Portal:Edinburgh
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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. It is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in 2020, making it the second-most-populous city in Scotland (behind Glasgow) and the seventh-most-populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year.
Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, the highest courts in Scotland, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. It is also the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scottish law, literature, philosophy, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1582 and is now one of four universities in the city. The financial centre of Scotland, Edinburgh was ranked as the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth-largest in Europe, and the thirteenth-largest in the world in the Global Financial Centres Index in 2020.
The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland, and the Scottish National Gallery. The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, St Giles' Cathedral, Greyfriars Kirk, Canongate Kirk and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Old Town and the New Town are together listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and the site has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it Britain's second-most-visited tourist destination, attracting 5.3 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas, in 2023. (Full article...)
Selected location article
The Edinburgh Festival Theatre (originally Empire Palace Theatre and later shortened to Empire Theatre) is a performing arts venue located on Nicolson Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is used primarily for performances of opera and ballet, large-scale musical events, and touring groups. After its most recent renovation in 1994, it seats 1,915. It is one of the major venues of the annual summer Edinburgh International Festival and is the Edinburgh venue for the Scottish Opera and the Scottish Ballet. (Full article...)
Selected images
Jenners Department Store, the oldest department store in Scotland
The Governor's House
Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland
The Castle Rock
Charlotte Square, a garden square in the New Town
View over Edinburgh
The High Street, part of the Royal Mile
View looking west along George Street
Architecture in Edinburgh
City Observatory, the Gothic Tower
Queensferry Crossing road bridge
St Giles' Cathedral, the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh
The Princes Street Gardens, the best known park in Edinburgh
Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags) by William Crozier, a painter associated with The Edinburgh School
The ruins of Holyrood Abbey
The Dean Gallery, part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Sir Walter Scott
The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle
The National Monument of Scotland (right) and Nelson Monument (left)
David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist born in Edinburgh in 1711
Fountain at Holyrood Palace
The BT building in Edinburgh Park
Scottish baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in St. Mary's Street
Two Edinburgh Trams seen at the West End - Princes Street stop
Ratho Park Golf Club
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Selected transportation article
Various studies, from 1989 onwards, considered the reintroduction of trams to Edinburgh. In 2001, a proposal for a new Edinburgh Trams network envisaged three routes across the city, Lines 1, 2 and 3. Line 1 was a circular route running around the northern suburbs, with the other two forming radial lines running out to Newbridge in the west and to Newcraighall in the south respectively. All lines would run through the city centre.
Line 3 was later shelved due to lack of Scottish Parliament approval. Lines 1 and 2 were combined and split into three phases, with Phase 1 being further divided into Phase 1a and 1b. Phases 1b, 2 and 3 were not funded. (Full article...)
Selected area article
The West End is an affluent district of Edinburgh, Scotland, which along with the rest of the New Town and Old Town forms central Edinburgh, and Edinburgh's UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area boasts several of the city's hotels, restaurants, independent shops, offices and arts venues, including the Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh International Conference Centre and the Caledonian Hotel. The area also hosts art festivals and crafts fairs.
Built as a western expansion of the New Town, the northern part of the West End sits on the Water of Leith river and forms part of Edinburgh's UNESCO World Heritage Site. The West End is contiguous with the rest of the New Town and is accordingly included in the New Town Conservation Area. The conservation area contains many buildings of great architectural beauty, primarily long rows and crescents of Georgian terraced houses. The West End also incorporates many of the New Town Gardens, a heritage designation since 2001. (Full article...)
Selected environment article
The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Lìte) is a river in Edinburgh, Scotland. It rises in the Pentland Hills before flowing through the centre of the city and emptying into the Firth of Forth at the Port of Leith. (Full article...)
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Selected arts article
Alexander Nasmyth (9 September 1758 – 10 April 1840) was a Scottish portrait and landscape painter, a pupil of Allan Ramsay. He also undertook several architectural commissions. (Full article...)
Selected education article
The University of Edinburgh (Scots: University o Edinburgh, Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as Edin. in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and officially opened in 1583, it is one of Scotland's four ancient universities and the sixth-oldest university in continuous operation in the English-speaking world. The university played a crucial role in Edinburgh becoming a leading intellectual centre during the Scottish Enlightenment and contributed to the city being nicknamed the "Athens of the North".
The three main global university rankings (ARWU, THE, and QS) place the University of Edinburgh within their respective top 40. It is a member of several associations of research-intensive universities, including the Coimbra Group, League of European Research Universities, Russell Group, Una Europa, and Universitas 21. In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2025, the university had a total income of £1.437 billion, with £375.4 million from research grants and contracts. It has the third-largest endowment in the UK, behind only Cambridge and Oxford. The university occupies five main campuses in the city of Edinburgh, which include many buildings of historical and architectural significance, such as those in the Old Town. (Full article...)
Selected sports article
Tynecastle Park, also known as Tynecastle Stadium or colloquially as Tynie, is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). A UEFA category four stadium, it has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a neutral venue for Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup semi-finals.
Tynecastle has a seating capacity of 19,852, which makes it the sixth-largest football stadium in Scotland. Hearts have played at the present site of Tynecastle since 1886. (Full article...)
Selected religion article
The Edinburgh Central Mosque (officially known as the King Fahd Mosque and Islamic Centre of Edinburgh) is located on Potterrow near the University of Edinburgh central area and the National Museum of Scotland. The mosque and Islamic centre was designed by Dr. Basil Al Bayati, and took more than six years to complete at a cost of £3.5M. The main hall can hold over one thousand worshippers, with women praying on a balcony overlooking the hall. The mosque holds chandeliers and a vast carpet, with very little furniture.
The architecture combines traditional Islamic features with a Modernist Scots baronial style. Geza Fehervari, Professor of Islamic Art & Archaeology at London University, said "The architectural elements and decorative details, while basically relying on Islamic, mainly Turkish traditions, successfully interact with the architectural and decorative age-old customs of Scotland." (Full article...)
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