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
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The Palace of Holyroodhouse (/ˈhɒlɪruːd/ or /ˈhoʊlɪruːd/), also known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch of the United Kingdom in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has served as the principal royal residence in Scotland since the 16th century, and is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining.
The palace adjoins Holyrood Abbey, and the gardens are set within Holyrood Park. The King's Gallery was converted from existing buildings at the western entrance to the palace and was opened in 2002 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection. (Full article...)
Selected images
View looking west along George Street
The National Monument of Scotland (right) and Nelson Monument (left)
Scottish baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in St. Mary's Street
The High Street, part of the Royal Mile
Charlotte Square, a garden square in the New Town
Sir Walter Scott
Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland
Jenners Department Store, the oldest department store in Scotland
The Castle Rock
The Governor's House
Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags) by William Crozier, a painter associated with The Edinburgh School
The Dean Gallery, part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
The ruins of Holyrood Abbey
View over Edinburgh
The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle
City Observatory, the Gothic Tower
St Giles' Cathedral, the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh
The BT building in Edinburgh Park
Architecture in Edinburgh
The Princes Street Gardens, the best known park in Edinburgh
Two Edinburgh Trams seen at the West End - Princes Street stop
Fountain at Holyrood Palace
Queensferry Crossing road bridge
Ratho Park Golf Club
David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist born in Edinburgh in 1711
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Selected transportation article
Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Edinburgh Transport Holdings) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian Council 3% and West Lothian Council 1%.
Lothian operates the majority of bus services in Edinburgh, and is a significant operator in East Lothian, Midlothian and most recently West Lothian. It operates a comprehensive night bus network, three routes to Edinburgh Airport, and owns the subsidiary companies Lothian Country, East Coast Buses, Edinburgh Bus Tours, Lothian Motorcoaches and Eve Coaches. (Full article...)
Selected area article
Fairmilehead is a district of southern Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies approximately 3 miles (5 km) due south of the city centre and borders Midlothian. The area comprises the neighbourhoods of Buckstone, Caiyside, Caiystane, Swanston, Frogston and Winton. The centre of the area is the crossroads between Buckstone Terrace/Biggar Road and Frogston Road/Oxgangs Road where Fairmilehead Parish Church, a parish church of the Church of Scotland, is located.
This area contains some of the most expensive houses in Edinburgh, with an average home value of £562,806 and the most expensive streets being Frogston Road West (average £810,000), Margaret Rose Crescent (£856,000) and Galachlaw Shot (£815,276). In 2017, the area was named by the Edinburgh Evening News as being in the top four 'happiest places to live in Edinburgh', with a 96% satisfaction rate. (Full article...)
Selected environment article
Calton Hill (/ˈkɔːltən/; Scottish Gaelic: Cnoc Coilltinn) is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the city.
Calton Hill is the headquarters of the Scottish Government, which is based at St Andrew's House, on the steep southern slope of the hill. The Scottish Parliament Building and other prominent buildings such as Holyrood Palace lie near the foot of the hill. Calton Hill is also the location of several monuments and buildings: the National Monument, the Nelson Monument, the Dugald Stewart Monument, the old Royal High School, the Robert Burns Monument, the Political Martyrs' Monument and the City Observatory. (Full article...)
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Selected arts article
Edinburgh Grand Opera was Scotland's oldest existing grand opera company, founded in 1955 by Richard Telfer. This society was run by its non-professional chorus with advice and support from the professional Artistic and Musical Directors and Designers it engaged. It was originally known as the Edinburgh Grand Opera Group, and it has also been referred to as Edinburgh Grand Opera Company. Its soloists were a mixture of amateur, semi-professional and professional singers from Scotland and abroad, many of whom were students or graduates from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (previously the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dance). It was the first amateur company to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. (Full article...)
Selected education article
Edinburgh Napier University (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Napier Dhùn Èideann) is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napier. The technical college was inaugurated as a university in 1992 by Lord Douglas-Hamilton, becoming Napier University. In 2009, the university was renamed Edinburgh Napier University.
The university is based around its three main Edinburgh campuses: Merchiston, Craiglockhart, and Sighthill. It has over 21,000 students, including those on-campus in Scotland and others studying transnational programmes abroad and online. In 2018 this included nearly 9,500 international and EU students, from more than 140 nations worldwide. (Full article...)
Selected sports article
The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union. Governed by the Scottish Rugby Union, the team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship. They also participate in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years.
Scotland played the first official test match, winning 1–0 against England at Raeburn Place. Scotland competed in the Five Nations from the inaugural tournament in 1883, winning it 14 times outright—including the last Five Nations in 1999—and sharing it another eight. In 2000, the competition became the Six Nations with the addition of Italy. Since this change, Scotland have never won the competition. Scotland have competed in all ten Rugby World Cups, the most recent being in 2023, when they failed to reach the quarter-finals. Their best finish came in 1991, when they lost to New Zealand in the third place play-off. (Full article...)
Selected religion article
The Church of Scotland (CoS; Scots: The Kirk o Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais na h-Alba) is a Reformed denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national and established church of Scotland. It is one of the country's larger denominations, having 229,000 members in 2025, or 4% of the Scottish population. In the 2022 census, 1,108,796 people, or 20% of the Scottish population, claimed affiliation with the church.
The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian in structure, meaning that is governed by presbyters or elders, selected from the body of the church. There is no one person who acts as the head of the faith, as the church believes that role is the "Lord God's". It is known familiarly as "the Kirk", this being the Scots equivalent of "church". The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church and established itself as a church in the Reformed tradition. (Full article...)
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