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Scotland
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Scotland
, part of a high plateau at the centre of the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland. Typically covered in snow until late spring (this picture was taken in April), the peaks have patches of snow until August, and the Cairngorms contain the largest area of arctic vegetation in Britain.', copy:'(Image © RM)'});)
, a mountain to the east of Cairn Gorm itself.', copy:'(Image © RM)'});)
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, in the Highlands of Scotland. Popular with rock climbers and walkers, Lochnagar is close to Balmoral Castle and near to the home of the Highland Games at Braemar, on Royal Deeside.', copy:'(Image © RM)'});)
 by Schiller and in Walter Scott\'s popular historical novel <i>The Abbot</i> (1820).', copy:'(Image © Billie Love)'});)
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 to Sgurr nan Gillean in the north (right), provide some of the most difficult climbs in the Highlands of Scotland.', copy:'(Image © RM)'});)
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Constituent part of the United Kingdom, the northernmost part of Britain, formerly an independent country; area 78,470 sq km/30,297 sq mi; population (2001) 5,062,000. The capital is Edinburgh, and other major towns and cities include Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen. Geographical features include the Highlands in the north (with the Grampian Mountains), the central Lowlands, including valleys of the Clyde and Forth, the Southern Uplands (including the Lammermuir Hills), and islands of the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Western Isles. Industries include marine and aircraft engines, oil, natural gas, chemicals, textiles, clothing, printing, paper, food processing, tourism, whisky, coal (in decline), financial services and insurance, forestry, quarrying, electronics, and computers (Scotland's ‘Silicon Glen’ produces over 35% of Europe's personal computers).
People
The majority of the population live in the Lowlands. Languages include English, Scots (lowland dialect derived from Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon), and Scottish Gaelic (spoken by 1.3% of the population, mainly in the Highlands). The main Christian denominations are Presbyterian (Church of Scotland) and Roman Catholic.
Government
The Scottish Parliament was created in 1998. Scotland's previous legislature ended with the Act of Union of 1707. Scotland also sends 72 members to the UK Parliament at Westminster. The Local Government (Scotland) Bill of 1994 abolished the two-tier system of local government, and since 1996 there have been 32 unitary authorities. There is a differing legal system to England (see Scottish law).
© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.
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