Scotland is a country to the north of England, and is part of the United Kingdom. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, however the largest city in Scotland is Glasgow. There is a total of 5,295,000 inhabitants in Scotland, 495,360 of whom live in Edinburgh. Scottish English is the official language of Scotland, however in addition they have two other recognized languages, Scottish Gaelic and Scots. Scotland has a tempered and oceanic climate that tends to be very changeable. The winters are very mild, but Scotland tends to have cooler, wetter summers.
The head of state in Scotland is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. Scotland has a partial self-government within the UK as well as representation in the UK parliament. The executive and legislative powers in Scotland have been delegated to the Scottish Government and the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh. There are 129 members of the Scottish parliament, they are elected every 4 years.
The majority of the Scottish economy comes from natural resources like oil from the North Sea. Scotland has a large abundance of natural resources from fertile land, suitable for agriculture, to oil and gas. In terms of mineral resources, Scotland produces coal, zinc, iron, oil shale. Other major industries include banking and financial services, construction, education, entertainment, biotechnology, transport equipment, whiskey, and tourism.
Furthermore, Scotland is supposedly home to the cryptid Loch Ness monster.(A cryptid creature is a creature or plant whose existence has been suggested but is not yet recognized by scientific consensus.) The Loch Ness monster is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The scientific community regards the Loch Ness Monster as a modern-day myth, and explains sightings as a mix of hoaxes and wishful thinking. The very first recorded appearance of the elusive Loch Ness Monster occurred in 565 AD, when a " water beast " attacked one of St. Columba's followers in the loch.
Personally i have never been to Scotland, but my father has. Along with his colleagues they visited a castle there. When they arrived they were welcomed by people in kilts playing bagpipes. Even though I have not been to Scotland I have been to another place in Great Britain, I have been to London, England.
Scottish fun facts:
- 7 out of every 10 Scots have blue eyes.
- There are 787 Scottish Islands, 130 of which are inhabited.
- Arthur Conan Doyle, writer and creator of Sherlock Holmes, was Scottish.
- Golf has been played in St. Andrews, Scotland since the 15th Century.
- The shortest scheduled flight in the world is one and a half miles long from Westray to Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The journey takes 1 minute 14 seconds to complete.
- The first official international football match was played at the West of Scotland Cricket Club in Partick in 1872. It was between Scotland and England.
- Edinburgh was the first city in the world which had its own fire brigade.
- In the north east of the country, girls are called “quines” and boys “louns”.
- It is home to the oldest tree in Europe which is 3,000 years.
- Famous Scottish inventions include the television, developed by John Logie Baird in 1925, the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and penicillin, by Alexander Fleming in 1928.
Sources:
- http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Scotland?from=Main.BonnieScotland
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ness_Monster
- http://www.loch-ness-monster-nessieland.com/loch-ness-monster-facts.shtml
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hoaxed_photo_of_the_Loch_Ness_monster.jpg
- http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptid
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/scottish-politics/9007300/Scottish-referendum-50-fascinating-facts-you-should-know-about-Scotland.html
