Scotland
Comprising one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom, Scotland is a country that has as much as one third of the area of the Great Britain having a border with England that lies south of Scotland. On the east, there is the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean lies further north and west of Scotland, and lower down to its southwest are the North Channel and Irish Sea. There are thus many islands that also make up a part of Scotland, whose capital city is Edinburgh which is the second largest city in the country and it is also a financial center of great importance in Europe. The largest city in Scotland is Glasgow where there are supposed to be living as many as forty percent of all Scots that inhabit the country.
Once, it was an independent kingdom, until on May 1, 1707 the Acts of Union brought it into political union with its southern neighbor, the Kingdom of England which resulted in the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain. However, the Scottish legal system continues to remain separate and distinct from those of Wales, Northern Island and of course, England.
Scotland forms the northern third of Great Britain and it has one land border and that is the one that separates it from England. The climate can best be described as being temperate as well as oceanic and it does change quite often. There is warmth from the Gulf Stream that comes from the Atlantic and even the winters are relatively mild as compared to other places including Oslo and Moscow that are situated on similar latitudes.
You will find much wildlife in Scotland that is more or less what is found in other parts of Europe though there are many of the bigger mammals including the Brown Bear, Wolf, Eurasian Lynx and also Beaver, Reindeer and Elk and Walrus found in this part of the world.
Scotland is also a well developed country that follows western type open as well as mixed economy that is much like what you would find in Europe and in many other parts of the world. Its economy centers on shipbuilding, coal mining and also steel, and with the North Sea oil has good economic prospects for the future as well. At Edinburgh is the financial center that is sixth as far as other European nations are concerned being surpassed only by Paris, London, Frankfurt, Zurich and Amsterdam!
There are believed to be as many as five million inhabitants, who make Scotland the one hundred and twelfth most populated country in the world, and the majority of its towns are located on what is known as the Central Belt. The religion is predominantly Protestant and the Church of Scotland follows a Presbyterian system that is independent of the state, and there are also many Roman Catholics, more so in the west of the country.
Scotland also has many traditions molded into its culture and there is a vibrant arts scene that sees heavy music (including its famous bag pipes) and literature, though sports are also a major activity in the country.
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