Ireland
Scotland Travel and Destination Guide
BACKGROUND INFO
Full Name
Scotland
Capital City
Edinburgh
Area
78,772 sq km
Population
4,996,000
Time Zone
GMT/UTC 0
Daylight Saving Start
last Sunday in March
Daylight Saving End
last Sunday in October
Weights Measures System
Metric
Geography
Scotland is about half the size of England, and roughly two-thirds of the country is mountain and moorland. Geographically, it can be divided into three areas: the Southern Uplands, Central Lowlands, and Northern Highlands and Islands. The Southern Uplands are the fertile plains and hills bordering England; the Central Lowlands run from Edinburgh to Glasgow and contain the industrial belt and most of the population, while the Highlands are mountain ranges of sandstone and granite, rising to their heights at Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain. Of Scotland's 790 islands, 130 are inhabited. Island groups include the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys and Shetlands.
Languages
• Gaelic (other)
Until the 12th or 13th century, Gaelic was spoken in all of Scotland, although Lallans (an English dialect with French and Scandinavian influences) has been spoken in the Lowlands for centuries. Now only about 66,000 people speak Gaelic, mainly in the Hebrides and northwest Scotland. Efforts are being made to halt its decline, and there are numerous Gaelic words that linger in everyday speech and make Scottish English almost impenetrable to foreigners.
• English (official)
People
Celts, Anglo-Saxons
Religion
The two largest religious denominations are the Presbyterian Church of Scotland (47%) and the Roman Catholic Church (16%), with 28% claiming no religious affiliation at all. Non-Christian religions account for only 2% of the population, mostly small communities of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews.
Government Leaders
Elizabeth II
Queen (head of state)
Gordon Brown
Prime Minister (head of government)
Alex Salmond
First Minister (regional leader)
Country Dialing Code
44
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