Scotland
The northernmost part of Britain, formerly an independent country,
now part of the UK
Area:
78,470 sq km/30,297 sq mi
Capital:
Edinburgh
Towns:
Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen
Features:
The Highlands in the north (with the Grampian Mountains); central Lowlands,
including valleys of the Clyde and Forth, with most of the country's
population and industries; Southern Uplands (including the Lammermuir
Hills); and islands of the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Western Isles;
the world's greatest concentration of nuclear weapons are at the
UK and US bases on the Clyde, near Glasgow; 8,000-year-old pinewood
forests once covered 1,500,000 ha/ 3,706,500 acres, now reduced
to 12,500 ha/30,900 acres; there were at least 104,876 ha/259,150
acres of native woodlands remaining in the Highlands in 1994,
covering only 2% of the total area. The 1995 Millennium Commission
award will fund the creation of the Millennium Forest, and double
Scotland's forests
Industry:
Electronics, marine and aircraft engines, oil, natural gas, chemicals,
textiles, clothing, printing, paper, food processing, tourism,
whisky, coal, computer industries (Scotland's `Silicon Glenī produces
over 35% of Europe's personal computers)
Currency:
Pound sterling
Population:
(1993 est) 5,120,000
Languages:
English; Scots, a lowland dialect (derived from Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon);
Gaelic spoken by 1.3%, mainly in the Highlands
Religions:
Presbyterian (Church of Scotland), Roman Catholic
Famous People:
Robert Bruce, Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Adam
Smith
Government:
Scotland sends 72 members to the UK Parliament at Westminster. The
Local Government (Scotland) Bill of 1994 abolished the two-tier
system of local government. Since 1996 there have been 32 unitary
authorities. There is a differing legal system to England (see
Scottish law).
Scots voted overwhelmingly in favour of a Scottish parliament
and the beginning of devolution in a referendum held in Sept 1997.
Scotland's last legislature vanished with the Union of 1707. The
Scottish Parliament was backed by 75% of the 2.4 million people
who voted in the two-question referendum and 63 % agreed that
it should have tax- varying powers. There was a 61.4% turnout.
Elections to the 129-member assembly were planned for spring
1999, with the Parliament coming into being on a site in Edinburgh
to be decided by the turn of the millennium. It will have charge
over most of Scotland's domestic affairs, including education,
the health service, local government, and agriculture, and will
be headed by a First Minister.
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