Scotland
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Glencoe, which translates as ‘The Vale of Weeping’ is the site of the infamous massacre of the Macdonald clan by the Campbells in 1692. It is an area of dramatic scenery and weather, having a high rainfall all year round.
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The centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, with the Castle on the left, the National Gallery of Scotland below, and Princes Street on the far right. The Castle contains the state apartments, a Norman church, and several museums. The National Gallery is in the Georgian New Town, and Princes Street is the main shopping area.
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Loch Lomond and nearby Ben Lomond are popular tourist destinations in western Scotland.
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Cawdor Castle, in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, is one of the most magnificent and well-preserved strongholds in Scotland. The keep dates to the early 14th century, with the parapet and upper works being added in 1454. Though little is known about the early Thanes of Cawdor, there is no evidence to suggest that Shakespeare's Macbeth was one of them, or that he murdered King Duncan I here.
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A paper mill in Scotland. In recent years the traditional Scottish industries such as paper and linen manufacture, shipbuilding, and whisky, have gradually been replaced. Technological developments have led to the growth of newer industries such as electronics, food processing, and chemicals.
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Approaching the summit of Ben Macdhui (1,309 m/4,296 ft), part of a high plateau at the centre of the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland. Typically covered in snow until late spring (this picture was taken in April), the peaks have patches of snow until August, and the Cairngorms contain the largest area of arctic vegetation in Britain.
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The mountains of the Cuillin ridge on the island of Skye, viewed from Loch Carron on the Scottish mainland. The Cuillin Hills, which range from Sgurr Alasdair in the south (left) to Sgurr nan Gillean in the north (right), provide some of the most difficult climbs in the Highlands of Scotland.
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Towering 200 m/600 ft ice cliffs rim the north-east corrie of Lochnagar (1,155 m/3,789 ft), in the Highlands of Scotland. Popular with rock climbers and walkers, Lochnagar is close to Balmoral Castle and near to the home of the Highland Games at Braemar, on Royal Deeside.
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The St Andrew's saltire (diagonal cross) is one of the oldest national flags, dating back at least as far as the 12th century. St Andrew, who died around AD 60, was one of the 12 apostles who, according to tradition, was crucified on a diagonal cross. His relics were brought to Scotland and he was adopted as the country's patron saint. The cross was first used as a religious symbol, becoming a national emblem during the 13th century.
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Barns of Bynack, Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland. The barns are granite tors protruding from the upper slopes of Bynack More (1,090 m/3,576 ft), a mountain to the east of Cairn Gorm itself.
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Scottish monarch Mary Queen of Scots, who was crowned in infancy and later imprisoned and executed by her cousin Elizabeth I of England. Regarded by some as the pawn of the people who surrounded her, she remains a powerful figure in history and literature. Her life is portrayed in the tragedy Maria Stuart (1800) by Schiller and in Walter Scott's popular historical novel The Abbot (1820).
Constituent part of the United Kingdom, the northernmost part of Britain, formerly an independent country; area 78,470 sq km/30,297 sq mi; population (2001) 5,062,000. The capital is Edinburgh, and other major towns and cities include Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen. Geographical features include the Highlands in the north (with the Grampian Mountains), the central Lowlands, including valleys of the Clyde and Forth, the Southern Uplands (including the Lammermuir Hills), and islands of the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Western Isles. Industries include marine and aircraft engines, oil, natural gas, chemicals, textiles, clothing, printing, paper, food processing, tourism, whisky, coal (in decline), financial services and insurance, forestry, quarrying, electronics, and computers (Scotland's ‘Silicon Glen’ produces over 35% of Europe's personal computers).
People
The majority of the population live in the Lowlands. Languages include English, Scots (lowland dialect derived from Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon), and Scottish Gaelic (spoken by 1.3% of the population, mainly in the Highlands). The main Christian denominations are Presbyterian (Church of Scotland) and Roman Catholic.Government
The Scottish Parliament was created in 1998. Scotland's previous legislature ended with the Act of Union of 1707. Scotland also sends 72 members to the UK Parliament at Westminster. The Local Government (Scotland) Bill of 1994 abolished the two-tier system of local government, and since 1996 there have been 32 unitary authorities. There is a differing legal system to England (see Scottish law).Environment8,000-year-old pinewood forests once covered 1,500,000 ha/3,706,500 acres, but are now reduced to 12,500 ha/30,900 acres. In 1994, native woodlands covered only 2% of the Highlands (104,900 ha/259,200 acres). The ‘Millennium Forest’ comprises over 70 projects across Scotland and aims to double Scotland's forests and woodland. |
| The world's greatest concentration of nuclear weapons is at the UK and US bases on the Clyde, near Glasgow. |
| For history, see Scotland: history to 1058, Scotland: history 1058 to 1513, Scotland: history 1513 to 1603, Scotland: history 1603 to 1746, and Scotland: history from 1746. |
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