Geography of
Scotland
|
|
| Continent |
Europe |
| Subregion |
Northern
Europe
Great
Britain
|
Area
- Total
- Land (%)
- Water (%)
|
97%
3%
|
| Coastline |
|
| Land borders |
England
|
| Highest point |
Ben
Nevis
|
| Lowest point |
Atlantic Ocean , 0 m |
| Longest river |
River
Tay
|
| Largest inland body of water |
Loch
Lomond
|
| Climate: |
Temperate |
| Terrain: |
mountains, hills,
forest, bog, urban |
| Natural resources |
iron, zinc, potash, silica sand, coal, fish, timber, wildlife, petroleum, natural gas,
hydropower |
| Natural hazards |
windstorms, floods |
| Environmental issues |
climate change, renewable energy, waste disposal and water pollution |
The
geography of Scotland is highly varied, from
rural lowlands to barren uplands, and from large cities to
uninhabited islands.
Located in north-west Europe, Scotland
comprises
the northern one third of the island of Great Britain and over 790 surrounding islands and archipelagoes.
Scotland's
only land border is with England, which runs
for 96 kilometres (60 mi) in a northeasterly direction from
the Solway
Firth
in the west to the North Sea
on the east coast. Separated by the
North
Channel
, the island of Ireland
lies from
the southwest tip of the Scottish mainland. Norway
is located
to the northeast of Scotland across the North Sea.
The
Atlantic
Ocean, which fringes the coastline of western and
northern Scotland and its islands, influences the temperate, maritime climate of the
country.
The
topography of Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Fault a geological rock fracture which traverses the
Scottish mainland from Helensburgh
to Stonehaven
. The faultline separates two distinctively
different physiographic regions; namely the
Highlands to the north and west and the
lowlands to the south and east.
The more
rugged Highland region contains the majority of Scotland's
mountainous terrain, including the highest peak, Ben Nevis. Lowland areas, in the southern part of
Scotland, are flatter and home to most of the population,
especially the narrow waist of land between the Firth of
Clyde
and the Firth of Forth
known as the Central Belt
. Glasgow
is the largest city in Scotland, although Edinburgh
is the capital and
political centre of the country.
An abundance of natural resources such as
coal,
iron and
zinc contributed
significantly to the industrial growth of Scotland during the 19th
and early 20th centuries. Today,
energy is a
major component of Scotland's economy. Whilst Scotland is the
largest producer of
petroleum in the
European Union, the production
potential of
renewable
energy has emerged as an important economic and environmental
issue in recent years.
Geology and geomorphology
The land area of Scotland is , roughly 30% of the area of the
United Kingdom (UK). The mainland of Scotland has of
coastline.
The
geomorphology of Scotland was
formed by the action of
tectonic
plates, and subsequent erosion arising from
glaciation. The major division of Scotland is the
Highland Boundary Fault,
which separates the land into 'highland' to the north and west, and
'lowland' to the south and east.
The Highlands of Scotland are largely
mountainous, and form the highest ground in the UK: they are
bisected by the Great Glen into the
Grampian
Mountains
to the southeast and the Northwest Highlands. The
Scottish Lowlands can be further
subdivided into the
Southern
Uplands, an area of rolling farmland and high
moorland, and the lowland farmland of the
Central Belt and eastern Scotland.
Scotland has an incomparable variety of
geology for an area of its size. It is also the
origin of many significant discoveries and important figures in the
development of the science.
The oldest rocks of Scotland are the
Lewisian gneisses, which were laid down in
the
Precambrian period, up to 3,000 Ma
(
Mega
annum or million years
ago). They are among the oldest rocks in the world. During the
Precambrian, the
Torridonian
sandstones and the
Moine were
also laid down. Further
sedimentary
deposits were formed through the
Cambrian
period, some of which
metamorphosed
into the
Dalradian series. The area which
would become Scotland was at this time close to the south
pole.
During the
Silurian period (439-409 Ma),
the area which became Scotland was part of the continent of
Laurentia. Across the
Iapetus ocean to the south, was the continent
of
Baltica. The two continents gradually
collided, joining Scotland to the area which would become England
and Europe. This event is known as the
Caledonian Orogeny, and the
Highland Boundary Fault marks this
stitching together of continents. Silurian rocks form the
Southern Uplands of Scotland, which was
pushed up from the seabed during the collision. The highlands were
also pushed up as a result of this collision, and may have been as
high as the modern-day
Alps at this time. The
Old Red Sandstones were laid down
in low-lying areas during this period.
Volcanic activity occurred across Scotland as a
result of the collision of the tectonic
plates, with volcanoes in southern Scotland, and magma chambers in the north, which today form
the granite mountains such as the Cairngorms
.
During the
Carboniferous period
(363-290 Ma), Scotland lay close to the equator. Several changes in
sea level occurred during this time.
The coal deposits of Lanarkshire
, and further sedimentary deposits, date from this
time. More volcanic activity formed Arthur's
Seat
in Edinburgh, among other hills. By the
Triassic, Scotland was a desert, the origin of
large
sandstone outcrops of the southwest.
Although large deposits of
Cretaceous
rocks would have been laid down over Scotland, these have not
survived erosion, as have the
chalks of
England.
By the
Tertiary period, the tectonic plates were
again moving, separating into modern-day North America and Europe with the creation of
the Atlantic
Ocean. The split occurred to the west of Scotland,
leaving a chain of former volcanic sites through the Hebrides
, including Skye
and St.
Kilda
. This was the last period of rock formation
in Scotland. Since then, several
ice ages
have shaped the land through glacial erosion, creating
u-shaped valley and depositing
boulder clays. In the present day, Scotland
continues to move slowly north.
Physical geography
Extreme points
Scotland viewed from space
The extreme points of the Scottish mainland are:
It is
often yet incorrectly stated that John o' Groats
is the most northerly point of mainland
Scotland. The pre-Union phrase "John o' Groats to
Maidenkirk" was the Scottish equivalent of the
British
Land's End to John
o' Groats.
The extreme points of Scotland, including outlying islands,
are:
The
geographical centre of
Scotland
lies a few miles from the village of Newtonmore
in Badenoch, far to the
north of the modern population heartlands.
Topography, mountains and hills
Scotland contains the most mountainous terrain in Great Britain.
Much of
the highest uplands lie to the north and west of the Highland
Boundary Fault in the Northwest
Highlands and Grampian
ranges. The Cuillin
on the Isle of Skye, represents a major mountain
range that is not located on the Scottish mainland.
Located
at the western end of the Grampian Mountains, at an altitude of ,
Ben
Nevis is the highest mountain in Scotland and Great
Britain. Ben
Macdui
and Braeriach
are, respectively, the second and third tallest
peaks in Scotland.
Mountains in Scotland are
categorised by
their height. Peaks over are known as
Munros.
There are 284 Munros in Scotland, all within the Highlands.
Corbetts are peaks with an altitude of
between , with a
relative
height of at least . The classification of peaks in Scotland is
kept under periodic review by the
Scottish Mountaineering
Club.
Topographically, mainland Scotland can be divided into three main
areas which reflect the underlying geology. These are divided from
one another by south-west to north east lines that roughly parallel
the artificial line representing the English Border.
Southern Uplands
The southern 20% or so of the country makes up the
Southern Uplands, a pastoral upland area
characterised by lines of hills divided by broad valleys.
It is
also home to some of the most remote and least populated areas in
Scotland and to the country's highest village, Wanlockhead
, at .
The
Pentland
Hills
and the Lammermuir Hills
are several of the local ranges which make up the
Southern Uplands. In addition to the main upland zones in
southern Scotland there are many individual hills, not part of any
range. Several of these elevations are volcanic in origin and are
known by the
Scots word
Law,
meaning hill.
North Berwick Law
and Traprain
Law
are two examples of these extinct volcanic
outliers.
The
Southern Uplands fault line running north-east from near Girvan
in
Ayrshire
, to the North Sea near Dunbar separates the
Southern Uplands from the Central Lowlands.
Central Lowlands
The Central Lowlands can be thought of, very roughly, as the next
20% of the country as you progress north from the English Border
and include the Forth-Clyde valley. The Central Lowlands were also
the home of widespread industrialisation from the late 1700s
onwards. This was based on the large and widely scattered reserves
of coal and iron ore found across most of the Central Lowlands,
whose use was supported by the development of canals and then of
railways. Deep-mined coal and large scale iron and steel works are
no longer part of the picture in Scotland.
The
Sidlaw
Hills
to the north of Dundee, the Ochils
to the
east of Stirling and the Campsie Fells
to the north of Glasgow constitute important upland
ranges in the Central Lowlands.
Highlands
By far the largest zone, the Highlands comprises the north western
60% of Scotland.
Technically this includes everywhere north
and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, a fault line running from
Arran
and
Helensburgh in the West to Stonehaven in the east. Scotland's third largest city, Aberdeen
, lies just to the north of the Highland Boundary
Fault, but like the fertile plains of eastern Aberdeenshire
it has more in common with the Central Lowlands
than with the rest of the Highlands.
The Highlands are extensive mountainous areas rising to peaks of a
maximum height of around 4400 ft or 1300m.
Scotland's mountains
are not high by international standards but their exposure to
highly changeable and unpredictable weather patterns influenced by
the meeting of Atlantic
and European airstreams gives them a seriousness out of
proportion to their height.
The area
of the Highlands is split in two by the line of the Great Glen, a rift
valley running from Fort William to
Inverness
. The land to the north west of the Great
Glen is usually referred to as the North West Highlands, with that
to its east forming the
Grampians. The
Grampians are characterised by large areas of upland plateau, while
the North West Highlands have a much rougher, rockier look and
feel, with the landmass deeply indented by numerous sea
lochs.
Coastline
Mainland Scotland has of coastline. Including the numerous islands,
this increases to some . The west coast in particular is heavily
indented, with long promontories separated by
fjordlike sea lochs.
The east
coast is more regular, with a series of large estuarine inlets, or
firths, and long sandy beaches, for example at
Aberdeen. Much of the Scottish coastline consists of
a
machair formation, a dune
pasture land formed as sea levels subsided.
The east
coast has several significant estuaries
and other nature reserves including
the Ythan
Estuary
and Fowlsheugh
, both of which have been designated as Important Bird Areas.
Firths of
Scotland include the Solway
Firth, Firth of
Clyde, and Firth of Lorne
on the west coast, and the Cromarty
Firth
, Moray Firth, Firth of Tay
, and Firth of Forth on the east coast. The Pentland
Firth
is not an inlet, but the strait that separates the Orkney Isles
from the mainland.
Major sea
lochs include Loch
Fyne
, Loch
Long
, Loch
Ryan
, Loch
Linnhe
, Loch
Torridon
, Loch Ewe
, and on the Isle of Lewis
, Loch Seaforth
.
Islands
Scotland has some 790 islands, most of which are located off the
northern and western coast of the country.
The northern and western
islands of Scotland can be found in three main
groups: Shetland
, Orkney
and the
Hebrides which can be divided into the Inner
Hebrides
and the
Outer
Hebrides
.
Shetland
and Orkney, together with Fair Isle
and Stroma are referred to as
the Northern Isles.
With a
total land area of Lewis and Harris
is the largest island surrounding
Scotland.
Many of
these offshore islands are swept by strong tides, and the Corryvreckan
tide race
between Scarba
and
Jura
is one of
the largest whirlpools in the
world. Other strong tides are to be found in the
Pentland
Firth between mainland Scotland and Orkney
, and the
Grey Dog between Scarba and Lunga
. There are also numerous clusters of islands
in the Firth of
Forth and the Firth of Clyde and in freshwater lochs such as Loch Lomond and
Loch
Maree
. Outlying islands include St
Kilda and Rockall
the status of which is disputed.
Scotland's islands have a varied topography.
Mull
, Skye and Arran are noted for their mountainous terrain, whilst
Tiree
, Coll
and most
of the Shetland group are flat or low lying. Striking
topographical differences can be seen within island groups
themselves; in Orkney, the Island of Hoy
is
hillier and more rugged than surrounding islands and Harris is
distinctive in being more mountainous than the islands of Lewis, North Uist
, South
Uist
and Barra
, in the
Outer Hebrides.
Rivers
The ten major rivers of Scotland, in order of length, are:
- River
Tay
- River
Spey
- River Clyde
- River Tweed
- River Dee
- River Don
- River Forth
- River Findhorn
- River Deveron
- River Annan
Lochs
Freshwater bodies in Scotland are known as
lochs, with the exception of the Lake of
Menteith
and one or two man-made "lakes". 90% of
the standing fresh water volume of Great Britain lies within
Scotland.
- Loch Lomond , the largest freshwater body in
Britain.
- Loch
Ness
- Loch
Awe
- Loch
Maree
- Loch
Morar
)
- Loch
Tay
- Loch
Shin
)
- Loch
Shiel
- Loch Rannoch
- Loch Ericht
Distances to other countries
Scotland's only land border is with England,
and runs for between the basin of the River
Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast and the North Sea is to the east. The island of
Ireland lies only from the southwestern peninsula of
Kintyre
; Norway is to the
east; the Faroes
, to the north; and Iceland
, to the northwest.
Climate
The climate of Scotland is
temperate and
very changeable, but rarely extreme.
Scotland is warmed by
the North Atlantic Drift and
given the northerly location of the country, experiences much
milder conditions than areas on similar latitudes, such as Labrador in Canada
—where icebergs are a common
feature in winter.
Average
temperatures are lower than in the rest of Great Britain, with the
coldest ever UK temperature of -27.2 °C
recorded at Braemar
in the Grampian Mountains, on January 10, 1982 and also at Altnaharra
, Highland
, on December 30, 1995. Winter maximums
average 5.0 to 5.7 °C, with summer maximums averaging 14.9 to
16.9 °C.
Western coastal areas of Scotland are warmer than the east and inland areas, due to
the influence of the Atlantic currents, and the colder surface
temperatures of the North
Sea. The highest temperature recorded was 32.9°C
at
Greycrook in the
Scottish Borders on August 9, 2003.
Rainfall totals vary widely across Scotland—the western highlands
of Scotland are one of the wettest places in the UK with annual
rainfall up to 4577 mm. Due to the mountainous topography of
the western Highlands, this type of precipitation is
orographic in nature, with the warm, wet air
forced to rise on contact with the mountainous coast, where it
consequently, cools and
condenses,
forming clouds. In comparison, much of eastern Scotland receives
less than 870 mm annually; lying in the
rain shadow of the western uplands. Snowfall is
less common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude.
Parts of the Highlands have an average of 36 to 105 snow days per
year, while some western coastal areas have between 0 and 6 days
with snow a year.
The
Hebridean island of Tiree received
a total of 329 hours of sunshine in May 1946 and again in May 1975,
the highest number of sunshine hours ever recorded in one month in
Scotland. On the
longest day of the
year there is no complete darkness over the northern isles of
Scotland.
Lerwick
, in Shetland, has four hours more daylight at
midsummer than London
, although this is reversed in midwinter.
Annual average sunshine totals vary from as little as 711–1140
hours in the Highlands and the north-west up to 1471–1540 hours on
the extreme eastern and south-western coasts.
In common with the rest of the British Isles, wind prevails from
the south-west, bringing warm, wet and unstable air from the
Atlantic. The windiest areas of Scotland are in the north and west,
with parts of the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland experiencing
over 30 days with gales per year. Vigorous Atlantic
depressions, also known as
European windstorms, are a common feature
of the autumn and winter in Scotland.
Human geography
According to the
General Register Office for
Scotland, the total population of Scotland stood at 5,116,900
in June 2006, an increase of 1.1% since the
census of April 2001. Scotland
accounts for just under 9% of the population of the United Kingdom,
a figure which has been compounded by the gradual decline of
Scotland's population since the early 1980s. However an increasing
birth rate and higher levels of inward
migration to Scotland have reversed the decline and contributed to
the recent population growth.
Compared with the rest of Europe, Scotland has a low
population density at 64 people per
square kilometre, but is a highly
urbanised country, with 82% of the population
living in settlements of 3000 people or more.
As a result, the
majority of the population live in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, surrounding the
chief cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Other concentrations of population include
the northeast coast of Scotland - principally surrounding the city
of Aberdeen and its environs - and around Inverness. With a population density of 8 people per
square kilometre, the
Highlands
are the most sparsely populated part of the country. In these
areas, the population is scattered in villages, small towns and
isolated farmsteads or
croft.
Nearly
100 of Scotland's islands are inhabited, the most populous being
Lewis with 16,782 people resident in 2001, primarily
concentrated in Stornoway
, the only burgh of the
Outer
Hebrides.
Other island populations range down to only 1 on certain small
isles. Between 1991 and 2001, the total number of people living on
Scotland's islands fell by 3%.
Bucking the trend, islands such as Tiree, Skye and
Eigg
all experienced increases in their respective
populations, over the same period.
There are
six cities in
Scotland; Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee
, Inverness and Stirling
. The 2001 census identified Glasgow as being
the largest city in Scotland, with a total population of 629,501,
while the Scottish
capital, Edinburgh
had a population of 448,624, in the same year. Between 1991 and
2001, the populations of Edinburgh and Stirling grew by 2.9% and
6.5% respectively. Conversely, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen all
experienced population decline over the same period.
Aside from the
cities, the most population growth occurred in West Lothian
, East
Lothian
, Aberdeenshire and Perth and
Kinross. The Western Isles saw a 9.8% fall in population
between 1991 and 2001.
Political geography
The territorial extent of Scotland has
been relatively unchanged since the late 15th Century.
The
territorial extent of Scotland is generally that established by the
1237 Treaty of York between Scotland
and England and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and
Norway.
Exceptions include: the Isle of Man
, which having been lost to England in the 14th
century is now a crown dependency
outside of the United Kingdom, the acquisition of Orkney and
Shetland
from Norway in 1472, and the permanent recovery of
Berwick
by England in 1482. Originally an
independent country, Scotland joined with England to form the
Kingdom of
Great Britain
in 1707 with the Acts
of Union.
As one of
the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, Scotland is
represented by Members of Parliament at the Parliament
of the United Kingdom
at Westminster
, London. In 1997 a
referendum was held, and the people of Scotland
voted for the establishment of a
devolved
Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The new parliament has the power
to govern the country on Scotland-specific matters and has a
limited power to vary
income tax. The
United Kingdom Parliament retains responsibility for Scotland's
defence,
international relations and certain
other areas.
Between 1889 and 1975 Scotland was divided into
burghs and
counties, which were replaced by
regions and districts. Since
1996, for the purposes of
local government, Scotland has
been divided into 32
council
areas.
Rockall, a small and uninhabitable rocky islet in the North
Atlantic, was annexed by the UK in 1955 and later declared part of
Scotland by the Island of
Rockall Act 1972. However, the legality of this claim is
disputed by the Republic of Ireland
, Denmark
and Iceland and it is probably unenforceable in international
law.
Economic Geography
The
Gross domestic product
(GDP) of Scotland is
US$90
billion, giving a per capita GDP of US$18,000. Major industries
include
banking and financial services,
steel, transport equipment,
oil and
gas,
whisky, and
tourism.
See also
References
- Lynch, M (2001), Industry to 1770s; pp211 Oxford Companion
to Scottish History
- See "The 'Where Are We' page" highlandhostel.co.uk.
Retrieved 22 September 2007.
- Geography of Scotland
- Machair Profile
- "Land Cover Change in Scotland". SNH. Retrieved
6 September 2009.
- "Uniting the Kingdoms?" National Archives.
Retrieved 21.11.06
- Mackie, J.D. (1969) A History of Scotland. London.
Penguin.
- Whitaker's Almanack (1991) London. J. Whitaker and
Sons.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Encyclopaedia
Britannica Online. Retrieved on 06 November 2007
- "On this day - 21 September" bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September
2007. "In 1972 the Isle of Rockall Act was passed, which made the
rock officially part of Inverness-shire, Scotland."
- "Daily Hansard" June 24, 1997. Parliament.uk.
Retrieved 22 September 2007.
- Oral Questions to the Minister of Foreign
Affairs in the Dáil Éireann, November 1, 1973
Retrieved 17.01.2007.
- MacDonald, Fraser (2006) The last outpost of Empire:
Rockall and the Cold War. Journal of Historical Geography 32.
P627–647. available in pdf
, Aberdeenshire
, Dumfries and
Galloway
(headland), Lochaber
, north of Unst
, Shetland
Islands
, Out
Skerries
, Shetland
Islands
, St.
Kilda
Top topics
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
