Scotland

• Aberdeen
• Airdrie
• Ayr/Prestwick
• Blantyre/Hamilton
• Coatbridge
• Cumbernauld
• Dalkeith
• Dumbarton
• Dumfries
• Dundee
• Dunfermline
• East Kilbride
• Edinburgh
• Falkirk
• Glasgow
• Glenrothes
• Greenock
• Inverness
• Irvine
• Kilmarnock
• Kirkcaldy
• Livingston
• Paisley
• Perth
• Stirling

Scotland

Scotland forms the most northerly section of the British Isles and includes the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides) and the northern isles of Orkney and Shetland. It consists of a southern lowland area including low hills on the border with England and a fairly flat central belt which contains farmland and most of the industrial centres. The northern areas are mostly mountainous and have relatively little major industry. The eastern side of the country has a linear coastline while the western side has a great many complex sea lochs and islands.

Scotland has a population of approximately 5 million people mostly based around its central and north eastern areas. It contains five cities - Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness. The everyday language is English although Gaelic is spoken in the Western Isles and North West Highlands. In the southern areas a small number speak Lallans, a form of lowland Scots which was at one time spoken throughout the lowland areas and at court and has similar roots to English. Common slang often contains elements of Scots giving rise to arguments as to whether it is a separate language or merely a dialect of English.

The country was for many centuries inhabited by a Celtic people known as the Picts who were recorded by the Romans during their occupation of what is now England. The Picts left little written records other than their carved symbol stones. They were gradually united with or replaced by the Scots, who are conventionally supposed to have crossed the sea from Ireland and set up a power base in south western Scotland before spreading throughout the country. However some doubt is now being cast on this idea. There was also a large influx of Norse people from what is now Norway and Denmark. These Viking peoples used their sailing technology to command the northern and western isles, the northern mainland and had power bases as far south as Dublin in Ireland and York in England.

The first King of Scotland to successfully unite the country was Kenneth Mac Alpin in the 9th century, although there was considerable realignment for many years after. Scottish independence was frequently threatened by rulers from the south and in the 13th century the English King Edward I attempted to annexe the country as he had successfully done with Wales. The Wars of Independence followed and were brought to a conclusion at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 when a Scots army under Robert Bruce defeated Edward's son Edward II. Scotland remained independent under the Stewart Kings until 1603, when the Scots King James VI succeeded to the throne of England on the death of Elizabeth. 104 years later the parliaments of the two countries also united.

Scotland is nominally a Protestant Christian country, following the Reformation in the 16th century, although few people now attend church. There is a sizable Catholic minority and a number of Muslims.

Formerly a centre of heavy industry, particularly in the west where shipbuilding and steel making were important, the country is now largely a service based economy with a strong financial services sector, although the electronics sector has been prominent during the late 20th century. There is still a substantial oil related sector based on Aberdeen but the traditional industries of fishing and coal mining are in decline with the latter almost disappeared.