- Alternate uses. See Scotland
(disambiguation).
Scotland, or in Gaelic,
Alba, is a country (formerly an independent kingdom) of northwest Europe,
occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain.
Scotland was first united with England in 1603, when the Scottish King James the Sixth became James the First of England and
Scotland. On March 26, 1707, the Scottish and
English parliaments merged to form the Kingdom of Great
Britain, which eventually became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, though some
aspects, notably Scotland's legal system, did remain separate. In 1999, Scotland received its own devolved home rule parliament to govern the country on purely domestic matters. Scotland is the
second-largest nation in the United Kingdom (after England).
Head of State
Queen Elizabeth II Head of State of the United
Kingdom is descended from King James VI, the first Scottish
monarch to also be King of England (James I of England from 1603). While some controversy has simmered amongst the Scottish
public over her official title since her coronation (many believe that, logically, she should use the style "Elizabeth I"), the
courts of Scotland have confirmed "Elizabeth II" as her official title. She has said that in future monarchs will follow the
international ordinal tradition that, where a monarch reigns in a number of non-independent territories (or independent
territories that agree to share a monarch) that each have a differing number of previous monarchs of the same name, the highest
ordinal used in any of the territories is the one used across all. (Past Scottish-English monarchs such as James VI & I and
James VII & II reigned over legally separate kingdoms and hence used a dual ordinal.)
Geography
Scotland comprises the northern part of the island of Great Britain;
it is bordered on the south by England. The country consists of a mainland area plus
several island groups, including the Shetlands, the Orkneys, and the Hebrides,
divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. Three main geographical and geological areas make up the mainland: from north to
south, the generally mountainous Highlands, the low-lying
Central Belt, and the hilly Southern Uplands. The majority of the Scottish population resides in the Central Belt, which contains
three of the country's five main cities, and many large towns.
Geology
Tectonic Plate Movement
When vulcanism actively occurred in East Lothian, 350 million years ago, the rocks which now comprise Scotland lay close to the equator, and
formed part of the newly amalgamated supercontinent of Pangaea. The continental
plates making up Pangaea continued to converge, and a major collision occurred with the continent of Gondwana.
The northern and southern parts of the island of Great Britain became adjoined only 75 million years before the onset of
vulcanism in East Lothian. Before then, Scotland lay on the margin of the Laurentian continent, which included North America and Greenland. England and Wales lay some
40° of latitude further south, adjacent to Africa and South America in the Gondwanan continent. In the Early Ordovician, approximately 475 million years ago, England and Wales, on the Avalonian plate, rifted away from Gondwana and
drifted northward towards Laurentia. The Iapetus Ocean, which separated
the two land masses, began to close. By the mid-Silurian, about 420 million years
ago, its margins had become attached along the Iapetus Suture, which roughly follows a line running West to East from the
Solway Firth to Northumberland.
When the later episode of vulcanism occurred, approximately 270 million years ago, Scotland still comprised part of Pangaea,
but had drifted northward. East Lothian stood at about 8° North. Consolidation of Pangaea had continued so that the nearest
ocean, the Tethys seaway, lay between Eurasia and Africa.
See http://www.glg.ed.ac.uk/home/s9810658/eastlothian/plates/tectonics.html
and Geology of the United Kingdom.
Language
Almost all residents of Scotland speak English, although many speak various Scots dialects which differ markedly from Scottish
Standard English. Approximately 2% of the population use Scots Gaelic as their language of every-day use, primarily in the northern and western regions of
the country. Almost all Gaelic speakers also speak fluent English.
By the time of James VI's accession to the English throne
the old Scottish Court and Parliament spoke Scots, also known as Lallans. Scots
developed from the Anglian spoken in the Northumbrian kingdom of Bernicia, which in the 6th century
conquered the Brythonic kingdom of Gododdin and renamed its capital of Dunedin to Edinburgh.
History
See also the main article: History of
Scotland.
Historically, from at least the reign of David I (ruled
1124 - 1153), Scotland began to show a split into two cultural areas - the mainly Scots, latterly English-speaking Lowlands,
and the mainly-Gaelic speaking Highlands. This caused divisions
in the country where the Lowlands remained, historically, more influenced by the English to the south: the Lowlands lay more open
to attack by invading armies from the south and absorbed English influence through their proximity to and their trading relations
with their southern neighbours.
The clan system in Highland Scotland formed one of its more distinctive features. Notable clans include Clan MacGregor, Clan MacDonald, Clan Mackenzie, Clan Mackie, Clan MacLeod, Clan Robertson, Clan Campbell and others.
Historically the Lowlands adopted a variant of the feudal system after the Norman Conquest of England, with families of Norman ancestry providing most
of the monarchs after approximately 1100 AD. These families included the Stewart or Stuart, Bruce, Douglas, Porteous, and Murray or Moray families.
During the Wars of Scottish
Independence (approximately 1290 - 1363) the Scottish people rose up against English rule, firstly, under the leadership of Sir William
Wallace, and later, under that of Robert the Bruce. Bruce won a
famous victory over the English at the Battle of
Bannockburn in 1314.
In 1603 the Scottish King James VI inherited the throne of England, and became
James I of England. James moved to London and only returned once to Scotland. In 1707 the Scottish and
English Parliaments signed a Treaty of Union. Implementing the
treaty involved dissolving both the English and the Scottish
Parliaments, and transferring all their powers to a new Parliament in London which
then became the United Kingdom Parliament. A customs and currency union also took place.
This state of affairs continued until May 1999 when
Scotland gained a new Scottish Parliament. Whereas the old
Scottish parliament had functioned as a full national parliament of a sovereign state, the new parliament
governs the country only on domestic matters, the United Kingdom parliament having retained responsibility for Scotland's defence
and international relations.
Modern Scotland
Scotland comprises 32 unitary
authority regions.
Popular folk-memory continues to divide Scotland into 33 traditional counties.
Scotland has six designated cities: in descending order of population size:
Waterways in Scotland:
- Major Rivers:
- Firths (estuaries)
- Solway, Clyde, Lorn, Dornoch, Inverness, Moray, Tay, Forth
- Sea Lochs (fjords)
- Freshwater Lochs (lakes) include:
- Artificial & Enhanced waterways include:
Culture
Scotland has a civic culture distinct from that of the rest of the British Isles. It originates from various differences, some
entrenched as part of the Act of Union, others facets of nationhood not readily defined but readily identifiable.
Scots Law
Scotland retains its own unique legal system, based on Roman law, which
combines features of both civil law and common law. The terms of union with England specified the retention of separate systems. Scots Law differs from England's common
law system.
Scottish Education
Scotland also has a separate Scottish education
system. The Act of Union guaranteed the rights of the Scottish universities, but more importantly, Scotland became the first
country since Sparta in classical Greece to implement a system of general public education. This began with the Education Act of 1696 and became
compulsory for children from the implementation of the Education Act of 1872 onwards. As a result, for over two hundred years
Scotland had a higher percentage of its population educated at primary, secondary and tertiary levels than any other country in
Europe. The differences in education have manifested themselves in different ways, but most noticeably in the number of Scots who
went on to become leaders in their fields during the 18th and 19th
centuries.
School students in Scotland sit Higher exams rather than the English A-Level system. Also, a Scottish
university's honours degree takes four years of study as opposed to
three in the rest of the UK. The university systems in several Commonwealth
countries show marked affinities with the Scottish rather than the English system.
Banking
Banking in Scotland also features unique characteristics. Although the Bank of England remains the central bank for the UK Government, three Scottish corporate banks still issue
their own banknotes: (the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of
Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank). These notes have no status as
legal tender in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. In Scotland, neither
they nor the Bank of England's notes rank as legal tender (as Scots law lacks the concept), however banknotes issued by any of
the four banks meet with common acceptance. See British
banknotes.
For a further discussion read Legal Tender
The modern system of branch banking (in which banks maintain a nationwide system of offices rather than one or two central
offices) originated in Scotland. Only strong political pressure during the 19th century prevented the resultant strong banking
system from taking over banking in England. However, although Scottish banks proved unwelcome in England at the time, their
business model became widely copied, firstly in England and later in
the rest of the world.
Sports
Scotland has many national sporting associations, such as the Scottish Football Association or the Scottish Rugby Union.
This gives the country independent representation at many international sporting events such as the football World Cup. Scotland cannot compete in the Olympic
Games independently however, and Scottish athletes must compete as part of the Great Britain team if they wish to take part.
Scotland does however send its own team to compete in the Commonwealth Games.
Scotland also has its own sporting competitions distinct from the rest of the UK, such as the Scottish Football League.
Media
Scotland has distinct media from the rest of the UK. For example, it produces many national newspapers such as The Daily Record (Scotland's leading tabloid) and the two major broadsheets, The Herald based in Glasgow, and The Scotsman in Edinburgh. The Herald, formerly known as the Glasgow Herald, changed
its name to promote a national rather than a regional identity. Sunday newspapers include the tabloid Sunday Mail (published by the
Daily Record) and the Sunday Post, while the Sunday Herald and Scotland on Sunday have
associations with The Herald and The Scotsman respectively. Regional dailies include The Courier and
Advertiser in Dundee in the east, and The Press and
Journal serving Aberdeen and the north.
Scotland has its own BBC services which include the national radio
stations, BBC Radio Scotland
and Gaelic language service, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal. There are also a
number of BBC and independent local radio stations throughout the country. In addition to radio, BBC Scotland also runs two
national television stations. Much of the
output of BBC Scotland Television, such as news and current affairs programmes, and the Glasgow-based soap opera, River
City, are intended for broadcast within Scotland, whilst others, such as drama and comedy programmes, aim at audiences
throughout the UK and further afield. Sports coverage also differs, reflecting the fact that
the country has its own football leagues, separate from those
of England.
Three Independent Television stations (Scottish TV, Grampian TV and Border) also broadcast
in Scotland. Although they previously had independent existences, Scottish TV (serving the Central Lowlands) and Grampian
(serving the Highlands and Islands) now belong to the same company (The Scottish Media Group) and resemble each other closely,
apart from local news coverage. "Border" has had a more complex position, as it also has to serve neighbouring areas across the
border in England, as well as the Isle of Man, and it now has separate news
programs for each side of the border. Most of the independent television output equates to that transmitted in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland, with the exception of news and current affairs, sport, cultural and Gaelic language programming.
Other facets of Scottish Culture
Scotland retains its own distinct sense of nationhood. Academic research consistently shows that people in Scotland feel
Scottish, whilst not necessarily feeling the need to see that translated into the establishment of a fully-independent Scottish
nation-state.
Scotland also has its own unique family of languages and dialects, helping to foster a strong sense of "Scottish-ness". See
Scots Language.
Scotland retains its own national church, separate from that of England. See Church of Scotland and the section on "Religion" elsewhere in this article.
These factors combine together to form a strong, readily identifiable Scottish civic culture.
Miscellaneous
Scotland's iconic claims to fame include:
Religion
The Church of Scotland (often referred to as The
Kirk) functions as the national church. It differs from the Church of England in that it has a Presbyterian
form of church governance, not subject to state control. This goes back to the Scottish experience of reformation, initiated in 1560 by John Knox. The Scottish Reformation in essence took place at a grassroots level, and the Scots chose
Presbyterianism as their method of church government. This differs from the situation in England, where Henry the Eighth personally unleashed the English Reformation and
chose the Episcopal system that survives to this day in the Church of England.
A number of other Christian denominations exist in Scotland, amongst them Roman Catholicism, which made a comeback through immigration after Protestants brutally repressed it during
the 16th to late 18th centuries. It has now become the largest faith outwith The Kirk. As well as The Kirk we
find various other Protestant churches, including the Scottish Episcopal Church, which forms a full part of the
Anglican Communion, and the Free Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian off-shoot from the established Church of Scotland.
Islam has the largest number of adherents outside of Christianity in Scotland, although its numbers remain very small.
Much of Scotland (particularly the West Central Belt around Glasgow) has experienced problems owing to the religious divide
between Presbyterians and Catholics. This problem has historically manifested itself in a number of ways, particularly in
employment and in football fanaticism. The problems associated with sectarianism
in Scotland have diminished markedly compared with the past, although issues do remain to a certain degree.
Figures from the 2001 Census on Religion in Scotland:
| Religion |
Population |
| Church of Scotland |
42% |
| Roman Catholic |
16% |
| Other Christian |
7% |
| Islamic |
0.8% |
| Buddhist |
0.1% |
| Sikh |
0.1% |
| Judaism |
0.1% |
| Hindu |
0.1% |
| Other Religion |
0.5% |
| No Religion |
28% |
| No Answer |
5% |
Politics
See main article: Politics of Scotland
Historically the politics of Scotland have reflected those of the UK as a whole, although with some differences. For example,
besides the main UK-wide political parties (Labour,
Conservatives and the Lib-Dems) a number of Scottish-specific parties
operate. These include the Scottish Independence
Party (SIP), the Scottish National Party (SNP),
the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Scottish Green Party. These parties became more of a force in
Scottish politics after the establishment of the Scottish
Parliament in 1998.
The traditional political divides of left and right have
also intersected with arguments over devolution, which all the UK-wide parties have supported to some degree throughout their
history (although both Labour and the Conservatives have swithered a number of times between supporting and opposing it).
However, now that devolution has occurred, the main argument about Scotland's constitutional status remains between those who
support Scottish independence and those who oppose
it.
The Scottish Economy
The Scottish economy comprises many different sectors. Oil remains important, although
light engineering and shipbuilding have seen a decline in recent years, and the service sector (especially finance and call centres) has increased in importance. Rural activities like fishing and agriculture remain important,
although the country's 'Silicon Glen' has also seen growth in the manufacture of computers and mobile phones. Scotch whisky production continues to have significance, as does the country's tourism industry.
Further Reference
- See also :
External links
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