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Introduction

Flag of Scotland

Scotland (Scots: Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its only land border, which is 96 miles (154 km) long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,436,600 and accounts for 8% of the population of the UK. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the largest of the cities of Scotland.

The Kingdom of Scotland emerged in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI inherited England and Ireland, forming a personal union of the three kingdoms. On 1 May 1707 Scotland and England combined to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain, with the Parliament of Scotland subsumed into the Parliament of Great Britain. In 1999 a Scottish Parliament was re-established, and has devolved authority over many areas of domestic policy. The country has a distinct legal system, educational system, and religious history from the rest of the UK, which have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity. Scottish English and Scots are the most widely spoken languages in the country, existing on a dialect continuum with each other. Scottish Gaelic speakers can be found all over Scotland, however the language is largely spoken natively by communities within the Hebrides. The number of Gaelic speakers numbers less than 2% of the total population, though state-sponsored revitalisation attempts have led to a growing community of second language speakers.

The mainland of Scotland is broadly divided into three regions: the Highlands, a mountainous region in the north and north-west; the Lowlands, a flatter plain across the centre of the country; and the Southern Uplands, a hilly region along the southern border. The Highlands are the most mountainous region of the British Isles and contain its highest peak, Ben Nevis, at 4,413 feet (1,345 m). The region also contains many lakes, called lochs; the term is also applied to the many saltwater inlets along the country's deeply indented western coastline. The geography of the many islands is varied. Some, such as Mull and Skye, are noted for their mountainous terrain, while the likes of Tiree and Coll are much flatter. (Full article...)

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LNER Class A3 No. 4472 Flying Scotsman is a 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotive built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. It was employed on long-distance express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line by LNER and its successors, British Railways' Eastern and North Eastern Regions, notably on The Flying Scotsman service between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley after which it was named.

Retired from British Railways in 1963 after covering 2.08 million miles, Flying Scotsman has been described as the world's most famous steam locomotive. It had earned considerable fame in preservation under the ownership of, successively, Alan Pegler, William McAlpine, Tony Marchington, and, since 2004, the National Railway Museum. 4472 became a flagship locomotive for the LNER, representing the company twice at the British Empire Exhibition and in 1928, hauled the inaugural non-stop Flying Scotsman service. It set two world records for steam traction, becoming the first locomotive to reach the officially authenticated speed of 100 miles per hour (161 km/h) on 30 November 1934, and setting the longest non-stop run of a steam locomotive of 422 miles (679 km) on 8 August 1989 while on tour in Australia. (Full article...) Read more ...

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Selected quotes

" ... One can love a country until it hurts ... "

— Alexander McCall Smith

" ... I thought he was a young man of promise, but I see he was a young man of promises ... "

— A. J. Balfour

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In the news

1 May 2024 – 2024 Scottish government crisis: The Scottish National Party administration survives the vote of no confidence earlier this week, prompting the party to seek a replacement for outgoing First Minister Humza Yousaf. (Al Jazeera)
29 April 2024 – 2024 Scottish government crisis: Ahead of a planned vote of no confidence, Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf announces that he will resign from office. (CNBC) (The New York Times)
25 April 2024 – 2024 Scottish government crisis: Premiership of Humza Yousaf; The Scottish National Party's coalition in the Scottish government with the Scottish Greens collapses as the Scottish National Party withdraws, although the party announces its intention to continue as a minority government. In response, the Scottish Conservatives call a no confidence vote against First Minister Humza Yousaf. (Reuters) (BBC News)

Selected biography

Sir John Struthers MD FRCSE FRSE ((1823-02-21)21 February 1823 – (1899-02-24)24 February 1899) was the first Regius Professor of Anatomy at the University of Aberdeen. He was a dynamic teacher and administrator, transforming the status of the institutions in which he worked. He was equally passionate about anatomy, enthusiastically seeking out and dissecting the largest and finest specimens, including whales, and troubling his colleagues with his single-minded quest for money and space for his collection. His collection was donated to Surgeon's Hall in Edinburgh.

Among scientists, he is perhaps best known for his work on the ligament which bears his name. His work on the rare and vestigial ligament of Struthers came to the attention of Charles Darwin, who used it in his Descent of Man to help argue the case that man and other mammals shared a common ancestor ; or "community of descent," as Darwin expressed it.

Among the public, Struthers was famous for his dissection of the "Tay Whale", a humpback whale that appeared in the Firth of Tay, was hunted and then dragged ashore to be exhibited across Britain. Struthers took every opportunity he could to dissect it and recover its bones, and eventually wrote a monograph on it.

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Loch Torridon (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Thoirbheartan) is a sea loch on the west coast of the Northwest Highlands. The loch was created by glacial processes and is in total around 15 miles (25 km) long. It has two sections: Upper Loch Torridon to landward, east of Rubha na h-Airde Ghlaise, at which point it joins Loch Sheildaig; and the main western section of Loch Torridon proper.

Photo credit: Stefan Krause

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Did You Know...

Help available

... that the Scottish Register of Tartans has registered district tartans for Australia as a whole, and also a state district tartan for each of Australia's six states?
... that Jewish tartans have been made for the Jewish community of Scotland?
... that Scottish physician George Gray received the thanks of the Chinese government for his work during the Manchurian plague of 1910–11?
... that Colin Mackay, the political editor at Scottish Television, was "very sad" when Colin MacKay, the political editor at Scottish Television, died?
... that Scottish novelist Isla Dewar said "if ... a thing is not worth doing then it's worth doing fabulously, amazingly, with grace, style and panache"?
... that Robert de Ogle captured five Scottish knights near Newcastle in 1341 and received royal licence to crenellate his property?
... that George Balanchine's ballet Scotch Symphony, set to Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony, evokes the style of La Sylphide, a romantic ballet set in Scotland?
... that mountaineer and geographer Caleb George Cash was instrumental in preserving essential documents pertaining to the first known atlas of Scotland?

Get involved

Scotland Related WikiProjects and Task forces
	WikiProject Clans of Scotland	talk
	WikiProject Medieval Scotland	talk
	WikiProject Scottish Castles	talk
	WikiProject Scottish Islands	talk
	WikiProject Scottish Television	talk
	WikiProject Transport in Scotland	talk
	WikiProject Edinburgh	talk
	Fife task force	talk
	Scottish Gaelic task force	talk

For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Scotland-related articles, see WikiProject Scotland.

To get involved in helping to improve Wikipedia's Scotland related content, please consider doing some of the following tasks or joining one or more of the associated Wikiprojects:

Visit the Scottish Wikipedians' notice board and help to write new Scotland-related articles, and expand and improve existing ones.
Visit Wikipedia:WikiProject Scotland/Assessment, and help out by assessing unrated Scottish articles.
Add the Project Banner to Scottish articles around Wikipedia.
Participate in WikiProject Scotland's Peer Review, including responding to PR requests and nominating Scottish articles.
Help nominate and select new content for the Scotland portal.

Do you have a question about The Scotland Portal that you can't find the answer to?
Post a question on the Talk Page or consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.