SCOTLAND
Official languages = English (Recognised regional languages = Scottish Gaelic, Scots)
Patron saint = St. Andrew
Government = Constitutional monarchy
 Monarch = Elizabeth II
 First Minister (Head of Scottish Government = Alex Salmond MP MSP
 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom = Gordon Brown MP

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom.
Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with:
• England to the south
• is bounded by the North Sea to the east
• the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west
• The North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest.
• In addition to the mainland, Scotland consists of over 790 islands including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities. The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent sovereign state before 1 May 1707 when it entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain.
This union resulted from the Treaty of Union agreed in 1706 and enacted by the twin Acts of Union passed by the Parliaments of both countries.

Scotland's legal system continues to be separate from those of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and Scotland still constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in public and in private law.
The continued independence of:
 Scots law
 Scottish education system
 Church of Scotland
= Scottish culture and Scottish national identity

1999 = creation of the devolved Scottish Parliament
2007 = first ever pro-independence Scottish Government elected: the Scottish National Party

MODERN HISTORY

1603 = James VI King of Scots inherited the throne of the Kingdom of England
 became King James I of England
 left Edinburgh for London.
 Scotland remained a separate state
 there was considerable conflict between the