SCOTLAND

Scotland is a country that is part of the United KingdomOccupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain,

it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by theNorth 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 is made up of more than 790 islands. including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Edinburgh, the country's capital and second-largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual, and industrial powerhouses of Europe. 

Glasgow, Scotland's largest city,[ was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Scottish waters consist of a large sector[ of the North Atlantic and the North Sea,

containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland,

the title of Europe's oil capital.

EDINBURGH

GLASGOW

ABERDEEN

GOVERNMENT AND POLİTİCS

Scotland's head of state is the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952). The regnal numbering "Elizabeth II" caused controversyaround the time of the Queen's coronation because there had never been an Elizabeth I in Scotland.

A legal action, MacCormick v. Lord Advocate (1953 SC 396), was brought to contest the right of the Queen to entitle herself Elizabeth II within Scotland, arguing that this was a breach of Article 1 of the Treaty of Union.

Scotland has limited 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.

LAW AND CRİMİNAL JUSTİCE

Scots law has a basis derived from Roman law,[134] 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.[135]

 

ADMİNİSTRATİVE SUBDİVİSİONS

Historical subdivisions of Scotland included the mormaerdom, stewartry, earldom, burgh, parish, county and regions and districts. Some of these names are still sometimes used as geographical descriptors.

Modern Scotland is subdivided in various ways depending on the purpose. In local government, there have been 32 council areassince 1996,whose councils are unitary authorities responsible for the provision of all local government services. Community councils are informal organisations that represent specific sub-divisions of a council area.

CLİMATE The climate of Scotland is temperate and 

oceanic, and tends to be very changeable. As it is warmed by the Gulf Stream from theAtlantic, it has much milder winters (but cooler, wetter summers) than areas on similar latitudes, for example Labrador, southernScandinavia, the Moscow region in Russia, and 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 (−17.0 °F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains, on 11 February 1895.[153]

 Winter maxima average 6 °C (42.8 °F) in the Lowlands, with summer maxima averaging 18 °C (64.4 °F). The highest temperature recorded was 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) at Greycrook, Scottish Borders on 9 August 2003.[154]

FLORA AND FAUNA

Scotland's wildlife is typical of the north west of Europe, although several of the larger mammals such as the lynx, brown bear, wolf,elk and walrus were hunted to extinction in historic times. There are important populations of seals and internationally significant nesting grounds for a variety of seabirds such as gannets. The golden eagle is something of a national icon.

On the high mountain tops species including ptarmigan, mountain hare and stoat can be seen in their white colour phase during winter months. Remnants of the native Scots pine forest exist and within these areas the Scottish crossbill, the UK's onlyendemic bird species and vertebrate, can be found alongside capercaillie, wildcat, red squirrel and pine marten.[1 In recent years various animals have been re-introduced, including the white-tailed sea eagle in 1975, the red kite in the 1980s, and more recently there have been experimental projects involving the beaver and wild boar. Today, much of the remaining native Caledonian Forest lies within the Cairngorms National Park and remnants of the forest remain at 84 locations across Scotland. On

LYNX

BROWN BEAR

WOLF

ECONOMY AND İNFRASTRUCTURE

Scotland has a western style open mixed economy closely linked with the rest of Europe and the wider world. Traditionally, the Scottish economy has been dominated by heavy industry underpinned by 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.

Whisky is probably the best known of Scotland's manufactured products. Exports have increased by 87% in the past decade and it contributes over £4.25billion to the UK economy, making up a quarter of all its food and drink revenues. It is also one of the UK's overall top five manufacturing export earners and it supports around 35,000 jobs.

 Tourism is also 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.

DEMOGRAPHY

The population of Scotland in the 2001 Census was 5,062,011. This has risen to 5,295,400, the highest ever, according to the first results of the 2011 Census.[3

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.

RELİGİON

Just over two-thirds (67%) of the Scottish population reported having a religion in 2001, with Christianity representing all but 2% of these.[230] By contrast, 28% of the population reported having no religious adherence.

Since the Scottish Reformation of 1560, the national church (the Church of Scotland, also known as The Kirk) has been Protestant and Reformed in theology. Since 1689 it has had a Presbyterian system of church government, and enjoys independence from the state.[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.

CULTURE

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.

ALEV AY