Portal:Scotland

The Scotland Portal

Introduction

Scotland 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 5,439,842. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the most populous of the cities of Scotland.

The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI succeeded to the thrones of 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 Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government, headed by the first minister who chairs the cabinet and responsible for government policy and international engagement. Further powers are devolved to local government from the Scottish Government to the country's 32 subdivisions (known as "council areas").

The country has its own distinct legal system, education system and religious history, 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, but the language is largely spoken natively by communities within the Hebrides; Gaelic speakers now constitute 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.

Selected article

The great Highland bagpipe (Scottish Gaelic: a' phìob mhòr pronounced [a ˈfiəp ˈvoːɾ] lit. 'the great pipe') is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the great Irish warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British military and in pipe bands throughout the world.

The bagpipe of any kind is first attested in Scotland around 1400. The earliest references to bagpipes in Scotland are in a military context, and it is in that context that the great Highland bagpipe became established in the British military and achieved the widespread prominence it enjoys today, whereas other bagpipe traditions throughout Europe, ranging from Portugal to Russia, almost universally went into decline by the late 19th and early 20th century.

Though widely famous for its role in military and civilian pipe bands, the great Highland bagpipe is also used for a solo virtuosic style called pìobaireachd, ceòl mòr, or simply pibroch. Through development over the centuries, the great Highland bagpipes probably reached something like their distinctive modern form in the 18th century. (... Read the full article)

List of selected articles

Selected quotes

Image 1

" ... Instinct is untaught ability ... "

— Alexander Bain

" ... The great and good do not die even in this world. Enbalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad ... "

— Samuel Smiles
Image 2

" ... Jimmy Hill is to football what King Herod was to babysitting ... "

— Tommy Docherty

" ... Maybe that's why in England you have better horses, and in Scotland we have better men ... "

— James Boswell responding to Samuel Johnson

("In England we wouldn't think of eating oats. We only feed them to horses.")
Image 3

" ... We think the world is ours for ever, but we are little more than squatters ... "

— Alexander McCall Smith

" ... A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless ... "

— James VI King of Scots (on Tobacco)
Image 4

" ... Talk that does not end in any kind of action is better suppressed altogether ... "

— Thomas Carlyle

" ... Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community ... "

— Andrew Carnegie
Image 5

" ... He is an egregious dissembler and a great liar. Away with him, he is a greeting divil ... "

— Robert Blair (On Oliver Cromwell, to a fellow Covenanter)

" ... What is prudence in the conduct of every private family can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom ... "

— Adam Smith
Image 6

" ... My theory is that all of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare ... "

— Mike Myers

" ... A man may well be condemned, not for doing something, but for doing nothing ... "

— William Barclay
Image 7

" ... I think Calvinism has done more damage to Scotland than drugs ever did ... "

— Ronald David Laing

" ... A sense of proportion is anathema to the Glasgow drinker. When he goes at the bevvy it is a fight to the death ... "

— Hugh McIlvanney
Image 8

" ... Some of my plays peter out and some pan out ... "

— J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan

" ... There are two rules for drinking whisky. First, never take whisky without water, and second, never take water without whisky ... "

— Chic Murray
Image 9

" ... We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation ... "

— Voltaire

" ... Many a clever boy is flogged into a dunce and many an original composition corrected into mediocrity ... "

— Sir Walter Scott
Image 10

" ... God help England if she had no Scots to think for her ... "

— George Bernard Shaw

" ... We have all taken risks in the making of war. Isn’t it time that we should take risks to make peace? ... "

— Ramsay MacDonald
Image 11

" ... Men are immortal till their work is done ... "

— David Livingstone

" ... America would have been a poor show had it not been for the Scots ... "

— Andrew Carnegie
Image 12

" ... I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject ... "

— William Wallace

" ... People in Scotland have a queer idea of the arts. They think you can be an artist in your spare time, though nobody expects you to be a spare-time dustman, engineer, lawyer or brain surgeon ... "

— Alasdair Gray
Image 13

" ... Golf is an indispensable adjunct to high society ... "

— Andrew Carnegie

" ... We are bought and sold for English gold. Such a parcel of rogues in a nation ... "

— Robert Burns
Image 14

" ... A ripple of laughter is worth an ocean of tears. To laugh is to be free of worry ... "

— Harry Gordon

" ... It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important ... "

— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Image 15

" ... Fashion as King is sometimes a very stupid ruler ... "

— Eric Temple Bell

" ... There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement ... "

— Lord Kelvin, address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1900
Image 16

" ... I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom ... "

— Thomas Carlyle

" ... Kilt, n. - a costume sometimes worn by Scotsmen in America and Americans in Scotland ... "

— Ambrose Bierce
Image 17

" ... All government is a monopoly of violence ... "

— Sir Walter Scott

" ... In order to enjoy leisure, it is absolutely necessary it should be preceded by occupation ... "

— Hugh MacDiarmid
Image 18

" ... Courage is the thing. All goes if courage goes ... "

— J. M. Barrie

" ... I am not here, then, as the accused; I am here as the accuser of capitalism dripping with blood from head to foot ... "

— John Maclean from his famous "speech from the dock"
Image 19

" ... Diffused knowledge immortalizes itself ... "

— James Mackintosh

" ... The cloven-foot of self-interest was now and then to be seen aneath the robe of public principle ... "

— John Galt
Image 20

" ... A place for everything, and everything in its place ... "

— Samuel Smiles

" ... All politicians have vanity. Some wear it more gently than others ... "

— Sir David Steel, speaking in 1985
Image 21

" ... History is the essence of innumerable biographies ... "

— Thomas Carlyle

" ... for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule.
It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself ... "

— Declaration of Arbroath
Image 22

" ... Nae man can tether time nor tide ... "

— Robert Burns

" ... In all ages of the world, priests have been the enemies of liberty ... "

— David Hume
Image 23

" ... Before anything else, preparation is the key to success ... "

— Alexander Graham Bell

" ... A good pun may be admitted among the smaller excellencies of lively conversation ... "

— James Boswell
Image 24

" ... The cruellest lies are often told in silence ... "

— Robert Louis Stevenson

" ... It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important ... "

— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In the news

24 May 2025 – 2024–25 Scottish Cup: In association football, Aberdeen F.C. wins their 9th Scottish Cup and their first in 35 years after defeating 42-time winners Celtic F.C. 4–3 in the final on penalties after a 1–1 draw at Hampden Park in Glasgow. (BBC Sport)
16 April 2025 – Transgender rights in the United Kingdom, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom rules that legal gender is based upon biological sex for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. (BBC News)

Selected biography

Thomas Henderson, c.1820s
Scottish Astronomer Royal

Thomas Henderson FRSE FRS FRAS (28 December 1798 – 23 November 1844) was a Scottish astronomer and mathematician noted for being the first person to measure the distance to Alpha Centauri, the major component of the nearest stellar system to Earth, the first to determine the parallax of a fixed star, and for being the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland. (... Read the full article)

List of selected biograpghies

Selected picture

Image 1

A group of Canada geese at Musselburgh

Photo credit: Send in the clouds
Image 2

The Vat of Kirbister, a natural arch on thr island of Stronsay, Orkney

Photo credit: David Loutit
Image 3

The Riverside Museum on the River Clyde in Glasgow, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The new museum now houses the Glasgow Museum of Transport. Berthed next to it is the Clyde-built sailing ship the Glenlee..

Photo credit: Neil Williamson
Image 4

The Commando Memorial is a monument in Lochaber, dedicated to the men of the original British Commando Forces Situated around a mile from Spean Bridge, it was erected during World War II and unveiled in 1952 by the Queen Mother. The 17 foot high Memorial was designed by Scott Sutherland from Dundee College of Art in 1949 and comprises three gigantic bronze figures clad in battledress, woollen caps and climbing boots looking across the Great Glen.

Photo credit: P A Woodward
Image 5

36-inch telescope at the Royal Observatory on Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, the location of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC).

Photo credit: Science and Technology Facilities Council
Image 6

The Finnieston Crane or Stobcross Crane is a disused giant cantilever crane in the centre of Glasgow. It is no longer operational, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was used for loading cargo, in particular steam locomotives, onto ships to be exported around the world.

Photo credit: VegasGav7777
Image 7

The Black Watch War Memorial, at the corner of Market Street and North Bank Street on the Mound in Edinburgh.

Photo credit: AdMeskens
Image 8

St Mary's Cathedral viewed from Manor Place, Edinburgh.

Photo credit: Discott
Image 9

Cells of Life, a landform by Charles Jencks at Jupiter Artland, a contemporary sculpture park and art gallery outside the city of Edinburgh.

Photo credit: Allan Pollok-Morris
Image 10

Rannoch Moor (/ˈrænəx/ ; Scottish Gaelic: Mòinteach Rai(th)neach) is an expanse of around 50 square miles (130 km2) of boggy moorland to the west of Loch Rannoch in Scotland, from where it extends into westerly Perth and Kinross, northerly Lochaber (in Highland), and the area of Highland Scotland toward its south-west, northern Argyll and Bute. Rannoch Moor is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation.

Photo credit: Chjris Combe
Image 11

The second chamber of the Smoo Cave, Durness in Sutherland.

Photo credit: Florian_Fuchs
Image 12

Durness (Scottish Gaelic: Diùirnis) is a huge but remote parish in the northwestern Highlands, encompassing all the land between the Moine to the East (separating it from Tongue parish) and the Gualin to the West (separating it from Eddrachilis).

Photo credit: Neil Booth
Image 13

The Isle of Skye, commonly known as Skye, is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides. In Scottish Gaelic it is commonly referred to as An t-Eilean Sgiathanach ("The Winged Isle").

Photo credit: masher2
Image 14

RRS Discovery was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain. Designed for Antarctic research, she was launched as a Royal Research Ship (RRS) in 1901. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful journey to the Antarctic, known as the Discovery Expedition. She is now the centrepiece of a visitor attraction in her home, Dundee.

Photo credit: Mactographer
Image 15

Balmoral Castle. Aberdeenshire a residence of the British royal family in the Scottish baronial style.

Photo credit: Ejdzej
Image 16

Glenfinnan Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Highland Line in Glenfinnan, Lochaber, Highland. It was built between 1897 and 1901. Located at the top of Loch Shiel in the West Highlands, the viaduct overlooks the Glenfinnan Monument and the waters of Loch Shiel.

Photo credit: Nicolas17
Image 17

Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle here since at least the reign of King David in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

Photo credit: Saffron_Blaze
Image 18

Jarlshof is the best known prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland. It lies near the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland and has been described as "one of the most remarkable archaeological sites ever excavated in the British Isles".

Photo credit: Nigel Duncan
Image 19

The Wallace Monument is a sandstone tower, built in the Victorian Gothic style. It stands on the summit of Abbey Craig, a volcanic crag above Cambuskenneth Abbey, from which Wallace was said to have watched the gathering of the army of English king Edward I, just before the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

Photo credit: Ray Mann
Image 20

Arbroath or Aberbrothock (Scottish Gaelic: Obair Bhrothaig) is a former royal burgh on the North Sea coast, around 16 miles (25.7 km) ENE of Dundee and 45 miles (72.4 km) SSW of Aberdeen. It is the largest town in the council area of Angus. and has a population of 22,785.

Photo credit: Karen Vernon
Image 21

Bealach na Bà is a historic pass through the mountains of the Applecross peninsula, in Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands—and the name of a famous twisting, single-track mountain road through the pass and mountains. The road is one of few in the Scottish Highlands that is engineered similarly to roads through the great mountain passes in the Alps, with very tight hairpin bends that switch back and forth up the hillside.

Photo credit: Stefan Krause
Image 22

Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, around 58 miles (93 km) west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. Sitting at an altitude of 339 metres (1,112 ft), Braemar is the third coldest low lying place in the UK, after the villages of Dalwhinnie and Leadhills. It has twice entered the UK Weather Records with the lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2^oC, on 11 February 1895, and 10 January 1982.

Photo credit: Paul Chapman
Image 23

The Queensferry Crossing (formerly the Forth Replacement Crossing) is a road bridge in Scotland. It was built alongside the existing Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge. It carries the M90 motorway across the Firth of Forth between Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, and Fife, at North Queensferry.

Photo credit: Greg Fitchett
Image 24

Tobermoray (Scottish Gaelic: Tobar Mhoire) is the capital of, and the only burgh on, the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. It is located in the northeastern part of the island, near the northern entrance of the Sound of Mull. The town was founded as a fishing port in 1788, its layout based on the designs of Dumfriesshire engineer Thomas Telford.

Photo credit: Lukas von Daeniken
Image 25

Mons Meg is a medieval bombard in the collection of the Royal Armouries, on loan to Historic Environment Scotland and located at Edinburgh Castle. It was built in 1449 on the orders of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and sent by him as a gift to James II, King of Scots, in 1454. The bombard was employed in sieges until the middle of the 16th century

Photo credit: Lee Sie

Did You Know...

... that the Scottish surgeon John Blair was the only dux of his high school to receive his gold medal in the presence of his wife and child?
... that the Aesculapian Club, founded in Edinburgh in 1773, still meets twice a year?
... that Scottish bricklayer Brian Higgins was unable to find work for 25 years after appearing on a construction-industry blacklist?
... that East Suffolk Park, a former student hostel in Edinburgh, was once an internment camp for enemy aliens?
... that comedian Frankie Boyle's debut novel Meantime is about a Glaswegian drug addict investigating his friend's death?
... that the 4,000-year-old Ravenswood standing stone now lies in a cul-de-sac in a 1970s Scottish housing estate?
... that Thomas Kerr protested the Iraq War with his SNP-supporting aunt, later campaigned for Labour, joined the Conservatives, and defected to Reform UK?
... that the Scottish judge Lord Duthie served as an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve?

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.

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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.

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