1992.

Following Labour's victory in the 1997 general election, Brown was appointed as Chancellor, becoming the longest-serving in modern history. Brown's time as chancellor was marked by major reform of Britain's monetary and fiscal policy architecture, transferring interest rate setting to the Bank of England, extension of powers of the Treasury to cover much domestic policy and transferring banking supervision to the Financial Services Authority. Brown presided over the longest period of economic growth in British history. He outlined five economic tests, which resisted the UK adopting the euro. Controversial moves included abolition of advance corporation tax (ACT) relief in his first budget, sale of UK gold reserves from 1999 to 2002, and removal in his final budget of the 10% starting rate of income tax which he had introduced in 1999. Brown had high approval ratings and a poll of political scientists rated him the most successful chancellor in terms of economic stability, working independently from the prime minister and leaving a lasting legacy on the British economy.

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The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow. It sits on a hill above, and to the east of, St. Mungo's Cathedral. It was conceived as a Père Lachaise for Glasgow, and subsequently established by the Merchants' House of Glasgow in 1831. Fifty thousand individuals have been buried in approximately 3500 tombs.

Photo credit: Finlay McWalter

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Did You Know...

Help available

... that comedian Frankie Boyle's debut novel Meantime is about a Glaswegian drug addict investigating his friend's death?
... that Scottish scientists attempted to create a carrot-based substitute for carbon fibre?
... that Scottish novelist Isla Dewar said "if ... a thing is not worth doing then it's worth doing fabulously, amazingly, with grace, style and panache"?
... that the Scottish surgeon John Blair was the only dux of his high school to receive his gold medal in the presence of his wife and child?
... that backgammon was derived from the esteemed 16th-century Scottish and English tables game of Irish and eventually surpassed it in popularity?
... that the Jubilate by Benjamin Britten was written in 1961 for St George's Chapel at the request of the Duke of Edinburgh, and performed there for some of his birthdays and his funeral?
... that after the Battle of Winwick in 1648 some Scottish prisoners were sold as slaves?
... that George Balanchine's ballet Scotch Symphony, set to Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony, evokes the style of La Sylphide, a romantic ballet set in Scotland?

Get involved

Scotland Related WikiProjects and Task forces
	WikiProject Clans of Scotland	talk
	WikiProject Medieval Scotland	talk
	WikiProject Scottish Castles	talk
	WikiProject Scottish Islands	talk
	WikiProject Scottish Television	talk
	WikiProject Transport in Scotland	talk
	WikiProject Edinburgh	talk
	Fife task force	talk
	Scottish Gaelic task force	talk

For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Scotland-related articles, see WikiProject Scotland.

To get involved in helping to improve Wikipedia's Scotland related content, please consider doing some of the following tasks or joining one or more of the associated Wikiprojects:

Visit the Scottish Wikipedians' notice board and help to write new Scotland-related articles, and expand and improve existing ones.
Visit Wikipedia:WikiProject Scotland/Assessment, and help out by assessing unrated Scottish articles.
Add the Project Banner to Scottish articles around Wikipedia.
Participate in WikiProject Scotland's Peer Review, including responding to PR requests and nominating Scottish articles.
Help nominate and select new content for the Scotland portal.

Do you have a question about The Scotland Portal that you can't find the answer to?
Post a question on the Talk Page or consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.