Portal:Scotland
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Scotland (Scots: Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and adjacent islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. In 2022 the country's population was about 5.4 million. Its capital city is Edinburgh, whilst Glasgow is the largest and the most populous of the cities in the country. Scotland borders England to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the east, and the Irish Sea to the south-west. In the Scottish Parliament, 129 members represent 73 constituencies. The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government, headed by the first minister, who chairs the cabinet and is responsible for government policy and international engagement.
The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as a sovereign state in the 9th century. Independence from England was maintained partly through an alliance with France. 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 country has its own distinct legal system, education system and religious history, which have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish society, 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, although 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 Tiree and Coll are flatter.
Selected article
The great Highland bagpipe (Scottish Gaelic: a' phìob mhòr pronounced [ə ˌfiːp ˈvoːɾ] lit. 'the great pipe') is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the great Irish warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British military and in pipe bands throughout the world.
The bagpipe of any kind is first attested in Scotland around 1400. The earliest references to bagpipes in Scotland are in a military context, and it is in that context that the great Highland bagpipe became established in the British military and achieved the widespread prominence it enjoys today, whereas other bagpipe traditions throughout Europe, ranging from Portugal to Russia, almost universally went into decline by the late 19th and early 20th century.
Though widely famous for its role in military and civilian pipe bands, the great Highland bagpipe is also used for a solo virtuosic style called pìobaireachd, ceòl mòr, or simply pibroch. Through development over the centuries, the great Highland bagpipes probably reached something like their distinctive modern form in the 18th century. (... Read the full article)
Selected quotes
" ... Every man has a sane spot somewhere ... "
— Robert Louis Stevenson
" ... You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow growth ... "
— Alexander Graham Bell
" ... Biography should be written by an acute enemy ... "
— A. J. Balfour
" ... We live in a Newtonian world of Einsteinian physics ruled by Frankenstein logic ... "
— David Russell
" ... Golf is an indispensable adjunct to high society ... "
— Andrew Carnegie
" ... We are bought and sold for English gold. Such a parcel of rogues in a nation ... "
— Robert Burns
" ... One sometimes finds what one is not looking for ... "
— Sir Alexander Fleming
" ... I have found you an argument; I am not obliged to find you an understanding ... "
— James Boswell
" ... We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation ... "
— Voltaire
" ... Many a clever boy is flogged into a dunce and many an original composition corrected into mediocrity ... "
— Sir Walter Scott
" ... A witty statesman said, you might prove anything by figures ... "
— Thomas Carlyle
" ... Generally speaking the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous ... "
— David Hume
" ... Freedom is best, I tell thee true, of all things to be won ... "
— William Wallace
" ... The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scots as a joke, but the Scots haven't seen the joke yet ... "
— Oliver Herford
" ... 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
" ... I'm not young enough to know everything ... "
— J.M.Barrie
" ... When one door closes another door opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us ... "
— Alexander Graham Bell
" ... He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts — for support rather than illumination ... "
— Andrew Lang
" ... We come here with no peaceful intent, but ready for battle, determined to avenge our wrongs and set our country free.
Let your masters come and attack us: we are ready to meet them beard to beard ... "
— William Wallace
" ... History is written from then to now but understood back to front ... "
— Allan Massie
" ... Growing old is great. It’s like getting drunk. Everyone around you gets better-looking ... "
— Billy Connolly
" ... I think for my part one half of the nation is mad – and the other not very sound ... "
— Tobias Smollett
" ... Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes and a tolerable administration of justice ... "
— Adam Smith
" ... I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject ... "
— William Wallace
" ... People in Scotland have a queer idea of the arts. They think you can be an artist in your spare time, though nobody expects you to be a spare-time dustman, engineer, lawyer or brain surgeon ... "
— Alasdair Gray
" ... 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
" ... Men are immortal till their work is done ... "
— David Livingstone
" ... America would have been a poor show had it not been for the Scots ... "
— Andrew Carnegie
" ... 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
" ... Of all vices, drinking is the most incompatible with greatness ... "
— Sir Walter Scott
" ... The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn ... "
— David Russell
" ... Teach a parrot the terms "supply and demand" and you've got an economist ... "
— Thomas Carlyle
" ... A man’s real possession is his memory. In nothing else is he rich, in nothing else is he poor ... "
— Alexander McCall Smith
" ... We think the world is ours for ever, but we are little more than squatters ... "
— Alexander McCall Smith
" ... A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless ... "
— James VI King of Scots (on Tobacco)
" ... I think Calvinism has done more damage to Scotland than drugs ever did ... "
— Ronald David Laing
" ... A sense of proportion is anathema to the Glasgow drinker. When he goes at the bevvy it is a fight to the death ... "
— Hugh McIlvanney
" ... His mind was a kind of extinct sulphur pit ... "
— Thomas Carlyle (Speaking of Napoleon III)
" ... Fire is the best of servants; but what a master! ... "
— Thomas Carlyle
" ... Diffused knowledge immortalizes itself ... "
— James Mackintosh
" ... The cloven-foot of self-interest was now and then to be seen aneath the robe of public principle ... "
— John Galt
" ... Avarice, the spur of industry ... "
— David Hume
" ... No enemy is half so fatal as a friend estranged ... "
— John Davidson
" ... I must follow them. I am their leader ... "
— Bonar Law
" ... None can destroy Scotland, save Scotland's self ... "
— Lord Belhaven, opposing the union of 1707
In the news
- 14 September 2026 – Separatism in the United Kingdom, Decolonization
- The First Ministers of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales meet in Cardiff at a summit to call for their independence from the United Kingdom. (BBC News) (The Guardian)
- 3 August 2026 – 2020–2026 H5N1 outbreak
- Scotland's NatureScot denies a 2026 licence for hunting northern gannets on Sula Sgeir, citing possible harm to the local gannet population after recent bird-flu deaths. (AFP via RFI)
- 25 July 2026 –
- The Bishop of Aberdeen in Scotland declares the sedevacantist Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer religious institute, an order associated with the Society of Saint Pius X, to be excommunicated, after they consecrated a bishop without Vatican approval. (The Herald) (The Catholic Herald)
Selected biography
Adam Ferguson (Scottish Gaelic: Adhamh MacFhearghais), also known as Ferguson of Raith (1 July N.S. / 20 June O.S. 1723 – 22 February 1816), was a Scottish philosopher and historian of the Scottish Enlightenment.
Ferguson was sympathetic to traditional societies, such as the Highlands, for producing courage and loyalty. He criticized commercial society as making men weak, dishonourable, and unconcerned for their community.
Ferguson has been called "the father of modern sociology" for his contributions to the early development of the discipline. His best-known work is his Essay on the History of Civil Society. (... Read the full article)
Selected picture
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
Balmoral Castle
Balmoral Castle. Aberdeenshire a residence of the British royal family in the Scottish baronial style.
Photo credit: Ejdzej
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 Wallace Monument
The Wallace Monument is a sandstone tower, built in the Victorian Gothic style. It stands on the summit of Abbey Craig, a volcanic crag above Cambuskenneth Abbey, from which Wallace was said to have watched the gathering of the army of English king Edward I, just before the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
Photo credit: Ray Mann
The second chamber of the Smoo Cave, Durness in Sutherland, Scotland 
Wemyss Bay railway station.
Wemyss Bay railway station is a railway station on the Inverclyde Line. Located in the village of Wemyss Bay, Inverclyde. The station incorporates the terminal for the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry connecting the mainland to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.
Photo credit: wilm
Atlantic Puffins at Sumburgh Head, Shetland 
View towards the Quiraing 
Mousa Broch, Shetland Islands
A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification "complex atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s. Their origin is a matter of some controversy.
Photo credit: Otter
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
Freezing temperatures in Braemar
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, around 58 miles (93 km) west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. Sitting at an altitude of 339 metres (1,112 ft), Braemar is the third coldest low lying place in the UK, after the villages of Dalwhinnie and Leadhills. It has twice entered the UK Weather Records with the lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2oC, on 11 February 1895, and 10 January 1982.
Photo credit: Paul Chapman
Vat of Kirbister 
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
Crofters cottage and sheep, Cairngorms National Park 
Blackrock cottage, Rannoch Moor
A view of Blackrock Cottage on Rannoch Moor with Buachaille Etive Mor in the background.
Photo credit: Andrewmckie
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
The Room de Luxe at the Willow Tearooms
The Willow Tearooms are tearooms at 217 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, designed by internationally renowned architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which opened for business in October 1903.
Photo credit: Dave souza
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
Hill House, Helensburgh
Hill House in Helensburgh, Scotland, was created by architects and designers Charles and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. The house was built in a Modern Style way.
Photo credit: JeremyA
Rannoch Moor (/ˈrænəx/ ⓘ; Scottish Gaelic: Mòinteach Rai(th)neach) is an expanse of around 50 square miles (130 km2) of boggy moorland to the west of Loch Rannoch in Scotland, from where it extends into westerly Perth and Kinross, northerly Lochaber (in Highland), and the area of Highland Scotland toward its south-west, northern Argyll and Bute. Rannoch Moor is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation.
Photo credit: Chjris Combe
Cells of Life, a landform by Charles Jencks at Jupiter Artland
Cells of Life, a landform by Charles Jencks at Jupiter Artland, a contemporary sculpture park and art gallery outside the city of Edinburgh.
Photo credit: Allan Pollok-Morris
The Kelpies, Falkirk
The Kelpies are a pair of monumental steel horse-heads between the Scottish towns of Falkirk and Grangemouth. They stand next to the M9 motorway and form the eastern gateway of the Forth and Clyde Canal, which meets the River Carron here. Each head is 30 metres (98 ft) high. The sculptures, which represent kelpies, were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and were completed in October 2013.
Photo credit: James Allan
National Museum of Scotland, main hall
The National Museum of Scotland is one of Scotland's national museums, on Chambers Street, in Edinburgh. The original Royal Museum began in the 19th century and was added to in the 1990s when a new building known as The Museum of Scotland was added, both merging in 2007 into The National Museum of Scotland.
Photo credit: Shimgray
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Did You Know...
- ... that during the First Bishops' War, the Duke of Hamilton's mother intended to shoot him with silver bullets if he landed in Scotland?
- ... that Scottish politician Tam Dalyell opposed devolution, warning it would become a "motorway without exit to a separate state"?
- ... that East Suffolk Park, a former student hostel in Edinburgh, was once an internment camp for enemy aliens?
- ... that Thorpe's secluded hills provided refuge from Scottish raiders and English Civil War troops?
- ... that the 4,000-year-old Ravenswood standing stone now lies in a cul-de-sac in a 1970s Scottish housing estate?
- ... that the Perth Panthers, a Scotland-based ice hockey team, were composed mainly of Americans and Canadians?
- ... that a lane behind a tenement in Edinburgh is decorated as a Wild West town?
- ... that Paddy Higson was known as the "mother of Scottish film"?
Get involved
For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Scotland-related articles, see WikiProject Scotland.
To get involved in helping to improve Wikipedia's Scotland related content, please consider doing some of the following tasks or joining one or more of the associated Wikiprojects:
- Visit the Scottish Wikipedians' notice board and help to write new Scotland-related articles, and expand and improve existing ones.
- Visit Wikipedia:WikiProject Scotland/Assessment, and help out by assessing unrated Scottish articles.
- Add the Project Banner to Scottish articles around Wikipedia.
- Participate in WikiProject Scotland's Peer Review, including responding to PR requests and nominating Scottish articles.
- Help nominate and select new content for the Scotland portal.
Do you have a question about The Scotland Portal that you can't find the answer to?
Post a question on the Talk Page or consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
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