About Scotland

With such a unique and distinctive national dress, with the renowned whisky and bagpipe music plus a landscape and folklore that often defies description, Scotland has shaped an identity recognisable the world over.

Whether it's a view over misty lochs or a dramatic west coast sunset, a glimpse back in time of Edinburgh's Royal Mile or a viewing of our artistic heritage in the National Gallery, Scotland will always be a country of great contrasts possessing a real magical quality. From the northernmost tip to the border with England, the Scottish mainland reaches about 440 km (275 miles). However, Scotland's rugged, intricate coastline stretches over 20 times that distance at nearly 10,000 km (6,200 miles). Scotland has over 750 major islands, many of the located on its northern and western coasts.

Scotland's topography is often extremely mountainous with wild heather clad moorlands in the north and west, pine forests mixed with quality pasture in the middle, fertile farmland in the east and north east. In the south, we find the rounded, grass-covered hills of the Lowlands with lochs and rivers scattered throughout.

Most of Scotland's five million people live in the country's Central Belt. The Scots cherish the differences that set them apart from the English. They cling tenaciously to their regional differences - their customs, dialects and the Gaelic language. It is perhaps more by their differences than in the similarities that the Scots can be defined but, for all that, they are immensely proud of their nation and its separate institutions, such as education and law.

The Scots have a delightful self-depreciating humour and are renowned throughout the world for their tradition of a warm and generous hospitality.