The state of Scotland

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Content

Scotland

History

Political Structure

Geography and Nature

Population

Faith

Link

Scotland

Scotland - independent kingdom in northern Europe, now - the most autonomous (having its own parliament, the legal system and the state church, etc.) from all countries make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Scotland occupies the north island of Great Britain, bordered by land with England.

The capital of Scotland - Edinburgh.

The Scottish Parliament - unicameral legislature of Scotland. The emergence of the Scottish Parliament of the kingdom of the XIII century. In 1707, after the union of England and Scotland in a single kingdom UK Parliament has ceased to exist and was restored only in 1999 under the Scottish Act of 1998.

History

Scientists believe that the first people arrived in Scotland about 8000 years ago. The first permanent settlements appeared 6,000 years ago. The written history of Scotland begins with the Roman conquest of Britain , when they were conquered, received the status of the Roman provinces of Britain and became known as the territory of modern England and Wales. Part of southern Scotland was briefly taken under indirect control of Rome. To the north lay the land free of the Roman conquest - Caledonia, populated Pictish and Gaelic tribes. After the Romans left these tribes established several kingdoms , including the Gaelic kingdom of Dal Riada , located on part two of the British Isles Ireland and the UK . Scottish part was about the territory of modern Argyll. The largest among Pictish kingdoms was Fortrey . But the story of the Scottish kingdom traditionally takes begins in 843 , when Kenneth McAlpine became king of the unified kingdom of the Scots and Picts .

End of XIII century was a serious challenge for Scotland . After the death in 1286 of King Alexander III left direct male heirs , and the queen was declared Margaret, granddaughter of Alexander III, the birth of his daughter , who married the King of Norway Eirik II. King Edward I of England tried to regain control over Scotland , and insisted on a marriage between his son, the future King Edward II and Queen Margaret , despite her young age . But neither marriage nor even the coronation of Queen Margaret did not take place on the road and the girl had a cold before reaching the Scottish land , died in Orkney .

By the end of the Middle Ages Scotland was divided into two cultural zones : the plains , whose inhabitants spoke Anglo- Scots , and the Highlands of Scotland , with a population enjoyed Gaelic . Galoveysky Gaelic dialect preserved , possibly until the XVIII century in the remote parts of the south-west of the country belonged to the county of Galloway . Historically lowland Scotland was culturally closer to Europe. In the same mountain of Scotland formed one of the hallmarks of the region - the Scottish clan system . Powerful clans retain their influence even after the enactment of the "Act of Union " in 1707 .

After World War II, Scotland experienced a sharp decline in production , but in recent decades there is the cultural and economic revitalization of the region through the development of the sphere of financial operations and electronics manufacturing . Scotland has long been considered by the central government as a region with low industrial potential and sustained development , which was associated with the fall of the old values ??of a number of industries , such as coal , textile , shipbuilding. Great importance for Scotland in reorienting the economy played a foreign investment mainly North American and Japanese companies , as well as revenues from oil and gas to the North Sea . In 1999 , elections were held in the Scottish Parliament , the establishment of which was enshrined in the "Scottish Act "in 1998 .

Political Structure

Legislature - The Scottish Parliament, consisting of 129 members of the Scottish Parliament, elected by the people of Scotland, one of which Parliament elects the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and two - deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament .

Executive body - the Scottish Government, consisting of the First Minister of Scotland, the Deputy First Minister of Scotland, 8 cabinet secretaries of Scotland and Scotland's 10 ministers .

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond

From the point of view of the Scottish Parliament there 73 constituencies and eight regions. To the British Parliament there 59 constituencies. The work of firefighters and police services is based on the division of Scotland, introduced in 1975. Do ambulances and mail have long existed their ways division into districts of Scotland.

City status in Scotland confirmed by special letters patent. In total there are six cities in Scotland: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and, more recently, Inverness.

Geography and Nature

Scotland territory includes the northern third of the island of Great Britain and adjacent islands - the Hebrides , Orkney and Shetland . Scotland Area - 78,772 kmІ of coastline - 9911 km . In the south it borders with England. Length of the border from the Gulf of Solway Firth in the west to the River Tweed in the east - about 96 km . 30 km to the south- west coast of Ireland is an island , 400 km north- east - Norway , north of Scotland are the Faroe Islands and Iceland.

West coast of Scotland meets the Atlantic , East - North Sea . Western and eastern sea coast of Scotland joined Caledonian Canal , which is part of the famous Loch Ness.

Scotland's rich rocks of the Silurian sediments, Carboniferous and Triassic periods. Among the fossil animals dominate amphibians and invertebrates.

Population

According to the census of 2010 the population of Scotland is 5,222,000 people. If Scotland was an independent state , it would occupy 113 most populous cities in the world. Scots make up 88% , the British - 7% , Irish and Poles - 50 thous. Pakistanis - 40 thous. , Chinese and Indians - 20 thous. , Natives of Africa - 10 thous. people .

In XVIII-XIX centuries Scotland was the region of mass emigration , so now a significant number of descendants of Scots living abroad. In the United States , according to the 2006 census , 9.2 million Americans live Scottish and Scotch-Irish origin. However , according to various estimates , the real number of the descendants of Scots in the U.S. is 25-30 mln. , 8-9 % of the population . Census of Canada in 2006 showed the presence of 4.7 million Canadians of Scottish descent (15 % of the population ) . In addition , the Scots live in Australia (up to 2 million people . , or 10% ), New Zealand ( 0.8 million people. , or 20%) , South Africa, Argentina, Chile .

In Britain, Scotland and Ireland redheads are respected. They are considered outstanding representatives of indigenous.

Faith

political scotland population symbol

Most adherents to the national church of Scotland, which is called - Church of Scotland - organized by Presbyterian type. About 16% of the population of Scotland adherents to the Roman Catholic Church. Approximately 28% of the population - are atheists.

National characters in Scotland varied.

- Apostle Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, according to legend, his relics were transferred to the VIII century from Constantinople in the Scottish town of St Andrews. Images of the apostle, and X- shaped cross on which he is said to have been crucified , serve as symbols of Scotland.

- Bagpipe - national musical instrument , the unofficial symbol of Scotland.

- Coat of Arms and Royal Standard depict heraldic red lion on a gold field surrounded by a red double border sprouted lilies .

- Anthem of Scotland , «Flower of Scotland».

- Unicorn traditionally come in many historical Scottish coat of arms ( often in the form of supporters ) .

- Tartan - fabric patterns of horizontal and vertical stripes. Fabric with ornaments sew national dress of Scotland and in particular kilts , in Russia it is called " tartan ". Tartan pattern is assigned to one or another clan or family , military unit or organization.

- Flag of Scotland - is a picture of a white Saltire on sky- blue cloth .

- Flower thistle is a semi-official national symbol of Scotland , and is depicted , in particular, on banknotes . According to legend, in the XIII century coastal settlements Scots suffered from Viking raids . Once managed to avoid unexpected night attack because the Vikings went barefoot in the thickets of the Scottish thistle, than gave themselves.

Link

1. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Шотландия

2. http://translate.google.ru/

3. https://www.google.ru/Парламент+шотландии+фото

4. https://www.google.ru/оркнейские+острова+фото

5. http://www.votpusk.ru/country/dostoprim_info

6. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Герб_Шотландии

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