Portal:Scotland
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The Black Cuillins, Isle of Skye -
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Whisky casks, Dallas Dhu distillery
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Introduction
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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 National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture.
It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in 1866 as the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, renamed in 1904, and for the period between 1985 and the merger named the Royal Museum of Scotland or simply the Royal Museum), with international collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world cultures. The two connected buildings stand beside each other on Chambers Street, by the junction with the George IV Bridge, in central Edinburgh. The museum is part of National Museums Scotland and admission is free.
The two buildings retain distinctive characters: the Museum of Scotland is housed in a modern building opened in 1998, while the former Royal Museum building was begun in 1861 and partially opened in 1866, with a Victorian Venetian Renaissance façade and a grand central hall of cast iron construction that rises the full height of the building, design by Francis Fowke and Robert Matheson. This building underwent a major refurbishment and reopened on 29 July 2011 after a three-year, £47 million project to restore and extend the building led by Gareth Hoskins Architects along with the concurrent redesign of the exhibitions by Ralph Appelbaum Associates.
The National Museum incorporates the collections of the former National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. As well as the national collections of Scottish archaeological finds and medieval objects, the museum contains artefacts from around the world, encompassing geology, archaeology, natural history, science, technology, art, and world cultures. The sixteen new galleries reopened in 2011 include 8,000 objects, 80% of which were not previously on display. One of the more notable exhibits is the stuffed body of Dolly the sheep, the first successful cloning of a mammal from an adult cell. Other highlights include Ancient Egyptian exhibitions, one of Sir Elton John's extravagant suits, the Jean Muir Collection of costume and a large kinetic sculpture named the Millennium Clock. A Scottish invention that is a perennial favourite with children visiting as part of school trips is the Scottish Maiden, an early beheading machine predating the French guillotine. (... Read the full article)
Selected quotes
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" ... 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 -
" ... It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to have to paint it ... "
— Chic Murray
" ... Did not strong connections draw me elsewhere, I believe Scotland would be the country I would choose to end my days in ... "
— Benjamin Franklin -
" ... You ought to be roasted alive, though even then you would not be to my taste ... "
— J. M. Barrie speaking to George Bernard Shaw
" ... We are often unable to tell people what they need to know because they want to know something else ... "
— George MacDonald -
" ... Is there anything worn under the kilt? No, it's all in perfect working order ... "
— Spike Milligan
" ... The true definition of a snob is one who craves for what separates men rather than for what unites them ... "
— John Buchan -
" ... the inarticulate expression of the inequalities of life ... "
— Jimmy Boyle (Speaking of crime)
" ... The proletarian has no country; all are equally prisons to him alike ... "
— Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham -
" ... Come along inside. We'll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place ... "
— Kenneth Grahame
" ... All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language, until it finds a willing and prepared hearer ... "
— Robert Louis Stevenson -
" ... To live for a time close to great minds is the best kind of education ... "
— John Buchan
" ... Edinburgh is a cross between Copenhagen and Barcelona, except in Copenhagen they speak more understandable English ... "
— John Malkovich -
" ... Custom, then, is the great guide of human life ... "
— David Hume
" ... Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things ... "
— Robert Louis Stevenson -
" ... History, a distillation of Rumour ... "
— Thomas Carlyle
" ... Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary ... "
— Robert Louis Stevenson -
" ... Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves ... "
— J. M. Barrie
" ... Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead: therefore we must learn both arts ... "
— Thomas Carlyle -
" ... A scot is a man who keeps the Sabbath and everything else he can lay his hands on ... "
— Chic Murray
" ... Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity ... "
— Thomas Carlyle -
" ... 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 -
" ... A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder ... "
— Thomas Carlyle
" ... I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward ... "
— David Livingstone -
" ... 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 -
" ... A man with God is always in the majority ... "
— John Knox
" ... Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own ... "
— J. M. Barrie -
" ... Doctors, like minicab drivers, are the other idiots to whom we trust our lives ... "
— James Kennaway
" ... When shall I see Scotland again? Never shall I forget the happy days I passed there amidst odious smells, barbarous sounds, bad suppers, excellent hearts and the most enlightened and cultivated understandings ... "
— Sydney Smith -
" ... 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 -
" ... Celtic jerseys are not for second best, They don't shrink to fit inferior players ... "
— Jock Stein
" ... In every place, where there is any thing worthy of observation, there should be a short printed directory for strangers ... "
— James Boswell -
" ... The Scots are steadfast - not their clime ... "
— Thomas Crawford
" ... We do have the greatest fans in the world but I’ve never seen a fan score a goal ... "
— Jock Stein -
" ... I have forgot a great deal more than most other men know ... "
— Lord Monboddo
" ... I tell you truly, liberty is the best of things; never live under the halter of slavery ... "
— William Wallace -
" ... He's very clever, but sometimes his brains go to his head ... "
— Margot Asquith speaking of F. E. Smith
" ... When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe ... "
— John Muir -
" ... Whaur's yer Wullie Shakespeare noo? ... "
—Anonymous
(Patriotic shout from an audience member at the 1st Edinburgh performance of the John Home tragedy Douglas)
" ... Law is the reflection of the spirit of a people, and so long as the Scots are conscious that they are a people, they must preserve their law ... "
— Robin Cook -
" ... Every new opinion, at its starting, is precisely in a minority of one ... "
— Thomas Carlyle
" ... Every man at the bottom of his heart believes that he is a born detective ... "
— John Buchan -
" ... When Scotland forgets Burns, then history will forget Scotland ... "
— John Stuart Blackie
" ... Women do not find it difficult nowadays to behave like men, but they often find it extremely difficult to behave like gentlemen ... "
— Compton Mackenzie -
" ... A well-written Life is almost as rare as a well-spent one ... "
— Thomas Carlyle
" ... Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that ... "
— Bill Shankly
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
John Logie Baird FRSE (/ˈloʊɡi bɛərd/; 13 August 1888 – 14 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first mechanical television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly demonstrated colour television system and the first viable purely electronic colour television picture tube.
In 1928, the Baird Television Development Company achieved the first transatlantic television transmission. Baird's early technological successes and his role in the practical introduction of broadcast television for home entertainment have earned him a prominent place in television's history. (... Read the full article)
Selected picture
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Glenfinnan Viaduct
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 -
St Mary's Cathedral viewsedfrom Manor Place, Edinburgh -
John Knox's House, Edinburgh
John Knox House, popularly known as John Knox's House, is a historic house in Edinburgh, Scotland, reputed to have been owned and lived in by Protestant reformer John Knox during the 16th century.
Photo credit: Kim Traynor -
The Devils Pulpit in Finnich Glen, a short, steep glen in Stirlingshire. It was used to depict the fictional St Ninian's Spring in the time-traveling romance TV series Outlander.
Photo credit: Gaverlaa -
Meall a' Bhùiridh and Lochan na h-Achlaise as seen from the A82 road driving towards Glen Coe
Meall a' Bhùiridh and Lochan na h-Achlaise on Rannoch Moor viewed from the A82 en route to Glen Coe in the HIghlands..
Photo credit: Fuzzy14 -
St Ninian's Isle
The tied island of St Ninian's Isle is joined to the Shetland Mainland by the largest tombolo in the UK.
Photo credit: ThoWi -
Arbroath Harbour
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 -
The Queensferry Crossing south end
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 -
The Finnieston Crane on the River Clyde
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 -
The parliament building viewed from Salisbury Crags
The Scottish Parliament Building (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, Scots: Scots Pairlament Biggin) is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. It was designed by Enric Miralles, the Catalan architect,.and has won a number of awards, including an award at the VIII Biennial of Spanish Architecture, the RIAS Andrew Doolan Award for Architecture, and the 2005 Stirling Prize, the UK's most prestigious architecture award.
Photo credit: Photo Credit: Wangi -
Scottish National Gallery
The Scottish National Gallery, in Edinburgh, is the national art gallery of Scotland. An elaborate neoclassical edifice, it stands on The Mound, between the two sections of Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens. The building, which was designed by William Henry Playfair, first opened to the public in 1859.
Photo credit: Klaus with K -
View of Canisp and Suilven from nearby Clachtoll
Canisp and Suilven seen from the coastal fishing and crofting village of Clachtoll in Sutherland county, on the north western edge of Scotland.
Photo credit: Louis_Daillencourt -
The Queens View, Loch Tummel
Loch Tummel (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Teimhil) is a long, narrow loch, 7 kilometres north west of Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross. A well known view over the loch and the surrounding countryside (with Schiehallion in the background) is the 'Queen's View' from the north shore, which Queen Victoria made famous in 1866.
Photo credit: Paul Hermans -
Detail of the Queen from the Lewis chessmen
The Lewis chessmen (named after their find-site) belong to some of the few complete medieval chess sets that have survived until today. The chessmen are believed to have been made in Norway, perhaps by craftsmen in Trondheim (where similar pieces have been found), sometime during the 12th century.
Photo credit: Finlay McWalter -
Jarlshof, Grutness, Shetland Islands
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 -
The Forth Bridge
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge over the Firth of Forth. It was opened on 4 March 1890, and spans a total length of 2,528.7 metres (8,296 ft). It is often called the Forth Rail Bridge or Forth Railway Bridge to distinguish it from the Forth Road Bridge.
Photo credit: George Gastin -
The Callanish Stones
The Callanish Stones are an arrangement of standing stones near the village of Callanish on the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Placed in a cruciform pattern with a central stone circle, they were erected in the late Neolithic era, and were a focus for ritual activity during the Bronze Age
Photo credit: Mrdog10 -
The Falkirk Wheel.
The Falkirk Wheel, named after the nearby town of Falkirk, is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. The wheel raises boats by 24 metres (79 ft).
Photo credit: User:SeanMack -
The William Younger Centre housing Our Dynamic Earth science centre
Our Dynamic Earth is a Scottish science centre and prominent conference venue and visitor attraction located in Holyrood, Edinburgh, beside the Scottish Parliament Building.
Photo credit: Globaltraveller -
Scotland's heraldic lion above the entrance of the Queen's Gallery in Edinburgh
Limestone carving of Scotland's heraldic lion above the entrance to the Queen's Gallery, Edinburgh
Photo credit: Stefan2901 -
Reaper under full sail.
Reaper is a restored historic Fifie herring drifter which is registered by the National Historic Ships Committee as part of the Core Collection of historic vessels in the UK, and currently operates as a museum ship.
Photo credit: Scottish Fisheries Museum Boats Club -
Blackrock cottage, Rannoch Moor
A view of Blackrock Cottage on Rannoch Moor with Buachaille Etive Mor in the background.
Photo credit: Andrewmckie -
Ben Vorlich and Loch Tay seen from Ben Lawers
Sunrise over Ben Vorlich , a mountain in the Southern Highlands and Loch Tay, the largest body of fresh water in Perth and Kinross.
Photo credit: Michal Klajban -
Crail Harbour
Crail is a former royal burgh in the East Neuk of Fife. Built around a harbour, it has a particular wealth of vernacular buildings from the 17th to early 19th centuries, many restored by the National Trust for Scotland, and is a favourite subject for artists.
Photo credit: S.moeller -
Inveraray Bridge on Loch Fyne
Loch Fyne (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Fìne, meaning "Loch of the Vine or Wine", is a sea loch on the west coast of Argyll and Bute. Although there is no evidence for grapes growing there, it was more metaphorical, such as meaning that the River, Abhainn Fìne, was a well-respected river.
Photo credit: Michael Parry
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Did You Know...
- ... that Scottish physician George Gray received the thanks of the Chinese government for his work during the Manchurian plague of 1910–11?
- ... that Robert de Ogle captured five Scottish knights near Newcastle in 1341 and received royal licence to crenellate his property?
- ... that the uncommon Florida lichen species Gyalectidium yahriae was named after Rebecca Yahr of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in Scotland?
- ... that the New York Yankees were first named after a Scottish regiment?
- ... that because of violent reactions – such as Jenny Geddes's on 23 July 1637 – to a Scottish prayer book, Walter Whitford kept loaded pistols visible to his congregants while using the book?
- ... that Scottish bricklayer Brian Higgins was unable to find work for 25 years after appearing on a construction-industry blacklist?
- ... that Scottish painter Gordon Coutts left Australia without paying maintenance to his estranged wife, but was arrested in New Zealand?
- ... that comedian Frankie Boyle's debut novel Meantime is about a Glaswegian drug addict investigating his friend's death?
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- Help nominate and select new content for the Scotland portal.
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