Scotland is located in northern Great Britain and consists of over 790 islands off its Atlantic coast. It has a population of around 5.1 million people and its largest cities are Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, and Inverness. Scotland has a diverse landscape that includes mountains, glens, lochs, and coastline. Its economy was traditionally based around industries like shipbuilding and fishing but now focuses on services, finance, and oil/gas production in the North Sea. Scotland has its own parliament that governs domestic policy while defense and foreign affairs are managed by the UK government in London.

1. SCOTLAND, A GENERAL PICTURE

3. MAP OF SCOTLAND

4. GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES LOCATION: Atlantic Ocean, Northern Hemisphere. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It consists of over 790 islands including the Northern Isles and The Hebrides. POPULATION: 5.168.000 estimate. AREA: 78.777km2 , roughly 30% of the United Kingdom.

5. COUNTRYSIDE SCENERY

6. FAERIE GLEN

7. VIEW OF DISTINCT CASTLES

8. SCOTTISH SUNSET

9. TYPICAL SCOTTISH HEATHER

10. HIGHLAND CATTLE

11. MAJOR CITIES AND WATERWAYS The six designated cities in descending order of population size are : Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen,

12. Dundee, Inverness and Stirling.

13. Capital: Edinburgh Major Rivers: The Clyde, The Dee, The Don, The Spey,

14. The Forth, The Tay, The Tweed. Freshwater Lochs: Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, Loch Morar, Loch Tay and so on.

15. NATIONAL SYMBOLS

16. SCOTTISH SYMBOLS

17. ECONOMY OF SCOTLAND Most Scottish industry and commerce is concentrated in a few large cities. Edinburgh is a cultural centre and one of the top finance centres in Europe.

18. Glasgow is the leading seaport and once was a centre of shipbuilding and it supports numerous light industries. Tourism is also very important. The mineral coal has declined. Oil, however, gained prominence in the economy during the 1970s with the growth of North Sea oil extraction companies. Natural gas is also abundant in the North Sea fields. Other industries are textile, distilling and fishing. Scotland is a net exporter of energy to the rest UK, with abundant electricity generation.

19. Government and Politics As one of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, Scotland is represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom in London.

20. The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh has the power to govern the country on Scotland specific matters and has a limited power to vary income tax.

21. The United Kingdom Parliament retains responsibility for Scotland’s defence, international relations and certain other areas.

22. TYPICAL FOOD AND DRINK

23. SCOTTISH FAMOUS WRITERS