Scotland

I

Introduction

Scotland, country, administrative division of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain. The crowns of Scotland and England were united in 1603, and the governments of the two countries in 1707; Scotland has retained, however, its own legal system, its own Church, a substantially different education system, and the right to issue its own bank notes. Since 1999, a Scottish parliament of 129 seats has sat independently of the parliament at Westminster. Scotland is bordered on the north by the Atlantic Ocean; on the east by the North Sea; on the south-east by England; on the south by the Solway Firth, which partly separates it from England, and by the Irish Sea; and on the west by the North Channel of the Irish Sea which separates it from the island of Ireland, and by the Atlantic Ocean. As a geopolitical entity Scotland includes 186 nearby islands, a majority of which are contained in three groups—the Hebrides, also known as the Western Isles (Eilean Siar), situated off the western coast; the Orkney Islands, situated off the north-eastern coast; and the Shetland Islands, situated north-east of the Orkney Islands. The largest of the other islands is Arran, located in the Firth of Clyde, off the west coast. The land area of Scotland, including the islands, is 78,790 sq km (30,420 sq mi). The figure includes some 1,692 sq km (653 sq mi) of inland water. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, and a leading cultural and economic centre.

II

Land and Resources

The spectacular topography of Scotland reflects possibly more clearly than that of any other part of the island of Great Britain the effects of glaciation—in the overdeepened valleys which produced the country’s many lochs and firths, in the glacial till which forms the fertile soils of eastern lowland Scotland, and in the many features such as drumlins and eskers that dot the rugged Scottish landscape. Scotland’s very irregular coastline is another product of glaciation. The western coast in particular is deeply penetrated by numerous arms of the sea, most of which are narrow overdeepened valleys, known locally as sea lochs, and by a number of broad indentations, generally called firths. The principal firths are the Firth of Lorn, the Firth of Clyde, and the Solway Firth. The major indentations on the eastern coast are Dornoch Firth, the Moray Firth, the Firth of Tay, and the Firth of Forth. Measured around the various firths and sea lochs, the coastline of Scotland is about 3,700 km (2,300 mi) long.

The terrain of Scotland is predominantly mountainous but may be divided into three distinct regions, from north to south: the Highlands, the Central Lowlands, and the Southern Uplands. More than a half of the surface of Scotland is occupied by the Highlands, the most rugged region on the island of Great Britain, containing most of the island’s highest peaks (300 over 900 m/3,000 ft). Consisting of parallel mountain chains with a general north-eastern to south-western trend and broken by deep ravines and valleys, the Highlands are noted for their unspoilt, wild beauty and scenic grandeur. Precipitous cliffs, moorland plateaux, mountain lakes, sea lochs, swift-flowing streams, and dense thickets are common to the Highlands, the most sparsely inhabited section of Scotland.

The region is divided in two by a depression, known as Glen More, or the Great Glen, which extends from the Moray Firth in the north-east, south-west to Loch Linnhe. To the north-west of this lie heavily eroded peaks with fairly uniform elevations ranging from 600 to 900 m (2,000 to 3,000 ft). In the Highlands south-east of the Great Glen the topography is highly diversified. This region is traversed by the Grampian Mountains, the principal mountain system of Scotland, which includes on the east the Cairngorms. The highest peak of the Grampians is Ben Nevis (1,343 m/4,406 ft), the highest summit in the United Kingdom, located near the head of Loch Linnhe, overlooking Fort William.

To the south of the Highlands lie the Central Lowlands, a narrow belt comprising only about one tenth of the area of Scotland, but containing three quarters of the country’s population. The Central Lowlands are traversed by several chains of hills, including the Ochil and Sidlaw hills, and by several important rivers, notably the Clyde, the Forth, and the Tay.

The terrain of the Southern Uplands, a region much less elevated and rugged than the Highlands, consists largely of a moorland plateau traversed by rolling valleys and broken by mountainous outcrops. Only a few summits in the Southern Uplands exceed 760 m (2,500 ft) in elevation, the highest being Merrick (843 m/2,765 ft) in the Dumfries and Galloway unitary authority in the south-west. Adjoining the Southern Uplands region along the boundary with England are the Cheviot Hills.

A

Rivers and Lakes

Scotland has an abundance of rivers, streams, and lochs (lakes). Notable among the lochs, which are especially numerous in the Central Lowlands and Highland regions, are Loch Lomond (the largest), Loch Ness, Loch Tay, and Loch Katrine. Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy run down the Great Glen, north-east to south-west, and are joined by the Caledonian Canal to provide a waterway capable of taking sea-going vessels linking the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea. Many of the rivers of Scotland, in particular those in the west, are short, torrential streams, generally of little commercial importance. The longest river of Scotland is the Tay; the Clyde, however, is the principal commercial river. Other important rivers include the Forth, the Tweed, the Dee, and the Spey.

B

Climate

As with the island climate of Great Britain, the Scottish climate is subject to the moderating influences of the surrounding seas. As a result of these influences, extreme seasonal variations are rare, and relatively temperate winters and cool summers are the outstanding climatic features. Low temperatures and heavy snowfalls are, however, common during the winter season in many areas, particularly the mountainous districts of the interior. In the western coastal region, which benefits more from the moderating effects of the warm Gulf Stream, conditions are milder than in the east. The average January temperature of the eastern coastal region is 3.1° C (37.5° F); that of the western coastal region is 3.9° C (39° F). Corresponding July averages are 13.8° C (56.8° F) and 15° C (59° F), respectively. The average January and July temperatures for the city of Edinburgh are 3.5° C (38° F) and 14.5° C (58° F), respectively. Precipitation, which is marked by regional variations, ranges from about 3,810 mm (150 in) annually in the western Highlands to about 635 mm (25 in) annually in certain eastern areas.