Scotland

Language escocés English, Scots Irish, Scots
Largest city Glasgow Glasgow
Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Head of government Alex Salmond
Currency Pound sterling (£) (GBP)
Time zone Wet (UTC; UTC +1 in summer)
Anthem Flower of Scotland (unofficial)

Scotland (in English, Scotland, Scottish Gaelic, Alba; Scots language, Scotland) is the northernmost of the four constituent countries that make up the United Kingdom.

Together with England and Wales, Britain, within which covers one third of its total area, and also consists of more than 790 islands.

Bounded to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, east to the North Sea and on the southwest by the North Channel and the Irish Sea.

Although Edinburgh is the capital, the largest city in Scotland is Glasgow, whose metropolitan area live near about 40% of the total population of Scotland.

The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state until 1707, when the Act of Union marked its annexation to England to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

Despite this annexation, Scotland still has a legal system different from Wales, England and Northern Ireland, and is regarded under international law as a distinct legal entity.

The survival of some laws themselves, and an educational system and religious themselves have helped to keep the Scottish culture over the centuries.

Since the nineteenth century, there is a growing independence movement Scots, represented at present by the Scottish National Party (SNP, Scottish National Party), which advocates independence for Scotland, which won a simple majority in the Scottish Parliament in the March elections of 2007.

However, at present Scotland is not a sovereign state and therefore is not considered a member independent agencies such as the United Nations or the European Union.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tenth century is the oldest document in which the term appears Scotland, formed from the Latin term Scoti, of dubious origin, used as a reference to the inhabitants of Hibernia (the current Ireland).

The word Scotia, appeared in the Vulgar Latin, was used only to refer to the area of Scotland where there was talk gaéllico addition, this term alternated with Albania, from the Irish word for Scotland, Alba.

The use of the term to refer to Scotland throughout Scots only became widespread in the late Middle Ages.

In modern times the term Scot applies to all residents of Scotland, regardless of their ethnicity, as the Scottish identity is primarily civic and not ethnic or linguistic.

The term scot also used to refer to the Scots language, spoken in some parts of the Scottish Lowlands or Lowland.

It is not known exactly whether Scotland was inhabited during the Paleolithic, due to the successive ice ages that covered their current territory have been able to destroy all evidence of human settlements before the Mesolithic period.

It is believed that the first groups of hunter-gatherers came just 11,000 years ago, when the ice in the first glaciation began to retreat northwards.

The first settlements began to appear on the territory Scots approximately 9,500 years, and the First Peoples ago 6,000.

A well preserved rest of this period is the settlement of Skara Brae, the largest of the Orkney Islands.

It is precisely in the Scottish islands where you can find more remains of houses, and burial ritual centers of the Neolithic, in a good state of preservation.

This may be due to the absence of trees, creating buildings at the local rock.

The written history of Scotland begins with the romanization of the center of Great Britain (areas of England and Wales, which formed the province of Britannia).

The Romans called initially Caledonia ( "Land of Caledonios") to Scotland, by the New Caledonians immense pine forest that stretched from north to south and east to west across the country.

The Romanization of Scotland, for its part, it was a long process with lots of interruptions.

C., General Cneo July Agricultural New Caledonians defeated at the battle of Mount Graupio [1] [2], which allowed the construction of a chain of fortifications known as Gask Ridge, near Gap Highland (without venture , it seems, further north).

Shortly thereafter, however, the Romans retreated to the Southern Uplands ( "Plateau South"), ie, the third most southern Scotland, and began construction of Hadrian's Wall to control the tribes of the area.

This line marked for almost the entire period of Roman occupation the northern edge of the Roman Empire, despite the construction of the Antonine Wall, in the Central Belt and central Scotland.

This second border, however, could only be maintained for short periods of time, the later of which took place between 208 and 210, during the rule of Emperor Septimius Severus.

Altogether, the occupation of these areas in Scotland by the Romans lasted for no longer than 40 years, although the Latin influence in the southernmost part, especially among the tribes of origin Breton, was more durable.

The escotos, on the other hand, were a people of Irish origin who moved to the west of Scotland.

Slowly, were taking shape two kingdoms, the West of Scotland, Scotland, and the kingdom picto Eastern, Alba.