Scotland

• Fact file• Official symbols• Geographical position• History• Political structure• Sights and cities• Famous people• Natural world• Entertainment • Links

Fact file• First Minister Alex Salmond (Scottish National Party)• GDP (per head) GDP (per head) : £16, 332 (2004)• Value of haggis sold for Burns Night £1.2 million• Unemployment 4.8% (2007)• Amount of whisky exported annually 1 billion

bottles• Number of seats in Scottish parliament 129• Area 78, 722 sq km• Inflation 2.5% (2007)• Population 5.1 million

Symbols

The Flag of Scotland, the Saltire or St. Andrew's Cross, dates (at least in legend) from the 9th century, and is thus the oldest national flag still in use. The Saltire now also forms part of the design of the Union Flag.

The Royal Standard

The Royal Standard of Scotland, a banner showing the Royal Arms of Scotland, is also frequently to be seen, particularly at sporting events involving a Scottish team. Often called the Lion Rampant (after its chief heraldic device), it is technically the property of the monarch and its use by anybody else is illegal, although this is almost universally ignored, and never enforced.

AnthemThe national anthem of the United Kingdom is God Save the Queen and, as for the other constituent countries of the UK, Scotland has no distinct official national anthem of its own. There are several candidates, however: Flower of Scotland is popularly held to be the National Anthem of Scotland, and is played at events such as football or rugby matches involving the Scotland national team. Scotland the Brave is used for the Scottish team at the Commonwealth Games. However, since devolution, more serious discussion of the issue has led to the use of Flower of Scotland being disputed. Other candidates include Highland Cathedral, Scots Wha Hae and A Man's A Man for A' That.

The thistle, the floral emblem of Scotland, features in many Scottish symbols and logos, and on UK currency. Heather is also considered to be a symbol of Scotland.

Tartan is a specific woven textile pattern that often signifies a particular Scottish clan, as featured in a kilt.

Geographical positionScotland is the most northern of the countries that constitute the UK. It occupies an area of 78, 8 thousand sq. km. Scotland is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north and west and by the North Sea in the east. The coastline of Scotland is greatly indented. In many places deep fiords penetrate very far inland. Geographically the territory of Scotland can be divided into three regions: the Northern Highlands, the Central Lowlands and the Southern Uplands.

Scotland is a very beautiful country. The Old Scotland is a land of ballades, legendary heroes, knights, outlaws, beautiful queens, brave and cruel kings. The New Scotland is quite different from the traditional traveler’s vision of bagpipes, kilts, tartans and the like. New Scotland is a land of steel and ships, coal and power, of factories and great ports; of modern literature and music.

HistoryHumans have lived in Scotland since the end of the last glaciation, around 10,000 years ago. Of the stone, bronze, and iron age civilisations which occupied the country, many artefacts, but few examples of writing, remain. Thus the written History of Scotland largely begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in Britain. From a classical historical viewpoint Scotland seemed a peripheral country, slow to gain advances filtering out from the Mediterranean fount of civilisation, but as knowledge of the past increases it seems remarkable how early and advanced some developments have been, and how important the seaways were to Scottish history.

The country's lengthy struggle with England, its more powerful neighbour to the south, repeatedly forced it to rely on trade, cultural and often strategic ties with a number of European powers. Following the Act of Union and the subsequent Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, Scotland became one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Its industrial decline following World War II was particularly acute, but in recent decades the country has enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance, fuelled in part by a resurgent financial services sector, the proceeds of North Sea oil and gas, and latterly a devolved parliament.

Political structureThe Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999 after almost 300 years, having been adjourned on March 25, 1707 when members passed the Act of Union combining the Scottish and English Parliaments at Westminster in London. In 1997 a referendum in Scotland resulted in a large majority voting in favour of a Scottish Parliament with tax-raising powers. Westminster then passed the 1998 Scotland Act which assigned the devolved powers. In 1999, an election was held in Scotland and the first 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) elected. On July 1, 1999, they gathered at their temporary home in an assembly building on The Mound in Edinburgh and the Parliament was reconvened.

In 2004, the Queen performed the opening ceremony when the Parliament moved to its permanent home at Holyrood in Edinburgh. The Parliament and the Scottish Ministers who make up the Government are elected for a fixed four year term. The next election will be in May 2011. The current Administration is a Minority Government formed by the Scottish National Party. The incumbent First Minister is Alex Salmond MSP who appoints five Cabinet Secretaries, 10 Ministers, and two Law Officers. They are collectively known as the Scottish Ministers. The Scottish Government was known as the Scottish Executive until the name was changed in September 2007.

Sights and citiesIt is about the two contrasting cities, Glasgow – Edinburgh, the two great centres of Scotland. Both are children of the same mother – Scotland – but how unlike each other they are! Edinburgh is popularly known as the Athens of the North because of its seven hills.

Princess Street, Edinburgh The principal street, Princes Street, a mile long, is very modern and bright, with beautiful houses, elegant shops and restaurants, cinemas and cafes, - all on one side of the street. The other side borders a deep valley filled with trees and flowers and lawns.

life.

The Scott Monument, Edinburgh

A monument two hundred feet high, Gothic in style, rises abruptly from the ground, from a green cluster of trees. A poem in stone they call it – the Scott memorial. Like a fantastic needle, it points to Scotland’s blue sky.

The Castle hangs over the city like some Disney cartoon – but it is real. The Castle, in fact is older than the city. No one can say exactly when the first settlers came to live on the huge rock that stands high above Edinburgh. Later they built a castle that used to be a fortress and then a royal palace. It looks good in any weather but at night when it is floodlit it looks just like a castle in a fairy tale. It is not surprising that the Castle attracts a lot of tourists.

Holyrood PalaceHolyrood Palace is a place of great interest. Here Queen Mary Stuart held court. Here her son James, King of Scotland, received the horseman who came speeding from London to announce the death of Queen Elizabeth I and that he was king of England now. Thus the Union was enacted. Many other events of the long history of Scotland are connected with Holyrood. Holyrood House is the residence of the Queen, when she is in Edinburgh.

Closes (narrow passages) lead to little yards and attractive historical buildings. The most picturesque part of the Royal Mile is the Cannongate, which gives a good idea of what the Old Town was like.

The Cannongate

The Edinburgh Festival embraces almost all arts. Now the Festival includes not only opera, ballet and music of all kinds. But painting, folk-dancing, films and drama – they are all represented. All the theatres and concert halls of Edinburgh open their doors to the Festival performances, to the best theaters, orchestras, soloists, dancers of the world.

The Edinburgh Festival

Official Loch Ness Exhibition Centre(Drumnadrochit)

In this fascinating multimedia exhibition, you'll hear about different legends of Nessie, and scientific research to get to the bottom of this mystery. This very long, very cold, deep lake has been studied by expeditions in small submarines and by sonar detection. The very geology of the lake sets the scene for legends of the very elusive creature, thought to be a dragon in ancient times, and more recently, a plesiosaur.

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest and busiest town of Scotland, the heart of industry, with great shipyards, where many of Britain’s most famous liners are constructed. The estuary of the Clyde is very picturesque; the many lochs are most attractive. Glasgow made the Clyde and the Clyde made Glasgow is the local saying.

Robert BurnsRobert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a "light" Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these pieces, his political or civil commentary is often at its most blunt.

George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron)

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet and a leading figure in Romanticism. Amongst Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, we'll go no more a roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential.

Sir Walter ScottSir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time. Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of The Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor.

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone. Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils and aeronautics. In 1888, Alexander Graham Bell became one of the founding members of the National Geographic Society.

Sir Alexander FlemingSir Alexander Fleming (6 August, 1881 – 11 March, 1955) was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist. He wrote many articles on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy. His best-known discoveries are the discovery of the enzyme lysozyme in 1923 and the antibiotic substance penicillin from the mold Penicillium notatum in 1928, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey and Ernst Chain.

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.

Natural worldBeautiful sandy beaches, sinuous sparkling lochs, ancient pine forests, jagged rocky peaks, purple heather moorland, great white waterfalls, mountain torrents and slow peaceful rivers: Scotland’s diverse landscape is rich with wildlife and natural beauty. With over 6,000 lochs and lakes and 6,200 miles of coastline, Scotland is full of beaches, coves, cliffs, and sea lochs. Loch Lomond, the largest expanse of freshwater in Great Britain, sits within The Trossachs; the first of Scotland’s national parks, while the Cairngorms National Park boasts four of Scotland’s largest peaks, including Ben Nevis.

The Highlands The Highlands are a mountainous country, and the people who live there, were cut off from the rest of Britain. This was the origin of the clan system. The members of the community all bore the same surname, they were all Mackenzies, or MacDonells, or Macleods - they had one chief. The Highlands were covered with clans, and the chiefs made their own laws and their own wars. This lasted for centuries. And ended when Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Highlanders were defeated in the 18th century..

EntertainmentScotland has a strong sporting tradition and can lay claim to the invention of a number of the most popular sports played around the world today including golf, rugby and tennis. Scotland can also claim some responsibility for other sports like hockey which has its roots in shinty. And that's not counting Scottish sports like curling which may be less popular around the globe but still feature in the Olympic Games. And there's good reason for Scotland's sporting prowess: the landscape of Scotland is a dream for sports lovers with mountains, lochs, fast flowing rivers, beaches, rock faces, forests and glens. In the modern day, there are also sports centres in many locations. And in 2014, Glasgow hosts the XXth Commonwealth Games. It's an exciting time for sport in Scotland, whether you're a spectator or a participant.

Scotland is a country with an intense national tradition, a tradition very much alive even now. Scotland is a part of Britain. But Scotland is not England. It has its own national heroes, its own national drink Scotch. There is also a distinctive national dress, the kilt. Scotland has its own typical musical instrument, the pipes, its own national dances, Highland dances and Scottish country dances; its own songs (some of which are very popular all over Britain), its poetry, traditions, food and sports, even education, and manners.

For centuries the Highlands were a strange land, where the king’s law, common to all the rest of country, wasn’t even known; where wild men spoke a language no one could understand, where any thing might, and did, happen. What are the Highlands, and how did it happen? The answer is – the Granite Curtain. Until two hundred years ago the British Government found it wiser to leave them alone, this Celtic people, people of great courage and quick to take offence.

The tartan and the kilt

The Celts were fond of bright colours. They died their wool before weaving it; the dyes were made from various roots and plants which grew in this or that bit of land. Clans decorated their wool differently so as to distinguish the clansmen in battle. That is why every Scottish clan has its own tartan. And out of this tartan his kilt is made– the most essential part of the Scottish national dress, to be more exact, the national dress of the Highlands. Its origin is very ancient. The Celtic tribes who fought Ceaser wore kilts. When the Celts moved north up through brought the kilt with them. It is probably the best walking-dress yet invented by man: there is up to 5 metres of material in it; it is warm, it is airy, leaves the legs free for climbing; briefly it is warm for a cold day, and cool for a warm one.

Links • http://

www.wordiq.com/definition/History_of_Scotland

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland• http://www.self-catering-scotland.com• http://www.scotland.org• http://www.travelforkids.com• http://

www.kidskonnect.com/subject-index/26-countriesplaces/331-scotland.html