Scotland

Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a nation in northwest Europe and one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom. more...

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It occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shares a land border to the south with England. It is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. Apart from the mainland, Scotland consists of over 790 islands.

Edinburgh, the nation's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Scotland's largest city is Glasgow, which is the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Greater Glasgow is home to approximately 40% of Scotland's population. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union.

The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state until 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union resulted in a political union with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. Scotland's legal system continues to be separate from those of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, therefore Scotland still constitutes a discrete jurisdiction in public and in private international law. The continued independence of Scots law, the Scottish education system and the Church of Scotland have been three cornerstones contributing to the continuation of Scottish culture and Scottish national identity since the Union. However, Scotland is no longer a sovereign state and does not enjoy direct membership of either the United Nations or the European Union.

Etymology

The word Scotia was used by the Romans as the name of one of the tribes in what is now Scotland as early as the 1st Century AD. The Romans also used Scotia to refer to the Irish.

The Venerable Bede (c. 672 or 673 – May 27, 735) uses the word "Scottorum" as the name of a nation from Ireland who settled part of the Pictish lands. "Scottorum nationem in Pictorum parte recipit." This we can infer to be the arrival of the people, also known as the Gaels, in the Kingdom of Dál Riata, in the Western edge of Scotland. It is of note that Bede used the word "nationem" (nation) where he often refers to other peoples, such as the Picts, as "gens" (race).

In the 10th century Anglo Saxon Chronicle, the word Scot is mentioned as a reference to the 'Land of the Gaels'. Word Scottorum was again used, by an Irish King, in 1005. The phrase Imperator Scottorum, was used after the name of Brian Bóruma, by his notary Mael Suthain, in the Book of Armagh. It is thought to imply that Brian Bóruma was overlord of the Scots.

Read more at Wikipedia.org