History

Geography

The history of Scotland is presented in large stages.
Scotland: As of 4000 BC, the settlement of the area by hordes from England is attested. Then in 800 BC, Celts coming from Europe settled there.
Scotland and Rome: The Romans fought against the vindictive Picts. Hadrian built a "wall of protection" against the barbarians in 122 AD.
Scotland Christianized: After England and Wales, the Catholic evangelization reached Scotland.
The Scotland of the rival fiefdoms (6th-9th century): A Celtic tribe, the Scots, settled in the lowlands followed by Anglo-Saxons.
The various Viking invasions cemented the unification.
In 843, Scot king Kenneth Mac Alpin founded the kingdom of Scone, unifying Picts and Scots.
Anglo-Saxon domination: In 1296, Edward I annexed Scotland. As in Wales and in Ireland, he colonized the country.
From the 13th to the 15th century, the Scottish rebellion imposed severe defeats on English armies. It was helped by its alliance with France was in relation.
In 1603 when Queen Elizabeth I died, Jacques VI of Scotland became Jacques I of England.
In 1707, the Act of Union was signed between the two countries.
Industrial Scotland: The industrial revolution and the development of Protestantism supported intellectual flowering. But the famine in 1840 caused an important emigration to English colonies.
Autonomous Scotland: In 1967, the Scottish national Party (SNP) obtained its first seat in the British Parliament. The discovery of oil in the North Sea and its seizure English companies reinforced nationalism.
Finally in 1999, Scotland obtained an autonomous Parliament in Edinburgh.

Scotland covers 34% the United Kingdom and its surface is equal to 14% that of France.
It has border with England in the south. The border approximately follows the Hadrian's Wall built in the 2nd century by the Romans. It is the median line of the three political divisions of the British Isles.

Scotland can be presented in three areas:

The summer months, July and August, are the hottest.
The spring months, May and June, are the driest.
In the north of Scotland, the sun barely sets in summer and it barely rises in winter.

Hadrian's Wall was built in 122 AD, it marked the northern border of the Roman Empire. From east to west, from the North Sea to the Irish Sea, from Wallsend-on-Tyne to Bowness-on-Solway via Carlisle, the wall crosses wild landscapes on 73 miles. Registered in the World Inheritance, the path of Hadrian's Wall open in 2003.
As in England and in Wales, the forest disappeared to less than 1% of the area with nothing more than heather moors and peat bogs.

Economic facts

Civilisation

The agricultural and industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century made Britain the first industrialized country in the world for one century. Now it is an example of a post-industrial economy, a model for all the countries in continental Europe.

The Scottish currency is the pound sterling (£).

The official name is Scotland whose capital is Edinburgh. The population is +5 million inhabitants. The official language of Scotland is Gaelic and English. The population is to 90% Celt, the rest is Anglo-Saxon.

The GNP is US$18,000 per capita.

The geographical and geological roughness, the hard climatic of this area on the borders of the Arctic have shaped the character of the descendants of the Celts.
"Pub conversations" are about sporting events opposing Protestants and Catholics or on Scottish nationalism and the appropriation of oil by the English.

Traveller's information

Sights

Tourists of Western countries do not need visas to enter Scotland, just a valid passport to stay up to six months. Nationals of the European Union may live and work there freely.

The budget of the traveller depends on his choices, Scotland offers opportunities for small budgets.

The geographical situation of Scotland, its climatic variety offer travellers multiple possibilities of activities in the archaeological sites as well as in the mountains.

I made a trip to Scotland in August 1979.