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'''Scotland''' ([[Scottish Gaelic language|Scottish Gaelic]]:
Scotland
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| [[English language|English]] (''de facto''), [[Scottish Gaelic language|Scots Gaelic]], [[Scots language|Lowland Scots]]
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| '''[[Capital]]'''
| [[Edinburgh]]
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| '''Largest
| [[Glasgow]]
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| '''[[First Minister of Scotland|First Minister]]'''
| [[Jack McConnell]]
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| '''[[Area]]'''<br /> - Total <br /> - % water
|[[List of United Kingdom nations by area|Ranked 2nd UK]] <br />78,782 [[square kilometre|km²]] <br /> 1.9%
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| '''[[Population]]'''<br /> - Total ([[2001]])<br /> - [[Population density|Density]]
|[[List of United Kingdom nations by population|Ranked 2nd UK]]<br /> 5,062,011 <br /> 64/km²
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| '''Establishment'''
|[[Kenneth I of Scotland|Kenneth MacAlpin]], [[843]]
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| '''[[Currency]]
| [[Pound
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| '''[[Time zone]]
| [[
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| '''[[National anthem]] '''
| ''[[Flower of Scotland]]'' (de facto)'''¹'''
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|colspan="2"| <small>
(1) To date, Scotland does not officially recognise one single national anthem. Over the years, the role of the nation's anthem has been filled by various patriotic songs, including ''[[Flower of Scotland]]'', ''[[Scotland the Brave]]'' and ''[[Scots Wha Hae]]''. In the 1990s, one of the country's leading tabloid newspapers conducted a poll to determine which song should be classed as Scotland's anthem. ''Flower of Scotland'' won and is now used as the de facto national anthem at international sporting events, although there are those who still consider the other songs as having equal validity.
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==Head of state==
[[image:Royal_Standard_Scotland.gif|thumb|left|250px|The [[Royal Standard]] used in Scotland]]
HM Queen [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]], [[head of state]] of the [[United Kingdom]], is descended from King [[James VI]] of Scotland, 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, being the first Queen Elizabeth of Scotland, she should use the style "Elizabeth I"), the courts of Scotland have confirmed "Elizabeth II" as her official title. She has said that in the 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.)
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==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 [[Shetland Islands|Shetland]], [[Orkney Islands|Orkney]], 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 [[Scottish Highlands|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 six largest cities, [[Edinburgh]], [[Glasgow]], [[Stirling]], and many large towns. Most of the remaining population lives in the North-East Lowlands where two of the remaining three cities, [[Aberdeen]] and [[Dundee]], are situated. The final city, [[Inverness]], is situated where the [[River Ness]] meets the [[Moray Firth]], on the fault between the North-West Highlands and the [[Cairngorms]].
==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]].
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==Language==
Almost all residents of Scotland speak English, although many also speak various dialects of [[Scots language|Lowland Scots]] which differ markedly from [[Scottish English|Scottish Standard English]]. Slightly greater than 1% of the population use [[Scottish Gaelic]] as their language of everyday use, primarily in the northern and western regions of the country. Almost all Scottish Gaelic speakers also speak fluent English.
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==Modern Scotland==
Scotland comprises 32 [[Subdivisions_of_Scotland|unitary authority regions]].
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==Culture==
Scotland has a civic culture somewhat 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 (legal system)|civil law]] and [[common law]]. The terms of union with England specified the retention of separate systems. The barristers being called advocates, and the judges of the high court for civil cases are also the judges for the high court for criminal cases. [[Scots Law]] differs from England's [[common law]] system.
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===Scottish education===
Scotland also has a separate [[Education in Scotland|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.
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School students in Scotland sit [[Standard Grade]] exams while students in England sit [[General Certificate of Secondary Education|GCSE]] exams, and then [[Higher Grade]] exams rather than the English [[A-level]] system. Also, a Scottish university's honours [[academic degree|degree]] takes four years of study as opposed to three in the rest of the UK. The university systems in several [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries show marked affinities with the Scottish rather than the English system.
===Banking and
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 [[banknote]]s: (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 (although they can be used throughout the UK, particularly in Northern Ireland, where Irish banks also issue their own banknotes, and they are also freely accepted in the [[Channel Islands]]). 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]].
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===Sports===
Scotland has many national sporting associations, such as the [[Scottish Football Association]] (SFA) or the [[Scottish Rugby Union]] (SRU). This gives the country independent representation at many international sporting events such as the [[football (soccer)|football]] [[Football World Cup|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]].
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===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]]), [[The Herald (Glasgow)|''The Herald'']] [[broadsheet]], 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, while ''The Scotsman'', which used to be a broadsheet, recently switched to tabloid format. Sunday newspapers include the tabloid ''[[Sunday Mail]]'' (published by ''Daily Record'' parent company Trinity Mirror) 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 ''[[Press and Journal (Scotland)|The Press and Journal]]'' serving [[Aberdeen]] and the north.
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===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.
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===Miscellaneous===
Scotland's iconic claims to fame include:
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==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 VIII of England | Henry the Eighth]] personally unleashed the English Reformation and chose the [[Episcopal]] system that survives to this day in the [[Church of England]].
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==The Scottish economy==
Most Scottish industry and commerce is concentrated in a few large cities on the waterways of the central lowlands. Edinburgh, on the Firth of Forth, is a cultural centre, the capital of Scotland, and a centre of paper production and publishing. Glasgow, one of the largest cities in the UK, lies on the Clyde; it is Scotland's leading seaport and was once a centre of shipbuilding and it supports numerous light industries. Although heavy industry has declined, the high-technology [[Silicon Glen]] corridor has developed between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Tourism is also very important.
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==Transport==
Public transport information covering the whole of Scotland is available from [http://www.travelinescotland.com Traveline Scotland].
The [[British road numbering scheme|road network]] in Scotland is divided into five zones with four major roads centred on [[Edinburgh]] marking the zone boundaries, these are the [[A1 road|A1]], [[A7 road|A7]], [[A8 road|A8]], and [[A9 road|A9]].
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* [[Gardens in Scotland]]
* [[List of Universities in Scotland]]
* [[List of Scots]]
* [[List of Scottish writers]]
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* [[List of British monarchs]]
* [[Flags of non-sovereign nations]]
==External links==
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{{United_Kingdom}}
[[Category:Scotland]][[Category:Monarchies]]▼
▲[[Category:Monarchies]]
[[ast:Escocia]]
[[ca:Escòcia]]
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