Scotland: Facts

PEOPLE FACTS

Population: ~ 5.15 million, 48% male, 52% female

Urban areas: Glasgow ~700,000; Edinburgh ~400,000; Aberdeen ~200,000; Dundee ~150,000

Citizens born outside Scotland: Total ~10%: England – 6.5%, N. Ireland – 0.5%, Irish Republic – 0.4%, Wales – 0.3%, Rest of Europe – 0.5%, Indian SubC – 0.4%, Canada, Oz, NZ, SA – 0.3, USA – 0.2%, SE Asia – 0.2%.

Religion: Roman Catholic – 14.0%, Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) – 13.0%, Episcopal – 1.0%, Other Christian – 1.5%, Muslim – 0.5%, Hebrew – 0.1%.

FOREIGN TOURISTS

In recent years around 1.5 million overseas visitors per year came to Scotland.

What do they see?

Top tourist attractions in Scotland (in order):

– Edinburgh Castle;
– Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum, Glasgow;
– Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh;
– Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh;
– National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh;
– Glasgow Botanical Gardens;
– Edinburgh Zoo;
– Scottish United Services Museum, Edinburgh;
– Museum of Transport, Glasgow;
– Deep Sea World, N.Queensferry, Fife;
– Stirling Castle;
– New Lanark Industrial Village;
– Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh;
– Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness;
– Glenturret Distillery, Crieff, Perthshire.

SCOTLAND’S CLIMATE

– The highest recorded temperature in Scotland was 32.9°C at Greycrook (Scottish Borders) on 9 August, 2003. Prior to that, the record was 32.8°C at Dumfries in 1908.
– The coldest daytime temperature in Scotland was –27.2°C at Braemar on 11 February 1985.
– In the sunniest parts of Scotland (Angus, Fife, Lothians, Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway) there is an average of 1,400 hours of sunshine each year. Even in the mountain regions of the Highlands there are over 1,000 hours of sunshine a year. Dunbar holds the record for the highest annual total of sunshine – 1,523 hours.
– The western Highlands, facing the prevailing westerly winds from the Atlantic, are the wettest parts of Scotland with over 3,000 mm of rain a year (some rain falling on over 250 days each year).
– By contrast, the east coast and the Moray Firth area in particular, has the lowest rainfall – less than 650 mm.
– The wettest day recorded in Scotland was on 17 January 1974 when 238 mm fell at Sloy Dam, Loch Lomond.

PHYSICAL FACTS

Total Area: 78.772 sq km

Urban Area: ~3% of total

Mountains: Ben Nevis – 1,344 m, Ben Macdhui – 1,309 m, Braeriach – 1,296 m, Cairn Toul – 1,291, Cairn Gorm – 1,244 m

Lochs: ~2% of total area, over 31,400: Lomond – 71 sq km, Ness – 56, Awe – 38, Maree – 29, Morar – 27, Tay – 26

Rivers: Tay – 193 km long, Spey – 172, Clyde – 171, Tweed – 156, Dee – 137, Don – 132, Forth – 105

Islands: Approx 800, 130 inhabited

Coastline: Approx 10,000 km, with 3,900 km of mainland coast

Roads: Approx 800 km Motorway, ~10,500 km ‘A’ roads plus ~45,000 km other roads

Weather: Average sea level temperature of ~9 degrees (min -30/max +30). RAIN: 200 days per year, west coast 250 days. SNOW: Braemar gets ~70 days per year, NE ~40 days, SW ~10 days, coastal areas ~5 days.

SCOTLAND’S GEOGRAPHY

Scotland is approximately half the size of England. It is 440 km from north to south and 248 km from east to west – yet has about 10,000 km of coastland. Due to the indented nature of the coastline the furthest you can be from salt water is about 62 km!

Scotland is split into two natural sections, the Highlands and Lowlands, split by the Highland Boundary Line – a geological fault which runs from Helensburgh, on the Clyde estuary, in the south west, to Stonehaven, south of Aberdeen, in the north east.

The Highlands is a sparsely populated area with mountains rising to over 4,000 ft. In fact two thirds of Scotland is either mountains or moor land. The Highlands is the largest council area within Scotland and also the least densely populated due to the nature of the landscape with its many mountains and lochs.

CLYDE RIVER

Just as the United States has its Mississippi and England has its Old Father Thames, Scotland has its River Clyde – a river justly famed throughout the world. Beginning as a clear fishing stream in the Southern Uplands, the river flows to its estuary at the Firth of Clyde. For 20 miles of its journey, the banks of the Clyde at Glasgow for over 100 years were home to the world’s largest shipbuilding industry.

It is to Scottish shipbuilding, that Scotland’s identity as an industrial nation is owed. In 1831, when pioneering construction enterprises first began, the Clyde provided for 3 percent of the men engaged in shipbuilding in Britain. By 1871 this had jumped to 21 percent and the Clyde represented the single largest concentration of shipbuilding in the world. The mighty Clyde saw the building of approximately 30,000 ships in less than 200 years. The story is told of a young lad arriving in Glasgow for the first time and asking a policeman, “Can I get from here to Kelvinsgrove?” The answer was “Laddie, ye can get from here to any place in the world.”

PLANTS

Scottish thistle is also called cotton thistle or Scott’s thistle. The plants produce a large rosette of spiny, silvery-white foliage the first year of growth. The following year thick triangular stems grow up to 6 feet tall and are topped with lavender thistle-like flowers.

Every school-child in Scotland learns the legend of how the thistle, their national emblem, saved the country in the Middle Ages, when the Scots and Norsemen were at war. Under cover of darkness, the Norsemen managed to land unobserved on the coast of Scotland. Removing their boots, they crept on bare feet toward the unsuspecting Scottish army. Suddenly, a sharp cry of pain shattered the stillness: a Norse soldier had stepped on a thistle. Thus alerted to the surprise attack, the Scots sprang into action and drove the invaders from their shores.

Heather is of Scottish origin, presumably derived from the Scots word haeddre.

Heather moors cover a vast area of Scottish countryside. With approximately 2–3 million acres of heather moors in the East and only slightly fewer in the South and West, heather is without doubt one of Scotland’s most prolific and abundant plants.

Legend has it, that God gave heather the strength of the oak tree (its bark is the strongest of any tree or shrub in the world). Next, He gave her the fragrance of the honeysuckle (its fragrance is frequently used to gently perfume soaps). Finally, He gave heather the sweetness of the rose (so much that heather is one of the bee’s favorite flowers). And to this day, heather is renowned especially for these three God given gifts.

As one of the most common and readily available resources in the countryside, heather was used to build many dwelling houses, churches and farmhouses. From walls and thatching to the ropes and pegs which actually held the building together, heather proves its versatility once again. Even today, crofters and farmers use it as an abundant and efficient fuel for their fires. Cut, stacked and dried, it was used for heating the home, cooking, drying, brewing and baking. Inside the croft, heather had many other practical uses – from baskets and brushes to pot scrubbers and doormats.