Scotland

1. Scotland

2. Scotland  is a country that 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 and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland includes over 790 islands  including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

3. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital. Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe.

4. Scottish cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with Scotland. It has typical attributes and recipes of its own, but shares much with wider European cuisine as a result of foreign and local influences both ancient and modern. Traditional Scottish dishes exist alongside international foodstuffs brought about by migration. • Scotland's natural larder of dairy, fish, fruit, and vegetables is the integral factor in traditional Scots cooking, with a high reliance on simplicity and a lack of spices from abroad, which were often very expensive. • While many inveterate dishes such as Scotch broth are considered healthy, many common dishes are rich in fat, and may contribute to the high rates of heart disease and obesity in the country. In recent times greater importance has been placed on the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, but many Scots, particularly those of low incomes, continue to have poor diets, which contributes to Scotland's relatively high mortality rate from coronary heart disease.

5. Haggis - Scottish national meal

6. The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear. This is original Scottish dress for men and boys in traditional the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become part of culture of Scotland and specifically Celtic. Although the kilt is most often worn o formal opportunities and at Highland games and sports events, it has also been adapted as an item of fashionable informal male clothing in recent years, returning to its roots as an everyday garment.

7. The Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland (commonly referred to as the Royal Arms of Scotland) was the official coat of arms of the monarchs of Scotland, and was used as the official coat of arms of the Kingdom of Scotland until the Acts of Union of 1707. The blazon of the arms of the Kingdom of Scotland changed markedly following the Union of the Crowns in 1603, and ultimately went on to become the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom as used in Scotland.