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Scotland

Right, you want to know about Scotland. Don't look at me like that. I'm just here. If you insist on learning, I suppose I can arrange the facts into something coherent. Try to keep up.

Country within the United Kingdom

This article is about the country. For the myriad other things saddled with the name, see Scotland (disambiguation).

Scotland

Scotland (Scots) Alba (Scottish Gaelic)
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: various, because agreeing on one song is too much to ask. Predominantly "Flower of Scotland"

!Location of Scotland Location of Scotland (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the United Kingdom (green)
Status Country
Capital Edinburgh
55°57′11″N 3°11′20″W
Largest city Glasgow
55°51′40″N 4°15′00″W
Official languages [1] • English
• Scots
• Scottish Gaelic
Recognised minority languages British Sign Language
Ethnic groups (2022) [2] List
• 92.9% White
• 3.9% Asian
• 1.2% Black
• 1.1% Mixed
• 0.9% other
Religion (2022) [2] List
• 51.1% no religion
• 38.8% Christianity
• 20.4% Church of Scotland
• 13.3% Roman Catholic
• 5.1% other Christian
• 2.2% Islam
• 0.6% Hinduism
• 0.3% Buddhism
• 0.2% Sikhism
• 0.1% Judaism
• 0.6% other
• 6.2% not stated
Demonym Scottish • Scots
• Sovereign state
• Legal jurisdiction		 • United Kingdom
• Scotland
Government Devolved parliamentary legislature within a parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch Charles III
• First Minister John Swinney
• Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Secretary of State Douglas Alexander
• House of Commons 57 MPs (of 650)
Legislature Scottish Parliament
Formation
• Established 9th century (traditionally 843)
• Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton 17 March 1328
• Treaty of Berwick 3 October 1357 [3]
• Union with England 1 May 1707
• Devolution 19 November 1998
Area
• Total [b] 80,231 km2 (30,977 sq mi) [4]
• Land [a] 77,901 km2 (30,078 sq mi) [5]
Population
• 2024 estimate 5,546,900 [5]
• 2022 census 5,439,842 [6]
• Density 71/km2 (183.9/sq mi) [5]
• GVA 2022 estimate
• Total £165.7 billion
• Per capita £30,419 [7]
GDP
• (nominal) 2024 estimate
• Total £223.4 billion
• Per capita £40,339 [8] [c]
Gini (2020–23) 33 [9]
medium inequality
HDI (2022) 0.933 [10]
very high
Currency Pound sterling (GBP; £)
Time zone UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST) UTC+1 (BST)
Date format dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Calling code +44
ISO 3166 code GB-SCT
Internet TLD .scot, .uk [d]

Scotland [e] is a country that constitutes part of the United Kingdom. It occupies nearly a third of the land area of the UK, comprising the northern portion of the island of Great Britain and an archipelago of over 790 adjacent islands, primarily concentrated in the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. As of 2022, the country's population was tallied at approximately 5.4 million souls, a fact they are occasionally reminded of. [11] Its capital city is Edinburgh, a place of dramatic hills and even more dramatic rents, while Glasgow holds the title of largest city and is the most populous of the cities of Scotland. To the south-east, Scotland shares its solitary land border with England, a stretch of 96 miles (154 km) that has seen more history than is probably healthy. The country is otherwise surrounded by water: the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south.

Its legislature, the Scottish Parliament, elects 129 members to represent 73 constituencies across the nation, a democratic exercise in managing expectations. [12] The Scottish Government serves as the executive arm of this devolved government, led by the first minister, who presides over the cabinet and is tasked with formulating government policy and handling international engagement, which is as complex as it sounds. [13] [14]

The Kingdom of Scotland materialized as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century, a time of considerable political upheaval and questionable haircuts. In a pivotal moment of dynastic convenience, James VI of Scotland inherited the thrones of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland in 1603, creating a personal union of the three kingdoms. On 1 May 1707, Scotland and England formally merged to establish the new Kingdom of Great Britain, [15] [16] an arrangement that saw the Parliament of Scotland absorbed into the Parliament of Great Britain. Fast forward to 1999, and a Scottish Parliament was re-established, now holding devolved authority over a wide range of domestic policy areas. [17] The nation retains its own unique legal system, education system, and religious history, all of which have stubbornly contributed to the persistence of Scottish culture and a distinct national identity. [18]

In terms of languages spoken in the country, Scottish English and Scots are the most prevalent, existing on a dialect continuum that ranges from mutually intelligible to bewildering. [19] Scottish Gaelic speakers are scattered across Scotland, but the language is primarily spoken as a native tongue in communities within the Hebrides. [20] Despite Gaelic speakers now comprising less than 2% of the total population, state-sponsored revitalisation efforts have cultivated a growing community of second language speakers, proving that some things refuse to go quietly. [21]

The mainland of Scotland is conventionally divided into three regions: the Highlands, a formidable mountainous area in the north and north-west; the Lowlands, a comparatively flat plain slicing through the country's center; and the Southern Uplands, a region of rolling hills along the southern border. The Highlands are the most mountainous part of the British Isles and host its highest peak, Ben Nevis, which looms at 4,413 feet (1,345 m). [11] The region is also peppered with numerous lakes, known as lochs—a term also applied to the many saltwater inlets that scar the country's deeply indented western coastline. The geography of the islands is varied. Some, like Mull and Skye, are known for their dramatic, mountainous terrain, while others, such as Tiree and Coll, are disconcertingly flat.

Etymology

The name Scotland is derived from Scoti, the Latin designation for the Gaels. [22] One Philip Freeman has speculated, likely on a slow Tuesday, that a band of raiders might have adopted a name from an Indo-European root, *skot, pointing to a parallel in the Greek skotos (σκότος), which means 'darkness, gloom'. [23] An entirely fitting origin story. The Late Latin term Scotia ("land of the Gaels") was originally used to describe Ireland, [24] and similarly, in early Old English, Scotland referred to Ireland. [25] By the 11th century, at the latest, Scotia was being used to denote the Gaelic-speaking part of Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, both derived from the Gaelic Alba. [26] The application of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass the entirety of its modern borders became commonplace during the Late Middle Ages, as geography finally caught up with nomenclature. [15]

History

Prehistory

The earliest confirmed sign of human activity in what is now Scotland consists of Hamburgian culture stone tools. These were crafted by late Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers who wandered into the region during the Bølling–Allerød Interstadial, a brief warm spell at the end of the last ice age, around 14,500 to 14,000 years ago. They arrived shortly after the glacial retreat, presumably finding the newly exposed rock and mud appealing. [27] [28]

Neolithic farmers arrived around 6,000 years ago, bringing with them the revolutionary concepts of agriculture and permanent settlement. [29] The remarkably well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this era. Neolithic habitation, burial, and ritual sites are particularly abundant and well-preserved in the Northern Isles and Western Isles, where a distinct lack of trees forced the inhabitants to build everything from local stone, a testament to stubborn ingenuity. [30] Evidence of sophisticated pre-Christian belief systems is starkly demonstrated by sites like the Callanish Stones on Lewis and the tomb of Maes Howe on Orkney, both constructed in the third millennium BC, proving that humanity has been arranging rocks in impressively enigmatic patterns for a very long time. [31] :38

Early history

!Skara Brae Skara Brae, Europe's most complete Neolithic village, occupied from roughly 3180 BC – 2500 BC.

The first written mention of Scotland appeared in 320 BC from the Greek sailor Pytheas, who called the northern tip of Britain "Orcas," which became the source for the name of the Orkney islands. He was just passing through. [32] :10

Most of what we now call Scotland was never formally incorporated into the Roman Empire, and Roman control over the parts they did reach was fleeting and fluctuated wildly. The first Roman incursion occurred in 79 AD, when Agricola invaded. He managed to defeat a Caledonian army at the Battle of Mons Graupius in 83 AD. [32] :12 Following this victory, Roman forts were briefly established along the Gask Ridge near the Highland line, but within three years, the Roman armies had retreated to the Southern Uplands, presumably tired of the weather and the locals. [33] The remains of Roman forts from the 1st century have been discovered as far north as the Moray Firth, marking the high tide of their ambition. [34] By the reign of Emperor Trajan (r. 98–117), Roman control had receded to Britain south of a line between the River Tyne and the Solway Firth. [35] Along this line, Trajan's successor Hadrian (r. 117–138) constructed Hadrian's Wall in northern England, [32] :12 and the Limes Britannicus became the northern frontier of their empire, a very large "do not cross" sign. [36] [37] Roman influence in the southern part of the country was nonetheless considerable, and they are credited with introducing Christianity to the region, an import that would have lasting consequences. [32] :13–14 [31] :38

The Antonine Wall was constructed from 142 AD on the orders of Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161), in an attempt to defend the Roman-held part of Scotland from the unadministered territories north of a line between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. [38] This wall, too, was eventually abandoned. The Roman invasion of Caledonia from 208–210 was launched by emperors of the Severan dynasty after the Caledonians broke a treaty in 197. [34] However, a permanent conquest of the whole island was thwarted as Roman forces became mired in punishing guerrilla warfare. The death of the senior emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) at Eboracum (York) after falling ill on campaign put a definitive end to the endeavor. Although the Roman army established forts near those built by Agricola, clustered at the mouths of the Highland glens, the Caledonians were in revolt again in 210–211 and these were swiftly overrun. [34]

!Callanish Stones Callanish Stones, erected in the late Neolithic era, a long-term public art project.

To Roman historians like Tacitus and Cassius Dio, the Scottish Highlands and the area north of the River Forth was known as Caledonia. [34] Cassius Dio reported that the inhabitants of Caledonia were the Caledonians and the Maeatae. [34] Other ancient writers used the adjective "Caledonian" to refer to anywhere in northern or inland Britain, often mentioning the region's people, animals, cold climate, pearls, and a notable area of wooded hills (Latin: saltus) which the 2nd-century philosopher Ptolemy, in his Geography, placed south-west of the Beauly Firth. [34] The name Caledonia echoes in modern place names like Dunkeld, Rohallion, and Schiehallion. [34]

The Great Conspiracy of the later 4th century was a seemingly coordinated invasion against Roman rule in Britain, involving the Gaelic Scoti and the Caledonians, who by then were known to the Romans as Picts. This was put down by the comes Theodosius, but Roman military government was withdrawn from the island entirely by the early 5th century. This power vacuum resulted in the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the immigration of the Saxons to southeastern Scotland and the rest of eastern Great Britain. [35]

Kingdom of Scotland

!Political divisions in early medieval Scotland Political divisions in early medieval Scotland. A complicated map for a complicated time.

!Norse kingdoms at the end of the eleventh century Norse kingdoms at the end of the eleventh century.

Beginning in the sixth century, the area now known as Scotland was a fractured landscape of competing powers: Pictland, a mosaic of petty lordships in central Scotland; [32] :25–26 the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, which had conquered southeastern Scotland; [32] :18–20 a Northern Brittonic territory likely centered on Alt Clut (Dumbarton Rock) and the Clyde valley; [39] and Dál Riata, which spanned western Scotland and northern Ireland, effectively exporting Gaelic language and culture into Scotland. [40] These societies were structured around the family unit and featured stark divisions of wealth, though the vast majority were poor, engaged in full-time subsistence agriculture. The Picts, it should be noted, kept slaves (mostly captured in war) through the ninth century. [32] :26–27

Gaelic influence over Pictland and Northumbria was advanced by a significant number of Gaelic-speaking clerics working as missionaries. [32] :23–24 Operating from the island of Iona in the sixth century, Saint Columba was one of the earliest and most renowned of these figures. [31] :39 The Vikings began raiding Scotland in the eighth century. While they sought slaves and luxury goods, their primary motivation was land acquisition. The oldest Norse settlements were in northwest Scotland, but they eventually conquered many coastal areas. Old Norse completely supplanted the Pictish language in the Northern Isles. [41]

In the ninth century, the Norse threat created a power vacuum that allowed a Gael named Kenneth I (Cináed mac Ailpín) to seize control over Pictland. This established a royal dynasty to which modern monarchs trace their lineage and signaled the beginning of the end for Pictish culture as a distinct entity. [32] :31–32 [42] The kingdom of Cináed and his descendants, known as Alba, was Gaelic in character but occupied the same territory as Pictland. By the end of the tenth century, the Pictish language had become extinct, its speakers having shifted to Gaelic. [32] :32–33 From its base in eastern Scotland, north of the River Forth and south of the River Spey, the kingdom expanded south into former Northumbrian lands and north into Moray. [32] :34–35 Around the turn of the millennium, agricultural lands became more centralized and the first towns began to emerge. [32] :36–37

!James V of Scotland James V of Scotland at the Court of Session in 1532, at Parliament House, Edinburgh, the home of the Parliament of Scotland until 1707.

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, much of Scotland fell under the control of a single ruler. Initially, Gaelic culture held sway, but a steady stream of immigrants from France, England, and Flanders created a more diverse society. The Gaelic language began to be replaced by Scots, and a modern nation-state started to take shape. At the end of this period, a protracted war with England ignited the growth of a Scottish national consciousness. [43] [44] :ch 1 David I (1124–1153) and his successors centralized royal power [43] :41–42 and unified mainland Scotland, capturing regions like Moray, Galloway, and Caithness. He was unable, however, to extend his authority over the Hebrides, which had been ruled by various Scottish clans following the death of Somerled in 1164. [43] :48–49 In 1266, Scotland fought the brief but significant Scottish-Norwegian War, which resulted in the reclamation of the Hebrides after a decisive defeat of King Haakon IV and his forces at the Battle of Largs. [45] Until then, the Hebrides had been under Norwegian Viking control for roughly 400 years, developing a unique Norse–Gaelic culture that introduced many Old Norse loanwords into the Scottish Gaelic spoken by the islanders. Over successive generations, the Norse became almost entirely assimilated into Gaelic culture and the Scottish clan system. After the war, Scotland had to affirm Norwegian sovereignty over the Northern Isles, but these were later integrated into Scotland in the 15th century. Scandinavian culture, in the form of the Norn language, survived much longer there than in the Hebrides and would heavily influence the local Scots dialect on Shetland and Orkney. [46] A system of feudalism was later consolidated, with both Anglo-Norman incomers and native Gaelic chieftains granted land in exchange for service to the king. [43] :53–54 The relationship with the Kingdom of England during this period was complex; Scottish kings repeatedly, and sometimes successfully, attempted to exploit English political turmoil. This was followed by the longest period of peace between the two nations in the medieval era, from 1217 to 1296. [43] :45-46

Wars of Scottish Independence

!The Wallace Monument The Wallace Monument in Stirling, commemorating Sir William Wallace, a Scottish independence leader who became a national icon. [47]

The death of Alexander III in March 1286 shattered the succession line of Scotland's kings. Edward I of England, sensing an opportunity, arbitrated among the various claimants to the Scottish throne. In exchange for surrendering Scotland's nominal independence, John Balliol was declared king in 1292, a decision that went about as well as you'd expect. [43] :47 [48] In 1294, Balliol and other Scottish lords refused Edward's demands to serve in his army against the French. In response, Scotland and France sealed a treaty on 23 October 1295, known as the Auld Alliance. War inevitably followed, and John was deposed by Edward, who then took personal control of Scotland. Andrew Moray and William Wallace emerged as the primary leaders of the resistance to English rule in the Wars of Scottish Independence, [49] until Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland in 1306. [50] A decisive victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 proved that the Scots had regained control of their kingdom. In 1320, the world's first documented declaration of independence, the Declaration of Arbroath, secured the support of Pope John XXII, leading to the legal recognition of Scottish sovereignty by the English Crown. [51] :70, 72

A civil war between the Bruce dynasty and their long-standing rivals, the House of Comyn and House of Balliol, dragged on until the mid-14th century. Although the Bruce faction ultimately prevailed, David II's lack of an heir allowed his half-nephew Robert II, the Lord High Steward of Scotland, to ascend to the throne and establish the House of Stewart. [51] :77 The Stewarts would rule Scotland for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The country they governed experienced a period of greater prosperity from the end of the 14th century, through the Scottish Renaissance, to the Reformation, [52] :93 despite the devastating effects of the Black Death in 1349 [51] :76 and an increasing cultural and political division between the Highlands and the Lowlands. [51] :78 Multiple truces managed to reduce the frequency of warfare on the southern border. [51] :76, 83

Union of the Crowns

!James VI James VI, King of Scotland, who succeeded to the English and Irish thrones in 1603, looking unimpressed even then.

The Treaty of Perpetual Peace was signed in 1502 by James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England. As part of the deal, James married Henry's daughter, Margaret Tudor. [53] This "perpetual peace" lasted just over a decade. James later invaded England in support of France under the terms of the Auld Alliance and became the last monarch in Great Britain to die in battle, at Flodden in 1513. [54] The subsequent war with England during the minority years of Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1543 to 1551, is known with grim accuracy as the Rough Wooing. [55] In 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh concluded the Siege of Leith and recognized the Protestant Elizabeth I as Queen of England. [52] :112 The Parliament of Scotland convened and promptly adopted the Scots Confession, signaling the Scottish Reformation's decisive break from papal authority and Roman Catholic doctrine. [31] :44 The Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in 1567. [56]

In 1603, James VI, King of Scots, inherited the thrones of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland in the Union of the Crowns and promptly relocated to London. [57] This was a personal union; despite sharing a monarch, the kingdoms retained their separate parliaments, laws, and institutions. The first Union Jack was designed at James's request, to be flown alongside the St Andrew's Cross on Scots vessels at sea. James VI and I harbored ambitions of creating a single kingdom of Great Britain but was thwarted by the Parliament of England. They supported a wrecking proposal for a full legal union instead, a proposition the Scots Parliament would not accept, forcing the king to abandon the plan. [58]

With the exception of a brief period under the Protectorate, Scotland remained a separate state in the 17th century. However, there was significant conflict between the crown and the Covenanters over the form of church government. [59] :124 The military was strengthened, enabling the imposition of royal authority on the western Highland clans. The 1609 Statutes of Iona compelled the cultural integration of Hebridean clan leaders. [60] :37–40 In 1641 and again in 1643, the Parliament of Scotland unsuccessfully sought a "federative" rather than "incorporating" union with England, in which Scotland would retain a separate parliament. [61] The issue of union fractured the parliament in 1648. [61]

Following the execution of the Scottish king at Whitehall in 1649, amidst the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and its events in Scotland, Oliver Cromwell, the victorious Lord Protector, imposed the British Isles' first written constitution—the Instrument of Government—on Scotland in 1652 as part of the republican Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. [61] The Protectorate Parliament was the first Westminster parliament to include representatives nominally from Scotland. The monarchy of the House of Stuart was resumed with the Restoration in Scotland in 1660. The Parliament of Scotland sought a commercial union with England in 1664; the proposal was rejected in 1668. [61] In 1670, the Parliament of England rejected a proposed political union with Scotland. [61] Similar English proposals were abandoned in 1674 and 1685. [61] The Scots Parliament rejected proposals for a political union with England in 1689. [61] Jacobitism, the political support for the exiled Catholic Stuart dynasty, remained a persistent threat to the security of the British state under the Protestant House of Orange and the succeeding House of Hanover until the final defeat of the Jacobite rising of 1745. [61] In 1698, the Company of Scotland launched an ambitious project to establish a trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama. Nearly every Scottish landowner with spare cash is said to have invested in the ill-fated Darien scheme. [62] [63]

Treaty of Union

!Scottish Exemplification of the Treaty of Union of 1707 Scottish Exemplification (official copy) of the Treaty of Union of 1707.

After another proposal from the English House of Lords was rejected in 1695, and a further Lords motion was voted down in the House of Commons in 1700, the Parliament of Scotland once again rejected union in 1702. [61] The catastrophic failure of the Darien Scheme bankrupted the landowners who had invested, though not the burghs. This financial ruin, combined with the threat of an English invasion, played a decisive role in persuading the Scots elite to support a union with England. [62] [63] On 22 July 1706, the Treaty of Union was agreed upon between representatives of the Scots Parliament and the Parliament of England. The following year, twin Acts of Union were passed by both parliaments, creating the united Kingdom of Great Britain effective from 1 May 1707, [64] despite popular opposition and anti-union riots in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and elsewhere. [65] [66] The union also created the Parliament of Great Britain, which superseded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England, and which rejected proposals from the Parliament of Ireland that the third kingdom be incorporated into the union. [61]

!James Ogilvy James Ogilvy, former Lord Chancellor (1702–1708), initially supported the union but by 1713 was advocating for its reversal. A change of heart.

Andrew Fletcher, a prominent Scottish patriot, argued that the treaty's ratification would render Scotland "more like a conquered province," a sentiment that proved enduring. [67] By 1713, the former Lord Chancellor of Scotland, James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater, a key supporter of the treaty, had reversed his position and unsuccessfully advocated for its repeal. [68] The deposed Jacobite Stuart claimants remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly among non-Presbyterians, including Roman Catholics and Episcopalian Protestants. Two major Jacobite risings, launched in 1715 and 1745, failed to dislodge the House of Hanover from the British throne. The threat of the Jacobite movement to the United Kingdom and its monarchs effectively ended at the Battle of Culloden, Great Britain's last pitched battle.

The passing of the Treaty of Union did not usher in immediate economic prosperity, as had been widely speculated by the pamphleteers, largely due to the scant consideration given to the prospects of the Scottish economy. [69] Proponents of the union believed economic advantages would follow, particularly in the wake of the disastrous Darien scheme which had left the Kingdom of Scotland bankrupt. [67] Eventually, however, with trade tariffs with England abolished, trade did blossom, especially with Colonial America. The clippers owned by Glasgow's Tobacco Lords were the fastest ships on the route to Virginia. Until the American War of Independence in 1776, Glasgow was the world's premier tobacco port, dominating global trade. [70] The wealth disparity between the merchant classes of the Scottish Lowlands and the ancient clans of the Scottish Highlands grew, amplifying centuries of division.

In the Highlands, clan chiefs gradually began to see themselves more as commercial landlords than as leaders of their people. These social and economic shifts included the first phase of the Highland Clearances and, ultimately, led to the demise of the clan system. [71] :32–53, passim

Industrial age and the Scottish Enlightenment

!Walter Scott Walter Scott, whose Waverley Novels helped define and, some might say, invent Scottish identity in the 19th century.

The Scottish Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution transformed Scotland into an intellectual, commercial, and industrial powerhouse. [72] So much so that Voltaire remarked, "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation." [73] With the end of Jacobitism and the advent of the Union, thousands of Scots, mainly Lowlanders, took up powerful positions in politics, the civil service, the army and navy, trade, economics, and colonial enterprises across the burgeoning British Empire. Historian Neil Davidson notes, "after 1746 there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland." Davidson also asserts, "far from being 'peripheral' to the British economy, Scotland – or more precisely, the Lowlands – lay at its core." [74]

The Scottish Reform Act 1832 increased the number of Scottish MPs and widened the franchise to include more of the middle classes. [75] From the mid-century onwards, there were growing calls for Home Rule for Scotland, and the post of Secretary of State for Scotland was revived. [76] Towards the end of the century, prime ministers of Scottish descent included William Gladstone [77] and the Earl of Rosebery. [78] In the late 19th century, the rising importance of the working classes was marked by Keir Hardie's success in the Mid Lanarkshire by-election of 1888, leading to the founding of the Scottish Labour Party, which was later absorbed into the Independent Labour Party in 1895, with Hardie as its first leader. [79]

Glasgow grew into one of the largest cities in the world, known as "the Second City of the Empire" after London. [80] After 1860, the Clydeside shipyards specialized in steamships made of iron (and after 1870, steel), which rapidly replaced the wooden sailing vessels of both merchant and battle fleets worldwide. It became the world's pre-eminent shipbuilding center. [81] The industrial developments, while bringing work and wealth, were so rapid that housing, town planning, and public health provisions failed to keep pace. For a time, living conditions in some towns and cities were notoriously grim, with overcrowding, high infant mortality, and rising rates of tuberculosis. [82]

While the Scottish Enlightenment is traditionally considered to have concluded by the end of the 18th century, [83] disproportionately large Scottish contributions to British science and letters continued for another 50 years or more. This was thanks to figures such as physicists James Clerk Maxwell and Lord Kelvin, and engineers and inventors James Watt and William Murdoch, whose work was critical to the technological advancements of the Industrial Revolution throughout Britain. [84] In literature, the most successful figure of the mid-19th century was Walter Scott. His first prose work, Waverley in 1814, is often called the first historical novel. [85] It launched a highly successful career that arguably did more than any other to define and popularize Scottish cultural identity. [86] In the late 19th century, a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, J. M. Barrie, and George MacDonald. [87] Scotland also played a major role in the development of art and architecture. The Glasgow School, which developed in the late 19th century and flourished in the early 20th, produced a distinctive blend of influences including the Celtic Revival, the Arts and Crafts movement, and Japonism. This style found favor throughout the modern art world of continental Europe and helped define the Art Nouveau style. Its proponents included the architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh. [88]

World wars and Scotland Act 1998

!A piper of the Seaforth Highlanders A piper of the Seaforth Highlanders leads the 26th Brigade back from the trenches during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge, July 1916.

Scotland played a significant role in the British effort during the First World War, primarily providing manpower, ships, machinery, fish, and money. [89] With a population of 4.8 million in 1911, Scotland sent over half a million men to the war; over a quarter of them died in combat or from disease, and 150,000 were seriously wounded. [90] Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig was Britain's commander on the Western Front. The war also saw the emergence of a radical movement known as "Red Clydeside," led by militant trade unionists. Formerly a Liberal stronghold, the industrial districts shifted to Labour by 1922, with a base among the Irish Catholic working-class districts. Women were particularly active in building neighborhood solidarity on housing issues. The "Reds" operated within the Labour Party but had little influence in Parliament, and the mood shifted to one of passive despair by the late 1920s. [91]

During the Second World War, Scotland was targeted by Nazi Germany, largely due to its factories, shipyards, and coal mines. [92] Cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh were targeted by German bombers, as were smaller towns, mostly located in the central belt of the country. [92] Perhaps the most significant air raid in Scotland was the Clydebank Blitz of March 1941, which aimed to destroy naval shipbuilding in the area. [93] The raid killed 528 people and destroyed 4,000 homes. [93] In what is arguably Scotland's most bizarre wartime episode, Rudolf Hess flew to Renfrewshire in 1941, possibly intending to broker a peace deal through the Duke of Hamilton. [94] Before his departure, Hess had given his adjutant, Karlheinz Pintsch, a letter for Adolf Hitler detailing his intentions. Pintsch delivered the letter to Hitler at the Berghof around noon on 11 May. [95] Albert Speer later recalled Hitler describing Hess's departure as one of the worst personal blows of his life, viewing it as a personal betrayal. [96] Hitler worried that his allies, Italy and Japan, would perceive Hess's act as a secret attempt by him to open peace negotiations with the British.

!Reconvening of the Scottish Parliament Reconvening of the Scottish Parliament in July 1999 with Donald Dewar, first minister (left) and Queen Elizabeth II (centre).

After 1945, Scotland's economic situation deteriorated due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes. [97] Only in recent decades has the country experienced something of a cultural and economic renaissance. Economic factors contributing to this recovery included a resurgent financial services industry, electronics manufacturing (see Silicon Glen), [98] and the North Sea oil and gas industry. [99] The introduction of the Community Charge (widely known as the Poll Tax) by Margaret Thatcher's government in 1989, a year before the rest of Great Britain, [100] contributed to a growing movement for Scottish control over its domestic affairs. [101] On 21 December 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded mid-air over the town of Lockerbie, killing everyone on board and eleven residents on the ground. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in the United Kingdom. [102]

Following a referendum on devolution proposals in 1997, the Scotland Act 1998 [103] was passed by the British Parliament, establishing a devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government with responsibility for most laws specific to Scotland. [104] The Scottish Parliament was reconvened in Edinburgh on 4 July 1999. [105] The first person to hold the office of first minister of Scotland was Donald Dewar, who served until his sudden death in 2000. [106]

21st century

!Signing of the Edinburgh Agreement The signing of the Edinburgh Agreement permitted a referendum on independence to be held in 2014. A moment of profound optimism for some, profound dread for others.

The Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood opened in October 2004 after lengthy construction delays and significant budget overruns, a fitting start. [107] The Scottish Parliament's form of proportional representation (the additional member system) ensured that no single party held an overall majority for the first three parliamentary elections.

The pro-independence Scottish National Party, led by Alex Salmond, defied this trend and achieved an overall majority in the 2011 election, winning 69 of the 129 available seats. [108] The SNP's success in securing a majority paved the way for the September 2014 referendum on Scottish independence. A majority voted against the proposition, with 55% voting no to independence, settling the question for what turned out to be a very short time. [109] More powers, particularly concerning taxation, were devolved to the Scottish Parliament following the referendum, after cross-party talks in the Smith Commission.

Since the 2014 referendum, events such as the UK leaving the European Union—despite a majority of voters in Scotland opting to remain—have led to renewed calls for a second independence referendum. In 2022, the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain, argued the case for the Scottish Government to hold another referendum. The Supreme Court subsequently ruled against this argument. [110] Following the Supreme Court's decision, the Scottish Government stated its wish to amend the Scotland Act 1998 to allow a referendum to be held, a constitutional conversation that continues. [111] [112]

Geography and natural history

!Ben Nevis At 4,413 feet (1,345 m), Ben Nevis is the highest peak in Scotland and the British Isles. A fine place to be cold and windswept.

The mainland of Scotland makes up the northern third of the land mass of the island of Great Britain, which lies off the northwest coast of Continental Europe. Its total area is 30,977 square miles (80,231 km2), with a land area of 30,078 square miles (77,901 km2), [4] making it comparable in size to the Czech Republic. Scotland's only land border is with England, running for 96 miles (154 km) between the basin of the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast, and the North Sea is to the east. The island of Ireland is a mere 13 miles (21 km) from the south-western peninsula of Kintyre; [113] Norway is 190 miles (305 km) to the northeast, and the Faroe Islands are 168 miles (270 km) to the north.

The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that which was established by the 1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and the Kingdom of England [48] and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway. [16] Notable exceptions include the Isle of Man, which, having been lost to England in the 14th century, is now a crown dependency outside the United Kingdom; the island groups of Orkney and Shetland, acquired from Norway in 1472; [114] and Berwick-upon-Tweed, which, after changing hands several times, was ceded to England in 1482. [115]

The geographical centre of Scotland lies a few miles from the village of Newtonmore in Badenoch. [116] Rising to 4,413 feet (1,345 m) above sea level, Scotland's highest point is the summit of Ben Nevis, in Lochaber. The country's longest river, the River Tay, flows for a distance of 117 miles (188 km). [11]

Geology and geomorphology

!Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh.

!Loch Lomond Loch Lomond, a freshwater loch, often considered the boundary between the Lowlands and Highlands. [117]

The entirety of Scotland was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, and its landscape is profoundly shaped by glaciation. Geologically, the country is divided into three main sub-divisions: the Highlands and Islands, the Central Lowlands, and the Southern Uplands.

The Highlands and Islands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods, which were uplifted during the later C Caledonian orogeny. It is interspersed with igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which formed mountain massifs such as the Cairngorms and the Cuillin of Skye. [118] In north-eastern mainland Scotland, the weathering of rock that occurred before the Last Ice Age has shaped much of the landscape. [119]

A significant exception to the ancient rock formations are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstone, found principally along the Moray Firth coast. The Highlands are generally mountainous, and the highest elevations in the British Isles are found here. Scotland has over 790 islands, divided into four main groups: Shetland, Orkney, the Inner Hebrides, and the Outer Hebrides. There are numerous bodies of freshwater, including Loch Lomond and Loch Ness. Some parts of the coastline consist of machair, a low-lying dune pasture land.

The Central Lowlands is a rift valley primarily composed of Paleozoic formations. Many of these sediments have economic significance, as this is where the coal and iron-bearing rocks that fueled Scotland's industrial revolution are located. This area has also experienced intense volcanism; Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh is the remnant of a once much larger volcano. This area is relatively low-lying, although even here, hills such as the Ochils and Campsie Fells are rarely far from view.

The Southern Uplands is a range of hills almost 125 miles (200 km) long, interspersed with broad valleys. They lie south of a second fault line (the Southern Uplands fault) that runs from Girvan to Dunbar. [120] [121] [122] The geological foundations are largely composed of Silurian deposits laid down some 400 to 500 million years ago. The highest point of the Southern Uplands is Merrick, with an elevation of 843 m (2,766 ft). [15] [123] [124] [125] The Southern Uplands is also home to Scotland's highest village, Wanlockhead (430 m or 1,411 ft above sea level). [122]

Climate

!Tiree Tiree in the Inner Hebrides is one of the sunniest locations in Scotland. A relative distinction.

The climate of most of Scotland is classified as temperate and oceanic, and tends to be profoundly changeable. Warmed by the Gulf Stream from the Atlantic, it has much milder winters (but cooler, wetter summers) than areas on similar latitudes, such as Labrador, southern Scandinavia, the Moscow region in Russia, and the Kamchatka Peninsula on the opposite side of Eurasia. Temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK. The temperature of −27.2 °C (−17.0 °F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains on 11 February 1895 is the coldest ever recorded anywhere in the UK, a record they seem perversely proud of. [126] Winter maxima average 6 °C (43 °F) in the Lowlands, with summer maxima averaging 18 °C (64 °F). The highest temperature recorded was 34.8 °C (94.6 °F) at Charterhall, Scottish Borders on 19 July 2022. [127]

The west of Scotland is typically warmer than the east, owing to the influence of Atlantic ocean currents and the colder surface temperatures of the North Sea. Tiree, in the Inner Hebrides, is one of the sunniest places in the country: it recorded more than 300 hours of sunshine in May 1975, an anomaly still spoken of in hushed tones. [128] Rainfall varies widely across Scotland. The western highlands are the wettest, with annual rainfall in a few places exceeding 3,000 mm (120 in). [129] In contrast, much of lowland Scotland receives less than 800 mm (31 in) annually. [130] Heavy snowfall is uncommon in the lowlands but becomes more frequent with altitude. Braemar has an average of 59 snow days per year, [131] while many coastal areas average fewer than 10 days of lying snow per year. [130]

Flora and fauna

!White-tailed sea eagle White-tailed sea eagle.

Scotland's wildlife is typical of the north-west of Europe, though several of the larger mammals, such as the lynx, brown bear, wolf, elk, and walrus, were hunted to extinction in historic times. There are important populations of seals and internationally significant nesting grounds for a variety of seabirds, such as gannets. [132] The golden eagle is something of a national icon, majestic and perpetually aloof. [133]

On the high mountain tops, species including the ptarmigan, mountain hare, and stoat can be seen in their white winter camouflage. [134] Remnants of the native Scots pine forest still exist, [135] and within these areas, the Scottish crossbill—the UK's only endemic bird species and vertebrate—can be found, alongside the capercaillie, Scottish wildcat, red squirrel, and pine marten. [136] [137] [138] Various animals have been re-introduced, including the white-tailed eagle in 1975 and the red kite in the 1980s. [139] [140] There have also been experimental projects involving the beaver and wild boar, both of which are now relatively widespread. Today, much of the remaining native Caledonian Forest lies within the Cairngorms National Park, with remnants of the forest surviving at 84 locations across Scotland. On the west coast, remnants of ancient Celtic Rainforest persist, particularly on the Taynish peninsula in Argyll; these forests are exceptionally rare due to high rates of deforestation throughout Scottish history. [141] [142] Scotland now ranks in the lowest 15% of countries in the Biodiversity Intactness Index, a rather bleak achievement. [143] [144]

The flora of the country is varied, incorporating both deciduous and coniferous woodland, as well as moorland and tundra species. Large-scale commercial tree planting and the management of upland moorland habitat for sheep grazing and field sport activities like deer stalking and driven grouse shooting have a significant impact on the distribution of indigenous plants and animals. [145] The UK's tallest tree is a grand fir planted beside Loch Fyne, Argyll, in the 1870s. The Fortingall Yew may be 5,000 years old and is likely the oldest living thing in Europe. [146] [147] [148] Although the number of native vascular plants is low by world standards, Scotland's substantial bryophyte flora is of global importance. [149] [150]

Demographics

Population

!Scotland population cartogram Scotland population cartogram. The size of councils is proportional to their population.

During the 1820s, many Scots migrated from Scotland to countries such as Australia, the United States, and Canada, particularly from the Highlands, which remained stubbornly poor compared to the rest of Scotland. [151] The Highlands was the only part of mainland Britain to experience recurrent famine. [152] The region exported a limited range of products, had negligible industrial production, and a growing population that strained its subsistence agriculture. These problems, combined with a desire to "improve" agriculture and profits, were the driving forces behind the ongoing Highland Clearances. During this period, much of the Highland population suffered eviction as lands were enclosed, primarily for sheep farming. The first phase of the clearances followed patterns of agricultural change seen throughout Britain. The second phase was driven by overpopulation, the Highland Potato Famine, and the collapse of industries that had depended on the wartime economy of the Napoleonic Wars. [153]

The population of Scotland grew steadily in the 19th century, from 1,608,000 in the 1801 census to 2,889,000 in 1851 and 4,472,000 in 1901. [154] Even with industrial development, there were not enough good jobs to go around. As a result, between 1841 and 1931, about 2 million Scots migrated to North America and Australia, while another 750,000 relocated to England. [155] The advent of refrigeration and imports of lamb, mutton, and wool from overseas caused a collapse in sheep prices in the 1870s, bringing an abrupt halt to the previous sheep farming boom. [156]

Scotland is the most sparsely populated country of the United Kingdom. [157] [158] In August 2012, the Scottish population reached an all-time high of 5.25 million people. [159] The reasons cited were that births were outnumbering deaths, and immigrants were moving to Scotland from overseas. In 2011, 43,700 people moved from Wales, Northern Ireland, or England to live in Scotland. [159] The most recent census in Scotland was conducted by the Scottish Government and the National Records of Scotland in March 2022. [160] The population of Scotland at the 2022 Census was 5,436,600, the highest ever recorded, [160] surpassing the previous record of 5,295,400 at the 2011 Census. It was 5,062,011 at the 2001 Census. [161] An ONS estimate for 2024 was 5,546,900. [5] In the 2011 Census, 62% of Scotland's population stated their national identity as 'Scottish only', 18% as 'Scottish and British', 8% as 'British only', and 4% chose 'other identity only'. [162] In 2011, 4.2% of Scotland's population identified as White Polish, White Irish, White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller, or White Other. Additionally, the number of people belonging to Asian, African, Caribbean or Black, Mixed, or Other ethnic groups doubled, reaching 4%. [163]

Throughout its history, Scotland has had a long tradition of both emigration and immigration. In 2021, the Scottish Government released figures showing that an estimated 41,000 people had immigrated from other countries into Scotland, while an average of 22,100 people had migrated from Scotland. Scottish Government data from 2002 shows a sharp increase in immigration to Scotland by 2021, with 2002 estimates standing at 27,800 immigrants. While immigration increased, emigration from Scotland dropped, with 2002 estimates standing at 26,200 people leaving. [164]

Urbanisation

Although Edinburgh is the capital, the largest city is Glasgow, with just over 584,000 inhabitants. The Greater Glasgow conurbation, with a population of almost 1.2 million, is home to nearly a quarter of Scotland's population. [165] The Central Belt is where most of the main towns and cities are located, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Perth. Scotland's only major city outside the Central Belt is Aberdeen. The Scottish Lowlands host 80% of the total population, with the Central Belt accounting for 3.5 million people.

Generally, only the more accessible and larger islands remain inhabited; currently, fewer than 90 are. The Southern Uplands is essentially rural, dominated by agriculture and forestry. [166] [167] Due to housing problems in Glasgow and Edinburgh, five new towns were designated between 1947 and 1966: East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Cumbernauld, Livingston, and Irvine. [168]

The largest council area by population is Glasgow City, while Highland is the largest in terms of geographical area.
Largest cities or towns in Scotland
Scotland's Census 2022 [169]
Rank Name Council area Pop. Rank Name Council area Pop.
1 Glasgow Glasgow City 632,350 11 Kirkcaldy Fife 50,370
2 Edinburgh City of Edinburgh 506,520 12 Inverness Highland 47,790
3 Aberdeen Aberdeen 198,590 13 Perth Perth and Kinross 47,350
4 Dundee Dundee City 148,210 14 Kilmarnock East Ayrshire 46,970
5 Paisley Renfrewshire 77,270 15 Ayr South Ayrshire 46,260
6 East Kilbride South Lanarkshire 75,310 16 Coatbridge North Lanarkshire 43,950
7 Livingston West Lothian 56,840 17 Greenock Inverclyde 41,280
8 Dunfermline Fife 54,990 18 Glenrothes Fife 38,360
9 Hamilton South Lanarkshire 54,480 19 Stirling Stirling 37,910
10 Cumbernauld North Lanarkshire 50,530 20 Airdrie North Lanarkshire 36,390

Languages

!Anglo-Scottish border sign The Anglo-Scottish border, welcoming travellers in both English and Scottish Gaelic.

Scotland has three indigenous languages: English, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic. [170] [171] Scottish Standard English, a variety of English as spoken in Scotland, sits at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum, with broad Scots at the other. [172] Scottish Standard English may have been influenced to varying degrees by Scots, depending on who you ask and how much they've had to drink. [173] [174] Highland English is spoken in that region, while Gaelic is mostly spoken in the Western Isles, where it continues to be used by a large proportion of residents.

Overall, the use of Scotland's indigenous languages other than English has declined since the 19th century. The 2011 census indicated that 63% of the population had "no skills in Scots," a self-assessment of debatable accuracy. [169] The use of Gaelic is confined to 1% of the population. [175] The number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland dropped from 250,000 in 1881 to 60,000 in 2008. [176] Across the whole of Scotland, the 2011 census showed that 25,000 people (0.49% of the population) used Gaelic at home. The most common language spoken at home in Scotland after English and Scots is Polish, with about 1.1% of the population, or 54,000 people. [177] [178]

Immigration since World War II has given Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee small South Asian communities. [179] In 2011, there were an estimated 49,000 ethnically Pakistani people living in Scotland, making them the largest non-White ethnic group. [180] The 2004 enlargement of the European Union spurred an increase in migration from Central and Eastern Europe to Scotland, and the 2011 census indicated that 61,000 Poles lived there. [180] [181]

There are far more people with Scottish ancestry living abroad than the total population of Scotland. In the 2000 Census, 9.2 million Americans self-reported some degree of Scottish descent. [182] The Protestant population of Ulster is mainly of lowland Scottish descent, [183] and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million descendants of the Scots-Irish migration now living in the US. [184] [185] In Canada, the Scottish-Canadian community accounts for 4.7 million people. [186] About 20% of the original European settler population of New Zealand came from Scotland. [187]

Religion

!High Kirk of Edinburgh High Kirk of Edinburgh.

As per the 2022 Census, a majority of Scots (51.12%) reported not following any religion, the most popular spiritual path of all. The most practiced religion is Christianity (38.79%), predominantly the Church of Scotland (20.36%) and Roman Catholicism (13.3%). [188] In almost every council area, the most common response to the census question was "No religion," with the exceptions of Na h-Eileanan Siar and Inverclyde, where the Church of Scotland (35.3%) and Catholicism (33.4%) were the most common responses, respectively. [188]

Forms of Christianity have dominated religious life in what is now Scotland for more than 1,400 years. [189] [190] Since the Scottish Reformation of 1560, the national church (the Church of Scotland, also known as The Kirk) has been Protestant in orientation and Reformed in theology. Since 1689, it has had a Presbyterian system of church government independent from the state. [15] Its membership dropped to just below 300,000 in 2020 (5% of the total population), a precipitous decline. [191] [192] [193] The Church operates a territorial parish structure, meaning every community in Scotland theoretically has a local congregation.

Scotland also has a significant Roman Catholic population, with 13.3% professing that faith, particularly in Greater Glasgow and the north-west. [194] [188] After the Reformation, Roman Catholicism in Scotland persisted in the Highlands and some western islands like Uist and Barra, and it was strengthened during the 19th century by immigration from Ireland. Other Christian denominations include the Free Church of Scotland and various other Presbyterian offshoots. Scotland's third-largest church is the Scottish Episcopal Church. [195]

Other minority faiths include Islam (2.2%), Hinduism (0.55%), Sikhism, and Buddhism. [188] [196] [197] The Samyé Ling monastery near Eskdalemuir, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007, is the oldest Buddhist monastery in Western Europe. [198]

Education

!University of St. Andrews Founded in 1413, the University of St. Andrews is the oldest in Scotland and one of the oldest worldwide. [199]

The Scottish education system has always maintained a characteristic emphasis on a broad education. [200] In the 15th century, the Humanist focus on education culminated in the passing of the Education Act 1496, which decreed that all sons of barons and freeholders of substance should attend grammar schools to learn "perfyct Latyne," resulting in an increase in literacy among a male and wealthy elite. [201] During the Reformation, the 1560 First Book of Discipline set out an ambitious plan for a school in every parish, but this proved financially impossible. [202] In 1616, an act in Privy council commanded every parish to establish a school. [203] By the late seventeenth century, there was a largely complete network of parish schools in the lowlands, but in the Highlands, basic education was still lacking in many areas. [204] Education remained a matter for the church rather than the state until the Education (Scotland) Act 1872. [205]

Education in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government and is overseen by its executive agency, Education Scotland. [206] The Curriculum for Excellence, Scotland's national school curriculum, currently provides the curricular framework for children and young people from age 3 to 18. [207] All 3- and 4-year-old children in Scotland are entitled to a free nursery place. Formal primary education begins at approximately 5 years old and lasts for 7 years (P1–P7); children in Scotland study National Qualifications of the Curriculum for Excellence between the ages of 14 and 18. The school leaving age is 16, after which students may choose to remain at school and study further qualifications. A small number of students at certain private schools may follow the English system and study towards GCSEs and A and AS-Levels instead. [208]

There are fifteen Scottish universities, some of which are among the oldest in the world. [209] [210] The four universities founded before the end of the 16th century—the University of St Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen, and the University of Edinburgh—are collectively known as the ancient universities of Scotland. All of them rank among the 200 best universities in the world in the THE rankings, with Edinburgh placing in the top 50. [211] Scotland had more universities per capita in QS' World University Rankings' top 100 in 2012 than any other nation. [212] The country produces 1% of the world's published research with less than 0.1% of the world's population, and its higher education institutions account for 9% of Scotland's service sector exports. [213] [214] Scotland's University Courts are the only bodies in Scotland authorized to award degrees.

Health

!Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow NHS Scotland's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow. It is the largest hospital campus in Europe. [215]

Healthcare in Scotland is mainly provided by NHS Scotland, the country's public healthcare system. This was founded by the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 (later repealed by the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978), which took effect on 5 July 1948, coinciding with the launch of the NHS in England and Wales. Prior to 1948, half of Scotland's landmass was already covered by state-funded healthcare, provided by the Highlands and Islands Medical Service. [216] Healthcare policy and funding are the responsibility of the Scottish Government's Health Directorates. In 2014, NHS Scotland had around 140,000 staff. [217]

The total fertility rate (TFR) in Scotland is below the replacement rate of 2.1 (the TFR was 1.73 in 2011). [218] The majority of births are to unmarried women (51.3% of births were outside of marriage in 2012). [219]

Life expectancy for those born in Scotland between 2012 and 2014 is 77.1 years for males and 81.1 years for females. [220] This is the lowest of any of the four countries of the UK. [220] The number of hospital admissions in Scotland for diseases such as cancer was 2,528 in 2002. Over the next ten years, by 2012, this had increased to 2,669. [221] Hospital admissions for other diseases, such as coronary heart disease (CHD), were lower, with 727 admissions in 2002, decreasing to 489 in 2012. [221]

Government and politics
!King Charles III !John Swinney
King Charles III
Monarch
since 2022		 John Swinney
First Minister
since 2024

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, a constitutional monarchy whose current sovereign is Charles III. [222] The monarchy employs a variety of styles, titles, and other symbols specific to Scotland, most of which originated in the pre-union Kingdom of Scotland. These include the Royal Standard of Scotland, the royal coat of arms, and the title Duke of Rothesay, traditionally given to the heir apparent. There are also distinct Scottish Officers of State and Officers of the Crown, and the Order of the Thistle, a chivalric order, is specific to the country. [223]

The Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Parliament of Scotland are the country's primary legislative bodies. The UK Parliament is sovereign and therefore has supremacy over the Scottish Parliament, [224] but generally restricts itself to legislating on reserved matters: primarily some taxes, some aspects of social security, defense, international relations, and broadcasting. [225] There is a convention that the UK Parliament will not legislate on devolved matters without the Scottish Parliament's consent, a gentleman's agreement in a decidedly un-gentlemanly political landscape. [226] Scotland is represented in the House of Commons, the lower chamber of the UK Parliament, by 57 Members of Parliament (out of a total of 650). [227] They are elected to single-member constituencies under the first-past-the-post system. The Scotland Office represents the British government in Scotland and represents Scottish interests within that government. [228] The Scotland Office is led by the secretary of state for Scotland, who sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. [229] The Labour MP Ian Murray has held this position since July 2024. [230]

!Scottish Parliament Building The Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Parliament and its committees.

The Scottish Parliament is a unicameral legislature with 129 members (MSPs): 73 represent individual constituencies and are elected on a first-past-the-post system, while the other 56 are elected in eight different electoral regions by the additional member system. MSPs normally serve for a five-year period. [231] The Scottish Parliament possesses the most extensive devolved powers among the devolved parliaments in the United Kingdom, [232] and is considered one of the most powerful devolved parliaments internationally. [233] The largest party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election has been the Scottish National Party (SNP), which won 64 of the 129 seats. [234] The Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and the Scottish Greens also have representation in the current Parliament. [234] The next Scottish Parliament election is due to be held on 7 May 2026. [235]

The Scottish Government, described as one of the most powerful devolved governments globally, [236] is led by the first minister, who is nominated by MSPs and is typically the leader of the largest party in Parliament. Other ministers are appointed by the first minister and serve at their discretion. [237] As the head of the Scottish Government, the first minister is responsible for the comprehensive development, implementation, and presentation of government policy, and for promoting the country's interests at home and internationally. [238] John Swinney, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), has served as first minister since 8 May 2024. [239]

Diplomacy and relations
!Swinney and Trump !Sturgeon and Jakobsdóttir
First Minister Swinney meets with U.S. President Donald Trump, September 2025. First Minister Sturgeon holds a bilateral meeting with Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, April 2019.

As leader of the Scottish Government, the first minister is a member of the Prime Minister and Heads of Devolved Governments Council and the Council of the Nations and Regions, bodies which facilitate intergovernmental relations within the United Kingdom. [240] Foreign policy is a reserved matter and primarily the responsibility of the Foreign Office, a department of the UK Government. [241] Nevertheless, the Scottish Government may promote Scottish interests abroad and encourage foreign investment in Scotland. [242] The first minister and the constitution secretary have portfolios which include foreign affairs. [243] [244] [245] Scotland's international network consists of two Scotland Houses, one in Brussels and the other in London, seven Scottish Government international offices, and over thirty Scottish Development International offices in other countries. Both Scotland Houses are independent Scottish Government establishments, while the seven international offices are based in British embassies or British High Commission offices. [246] The Scottish Government has a network of offices in Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, London, Ottawa, Paris, and Washington, D.C., to promote Scottish interests. [247] Additionally, the country hosts a number of foreign diplomatic missions, most located in the capital, Edinburgh. [248]

The nation has historic ties to France as a result of the 'Auld Alliance', a treaty signed between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of France in 1295 to discourage an English invasion of either country. [249] The alliance effectively ended in the sixteenth century, but the two countries continue to maintain a close relationship, with a Statement of Intent signed in 2013 between the Scottish Government and the Government of France. [250] In 2004, the Scotland Malawi Partnership was established to coordinate Scottish activities strengthening existing links with Malawi. In 2021, the Scottish Government and the Government of Ireland signed the Ireland-Scotland Bilateral Review, committing both governments to increased cooperation on areas like diplomacy, economy, and business. [246] [251] [252] Scotland also has historical and cultural ties with the Scandinavian countries. [253] [254] Scottish Government policy advocates for stronger political relations with the Nordic and Baltic countries, which has resulted in the adoption of some Nordic-inspired policies like baby boxes. [255] [256] Representatives from the Scottish Parliament attended the Nordic Council for the first time in 2022. [257]

Scotland is a member of the British–Irish Council, the Conference of European Regions with Legislative Power (REGLEG), the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, [258] the Inter-Parliamentary Forum, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, [259] the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association [260] [261] [262] and the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly with the European Union. [263] Scotland held the Presidency of the Conference of European Regions with Legislative Power from November 2003 until November 2004 during the premiership of Jack McConnell. [264]

Devolution and independence

!Donald Dewar Donald Dewar, the inaugural first minister, referred to as the "Father of the Nation". [265]

Devolution—the transfer of central government powers to a regional government [266]—gained increasing popularity in the late twentieth century. John Smith, then Leader of the Labour Party, described it as the "settled will of the Scottish people". [267] The Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government were subsequently established under the Scotland Act 1998, following a successful referendum in 1997 which found majority support for both creating the Parliament and granting it limited powers to vary income tax. [268] The Act enabled the new institutions to legislate in all areas not explicitly reserved by the UK Parliament. [269]

Two further pieces of legislation, the Scotland Acts of 2012 and 2016, granted the Scottish Parliament additional powers over taxation and social security. [270] The 2016 Act also gave the Scottish Government powers to manage the affairs of the Crown Estate in Scotland. [271] Conversely, the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 constrains the Scottish Parliament's autonomy to regulate goods and services, [272] [273] a move that academic opinion suggests undermines devolution. [279]

The 2007 Scottish Parliament elections led to the Scottish National Party (SNP), which supports Scottish independence, forming a minority government. The new government initiated a "National Conversation" on constitutional issues, proposing options such as increasing the powers of the Scottish Parliament, federalism, or a referendum on Scottish independence. The three main unionist opposition parties—Scottish Labour, the Scottish Conservatives, and the Scottish Liberal Democrats—created a separate commission to investigate the distribution of powers without considering independence. [280] In August 2009, the SNP proposed a bill to hold a referendum on independence in November 2010, but it was defeated by opposition from all other major parties. [281] [282] [283]

!Nicola Sturgeon with Michel Barnier First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with Michel Barnier in Brussels, discussing Scottish affairs following Brexit, 2019.

The 2011 Scottish Parliament election resulted in an SNP overall majority, and on 18 September 2014, a referendum on Scottish independence was held. [284] The referendum resulted in a rejection of independence, by 55.3% to 44.7%. [285] [286] During the campaign, the three main parties in the British Parliament—the Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats—pledged to extend the powers of the Scottish Parliament. [287] [288] An all-party commission chaired by Robert Smith, Baron Smith of Kelvin was formed, [288] which led to the Scotland Act 2016. [289]

Following the European Union Referendum Act 2015, the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum was held on 23 June 2016. A majority in the United Kingdom voted to withdraw from the European Union, while a majority within Scotland voted to remain. [290] The first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced the following day that as a result, a new independence referendum was "highly likely". [291] [290] On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom formally withdrew from the European Union. Because constitutional affairs are reserved matters, the Scottish Parliament would again have to be granted temporary additional powers under Section 30 to hold a legally binding vote. [292] [293] [294]

Local government

!Lanark County Buildings Lanark County Buildings in Hamilton, seat of South Lanarkshire Council.

For local government purposes, Scotland is subdivided into 32 single-tier council areas. [295] These areas were established in 1996, and their councils are responsible for providing all local government services. Decisions are made by councillors, elected at local elections every five years. The leader of the council is typically a councillor from the party with the most seats. Councils also have a civic head, usually called the provost or lord provost, who represents the council on ceremonial occasions and chairs council meetings. [296] Community Councils are informal organizations that represent smaller subdivisions within each council area. [297]

Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service cover the entire country. For healthcare, postal districts, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations like the churches, there are other long-standing methods of subdividing Scotland for administrative purposes.

There are eight cities in Scotland: Aberdeen, Dundee, Dunfermline, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth, and Stirling. [298] City status in the United Kingdom is conferred by the monarch through letters patent. [299]

Military

!Typhoon FGR4 A Typhoon FGR4 in No. 6 Squadron markings at RAF Lossiemouth.

As one of the countries of the United Kingdom, the British Armed Forces are the armed forces of Scotland. Of the money spent on UK defense, about £3.3 billion can be attributed to Scotland as of 2018/2019. [300] Scotland had a long military tradition predating the Treaty of Union with England. Following the treaty in 1707, the Scots Army and Royal Scots Navy merged with their English counterparts to form the Royal Navy and the British Army, which together form part of the British Armed Forces. [301] [302] The [Atholl Highlanders](/Atholl_