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 Scotland| Facts & Figures |
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Status: Part of United Kingdom
First Minister: Jack McConnell
(2001)
Land area: 30,414 sq mi (78,772 sq km)
Population (1996 est.): 5,128,000;
density per sq mi: 168.6
Capital (2003 est.): Edinburgh, 663,700
(metro. area), 460,000 (city proper)
Largest city: Glasgow, 1,361,000
(metro. area), 1,099,400 (city proper)
Monetary unit: British pound sterling
(£)
Languages: English, Scots Gaelic
Religions: Church of Scotland
(established church—Presbyterian), Roman Catholic, Scottish
Episcopal Church, Baptist, Methodist
Major sources and definitions
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GeographyScotland occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It
is bounded by England in the south and on the other three sides by water:
by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and north and by the North Sea on the
east. Scotland is divided into three physical regions—the Highlands;
the Central Lowlands, containing two-thirds of the population; and the
Southern Uplands. The western Highland coast is intersected throughout by
long, narrow sea lochs, or fjords. Scotland also includes the Outer and
Inner Hebrides and other islands off the west coast and the Orkney and
Shetland Islands off the north coast.
GovernmentEngland and Scotland have shared a monarch since 1603 and a parliament
since 1707, but in May 1999, Scotland elected its own parliament for the
first time in three centuries. The new Scottish legislature was in part
the result of British prime minister Tony Blair's campaign promise to
permit devolution, the transfer of local powers from London to Edinburgh.
In a Sept. 1997 referendum, 74% of Scotland voted in favor of their own
parliament, which controls most domestic affairs, including health,
education, and transportation, and has powers to legislate and raise
taxes. Queen Elizabeth opened the new parliament on July 2, 1999.
HistoryThe first inhabitants of Scotland were the Picts, a Celtic tribe.
Between
A.D.
82 and
A.D.
208, the Romans invaded Scotland, naming it
Caledonia. Roman influence over the land, however, was minimal.
The Scots, a Celtic tribe from Ireland, migrated to the west coast of
Scotland in about 500. Kenneth McAlpin, king of the Scots, ascended the
throne of the Pictish kingdom in about 843, thereby uniting the various
Scots and Pictish tribes under one kingdom called Dal Riada. By the 11th
century, the monarchy had extended its borders to include much of what is
Scotland today.
English influence in the region expanded when Malcolm III, king of
Scotland from 1057–1093, married an English princess. England's
appetite for Scottish land began to grow over the 12th and 13th centuries,
and in 1296 King Edward I of England successfully invaded Scotland. The
following year Robert the Bruce led a revolt for independence, was crowned
king of Scotland (Robert I) in 1306, and after years of war defeated the
English in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn. In 1328 the English finally
recognized Scottish independence.
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