Portal:Scotland

The Scotland Portal

Introduction

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 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 city and the most populous of the cities of Scotland. Scotland shares a land border with England to the south-east and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The legislature, the Scottish Parliament, elects 129 members to 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 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

Carnoustie High Street

Carnoustie (/kɑːrˈnuːsti/; Scottish Gaelic: Càrn Ùstaidh) is a town and former police burgh in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast. In the 2011 census, Carnoustie had a population of 11,394, making it the fourth-largest town in Angus. The town was founded in the late 18th century, and grew rapidly throughout the 19th century due to the growth of the local textile industry. It was popular as a tourist resort from the early Victorian era up to the latter half of the 20th century, due to its seaside location, and is best known for the Carnoustie Golf Links course that often hosts the Open Championship.

Carnoustie can be considered a dormitory town for its nearest city, Dundee, which is 11 miles (18 kilometres) to the west. It is served principally by Carnoustie railway station, and also by Golf Street railway station. Its nearest major road is the A92, north of the town. (... Read the full article)

List of selected articles

Selected quotes

Image 1

" ... 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
Image 2

" ... Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves ... "

— J. M. Barrie

" ... Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead: therefore we must learn both arts ... "

— Thomas Carlyle
Image 3

" ... Fashion as King is sometimes a very stupid ruler ... "

— Eric Temple Bell

" ... There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement ... "

— Lord Kelvin, address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1900
Image 4

" ... The secret of long life is always be doing something you enjoy ... "

— Tom Weir

" ... War is a quarrel between two thieves too cowardly to fight their own battle ... "

— Thomas Carlyle
Image 5

" ... Celtic jerseys are not for second best, They don't shrink to fit inferior players ... "

— Jock Stein

" ... In every place, where there is any thing worthy of observation, there should be a short printed directory for strangers ... "

— James Boswell
Image 6

" ... Peace is that state in which fear of any kind is unknown ... "

— John Buchan

" ... There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why ... "

— William Barclay
Image 7

" ... 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
Image 8

" ... The Scots are steadfast - not their clime ... "

— Thomas Crawford

" ... We do have the greatest fans in the world but I’ve never seen a fan score a goal ... "

— Jock Stein
Image 9

" ... 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
Image 10

" ... The worst of being a doctor is that one's mistakes matter so much ... "

— Elsie Inglis

" ... The ideal board of directors should be made up of three men - two dead and the other dying ... "

— Tommy Docherty
Image 11

" ... 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
Image 12

" ... I have not yet begun to fight! ... "

— John Paul Jones

" ... Devolution will kill nationalism stone dead ... "

— George Robertson
Image 13

" ... 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
Image 14

" ... History, a distillation of Rumour ... "

— Thomas Carlyle

" ... Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary ... "

— Robert Louis Stevenson
Image 15

" ... A good gulp of whisky at bedtime – it’s not scientific but it helps ... "

— Sir Alexander Fleming

" ... I have been trying all my life to like Scotchmen, and am obliged to desist from the experiment in despair ... "

— Charles Lamb
Image 16

" ... Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open ... "

— Sir James Dewar

" ... The world is neither Scottish, English, nor Irish, neither French, Dutch, nor Chinese, but human ... "

— Sir Alexander Gray
Image 17

" ... Jimmy Hill is to football what King Herod was to babysitting ... "

— Tommy Docherty

" ... Maybe that's why in England you have better horses, and in Scotland we have better men ... "

— James Boswell responding to Samuel Johnson

("In England we wouldn't think of eating oats. We only feed them to horses.")
Image 18

" ... A scot is a man who keeps the Sabbath and everything else he can lay his hands on ... "

— Chic Murray

" ... Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity ... "

— Thomas Carlyle
Image 19

" ... 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)
Image 20

" ... The cruellest lies are often told in silence ... "

— Robert Louis Stevenson

" ... It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important ... "

— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Image 21

" ... Facts are stubborn things ... "

— Tobias Smollett

" ... History does not repeat itself. Historians repeat each other ... "

— A. J. Balfour
Image 22

" ... Biography: One of the new terrors of death ... "

— John Arbuthnot

" ... It requires a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding ... "

— Sydney Smith
Image 23

" ... Some of my plays peter out and some pan out ... "

— J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan

" ... There are two rules for drinking whisky. First, never take whisky without water, and second, never take water without whisky ... "

— Chic Murray
Image 24

" ... Some folks are wise and some are otherwise ... "

— Tobias Smollett

" ... It is the mark of a good action that it appears inevitable in restrospect ... "

— Robert Louis Stevenson
Image 25

" ... He's very clever, but sometimes his brains go to his head ... "

— Margot Asquith speaking of F. E. Smith

" ... When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe ... "

— John Muir

In the news

8 March 2026 –: A fire occurs in a historic building adjoining the Glasgow Central railway station in Scotland, United Kingdom. The building collapses, destroying a number of businesses and shops. The fire also causes the disruption and cancellation of many train services, with Glasgow Central promptly shutting down until further notice. (BBC News)

Selected biography

Cox at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2025

Brian Denis Cox (born 1 June 1946) is a Scottish actor. A classically trained Shakespearean actor, he is known for his work on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include two Laurence Olivier Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award as well as two nominations for a British Academy Television Award. In the 2003 New Year Honours, he was appointed to the Order of the British Empire at the rank of Commander.

Cox trained at the Dundee Repertory Theatre before becoming a founding member of Royal Lyceum Theatre. He went on to train as a Shakespearean actor, starring in numerous productions with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. Cox received two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Actor for his roles in Rat in the Skull (1984), for Royal Court and Titus Andronicus (1988). He received two more Olivier Award nominations for Misalliance (1986) and Fashion (1988).

Known as a character actor in film, Cox played Robert McKee in Spike Jonze's Adaptation (2002) and William Stryker in X2 (2003). For his starring role in L.I.E. (2001), he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination. His other notable films include Manhunter (1986), Iron Will (1994), Braveheart (1995), The Boxer (1997), The Rookie (2002), Troy (2004), Match Point (2005), Coriolanus (2011), Pixels (2015) and Churchill (2017).

Cox won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his portrayal of Hermann Göring in the television film Nuremberg (2001). The following year he guest starred on the NBC sitcom Frasier earning his second Emmy nomination in 2002. He portrayed Jack Langrishe in the HBO series Deadwood. He starred as Logan Roy on the HBO series Succession (2018–2023), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Drama Series. (... Read the full article)

List of selected biographies

Selected picture

Image 1

The Lewis chessmen (named after their find-site) belong to some of the few complete medieval chess sets that have survived until today. The chessmen are believed to have been made in Norway, perhaps by craftsmen in Trondheim (where similar pieces have been found), sometime during the 12th century.

Photo credit: Finlay McWalter
Image 2

One of the oldest and most important religious centres in western Europe, Iona Abbey is considered the point of origin for the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland. Iona Abbey is located on the Isle of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast.

Photo credit: Dennis Turner
Image 3

Walker Alex Schulz slacklining at the Old Man of Hoy, a 449-foot (137-metre) sea stack on Hoy, part of the Orkney archipelago .

Photo credit: AlexSchulz91
Image 4

The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge over the Firth of Forth. It was opened on 4 March 1890, and spans a total length of 2,528.7 metres (8,296 ft). It is often called the Forth Rail Bridge or Forth Railway Bridge to distinguish it from the Forth Road Bridge.

Photo credit: George Gastin
Image 5

Calton Hill is a hill in central Edinburgh, just to the east of the New Town. The hill is home to several iconic monuments and buildings: the National Monument, Nelson's Monument, the Dugald Stewart Monument, the Royal High School, the Robert Burns Monument, the Political Martyrs' Monument and the City Observatory.

Photo credit: Andrewyuill
Image 6

The Black Watch War Memorial, at the corner of Market Street and North Bank Street on the Mound in Edinburgh.

Photo credit: AdMeskens
Image 7

Cape Wrath (Scottish Gaelic: Am Parbh, known as An Carbh in Lewis) is a cape in the Durness parish of the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland, and is the most north-westerly point in Great Britain.

Photo credit: RealSnowhunter
Image 8

Luskentyre Beach, Lewis and Harris, the Outer Hebrides

Photo credit: Thomas_Andy_Branson
Image 9

The second chamber of the Smoo Cave, Durness in Sutherland.

Photo credit: Florian_Fuchs
Image 10

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
Image 11

A crannóg (pronounced /krəˈno:g/ or /ˈkrɑno:g/ or /ˈkranag/) is an ancient artificial island or natural island found in Scotland and Ireland, used for a settlement. The name may also refer to a wooden platform erected on shallow loch floors.

Photo credit: Dave Morris
Image 12

Dunfermline Abbey is a large Benedictine abbey in Dunfermline, Fife. It was administered by the Abbot of Dunfermline. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I, but the monastic establishment was based on an earlier foundation dating back to the reign of King Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (i.e. "Malcolm III" or "Malcolm Canmore", r. 1058-93).

Photo credit: Mussklprozz
Image 13

John Knox House, popularly known as John Knox's House, is a historic house in Edinburgh, Scotland, reputed to have been owned and lived in by Protestant reformer John Knox during the 16th century.

Photo credit: Kim Traynor
Image 14

Sunset in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The high peak on left of the image is Ben Lomond.

Photo credit: Michal Klajban
Image 15

Detail of the V&A museum, Dundee from the west with the Tay Bridge beyond.

Photo credit: Richard Szwejkowski
Image 16

Loch Fyne (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Fìne, meaning "Loch of the Vine or Wine", is a sea loch on the west coast of Argyll and Bute. Although there is no evidence for grapes growing there, it was more metaphorical, such as meaning that the River, Abhainn Fìne, was a well-respected river.

Photo credit: Michael Parry
Image 17

Our Dynamic Earth is a Scottish science centre and prominent conference venue and visitor attraction located in Holyrood, Edinburgh, beside the Scottish Parliament Building.

Photo credit: Globaltraveller
Image 18

Plockton (Scottish Gaelic: Am Ploc/Ploc Loch Aillse) is a picturesque settlement in the Highlands on the shores of Loch Carron. It faces east, away from the prevailing winds, which together with the North Atlantic Drift, gives it a mild climate, allowing palm trees (actually cabbage trees) to grow.

Photo credit: Arthur Bruce
Image 19

Directional signpost at John o' Groats

Photo credit: Davidcarroll
Image 20

Wellington Church, a 19th-century church on University Avenue in Glasgow with the frontage in the neoclassical style of a Greek temple.

Photo credit: Mymuk
Image 21

The Callanish Stones are an arrangement of standing stones near the village of Callanish on the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Placed in a cruciform pattern with a central stone circle, they were erected in the late Neolithic era, and were a focus for ritual activity during the Bronze Age

Photo credit: Mrdog10
Image 22

The tied island of St Ninian's Isle is joined to the Shetland Mainland by the largest tombolo in the UK.

Photo credit: ThoWi
Image 23

Canisp and Suilven seen from the coastal fishing and crofting village of Clachtoll in Sutherland county, on the north western edge of Scotland.

Photo credit: Louis_Daillencourt
Image 24

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

Did You Know...

... that Scottish politician Tam Dalyell opposed devolution, warning it would become a "motorway without exit to a separate state"?
... that Davy Russell won a 2025 Scottish election despite being dubbed the "invisible man" by an opponent?
... that Jewish tartans have been made for the Jewish community of Scotland?
... that the urban environment around Glasgow's Argyle Street ash tree may have helped it to survive ash dieback disease?
... that historically, lichens like Umbilicaria torrefacta have been used to naturally dye traditional Scottish tartans and textiles?
... that the Scottish painter Carole Gibbons had her first US exhibition in her eighties?
... that before Michael Shanks became Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, he ran along all of Glasgow's 6,143 streets?
... that the construction of the Jubilee Bridge was featured in the 1982 documentary about the A9 road reconstruction?

Get involved

Scotland Related WikiProjects and Task forces
	WikiProject Clans of Scotland	talk
	WikiProject Medieval Scotland	talk
	WikiProject Scottish Castles	talk
	WikiProject Scottish Islands	talk
	WikiProject Scottish Television	talk
	WikiProject Transport in Scotland	talk
	WikiProject Edinburgh	talk
	Fife task force	talk
	Scottish Gaelic task force	talk

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.

Related portals


Ireland	Northern Ireland	Wales	England	Cornwall	United Kingdom	Scottish islands	Clans of Scotland

Other language versions

Wikipedia ann an Gàidhlig na h-Alba and Scots Wikipaedia

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikispecies
Directory of species
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals