Scotland
Scotland, or in Gaelic, Alba, formerly an independent kingdom, lies in the northern third of the island of Great Britain. On March 26, 1707, the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, which eventually became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In 1999, Scotland received its own regional home rule parliament to govern Scotland in purely Scottish matters. Scotland is the second largest country in Great Britain after England.
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| Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (Latin: No one provokes me with impunity) | |||||
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| Official languages | English is de facto | ||||
| Capital | Edinburgh | ||||
| First Minister | Jack McConnell MSP | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 2nd 78,782 km² 1.9% | ||||
| Population - Total (2001) - Density | Ranked 2nd 5,062,011 64/km² | ||||
| Establishment | Kenneth MacAlpin, 843 | ||||
| Currency | Pound Sterling (£) (GBP) | ||||
| Time zone | WET (UTC; UTC+1 in summer) | ||||
| National anthem | Unofficial: Flower of Scotland Scotland the Brave Scots Wha Hae and others |
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| Calling Code | 44 | ||||
| International call prefix | 00 | ||||
Queen Elizabeth, a descendant of the last separate Scottish monarch, King James VI (who in 1603 became James I of England), reigns over the United Kingdom. (Note that for Scotland, she is the first monarch to reign with this name, and signs all documents "Elizabeth".)
Geography
Scotland comprises the northern part of the island of Great Britain, bordering to the south on England. Scotland 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 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 Britain 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 Britain became adjoined only 75 million years before the onset of vulcanism in East Lothian. Before then, Scotland and part of northern England lay on the margin of the Laurentian continent, which included North America and Greenland. Southern Britain 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, southern Britain, on the Avalonian plate, rifted away from Gondwana and drifted northward towards Laurentia. The Iapetus Ocean, which separated the two parts of Britain, 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, Britain still comprised part of Pangaea, but had drifted northward. East Lothian stood at ~8° North. Consolidation of Pangaea had continued so that the nearest ocean was the Tethys seaway between Eurasia and Africa.
See http://www.glg.ed.ac.uk/home/s9810658/eastlothian/plates/tectonics.html
Language
Almost all residents of Scotland speak English, although many speak various Scots dialects which differ markedly from Standard English. Approximately fifty-five thousand still speak Scots Gaelic.
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 British 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 MacLeod, Clan Robertson, Clan Campbell...
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 - 1333) 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 British 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 the national parliament of a sovereign state, the new parliament functions as a devolved parliament, in effect a sub-parliament under the United Kingdom parliament, which both created and in theory can abolish it by a simple Act.
Modern Scotland
Politicians have administratively divided modern Scotland into a number of unitary authorities.
Popular folk-memory continues to divide Scotland into 33 traditional counties.
Scotland has six designated cities: in descending order of size:
Waterways in Scotland:
- Major Rivers:
- Firths (estuaries)
- Solway, Clyde, Lorn, Dornoch, Inverness, Moray, Tay, Forth
- Sea Lochs (fjords)
- Freshwater Lochs (lakes) include:
- Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, Loch Morar, Loch Tay, Loch Rannoch, Loch Awe, Loch Shiel, Loch Maree, The Lake of Menteith,...
- Artificial & Enhanced waterways include:
Culture
Scotland has a civic culture distinct from that of the rest of the United Kingdom. It originates from various differences, some entrenched as part of the Act of Union, others facets of nationhood not readily defined but readily identifiable.
Scottish Law
For instance, Scotland retains its own unique legal system, based on Roman law, which combines the best features of 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 Britain.
Banking
Banking in Scotland also features unique characteristics. Although the Bank of England remains the nationalised 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 other parts of Britain, (and neither they nor the Bank of England's notes rank as legal tender in Scotland, since Scots law lacks the concept of "legal tender"), but banknotes issued by any of the four banks meet with common acceptance throughout the UK. See British banknotes.
Sports
Scotland has many separate sports associations, such as the Scottish Football Association or the Scottish Rugby Union. This gives it 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 UK 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 Scottish 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 a national radio station, BBC Radio Scotland, which first broadcast on November 23, 1979. Local radio stations also exist, such as the Gaelic language Radio na Gaidheal. BBC Scotland also produces many television programmes. It intends some, such as news and current affairs programmes, for broadcast in Scotland, whilst others, such as drama and comedy programmes, aim at audiences throughout the UK. Sports coverage also differs, reflecting the fact that Scotland has its own football leagues, separate from those of England.
Three Independent Television (ITV) stations (Scottish , Grampian and Border) also broadcast in Scotland. Although they prevoiusly had independent existences, Scottish and Grampian now belong to the same company 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 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 ITV output equates to that transmitted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the exception of news and current affairs, sport, 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 an independent Scottish nation-state.
Scotland also has its own unique family of 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:
- Bagpipes
- Robert Burns, Burns night, Burns supper
- Haggis
- Irn Bru
- Kilts and Tartan
- Loch Ness, said to contain the Loch Ness monster "Nessie".
- Scotch whisky and its distilleries
- Scottish Highlands (Cairngorms, Aviemore, Munros) and islands (Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland)
- Hogmanay (New Year's Eve)
- Scottish country dancing
- Shortbread
- Tweed, especially Harris Tweed
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, 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% |
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.
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 :
- History of Scotland
- List of burghs in Scotland
- National parks (Scotland)
- Wars of Scottish Independence
- Historic houses in Scotland
- Castles in Scotland
- Museums in Scotland
- Abbeys and priories in Scotland
- Gardens in Scotland
- List of Scottish Universities
- Scottish Law
- List of Scots
- List of Scottish writers
- List of United Kingdom topics
- For a list of kings of Scotland see the List of British monarchs.
External links
- Scottish Executive
- Scottish Parliament
- General Register Office for Scotland, where you may view census data
- H.L. MacQueen, Scots Law and the Road to the New Ius Commune vol. 4.4 Electronic Journal of Comparative Law (December 2000)
- Radio Scotland
Other Places
Scotland is also the name of some places in the United States:
and part of the name of Scotland Neck, North Carolina