Scotland



Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba ([ˈalˠ̪apə] listen (help·)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.[12] [13] [14] Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland constitutes over 790 islands[15] including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres.[16] Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe.Glasgow, Scotland's largest city,[17] was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the centre of the Greater Glasgowconurbation. Scottish waters consist of a large sector[18] of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in theEuropean Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital.[19]

The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707, although it had been in a personal union with the kingdoms of England and Ireland since James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English and Irish thrones in 1603. On 1 May 1707, Scotland entered into an incorporating political union with England to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain.[20] [21] This union resulted from the Treaty of Union agreed in 1706 and enacted by the twin Acts of Union passed by the Parliaments of both countries, despite anti-union riots in Edinburgh, Glasgow and elsewhere.[22] [23]

Scotland's legal system continues to be separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and Scotland constitutes a distinctjurisdiction in public and in private law.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23" style="line-height:1em;">[24] The continued existence of legal, educational and religious institutions distinct from those in the remainder of the UK have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity since the Union.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-administrative_control_24-0" style="line-height:1em;">[25] In 1999, a devolvedlegislature, the Scottish Parliament, was founded with authority over many areas of home affairs following a successful referendum in 1997. In 2011, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won an overall majority in parliament and intends to hold a referendum on independence<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25" style="line-height:1em;">[26] in the autumn of 2014.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26" style="line-height:1em;">[27]



Etymology
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland is derived from the Latin Scoti, the term applied to Gaels, people from what is now Scotland and Ireland, and the Dál Riata who are thought to have originated from Ireland and migrated to western Scotland. Accordingly, the Late Latin word Scotia ("land of the Gaels") was initially used to refer to Ireland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27" style="line-height:1em;">[28] By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to (Gaelic-speaking) Scotland north of the river Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, both derived from the Gaelic Alba.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brewer_28-0" style="line-height:1em;">[29] The use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Keay_19-1" style="line-height:1em;">[20]

Early history
Main article: Prehistoric Scotland<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Repeated glaciations, which covered the entire land mass of modern Scotland, destroyed any traces of human habitation that may have existed before the Mesolithic period. It is believed that the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, as theice sheet retreated after the last glaciation.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29" style="line-height:1em;">[30] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30" style="line-height:1em;">[31]

Skara Brae, a Neolithic settlement, located in the Bay of Skaill, Orkney.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9500 years ago, and the first villages around 6000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on theMainland of Orkney dates from this period. Neolithic habitation, burial and ritual sites are particularly common and well-preserved in the Northern Isles and Western Isles, where a lack of trees led to most structures being built of local stone.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31" style="line-height:1em;">[32]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The discovery in Scotland of a 4000 year old tomb with burial treasures at Forteviot, near Perth, the capital of a Pictish Kingdom in the 8th and 9th centuries AD, is unrivalled anywhere in Britain. It contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32" style="line-height:1em;">[33] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-TFDB_33-0" style="line-height:1em;">[34]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland may have been part of a Late Bronze Age maritime trading culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that also included the other Celtic nations, and the areas that would become England, France, Spain and Portugal.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Koch_34-0" style="line-height:1em;">[35] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Koch2009_35-0" style="line-height:1em;">[36] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36" style="line-height:1em;">[37] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37" style="line-height:1em;">[38]

[edit] Roman influence
Main article: Scotland during the Roman EmpireDitch associated with Antonine Wall at Bar Head<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The written protohistory of Scotland began with the arrival of the Roman Empire in southern and central Great Britain, when the Romans occupied what is now England and Wales, administering it as a province called Britannia. Roman invasions and occupations of southern Scotland were a series of brief interludes.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">According to the Roman historian Tacitus, the Caledonians "turned to armed resistance on a large scale", attacking Roman forts and skirmishing with their legions. In a surprise night-attack, the Caledonians very nearly wiped out the whole 9th Legion until it was saved by Agricola's cavalry.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Romans_in_Scotland_38-0" style="line-height:1em;">[39]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In AD 83–84 the general Gnaeus Julius Agricola defeated the Caledonians at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Tacitus wrote that, before the battle, the Caledonian leader, Calgacus, gave a rousing speech in which he called his people the "last of the free" and accused the Romans of "making the world a desert and calling it peace" (freely translated).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Romans_in_Scotland_38-1" style="line-height:1em;">[39] After the Roman victory Roman forts were briefly set along the Gask Ridge close to the Highland line(only Cawdor near Inverness is known to have been constructed beyond that line). Three years after the battle the Roman armies had withdrawn to theSouthern Uplands.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-39" style="line-height:1em;">[40]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Romans erected Hadrian's Wall to control tribes on both sides of the wall,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-snyder_40-0" style="line-height:1em;">[41] and the Limes Britannicus became the northern border of the Roman Empire, although the army held the Antonine Wall in the Central Lowlands for two short periods — the last of these during the time of Emperor Septimius Severus from 208 until 210.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-41" style="line-height:1em;">[42]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Roman military occupation of a significant part of what is now northern Scotland only lasted about 40 years, although their influence on the southern section of the country, occupied byBrythonic tribes such as the Votadini and Damnonii, would still have been considerable between the first and fifth centuries. The Welsh term Hen Ogledd ("Old North") is used by scholars to describe what is now the North of England and the South of Scotland during its habitation by Brythonic speaking people around AD 500 to 800.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-snyder_40-1" style="line-height:1em;">[41] In the 400s, Gaels from Ireland established the kingdom of Dál Riata.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-42" style="line-height:1em;">[43] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-43" style="line-height:1em;">[44]

[edit] Medieval period
A replica of the Pictish Hilton of Cadboll Stone.Main articles: Scotland in the Early Middle Ages, Scotland in the High Middle Ages, and Scotland in the Late Middle Ages<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Kingdom of the Picts (based in Fortriu by the 6th century) was the state that eventually became known as "Alba" or "Scotland". The development of "Pictland", according to the historical model developed by Peter Heather, was a natural response to Roman imperialism.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-44" style="line-height:1em;">[45] Another view places emphasis on the Battle of Dun Nechtain, and the reign of Bridei m. Beli (671–693), with another period of consolidation in the reign of Óengus mac Fergusa (732–761).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45" style="line-height:1em;">[46]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Kingdom of the Picts as it was in the early 8th century, when Bede was writing, was largely the same as the kingdom of the Scots in the reign of Alexander I (1107–1124). However, by the tenth century, the Pictish kingdom was dominated by what we can recognise as Gaelic culture, and had developed a traditional story of an Irish conquest around the ancestor of the contemporary royal dynasty, Cináed mac Ailpín (Kenneth MacAlpin).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Lynch_359_1-1" style="line-height:1em;">[2] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-46" style="line-height:1em;">[47] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-47" style="line-height:1em;">[48]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">From a base of territory in eastern Scotland north of the River Forth and south of the River Oykel, the kingdom acquired control of the lands lying to the north and south. By the 12th century, the kings of Alba had added to their territories the English-speaking land in the south-east and attained overlordship of Gaelic-speaking Galloway and Norse-speaking Caithness; by the end of the 13th century, the kingdom had assumed approximately its modern borders. However, processes of cultural and economic change beginning in the 12th century ensured Scotland looked very different in the later Middle Ages.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The impetus for this change was the reign of David I and the Davidian Revolution. Feudalism, government reorganisation and the first legally recognised towns (called burghs) began in this period. These institutions and the immigration of French and Anglo-French knights and churchmen facilitated cultural osmosis, whereby the culture and language of the low-lying and coastal parts of the kingdom's original territory in the east became, like the newly acquired south-east, English-speaking, while the rest of the country retained the Gaelic language, apart from the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, which remained under Norse rule until 1468.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-48" style="line-height:1em;">[49] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Barrow_49-0" style="line-height:1em;">[50] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-50" style="line-height:1em;">[51] The Scottish state entered a largely successful and stable period between the 12th and 14th centuries, there was relative peace with England, trade and educational links were well developed with the Continent and at the height of this cultural flowering John Duns Scotus was one of Europe's most important and influential philosophers.

The Wallace Monumentcommemorates William Wallace, the 13th-century Scottish hero.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The death of Alexander III in March 1286, followed by that of his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway, broke the centuries-old succession line of Scotland's kings and shattered the 200 year golden age that began with David I. Edward I of England was asked to arbitrate between claimants for the Scottish crown, and he organised a process known as the Great Cause to identify the most legitimate claimant. John Balliol was pronounced king in the Great Hall of Berwick Castle on 17 November 1292 and inaugurated at Scone on 30 November, St. Andrew's Day. Edward I, who had coerced recognition as Lord Paramount of Scotland, the feudal superior of the realm, steadily undermined John's authority.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-51" style="line-height:1em;">[52] In 1294 Balliol and other Scottish lords refused Edward's demands to serve in his army against the French. Instead the Scottish parliament sent envoys to France to negotiate an alliance. Scotland and France sealed a treaty on 23 October 1295, that came to be known as the Auld Alliance (1295–1560). War ensued and King John was deposed by Edward who took personal control of Scotland. Andrew Moray and William Wallace initially emerged as the principal leaders of the resistance to English rule in what became known as the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1328).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-52" style="line-height:1em;">[53]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The nature of the struggle changed significantly when Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick, killed rival John Comyn on 10 February 1306 at Greyfriars Kirk inDumfries.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-53" style="line-height:1em;">[54] He was crowned king (as Robert I) less than seven weeks later. Robert I battled to restore Scottish Independence as King for over 20 years, beginning by winning Scotland back from the Norman English invaders piece by piece. Victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 proved that the Scots had regained control of their kingdom. In 1315 Edward Bruce, brother of the King, was briefly appointed High King of Ireland during an ultimately unsuccessful Scottish invasion of Ireland aimed at strengthening Scotland's position in its wars against England. In 1320 the world's first documented declaration of independence, the Declaration of Arbroath, won the support of Pope John XXII, leading to the legal recognition of Scottish sovereignty by the English Crown.

Map of Scottish highland clans and lowland families.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">However, war with England continued for several decades after the death of Bruce, and a civil war between the Bruce dynasty and their long-term Comyn-Balliol rivals lasted until the middle of the 14th century. Although the Bruce dynasty was successful, David II's lack of an heir allowed his half-nephew Robert II to come to the throne and establish the Stewart Dynasty.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Barrow_49-1" style="line-height:1em;">[50] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Grant_54-0" style="line-height:1em;">[55] The Stewarts ruled Scotland for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The country they ruled experienced greater prosperity from the end of the 14th century through the Scottish Renaissance to the Reformation. The Education Act of 1496 made Scotland the first country since Sparta in classical Greece to implement a system of general public education.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Intro_to_Scottish_Education_55-0" style="line-height:1em;">[56] This was despite continual warfare with England, the increasing division between Highlands and Lowlands, and a large number of royal minorities.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Grant_54-1" style="line-height:1em;">[55] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-56" style="line-height:1em;">[57] This period was the height of the Franco-Scottish alliance. The Scots Guard – la Garde Écossaise – was founded in 1418 by Charles VII of France. The Scots soldiers of the Garde Écossaise fought alongside Joan of Arc against England during the Hundred Years War.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-57" style="line-height:1em;">[58] In March 1421 a Franco-Scots force under John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan, and Gilbert de Lafayette, defeated a larger English army at the Battle of Baugé. Three years later, at theBattle of Verneuil, the Scots lost around 6000 men, but the Scottish intervention bought France valuable time and likely saved the country from defeat.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="line-height:1em;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]

[edit] Early modern era
Main article: Scotland in the Early Modern Era<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1502, James IV of Scotland signed the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Henry VII of England. He also married Henry's daughter, Margaret Tudor, setting the stage for the Union of the Crowns. For Henry, the marriage into one of Europe's most established monarchies gave legitimacy to the new Tudor royal line.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-58" style="line-height:1em;">[59] A decade later James made the fateful decision to invade England in support of France under the terms of the Auld Alliance. He was the last British monarch to die in battle, at the Battle of Flodden.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-59" style="line-height:1em;">[60] Within a generation the Auld Alliance was ended by the Treaty of Edinburgh. France agreed to withdraw all land and naval forces and in the same year, 1560, the revolution of John Knox achieved its ultimate goal of convincing the Scottish parliament to revoke papal authority in Scotland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-60" style="line-height:1em;">[61] Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic and former queen of France, was forced to abdicate in 1567.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-61" style="line-height:1em;">[62]

James VI succeeded to the throne of England in 1603<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1603, James VI, King of Scots inherited the thrones of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland, and became King James I of England and Ireland, and left Edinburgh for London.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-62" style="line-height:1em;">[63] With the exception of a short period under the Protectorate, Scotland remained a separate state, but there was considerable conflict between the crown and the Covenanters over the form of church government. The Glorious Revolution of 1688–89 saw the overthrow of the King James VII of Scotland and II of England by the English Parliament in favour of William and Mary. As late as the 1690s, Scotland experiencedfamine, which reduced the population of parts of the country by at least 20 percent.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-63" style="line-height:1em;">[64]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1698, the Scots attempted an ambitious project to secure a trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama. Almost every Scottish landowner who had money to spare is said to have invested in the Darien scheme. Its failure bankrupted these landowners, but not the burghs, which remained cash rich. Nevertheless, the nobles' bankruptcy, along with the threat of an English invasion, played a leading role in convincing the Scots elite to back a union with England.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-64" style="line-height:1em;">[65] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-65" style="line-height:1em;">[66]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">On 22 July 1706, the Treaty of Union was agreed between representatives of the Scots Parliament and the Parliament of England and the following year twin Acts of Union were passed by both parliaments to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain with effect from 1 May 1707.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Mackie_20-1" style="line-height:1em;">[21]

[edit] 18th century
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">With trade tariffs with England now abolished, trade blossomed, especially with Colonial America. The clippers belonging to the Glasgow Tobacco Lordswere the fastest ships on the route to Virginia. Until the American War of Independence in 1776, Glasgow was the world's premier tobacco port, dominating world trade.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-66" style="line-height:1em;">[67] The disparity between the wealth of the merchant classes of the Scottish Lowlands and the ancient clans of the Scottish Highlands grew, amplifying centuries of division.

David Morier's depiction of the Battle of Culloden.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The deposed Jacobite Stuart claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly amongst non-Presbyterians, including Roman Catholics and Episcopalian Protestants. However, two majorJacobite risings launched in 1715 and 1745 failed to remove the House of Hanover from the British throne. The threat of the Jacobite movement to the United Kingdom and its monarchs effectively ended at the Battle of Culloden, Great Britain's last pitched battle. This defeat paved the way for large-scale removals of the indigenous populations of the Highlands and Islands, known as the Highland Clearances.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Scottish Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution made Scotland into an intellectual, commercial and industrial powerhouse<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67" style="line-height:1em;">[68] –so much so thatVoltaire said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-68" style="line-height:1em;">[69] With the demise of Jacobitism and the advent of the Union, thousands of Scots, mainly Lowlanders, took up numerous positions of power in politics, civil service, the army and navy, trade, economics, colonial enterprises and other areas across the nascent British Empire. Historian Neil Davidson notes that “after 1746 there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland.” Davidson also states that “far from being ‘peripheral’ to the British economy, Scotland – or more precisely, the Lowlands – lay at its core.”<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-69" style="line-height:1em;">[70]

[edit] 19th century
Main article: Scotland in the modern eraSt. Kildans sitting on the village street, 1886.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland became known across the world for its excellence in engineering, as typified by the Clyde built ships and locomotives built in Glasgow. Prefabricated cast iron buildings made in Scotland are still in use in India, South America and Australia.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-70" style="line-height:1em;">[71] Prominent scientists, engineers and architects of the industrial age included David Dale, Joseph Black, Thomas Telford, Robert Stevenson, James Watt, James Nasmyth, Robert Adam andJohn MacAdam.

[edit] Scottish diaspora
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scots born migrants also played a leading role in the foundation and principles of the United States (John Witherspoon, John Paul Jones, Andrew Carnegie, John Muir),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-71" style="line-height:1em;">[72] Canada (John A Macdonald, James Murray, Tommy Douglas),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-72" style="line-height:1em;">[73] Australia (Lachlan Macquarie, Thomas Brisbane, Andrew Fisher),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-73" style="line-height:1em;">[74] and New Zealand (James Mckenzie, Peter Fraser).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-74" style="line-height:1em;">[75]

[edit] Early 20th century
Royal Scots with captured Japanese flag, Burma, January 1945.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland played a major role in the British effort in the First World War. It especially provided manpower, ships, machinery, fish and money.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-75" style="line-height:1em;">[76] With a population of 4.8 million in 1911, Scotland sent over half a million men to the war, of whom over a quarter died in combat or from disease, and 150,000 were seriously wounded.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-76" style="line-height:1em;">[77] Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig was Britain's commander on the Western Front.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The war saw the emergence of a radical movement called "Red Clydeside" led by militant trades unionists. Formerly a Liberal stronghold, the industrial districts switched to Labour by 1922, with a base among the Irish Catholic working class districts. Women were especially active in building neighbourhood solidarity on housing issues. However, the "Reds" operated within the Labour Party and had little influence in Parliament and the mood changed to passive despair by the late 1920s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-77" style="line-height:1em;">[78]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The shipbuilding industry expanded by a third and expected renewed prosperity, but instead a serious depression hit the economy by 1922 and it did not fully recover until 1939. The interwar years were marked by economic stagnation in rural and urban areas, and high unemployment.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-78" style="line-height:1em;">[79] Indeed, the war brought with it deep social, cultural, economic, and political dislocations. Thoughtful Scots pondered their declension, as the main social indicators such as poor health, bad housing, and long-term mass unemployment, pointed to terminal social and economic stagnation at best, or even a downward spiral. Service abroad on behalf of the Empire lost its allure to ambitious young people, who left Scotland permanently. The heavy dependence on obsolescent heavy industry and mining was a central problem, and no one offered workable solutions. The despair reflected what Finlay (1994) describes as a widespread sense of hopelessness that prepared local business and political leaders to accept a new orthodoxy of centralised government economic planning when it arrived during the Second World War.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-79" style="line-height:1em;">[80]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Second World War brought renewed prosperity, despite extensive bombing of cities by the Luftwaffe. It saw the invention of radar by Robert Watson-Watt, which was invaluable in the Battle of Britain as was the leadership at RAF Fighter Command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-80" style="line-height:1em;">[81]

[edit] Since 1945
<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">After 1945, Scotland's economic situation became progressively worse due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-81" style="line-height:1em;">[82] Only in recent decades has the country enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance. Economic factors that have contributed to this recovery include a resurgent financial services industry, electronics manufacturing, (seeSilicon Glen),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-82" style="line-height:1em;">[83] and the North Sea oil and gas industry.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-83" style="line-height:1em;">[84] The introduction in 1989 by Margaret Thatcher's government of the Community Charge (widely known as the Poll Tax) one year before the rest of the United Kingdom, contributed to a growing movement for a return to direct Scottish control over domestic affairs.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-84" style="line-height:1em;">[85] Following a referendum on devolution proposals in 1997, theScotland Act 1998<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-85" style="line-height:1em;">[86] was passed by the United Kingdom Parliament to establish a devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government with responsibility for most laws specific to Scotland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-86" style="line-height:1em;">[87]

[edit] Government and politics
Main articles: Politics of Scotland, Scottish Parliament, and Scottish GovernmentThe 2011 cabinet of the Scottish Government<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland's head of state is the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952). The title Elizabeth II caused controversyaround the time of the queen's coronation, as there had never been an Elizabeth I in Scotland. A legal case, MacCormick v. Lord Advocate (1953 SC 396), was taken to contest the right of the Queen to title herself Elizabeth II within Scotland, arguing that to do so would be a breach of Article 1 of the Treaty of Union.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Lord Advocate won the case and it was decided that future British monarchs would be numbered according to either their English or Scottish predecessors, whichever number is higher.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-87" style="line-height:1em;">[88] Hence, any future King James would be styled James VIII (since the last Scottish King James wasJames VII (also James II of England, etc.)) while the next King Henry would be King Henry IX throughout the UK despite the fact that there have been no Scottish kings of the name.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland has partial self-government within the United Kingdom as well as representation in the UK Parliament. Executive and legislative powers have been devolved to, respectively, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh. The United Kingdom Parliament retains power over a set list of areas explicitly specified in the Scotland Act 1998 as reserved matters, including, for example, levels of UK taxes, social security, defence, international relations and broadcasting.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Gate_88-0" style="line-height:1em;">[89]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Scottish Parliament has legislative authority for all other areas relating to Scotland, as well as limited power to vary income tax. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in a BBC Scotlandinterview, indicated that the Scottish Parliament could be given more tax-raising powers.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-89" style="line-height:1em;">[90]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Scottish Parliament can give legislative consent over devolved matters back to Westminster by passing a Legislative Consent Motion if United Kingdom-wide legislation is considered to be more appropriate for a certain issue. The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have seen a divergence in the provision of public services compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. For instance, the costs of a university education, and care services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, while fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in enclosed public places.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-90" style="line-height:1em;">[91]

The debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament Building<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Scottish Parliament is a unicameral legislature comprising 129 Members, 73 of whom represent individual constituencies and are elected on a first past the post system; 56 are elected in eight different electoral regions by the additional member system, serving for a four year period. The Queen appoints one Member of the Scottish Parliament, (MSP), on the nomination of the Parliament, to be First Minister. Other Ministers are also appointed by the First Minister and serve at his/her discretion, together they make up the Scottish Government, the executive arm of government.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-91" style="line-height:1em;">[92]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In the 2011 election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a majority government after winning 69 of the 129 seat Parliament; This was the first majority government since the modern post-devolutionary Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. The leader of the SNP, Alex Salmond, continued as First Minister. The Labour Party continued as the largest opposition party, with the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Partyalso represented in the Parliament. Margo MacDonald is the only independent MSP sitting in Parliament. The next Scottish Parliament general electionwill be held on 5 May 2016. The Scotland Bill, put forward by the Calman Commission and cleared by the UK House of Commons, proposes devolving more power to Scotland. The bill has yet to be put into legislation. The Scottish National Party, who did not take part in the consultation, believe the bill does not devolve enough powers to the Scottish Parliament.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-92" style="line-height:1em;">[93]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland is represented in the British House of Commons by 59 MPs elected from territory-based Scottish constituencies. The Scotland Office represents the UK government in Scotland on reserved matters and represents Scottish interests within the UK government.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-93" style="line-height:1em;">[94] The Scotland office is led by the Secretary of State for Scotland, who sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, the current incumbent being Michael Moore.

[edit] Administrative subdivisions
Main article: Subdivisions of ScotlandGlasgow City Chambers, viewed from George Square<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Historical subdivisions of Scotland included the mormaerdom, stewartry, earldom, burgh, parish, county and regions and districts. These names are still sometimes used as geographical descriptors.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Modern Scotland is subdivided in various ways depending on the purpose. For local government, there have been 32 council areas since 1996,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-94" style="line-height:1em;">[95] whose councils are unitary authorities responsible for the provision of all local government services. Community councils are informal organisations that represent specific sub-divisions of a council area.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">For the Scottish Parliament, there are 73 constituencies and eight regions. For the Parliament of the United Kingdom, there are 59 constituencies. The Scottish fire brigades and police forces are still based on the system of regions introduced in 1975. For healthcare and postal districts, and a number of other governmental and non-governmental organisations such as the churches, there are other long-standing methods of subdividing Scotland for the purposes of administration.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">City status in the United Kingdom is conferred by letters patent.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-95" style="line-height:1em;">[96] There are seven cities in Scotland: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow,Inverness, Stirling and Perth.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-96" style="line-height:1em;">[97]

[edit] Scotland within the UK
Welcome sign at the Scottish border on the A1.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">A policy of devolution had been advocated by the three main UK parties with varying enthusiasm during recent history. The late Labour leader John Smith described the revival of a Scottish parliament as the "settled will of the Scottish people".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-97" style="line-height:1em;">[98] The constitutional status of Scotland is nonetheless subject to ongoing debate.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2007, the Scottish Government established a "National Conversation" on constitutional issues, proposing a number of options such as increasing the powers of the Scottish Parliament, federalism, or a referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. In rejecting the last option, the three main opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament have proposed a separate Scottish Constitutional Commission to investigate the distribution of powers between devolved Scottish and UK-wide bodies.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-98" style="line-height:1em;">[99] In August 2009 the SNP proposed a referendum bill to hold a referendum on independence in November 2010. Immediate opposition from all other major parties led to an expected defeat.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ReferendumBill2010_99-0" style="line-height:1em;">[100] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Times3Sep09_100-0" style="line-height:1em;">[101] These plans were put on hold by the Scottish National Party until after the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-101" style="line-height:1em;">[102] With the outcome of the May 2011 elections allowing an SNP majority in the Scottish Parliament, a referendum on Scotland's future within the UK is to be held in Autumn 2014, with the Scottish Government launching its consultation on 25 January 2012.

[edit] Law and criminal justice
Main article: Scots lawParliament House, in Edinburgh, is the home of the Court of Session.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scots law has a basis derived from Roman law,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-102" style="line-height:1em;">[103] combining features of both uncodified civil law, dating back to the Corpus Juris Civilis, and common law with medieval sources. The terms of the Treaty of Union with England in 1707 guaranteed the continued existence of a separate legal system in Scotland from that of England and Wales.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-103" style="line-height:1em;">[104] Prior to 1611, there were several regional law systems in Scotland, most notably Udal law in Orkney andShetland, based on old Norse law. Various other systems derived from common Celtic or Brehon laws survived in the Highlands until the 1800s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-104" style="line-height:1em;">[105]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scots law provides for three types of courts responsible for the administration of justice: civil, criminal and heraldic. The supreme civil court is the Court of Session, although civil appeals can be taken to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (or before 1 October 2009, the House of Lords). The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The Court of Session is housed at Parliament House, in Edinburgh, which was the home of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland with the High Court of Justiciary and the Supreme Court of Appeal currently located at the Lawnmarket. The sheriff court is the main criminal and civil court, hearing most of the cases. There are 49 sheriff courts throughout the country.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-105" style="line-height:1em;">[106] District courts were introduced in 1975 for minor offences and small claims. The Court of the Lord Lyon regulates heraldry.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">For many decades the Scots legal system was unique for a period in being the only legal system without a parliament. This ended with the advent of theScottish Parliament, which legislates for Scotland. Many features within the system have been preserved. Within criminal law, the Scots legal system is unique in having three possible verdicts: "guilty", "not guilty" and "not proven". Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in an acquittal with no possibility of retrial.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-106" style="line-height:1em;">[107] Many laws differ between Scotland and the rest of Britain, whereas many terms differ. Manslaughter, in England and Wales, becomes culpable homicide in Scotland, and arson becomes wilful fireraising. Procedure also differs. Scots juries consist of fifteen, not twelve jurors as is more common in English-speaking countries.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The civil legal system has however attracted much recent criticism from a senior Scottish Judge who referred to it as being "Victorian" and antiquated.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-107" style="line-height:1em;">[108] The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) manages the prisons in Scotland, which collectively house over 8,500 prisoners.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-108" style="line-height:1em;">[109] The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is responsible for the Scottish Prison Service within the Scottish Government.

[edit] Geography and natural history
Main article: Geography of ScotlandThe island of Little Cumbrae with the Isle of Arran in the background<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The mainland of Scotland comprises the northern third of the land mass of the island of Great Britain, which lies off the northwest coast of Continental Europe. The total area is 78,772 km<sup style="line-height:1em;">2 (30,414 sq mi),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Whitaker_109-0" style="line-height:1em;">[110] comparable to the size of the Czech Republic. Scotland's only land border is with England, and runs for 96 kilometres (60 mi) between the basin of the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast and the North Sea is to the east. The island of Ireland lies only 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the southwestern peninsula of Kintyre;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Atlas_110-0" style="line-height:1em;">[111] Norway is 305 kilometres (190 mi) to the east and the Faroes, 270 kilometres (168 mi) to the north.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the 1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and the Kingdom of England<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-111" style="line-height:1em;">[112] and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Mackie_20-2" style="line-height:1em;">[21] Important exceptions include the Isle of Man, which having been lost to England in the 14th century is now a crown dependency outside of the United Kingdom; the island groups Orkney and Shetland, which were acquired from Norway in 1472;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Whitaker_109-1" style="line-height:1em;">[110] and Berwick-upon-Tweed, lost to England in 1482.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The geographical centre of Scotland lies a few miles from the village of Newtonmore in Badenoch.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-112" style="line-height:1em;">[113] Rising to 1,344 metres (4,409 ft) above sea level, Scotland's highest point is the summit of Ben Nevis, in Lochaber, while Scotland's longest river, the River Tay, flows for a distance of 190 kilometres (118 mi).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-113" style="line-height:1em;">[114] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-114" style="line-height:1em;">[115]

[edit] Geology and geomorphology
Main article: Geology of ScotlandRelief map of Scotland<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The whole of Scotland was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages and the landscape is much affected by glaciation. From a geological perspective the country has three main sub-divisions.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Highlands and Islands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland largely comprises ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian, which were uplifted during the later Caledonian Orogeny. It is interspersed with igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and Skye Cuillins.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstones found principally along the Moray Firth coast. The Highlands are generally mountainous and the highest elevations in the British Isles are found here. Scotland has over 790 islands, which are divided into four main groups: Shetland,Orkney, and the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. There are numerous bodies of freshwater including Loch Lomond and Loch Ness. Some parts of the coastline consist of machair, a low lying dune pasture land.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Central Lowlands is a rift valley mainly comprising Paleozoic formations. Many of these sediments have economic significance for it is here that the coal and iron bearing rocks that fuelled Scotland's industrial revolution are to be found. This area has also experienced intense volcanism, Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh being the remnant of a once much larger volcano. This area is relatively low-lying, although even here hills such as the Ochils and Campsie Fells are rarely far from view.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Southern Uplands are a range of hills almost 200 kilometres (124 mi) long, interspersed with broad valleys. They lie south of a second fault line (the Southern Uplands fault) that runs from Girvan to Dunbar.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-115" style="line-height:1em;">[116] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-116" style="line-height:1em;">[117] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-117" style="line-height:1em;">[118] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Scotland_Today_.C2.BB_ITKT_118-0" style="line-height:1em;">[119] The geological foundations largely comprise Silurian deposits laid down some 4–500 million years ago. The high point of the Southern Uplands is Merrick with an elevation of 843 m (2,766 ft).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Keay_19-2" style="line-height:1em;">[20] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-119" style="line-height:1em;">[120] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-120" style="line-height:1em;">[121] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-121" style="line-height:1em;">[122] The Southern Uplands is home to the UK's highest village, Wanlockhead (430 m/1,411 ft above sea level).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Scotland_Today_.C2.BB_ITKT_118-1" style="line-height:1em;">[119]

[edit] Climate
Main article: Climate of ScotlandTiree, one of the sunniest locations in Scotland<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The climate of Scotland is temperate and oceanic, and tends to be very changeable. It is warmed by the Gulf Stream from the Atlantic, and as such has much milder winters (but cooler, wetter summers) than areas on similar latitudes, for example Labrador, southern Scandinavia, the Moscow region inRussia, or the Kamchatka Peninsula on the opposite side of Eurasia. However, temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK, with the coldest ever UK temperature of −27.2 °C (−16.96 °F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains, on 11 February 1895.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-122" style="line-height:1em;">[123] 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) atGreycrook, Scottish Borders on 9 August 2003.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Metext_123-0" style="line-height:1em;">[124]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In general, the west of Scotland is usually warmer than the east, owing to the influence of Atlantic ocean currents and the colder surface temperatures of the North Sea. Tiree, in the Inner Hebrides, is one of the sunniest places in the country: it had more than 300 hours of sunshine in May 1975.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Metext_123-1" style="line-height:1em;">[124] Rainfall varies widely across Scotland. The western highlands of Scotland are the wettest place, with annual rainfall exceeding 3,000 mm (118.1 in).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-124" style="line-height:1em;">[125] In comparison, much of lowland Scotland receives less than 800 mm (31.5 in) annually.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Meteast_125-0" style="line-height:1em;">[126] Heavy snowfall is not common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude. Braemar experiences an average of 59 snow days per year,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-126" style="line-height:1em;">[127] while many coastal areas average fewer than 10 days of lying snow per annum.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Meteast_125-1" style="line-height:1em;">[126]

[edit] Flora and fauna
Main articles: Fauna of Scotland and Flora of ScotlandMountain Hare<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland's wildlife is typical of the north west of Europe, although several of the larger mammals such as the lynx, brown bear, wolf, elk and walrus were hunted to extinction in historic times. There are important populations of seals and internationally significant nesting grounds for a variety of seabirdssuch as gannets.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-127" style="line-height:1em;">[128] The golden eagle is something of a national icon.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-128" style="line-height:1em;">[129]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">On the high mountain tops species including ptarmigan, mountain hare and stoat can be seen in their white colour phase during winter months.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-129" style="line-height:1em;">[130] Remnants of the native Scots pine forest exist<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-130" style="line-height:1em;">[131] and within these areas the Scottish crossbill, the UK's only endemic bird species and vertebrate, can be found alongside capercaillie, wildcat, red squirrel and pine marten.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-131" style="line-height:1em;">[132] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-132" style="line-height:1em;">[133] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-133" style="line-height:1em;">[134] In recent years various animals have been re-introduced, including thewhite-tailed sea eagle in 1975, the red kite in the 1980s,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-134" style="line-height:1em;">[135] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-135" style="line-height:1em;">[136] and more recently there have been experimental projects involving the beaver and wild boar.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-136" style="line-height:1em;">[137] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BBC_News_137-0" style="line-height:1em;">[138]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The flora of the country is varied incorporating both deciduous and coniferous woodland and moorland and tundra species. However, large scale commercial tree planting and the management of upland moorland habitat for the grazing of sheep and commercial field sport activities impacts upon the distribution of indigenous plants and animals.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-138" style="line-height:1em;">[139] The UK's tallest tree is a grand fir planted beside Loch Fyne, Argyll in the 1870s, and the Fortingall Yew may be 5,000 years old and is probably the oldest living thing in Europe.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-139" style="line-height:1em;">[140] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-140" style="line-height:1em;">[141] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-141" style="line-height:1em;">[142] Although the number of native vascular plants is low by world standards, Scotland's substantial bryophyte flora is of global importance.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-142" style="line-height:1em;">[143] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-RBGE_143-0" style="line-height:1em;">[144]

[edit] Economy and infrastructure
Main article: Economy of ScotlandA drilling rig located in the North Sea<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland has a western style open mixed economy that is closely linked with the rest of Europe and the wider world. Traditionally, the Scottish economy has been dominated by heavy industry underpinned by the shipbuilding in Glasgow, coal mining and steel industries. Petroleum related industries associated with the extraction of North Sea oil have also been important employers from the 1970s, especially in the north east of Scotland.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">De-industrialisation during the 1970s and 1980s saw a shift from a manufacturing focus towards a more service-oriented economy. Edinburgh is the financial services centre of Scotland and the sixth largest financial centre in Europe in terms of funds under management, behind London, Paris,Frankfurt, Zurich and Amsterdam,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Milner_144-0" style="line-height:1em;">[145] with many large finance firms based there, including: Lloyds Banking Group (owners of the Halifax Bank of Scotland); the Government owned Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life.

View from windfarm towards Clyde's best known landmark, Ailsa Craig. The renewable energy industry is an important part of the Scottish economy.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Trade_145-0" style="line-height:1em;">[146] Scotland's primary exports include whisky, electronics and financial services. The United States, Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain constitute the country's major export markets.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Trade_145-1" style="line-height:1em;">[146] Scotland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), including oil and gas produced in Scottish waters, was estimated at £137.5 billion for the calendar year 2009.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-SNAP_GDP_3-1" style="line-height:1em;">[4] If Scotland became independent, it would hold 90% of the UK's current oil and gas reserves if they were split geographically using a median line from the English-Scottish border. If the reserves were to be split by population, that figure would be reduced to 9%.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-146" style="line-height:1em;">[147]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Tourism is widely recognised as a key contributor to the Scottish economy. A briefing published in 2002 by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, (SPICe), for the Scottish Parliament's Enterprise and Life Long Learning Committee, stated that tourism accounted for up to 5% of GDP and 7.5% of employment.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-147" style="line-height:1em;">[148]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">As of May 2009 the unemployment rate in Scotland stood at 6.6%— slightly lower than the UK average and lower than that of the majority of EU countries.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-148" style="line-height:1em;">[149] The Scottish Government's most recent figures (for 2009/10) suggest that Scotland's finances are in a healthier state than for the UK as a whole, with Scotland contributing 9.4% of UK taxes but receiving 9.3% of public expenditure.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-149" style="line-height:1em;">[150]

[edit] Currency
Main article: Banknotes of the pound sterling#Scotland<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Although the Bank of England is the central bank for the UK, three Scottish clearing banks still issue their own Sterling banknotes: the Bank of Scotland; the Royal Bank of Scotland; and theClydesdale Bank. The current value of the Scottish banknotes in circulation is £1.5 billion.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Banknotes_150-0" style="line-height:1em;">[151]

[edit] Transport
Main article: Transport in ScotlandA Loganair Twin Otter at Barra Airport, the only airport worldwide using a beach runway for scheduled services<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-151" style="line-height:1em;">[152] <p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland has five main international airports (Glasgow International, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow Prestwick and Inverness), which together serve 150 international destinations with a wide variety of scheduled and chartered flights.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-152" style="line-height:1em;">[153] GIP operates Edinburgh airport and BAA Operates,(Aberdeen and Glasgow International), and Highland and Islands Airports operates 11 regional airports, including Inverness, which serve the more remote locations.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HIAL_153-0" style="line-height:1em;">[154] Infratil operates Glasgow Prestwick.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Scottish motorways and major trunk roads are managed by Transport Scotland. The remainder of the road network is managed by the Scottish local authorities in each of their areas. Regular ferry services operate between the Scottish mainland and many islands. These ferries are mostly run byCaledonian MacBrayne, but some are operated by local councils. Other ferry routes, served by multiple companies, connect to Northern Ireland, Belgium, Norway, the Faroe Islands and also Iceland. Network Rail Infrastructure Limited owns and operates the fixed infrastructure assets of the railway system in Scotland, while the Scottish Government retains overall responsibility for rail strategy and funding in Scotland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Office_of_Rail_Regulation_154-0" style="line-height:1em;">[155] Scotland’s rail network has around 340 railway stations and 3000 kilometres of track. Over 62 million passenger journeys are made each year.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-155" style="line-height:1em;">[156]

One of Scotland's busiest airports,Edinburgh Airport<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland's rail network is managed by Transport Scotland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-TRANSSCOT_156-0" style="line-height:1em;">[157] The East Coast and West Coast main railway lines connect the major cities and towns of Scotland with each other and with the rail network in England. Domestic rail services within Scotland are operated by First ScotRail. During the time of British Rail the West Coast Main Line from London Euston toGlasgow Central was electrified in the early 1970s followed by the East Coast Main Line in the late 1980s. British Rail created the ScotRail brand. WhenBritish Rail existed many railway lines in Strathclyde were electrified with Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive being at the forefront with the acclaimed: "The Largest electrified rail network outside London." Some parts of the network are electrified, but there are no electrified lines in the Highlands, Angus, Aberdeenshire, the cities of Dundee or Aberdeen, or Perth & Kinross, and none of the Islands have a rail link.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In addition, Glasgow has had a small integrated subway system since 1896. Completely gutted and modernised between 1977 and 1980, its 15 stations serve just under 40,000 passengers per day. There are plans to extensively refurbish the system in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The East Coast Main Line crosses the Firth of Forth by the Forth Bridge. Completed in 1890, this cantilever bridge has been described as "the one internationally recognised Scottish landmark".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-157" style="line-height:1em;">[158]

[edit] Demography
Main article: Demography of ScotlandSee also: Languages of Scotland, Religion in Scotland, and Scottish peopleEdinburgh, Scotland's capital and second-largest city<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The population of Scotland in the 2001 Census was 5,062,011. This has risen to 5,222,100 according to June 2010 estimates.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-158" style="line-height:1em;">[159] This would make Scotland the 113th largest country by population if it were a sovereign state. Although Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland it is not the largest city. With a population of just over 584,000, this honour falls to Glasgow. The Greater Glasgow conurbation, with a population of almost 1.2 million, is home to nearly a quarter of Scotland's population.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-159" style="line-height:1em;">[160]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Central Belt is where most of the main towns and cities are located. Glasgow is to the west, while Edinburgh and Dundee lie on the east coast, withPerth (its city status restored in 2012) lying 20 miles upstream on the River Tay from Dundee. Scotland's only major city outside the Central Belt isAberdeen, on the east coast to the north. The Highlands are sparsely populated, although the city of Inverness has experienced rapid growth in recent years.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-160" style="line-height:1em;">[161] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-161" style="line-height:1em;">[162] Because of housing problems in Glasgow and Edinburgh, five new townswere created between 1947 and 1966. They are East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Livingston, Cumbernauld, and Irvine.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-162" style="line-height:1em;">[163]

Scotland population cartogram. The size of councils is in proportion to their population. The darker colour the bigger is the real area of a council.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Following immigration since World War II, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee have small South Asian communities.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-163" style="line-height:1em;">[164] As of 2001, there were an estimated 31,793 Pakistanis living in Scotland, making them the single largest non-White ethnic group.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-164" style="line-height:1em;">[165] Since the recent Enlargement of the European Union more people from Central and Eastern Europe have moved to Scotland, and it is estimated that between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles now live there.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-165" style="line-height:1em;">[166] The ethnic groups within Scotland are as follows: White, 97.99%; South Asian, 1.09%; Black, 0.16%; Mixed, 0.25%; Chinese, 0.32% and Other, 0.19%.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland has three officially recognised languages: English, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic. Almost all Scots speak Scottish English, and in 1996, theGeneral Register Office for Scotland estimated that 30% of the population are fluent in Scots.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-166" style="line-height:1em;">[167] Gaelic is mostly spoken in the Western Isles, where a large proportion of people still speak it; however, nationally its use is confined to just 1% of the population.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-167" style="line-height:1em;">[168] The number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland dropped from 250,000 – 7% of the population – in 1881 to 60,000 today.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-168" style="line-height:1em;">[169]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">There are many more people with Scottish ancestry living abroad than the total population of Scotland. In the 2000 Census, 9.2 million Americans self-reported some degree of Scottish descent.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-169" style="line-height:1em;">[170] Ulster's Protestant population is mainly of lowland Scottish descent,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-170" style="line-height:1em;">[171] and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million descendants of the Scots-Irish migration now living in the U.S.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-171" style="line-height:1em;">[172] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-172" style="line-height:1em;">[173] In Canada, the Scottish-Canadian community accounts for 4.7 million people.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-cancensus_173-0" style="line-height:1em;">[174] About 20% of the original European settler population of New Zealand came from Scotland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-174" style="line-height:1em;">[175] <p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In August 2012, the Scottish population had reached an all time high, reaching 5.25 million people<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-175" style="line-height:1em;">[176]. The reason given was that in Scotland births were out numbering the number of Scottish deaths, and due to immigrants coming into Scotland from overseas. In 2011, 43,700 people moved from Wales, Northern Ireland or England to live in Scotland<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-176" style="line-height:1em;">[177].

[edit] Education
Main article: Education in ScotlandGilbert Scott Building, University of Glasgow<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Scottish education system has always remained distinct from that of the rest of United Kingdom, with a characteristic emphasis on a broad education.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-178" style="line-height:1em;">[179] Scotland was the first country since Sparta in classical Greece to implement a system of general public education.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Intro_to_Scottish_Education_55-1" style="line-height:1em;">[56] Schooling was made compulsory for the first time in Scotland with the Education Act of 1496; then, in 1561, the Church of Scotland set out a national programme for spiritual reform, including a school in every parish. Education continued to be a matter for the church rather than the state until the Education Act (1872).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-179" style="line-height:1em;">[180]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The "Curriculum for Excellence" provides the curricular framework for children and young people from age 3 to 18.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-180" style="line-height:1em;">[181] All 3- and 4-year-old children in Scotland are entitled to a free nursery place. Formal primary education begins at approximately 5 years old and lasts for 7 years (P1–P7); today, children in Scotland study Standard Grades, or more recently Intermediate qualifications between the ages of 14 and 16. The school leaving age is 16, after which students may choose to remain at school and study for Access, Intermediate or Higher Grade and Advanced Higher qualifications. A small number of students at certain private, independent schools may follow the English system and study towards GCSEs and A and AS-Levels instead.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-181" style="line-height:1em;">[182]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">There are 15 Scottish universities, some of which are amongst the oldest in the world.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-182" style="line-height:1em;">[183] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-183" style="line-height:1em;">[184] These include the University of St Andrews, theUniversity of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, Robert Gordon University, and the University of Dundee—many of which are ranked amongst the best in the UK.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-184" style="line-height:1em;">[185] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-185" style="line-height:1em;">[186] The country produces 1% of the world's published research with less than 0.1% of the world's population, and higher education institutions account for 9% of Scotland's service sector exports.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-186" style="line-height:1em;">[187] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-187" style="line-height:1em;">[188] Scotland's University Courts are the only bodies in Scotland authorised to award degrees.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland's Universities are complemented in the provision of Further and Higher Education by 43 Colleges. Colleges offer National Certificates, Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas. These Group Awards, alongside Scottish Vocational Qualifications, aim to ensure that Scotland's population has the appropriate skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the workplace.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland's regulatory body for qualifications is SQA Accreditation. Scotland's Qualifications are mapped on the SCQF (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework). The SCQF provides a language to help understand the complexity and size of qualifications, ranging from Access 1 (SCQF Level 1) to Doctorates (SCQF Level 12).{http://www.scqf.org.uk/}

[edit] Religion
Main article: Religion in ScotlandIona Abbey, an early centre of Scottish Christianity<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Just over two-thirds (67%) of the Scottish population reported having a religion in 2001, with Christianity representing all but 2% of these.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-188" style="line-height:1em;">[189] By contrast, 28% of the population reported having no religious adherence.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Since the Scottish Reformation of 1560, the national church (the Church of Scotland, also known as The Kirk) has been Protestant and Reformed in theology. Since 1689 it has had a Presbyterian system of church government, and enjoys independence from the state.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Keay_19-3" style="line-height:1em;">[20] About 12% of the population are currently members of the Church of Scotland, with 40% claiming affinity. The Church operates a territorial parish structure, with every community in Scotland having a local congregation.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland also has a significant Roman Catholic population, 19% claiming that faith, particularly in the west.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-189" style="line-height:1em;">[190] After the Reformation, Roman Catholicism in Scotland continued in the Highlands and some western islands like Uist and Barra, and it was strengthened during the 19th century by immigration from Ireland. Other Christian denominations in Scotland include the Free Church of Scotland, various other Presbyterian offshoots, and theScottish Episcopal Church.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Islam is the largest non-Christian religion (estimated at around 40,000, which is less than 0.9% of the population),<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-GROSCOT_190-0" style="line-height:1em;">[191] and there are also significantJewish, Hindu and Sikh communities, especially in Glasgow.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-GROSCOT_190-1" style="line-height:1em;">[191] The Samyé Ling monastery near Eskdalemuir, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007, includes the largest Buddhisttemple in western Europe.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-191" style="line-height:1em;">[192]

[edit] Health care
Main article: Healthcare in Scotland<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Healthcare in Scotland is mainly provided by NHS Scotland, Scotland's public health care system. This was founded by the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 (later repealed by the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978) that took effect on 5 July 1948 to coincide with the launch of the NHS in England and Wales. However, even prior to 1948, half of Scotland's landmass was already covered by state funded health care, provided by the Highlands and Islands Medical Service.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-192" style="line-height:1em;">[193]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2008, the NHS in Scotland had around 158,000 staff including more than 47,500 nurses, midwives and health visitors and over 3,800 consultants. In addition, there are also more than 12,000 doctors, family practitioners and allied health professionals, including dentists, opticians and community pharmacists, who operate as independent contractors providing a range of services within the NHS in return for fees and allowances. These fees and allowances have been removed as of May 2010, prescriptions are entirely free, (dentists and opticians are chareable if the household you stay in is making over a certain amount) (the amount is within the region of £30,000 per annum)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-193" style="line-height:1em;">[194]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Healthcare policy and funding is the responsibility of the Scottish Government's Health Directorates. The current Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing is Nicola Sturgeon and the Director-General (DG) Health and Chief Executive, NHS Scotland is Derek Feeley.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-194" style="line-height:1em;">[195]

[edit] Military
Main article: Military of ScotlandSoldiers of the five regular battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Although Scotland has a long military tradition that predates the Treaty of Union with England, its armed forces now form part of the British Armed Forces, with the notable exception of the Atholl Highlanders, Europe's only legal private army. In 2006, the infantry regiments of the Scottish Divisionwere amalgamated to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Other distinctively Scottish regiments in the British Army include the Scots Guards, theRoyal Scots Dragoon Guards and the Scottish Transport Regiment, a Territorial Army Regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Because of their topography and perceived remoteness, parts of Scotland have housed many sensitive defence establishments, with mixed public feelings.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-195" style="line-height:1em;">[196] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-196" style="line-height:1em;">[197] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-197" style="line-height:1em;">[198] Between 1960 and 1991, the Holy Loch was a base for the U.S. fleet of Polaris ballistic missile submarines.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-198" style="line-height:1em;">[199] Today, Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde, 25 miles (40 kilometres) north west of Glasgow, is the base for the four Trident-armed Vanguard class ballistic missile submarines that comprise the UK's nuclear deterrent. Scapa Flow was the major Fleet base for the Royal Navy until 1956.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Two frontline Royal Air Force bases are also located in Scotland. These are RAF Leuchars and RAF Lossiemouth, the last of which is the most northerly air defence fighter base in the United Kingdom. A third, RAF Kinloss will be closed as an RAF unit in 2013–14. RAF Leuchars is due to be turned into an army barracks, ending the RAF's connection in Fife.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-199" style="line-height:1em;">[200]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The only open-air live depleted uranium weapons test range in the British Isles is located near Dundrennan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-200" style="line-height:1em;">[201] As a result, over 7,000 radioactive munitions lie on the seabed of the Solway Firth.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-201" style="line-height:1em;">[202]

[edit] Culture
Main article: Culture of ScotlandSee also: Scottish people, Music of Scotland, Scottish literature, Scottish art, Media of Scotland, and Scottish cuisineA Pipe Major playing the Great Highland Bagpipe<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scottish music is a significant aspect of the nation's culture, with both traditional and modern influences. A famous traditional Scottish instrument is the Great Highland Bagpipe, a wind instrument consisting of three drones and a melody pipe (called the chanter), which are fed continuously by a reservoir of air in a bag.Bagpipe bands, featuring bagpipes and various types of drums, and showcasing Scottish music styles while creating new ones, have spread throughout the world. The clàrsach (harp), fiddle and accordion are also traditional Scottish instruments, the latter two heavily featured in Scottish country dance bands. Today, there are many successful Scottish bands and individual artists in varying styles including Runrig, Boards of Canada, Cocteau Twins, Franz Ferdinand andTexas.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-202" style="line-height:1em;">[203]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland has a literary heritage dating back to the early Middle Ages. The earliest extant literature composed in what is now Scotland was in Brythonic speech in the 6th century, but is preserved as part of Welsh literature.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-203" style="line-height:1em;">[204] Later medieval literature included works in Latin,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-204" style="line-height:1em;">[205] Gaelic,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-205" style="line-height:1em;">[206] Old English<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-206" style="line-height:1em;">[207] and French.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-207" style="line-height:1em;">[208] The first surviving major text in Early Scots is the 14th century poet John Barbour's epic Brus, focusing on the life of Robert I,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-208" style="line-height:1em;">[209] and was soon followed by a series of vernacular romances and prose works.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Wormald1991pp60-7_209-0" style="line-height:1em;">[210] In the 16th century the crown's patronage helped the development of Scots drama and poetry,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Brownetalpp256-7_210-0" style="line-height:1em;">[211] but the accession of James VI to the English throne removed a major centre of literary patronage and Scots was sidelined as a literary language.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-211" style="line-height:1em;">[212] Interest in Scots literature was revived in the 18th century by figures including James Macpherson, whose Ossian Cycle made him the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation and was a major influence on the European Enlightenment.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-212" style="line-height:1em;">[213] It was also a major influence on Robert Burns, considered by many to be the national poet,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-213" style="line-height:1em;">[214] and Walter Scott, whose Waverley Novels did much to define Scottish identity in the 19th century.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-214" style="line-height:1em;">[215] Towards the end of the Victorian era a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations as writers in English, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, J. M. Barrie and George MacDonald.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-215" style="line-height:1em;">[216] In the 20th century the Scottish Renaissance saw a surge of literary activity and attempts to reclaim the Scots language as a medium for serious literature.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-VisitingArtsScotland_216-0" style="line-height:1em;">[217] Members of the movement were followed by a new generation of post-war poets including Edwin Morgan, who would be appointed the first Scots Makar by the inaugural Scottish government in 2004.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-217" style="line-height:1em;">[218] From the 1980s Scottish literature enjoyed another major revival, particularly associated with a group of Glasgow writers including Irvine Welsh.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-VisitingArtsScotland_216-1" style="line-height:1em;">[217] Scottish poets who emerged in the same period included Carol Ann Duffy, who was named as the first Scot to be UK Poet Laureate in May 2009.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-218" style="line-height:1em;">[219]

Headquarters and studios of BBC Scotland<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scottish theatre has for many years played an important role in Scottish society, from the music hall variety of Sir Harry Lauder and his contemporaries to the more serious plays put on at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and many other theatres throughout Scotland.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="line-height:1em;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Television in Scotland is largely the same as UK-wide broadcasts, however the national broadcaster is BBC Scotland, a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It runs three national television stations, and the national radio stations, BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, amongst others. Scotland also has some programming in the Gaelic language. BBC Alba is the national Gaelic-language channel. The main Scottish commercial television station is STV. National newspapers such as the Daily Record, The Herald, and The Scotsman are all produced in Scotland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Newspapers_219-0" style="line-height:1em;">[220] Important regional dailies include the Evening News in Edinburgh 'The Courier in Dundee in the east, and The Press and Journal serving Aberdeen and the north.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Newspapers_219-1" style="line-height:1em;">[220] Scotland is represented at the Celtic Media Festival, which showcases film and television from the Celtic countries. Scottish entrants have won many awards since the festival began in 1980.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Media_1_220-0" style="line-height:1em;">[221]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">As one of the Celtic nations, Scotland and Scottish culture is represented at interceltic events at home and over the world. Scotland hosts several music festivals including Celtic Connections (Glasgow), and the Hebridean Celtic Festival (Stornoway). Festivals celebrating Celtic culture, such as Festival Interceltique de Lorient (Brittany), thePan Celtic Festival (Ireland), and the National Celtic Festival (Portarlington, Australia), feature elements of Scottish culture such as language, music and dance.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Celtic_nation_1_221-0" style="line-height:1em;">[222] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Celtic_nation_2_222-0" style="line-height:1em;">[223] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Celtic_connections_1_223-0" style="line-height:1em;">[224] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hebridean_Celtic_1_224-0" style="line-height:1em;">[225] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Festival_1_225-0" style="line-height:1em;">[226] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Dingle_1_226-0" style="line-height:1em;">[227] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Festival_3_227-0" style="line-height:1em;">[228]

[edit] Sport
Main article: Sport in ScotlandThe Old Course at St Andrews<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Sport is an important element in Scottish culture, with the country hosting many of its own national sporting competitions. It enjoys independent representation at many international sporting events including the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby Union World Cup, the Rugby League World Cup, theCricket World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, but not at the Olympic Games where Scottish athletes are part of the Great Britain team. Scotland has its own national governing bodies, such as the Scottish Football Association (the second oldest national football association in the world)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-228" style="line-height:1em;">[229] and the Scottish Rugby Union. Variations of football have been played in Scotland for centuries with the earliest reference dating back to 1424.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FIFA_229-0" style="line-height:1em;">[230] Association football is now the most popular sport and the Scottish Cup is the world's oldest national trophy.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Trophy_230-0" style="line-height:1em;">[231]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland contested the first ever international football game in 1872, a 0–0 draw against England. The match took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. Scottish clubs have been successful in European competitions with Celtic winning the European Cup in 1967, Rangers and Aberdeen winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1972 and 1983 respectively, and Aberdeen also winning the UEFA Super Cup in 1983. Dundee United have also made it to a European final, reaching the UEFA Cup Final in 1987, but losing on aggregate 2-1 to IFK Göteborg. The Fifetown of St. Andrews is known internationally as the Home of golf<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-231" style="line-height:1em;">[232] and to many golfers the Old Course, an ancient links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-232" style="line-height:1em;">[233] There are many other famous golf courses in Scotland, including Carnoustie, Gleneagles, Muirfield, and Royal Troon. Other distinctive features of the national sporting culture include the Highland games, curling and Shinty, which, given its arrival with the Gaelic language and the original Scottish culture from Ireland, can claim to be Scotland's national sport.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Scotland has competed at every Commonwealth Games since 1930 and have won 356 medal in total—91 Gold, 104 Silver and 161 Bronze.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-233" style="line-height:1em;">[234] Scotland played host to the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and 1986, and will do so again in 2014 with Glasgow the host city.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-234" style="line-height:1em;">[235]

[edit] National symbols
Main article: National symbols of ScotlandThe thistle, Scotland's floral emblem.<p style="line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The national flag of Scotland, known as the Saltire or St. Andrew's Cross, dates from the 9th century, and is thus the oldest national flag still in use. Since 1606 the Saltire has also formed part of the design of the Union Flag. There are numerous other symbols and symbolic artefacts, both official and unofficial, including the thistle, the nation's floral emblem (celebrated in the song, The Thistle o' Scotland), 6 April 1320 statement of political independence the Declaration of Arbroath, the textile pattern tartan that often signifies a particular Scottish clan, and the Lion Rampant flag.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-235" style="line-height:1em;">[236] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-236" style="line-height:1em;">[237] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-237" style="line-height:1em;">[238] Highlanders can thank James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose, for the repeal in 1782 of the Act of 1747 prohibiting the wearing of tartans.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Works_238-0" style="line-height:1em;">[239]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Although there is no official National anthem of Scotland,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-239" style="line-height:1em;">[240] Flower of Scotland is played on special occasions and sporting events such as football and rugby matches involving the Scotland national teams and as of 2010 is also played at the Commonwealth Games after it was voted the overwhelming favourite by participating Scottish athletes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-240" style="line-height:1em;">[241] Other less popular candidates for the National Anthem of Scotland include Scotland the Brave, Highland Cathedral, Scots Wha Hae and A Man's A Man for A' That.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.200000762939453px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">St Andrew's Day, 30 November, is the national day, although Burns' Night tends to be more widely observed, particularly outside Scotland. Tartan Day is a recent innovation from Canada. In 2006, the Scottish Parliament passed the St. Andrew's Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007, designating the day to be an official bank holiday.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-241" style="line-height:1em;">[242]