Portal:Scotland
THE SCOTLAND PORTAL
Scotland (Scots: Scotland, Scottish Gaelic: Alba [ˈal̪ˠapə] (
listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the south-west. In addition to the mainland, the country has more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.
The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, thus forming a personal union of the three kingdoms. Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. In 1801, Great Britain itself entered into a political union with the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles and other royal symbols of statehood specific to the pre-union Kingdom of Scotland. The legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. The continued existence of legal, educational, religious and other institutions distinct from those in the remainder of the UK have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity since the 1707 union with England.
In 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. The head of the Scottish Government is the First Minister of Scotland, who is supported by the Deputy First Minister of Scotland. Scotland is represented in the United Kingdom Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs. Scotland is also a member of the British–Irish Council, and sends five members of the Scottish Parliament to the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly.
Scotland is divided into 32 subdivisions, known as local authorities, or "councils". Glasgow City is the largest subdivision in Scotland in terms of population, with Highland being the largest in terms of area. Limited self-governing power, covering matters such as education, social services and roads and transportation, is devolved from the Scottish Government to each subdivision.
Selected article
The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge opened in 1964 and at the time was the largest suspension bridge in the world outside the USA. The bridge spans the Firth of Forth, connecting Edinburgh, at Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry. It replaced a centuries-old ferry service to carry vehicular traffic, cyclists and pedestrians across the Forth; railway crossings are made by the nearby Forth Bridge, opened in 1890.
The Scottish Parliament voted to scrap tolls on the bridge from February 2008. By that time, the bridge was carrying traffic considerably in excess of its design capacity, and a parallel replacement was later built. On 5 September 2017, all traffic was transferred to the new Queensferry Crossing. This allowed the Forth Road Bridge to be closed for repairs and also for realignment work on the approach roads to enable its new role as a "public transport corridor"; it was re-opened, for buses, taxis, cyclists and pedestrians only, from 1 February 2018.
The bridge will also be used for other traffic in special circumstances, such as roadworks on the Queensferry Crossing, as happened in late November 2017.
At its peak, the Forth Road Bridge carried 65,000 vehicles per day (vpd); this is now expected to drop to only a few hundred. Read more...
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Selected quotes
| “ | ... Courage is the thing. All goes if courage goes ... | ” |
| “ | ... I am not here, then, as the accused; I am here as the accuser of capitalism dripping with blood from head to foot ... | ” |
Selected biography
Sir Compton Mackenzie, OBE (/ˈkʌmptən
Did You Know?
Recent:
- ... that the Scottish surgeon John Spencer Login was entrusted with the protection of the Koh-i-Noor diamond?
- ... that the Scottish Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean asked Douglas Young to destroy some of the poems in Dàin do Eimhir, now regarded as MacLean's masterpiece?
- ... that Niel Gow, a Scottish fiddler, is said to have composed many of his best-known tunes under a tree on the banks of the River Tay?
- ... that during the Battle of Neville's Cross, King David II of Scotland was shot twice in the face by arrows and taken prisoner after knocking out the teeth of his captor?
Older:
- ... that Jim McColl, the son of a butcher, reportedly became Scotland's richest man in 2008?
- ... that Glen Ord is the only remaining single malt scotch whisky distillery on the Black Isle in the Highlands of Scotland?
- ... that from its creation in 1963 to its closure in about 2000, the Scottish Tartans Society recorded and documented about 2,700 different designs of tartan?
- ... that Angus Purden, regular presenter of the BBC's Cash in the Attic, was crowned Mr. Scotland as a teenager, and modelled for Giorgio Armani for three years in Milan?
In the news
- 16 November 2018 –
- Johnston Press, which owns i, The Scotsman, the Yorkshire Post and other UK newspapers, enters administration after failing to secure a buyer. It is set to be de-listed on the London Stock Exchange on 19 November 2018. (The Guardian)
- 6 August 2018 – Swimming at the 2018 European Aquatics Championships – Mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay
- The British 4x100 mixed medley relay team (Anderson, Davies, Guy, Peaty) break their own European record at the 2018 European Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
- 16 July 2018 – British space programme
- The UK Space Agency announces that the country's first spaceport will be located in Sutherland, northern Scotland, with the first launches potentially taking place in the early 2020s. (BBC) (The Guardian)
- 27 June 2018 – Politics of Scotland
- Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reshuffles her cabinet. Nine new junior ministers are appointed, with the devolved Parliament set to vote on the changes tomorrow. (BBC)
- 15 June 2018 –
- The Glasgow School of Art in Scotland suffers "extensive damage" after it catches on fire. No casualties are reported. (BBC)
- 4 June 2018 – Banking in the United Kingdom, 2008 United Kingdom bank rescue package
- The government of the United Kingdom announces its intent to sell a 7.7% stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland, expected to raise £2.6 billion. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell says there is "no economic justification" for selling the shares. (BBC)
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- Help nominate and select new content for the Scotland portal.
