Geography and Statistic about Scotland
Scotland comprises the northern third of the island of Great Britain,
which lies off the coast of north west Europe. The total land mass is
78,772 km² (30,414 mi²). Scotland's only land border is with
England, and runs for 96 kilometers (60 miles) between the River Tweed
on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean
borders the west coast and the North Sea is to the east. The island of
Ireland lies only 30 kilometres (20 mi) from the south western peninsula
of Kintyre, Norway is 400 kilometres (250 mi) to the north east, the Faroes
310 kilometres (193 mi) and Iceland 798 km (496 mi) to the north west.
The geographical centre of Scotland lies a few miles from the village
of Newtonmore in Badenoch, far to the north of the modern population heartlands.
The territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the
1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and England and the 1266 Treaty of
Perth between Scotland and Norway. Exceptions include: the Isle of Man,
which is now a crown dependency outside the United Kingdom, the 15th century
acquisitions of Orkney and Shetland from Norway; and Rockall, a small
rocky islet in the North Atlantic which was annexed by the UK in 1955
and later declared part of Scotland by the Island of Rockall Act 1972.
However, the legality of the claim is disputed by the Republic of Ireland,
Denmark and Iceland and it is probably unenforceable in international
law.
The population of Scotland in the 2001 census was 5,062,011. This has
risen to 5,116,900 according to June 2006 estimates. This would make Scotland
the 112th largest country by population if it were a sovereign state.
Although Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland it is not the largest city.
With a population of 629,501, this honour falls to Glasgow. Indeed, the
Greater Glasgow conurbation, with a population of up to 2.2 million, is
home to almost half of Scotland's population.
The Central Belt is where most of the main towns and cities are located.
Glasgow is to the west whilst the other three main cities of Edinburgh,
Dundee and Aberdeen lie on the east coast. The Highlands are sparsely
populated although the city of Inverness has experienced rapid growth
in recent years. In general only the more accessible and larger islands
retain human populations and fewer than 90 are currently inhabited. The
Southern Uplands are essentially rural in nature and dominated by agriculture
and forestry.
Due to immigration since World War II, Glasgow, Edinburgh
and Dundee have significant ethnically Asian populations. Since the recent
Enlargement of the European Union there has been an increased number of people
from Central and Eastern Europe moving to Scotland, and it is estimated that
between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles are now in living in the country. As of 2001,
there are 16,315 ethnic Chinese residents in Scotland.
Scotland has three officially recognised languages: English, Scots
and Scottish Gaelic. Almost all Scots speak Scottish Standard
English, and in 1996 the General Register Office for Scotland estimated that
30% of the population are fluent in Scots. Gaelic is mostly spoken in the
Western Isles, where a majority of people still speak it, however nationally
its use is confined to just 1% of the population.
