The major cities of Scotland, in order of size, are:
Glasgow
Edinburgh (The Capital City of Scotland)
Aberdeen
Dundee
Population Statistics for Scotland
| Year | Population | Popn. per |
|
|
| sq. km
|
|--------|-------------|-------------|
| 1991 | 5,102,400 |
66
|
| 1981 | 5,130,735 |
66
|
| 1971 | 5,228,963 |
68
|
| Year | Population | Popn. per |
|
|
| sq. mile |
|--------|-------------|-------------|
| 1961 | 5,179,344 |
174
|
| 1951 | 5,096,415 |
171
|
| 1931 | 4,842,980 |
163
|
| 1921 | 4,882,497 |
164
|
| 1911 | 4,760,904 |
160
|
| 1901 | 4,472,103 |
150
|
| 1891 | 4,025,647 |
135
|
| 1881 | 3,735,573 |
125
|
| 1871 | 3,360,018 |
113
|
| 1861 | 3,062,294 |
100
|
| 1851 | 2,888,742 |
97
|
| 1841 | 2,620,184 |
88
|
| 1831 | 2,364,386 |
79
|
| 1821 | 2,091,521 |
70
|
| 1811 | 1,805,864 |
60
|
Unitary Authority Fact Sheet
- Population and Area
(At 1st June, 1995)
Authority
Population Area
(30.6.93) (hectares)
Mainland
Aberdeen City
218,220
18,216
Aberdeenshire
223,630
631,736
Angus
111,020
Argyll and Bute
218,396
90,550
Clackmannan
702,300
48,660
15,809
Dumbarton and Clydebank 97,790
17,573
Dumfries and Galloway 147,900
Dundee (City of)
153,710
East Ayrshire
5,500
123,820
East Dunbartonshire
East Lothian
644,567
127,527
110,220
85,640
17,551
66,558
East Renfrewshire
86,780
16,802
Edinburgh (City of)
441,620
26,001
Falkirk
Fife
142,610
351,200
Glasgow (City of)
Highland
29,300
134,045
623,850
17,472
206,900 2,611,906
Inverclyde
89,990
16,724
Midlothian
79,910
34,966
Moray
North Ayrshire
North Lanarkshire
86,250
223,694
139,020
88,755
326,750
47,648
Perthshire and Kinross 130,470
Renfrewshire
176,970
539,479
26,250
Scottish Borders
105,300
472,749
South Ayrshire
113,960
123,021
South Lanarkshire
307,100
177,789
Stirling
81,630
West Lothian
TOTAL
224,320
146,730
42,664
5,048,200 7,319,318
Islands
Orkney
19,760
102,498
Shetland
22,830
147,097
Western Isles
TOTAL
29,410
72,000
TOTAL SCOTLAND
307,005
556,600
5,120,200 7,875,918
Source: Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
FACTSHEET 2
Scotland in Profile
Produced by The Scottish Office Information Directorate in June 1994.
This information will be fully updated.
Scotland is a country of some 30,414 square miles (78,772 square kilometres)
including some 609 square miles of fresh water lochs. Its population was estimated at
5,100,000 at June 1991.
Scotland forms the northern part of the island of Great Britain and is situated between
latitudes 54°38’ and 60°51’N and the longitudes 1°45’ and 6°14’W. It is bounded west
and north by the Atlantic Ocean and on the east by the North Sea, while in the south
the border with England runs 60 miles roughly along the line of the Cheviot Hills.
The name "Scotland" derives from the Scoti, a Celtic tribe who migrated to Scotland
from Ireland during the fifth and sixth centuries and who, in time, merged through
conquest and intermarriage with the Pictish tribes to form the nucleus of the Scottish
nation.
Geographic Features
Scotland has some 790 islands ranging from large rocks to land several hundred
square miles in area. Of these, the largest and best know are the groups of Shetland
and Orkney in the north-east; Lewis, Harris, Skye, Mull and Islay in the Hebrides –
the string of islands which lies off the west coast of Scotland – and the islands of
Bute and Arran in the Firth of Clyde. About 130 of the Scottish islands are inhabited.
The comparatively modest dimensions of mainland Scotland are revealed in the fact
that the greatest distance from north to south is only 275 miles (440 kilometres) while
the maximum width is 154 miles (248 kilometres); the width, in the country’s central
belt between the Firths of Clyde and Forth, is only 25 miles (41 kilometres). However,
so rugged and indented is the coastline of Scotland that its aggregate length is
estimated at 2,300 miles (3,680). Yet few parts of the country are more than 40 miles
(64 kilometres) from salt water.
By British standards, Scotland is a mountainous country, having the highest peak in
the United Kingdom (Ben Nevis 4,406 feet or 1,356 metres) as well as five other
mountains of more than 4,000 feet. Such heights are, of course, modest by European
standards but the Scottish Mountains have a beauty and colour rarely matched
elsewhere.
Scotland consists broadly of three main geographic regions. These are the
Highlands, the Central Lowlands, and the Southern Uplands. The Highlands in the
north, including the Hebridean islands, account for somewhat more than half the total
area of Scotland.
The Central Lowlands fall roughly between a line from Dumbarton to Stonehaven in
the north and another from Girvan to Dunbar in the south. The term "Lowlands" is
something of a misnomer, however, for the region includes a number of hill ranges as
well as an abundance of beauty spots and rich, undulating farmland.
In the Southern Uplands, likewise, magnificent scenery abounds, though as a rule
gentler than that in the Highlands. Seven major hill ranges are in the region, but the
highest peak – Merrick, in the Galloway Hills – attains a height of only 2,764 feet (815
metres). In this region, too, lies Scotland’s Borderland, rich in story and legend as
well as in beauty and fertility of soil. It is the land of Sir Walter Scott, probably
Scotland’s greatest novelist and one of the major figures in European literature as a
whole.
Scotland is an ideal centre for communications with Europe and North America
thanks to its geographical situation. It is served by four modern international airports
and has regular air services to Western Europe (including Scandinavia) and to North
America. Scotland is linked to the rest of Britain by modern road and rail systems and
by scheduled air services. The largest heliport in Europe is in Aberdeen.
Despite its northern latitudes, the climate in Scotland is remarkably temperate, one of
the main reasons being that it lies athwart of the warming Gulf Stream from the South
Atlantic. True, its mean air temperature is 2°F (1.25°C) below that of England, while
average rainfall is 15 inches higher in any year. On the other hand, there is no month
in which average temperatures in Scotland fall below freezing point, while the
difference between summer temperatures in the north and south is usually negligible.
The average rainfall in Scotland ranges from 22 inches (560mm) to 40 inches
(1,015mm) a year. There are marked variations within the country, the west,
particularly the West Highlands, tending to have higher rainfall than the east. In
comparison with Europe, the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, has the same average
rainfall as Dieppe – namely 27 inches or 685mm, while Inverness has the same
figures as Nancy – 28 inches or 710mm; this is not much more than the average
rainfall for the main centres of population in Denmark and Sweden. Aberdeen,
Dundee and Perth have the same average rainfall as Lille (31 inches or 785mm) and
Gothenburg (30 inches or 775mm).
The range of temperature in major towns and cities of Scotland is, as a rule, much
less than in cities such as Stockholm or Copenhagen for example. Winters in the
main towns and cities of Scotland are much less severe than in southern Sweden or
Denmark. They are similar to winters in northern France, although Scottish summers
are cooler.
Gaelic
In legal terms, a ‘national language’, Gaelic is nowadays spoken by some 80,000
Scots in addition to English. The Annual Mod (a literary, musical, vocal and artistic
competition) lasts for nearly two weeks and attracts an attendance of 15,000.
Gaelic’s long literary tradition is exemplified by many writers today – including Sorley
MacLean, hailed in some quarters as one of the most significant poets in present-day
Europe.
Scotland's Rivers







Tay (188 Km or 117 miles long)
Spey (177 Km or 110 miles)
Clyde (170 Km or 106 miles)
Tweed (154 Km or 96 miles)
Dee (154 Km or 96 miles)
Don (132 Km or 82 miles)
Forth (106 Km or 66 miles)
(The length quoted is until the River Forth meets its headwaters, its full length is 187
Km or 116 miles, and it is tidal for 85 Km or 53 miles)
The Loch Ness Monster
Loch Ness is located in the North of Scotland and is one of a series of interlinked lochs which
run along the Great Glen. The Great Glen is a distinctive incision which runs across the
country and represents a large geological fault zone. The interlinking was completed in the
19th century following the completion of the Caledonian Canal.
For many years it has been supposed that there is a large dinosaur-like "monster"
resident in Loch Ness. The evidence for its existence are a series of sightings of a
plesiosaur-like dinosaur throughout the last 100 years. The case has occasionally
been supported by indistinct photographic evidence.
However, several scientific studies have been conducted, including thorough sonar
surveys of the loch, and these have not revealed any presence of such a "monster".
Many people believe that the size (21 square miles) and great depth of the loch
(almost 800 feet), together with potential underwater caves, gives the monster many
places to hide.
Regardless of the truth, the suggestion of the Monster's existence makes Loch Ness
one of Scotland's top tourist attractions.
Much more info on the Loch Ness Monster
The Legend of Nessie
See also our Media & Film Section
Loch Morar, in the West of Scotland, is also said to support a monster, but the
evidence for this is even more tenuous!
Finally, the image to silence all the sceptics and Nessie nay-sayers. Innovative Loch Ness researcher
and local commentator, Mikko Takala, has managed to obtain this clear photograph of Nessie - a
plesiosaur - in Loch Ness. The incredible image was captured at 17.14 on 30 July 2005 in this area.
The creature was estimated to be about three and a half meters long and was about fifty meters
offshore. No photo trickery has been used, although some other
sadly envious "researchers" are already making such unfounded and
spiteful allegations. Mikko is interested to know your views about this
image. Special thanks to Strider for the image enhancement work in
the right hand photo.
Viking Long Ship Discovered in Loch Ness
The Loch Ness Free Press has received this exclusive press release
from Professor Svenson and his Loch Ness research project:
Press Release:
Professor Svenson and Dr. Theo Valdivik announce the discovery of the remains of a
Viking long ship at the bottom of Loch Ness. Using their NAVRAD remote bottom
probing submarine, the two eminent academics scanned an area of the loch they had
carefully selected using their exclusive mathematical formula and a little luck. Professor
Svenson, who has previously discovered many new wonders in Loch Ness, said "we
are very excited about this find. Initially we thought we had just come across a few rotting old fence
posts but it soon became clear that we were looking at the oldest surviving remains of
the Viking presence in Scotland."
The pair were even more amazed to discover preserved coffee grounds in the timbers.
All previous data indicates that the Vikings did not have access to coffee and this find
may cause a whole chapter of their history to be re-written as it now appears that they
may have sailed as far afield as South America before heading for the ancient cultural
capital of Loch Ness, Drumnadrochit.
The remains will now be sent to a mineral processing unit at NASA where they will be carbon dated
and injected with fleuron, a special substance that glows if the material around it is more than 1000
years old.
Professor Svenson denied that his find was simply a cheap PR exercise to try and boost the flagging
tourist season or a vain attempt to get a plaque erected with his name on it. "That's quite ridiculous.
Eminent researchers like me are only devoted to the science and research of Loch Ness and would
never issue statements unless we thought they were true. The fact that this is the holiday or silly
season has absolutely nothing to do with anything".
The Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board was unavailable for comment at time of going to press.
Welcome to The Legend of Nessie, her Official web site on the Internet that brings you facts, pictures
and sightings of this most elusive of creatures.
If it's information about the Loch Ness Monster you're after then this is the site to
visit. With documented evidence, film, first-hand accounts, stories, scientific studies and expeditions
you will find that we are one of the most informative Loch Ness Monster sites on the WWW.
Browse through at your leisure and enjoy the wonders and mystery of Nessie and Loch
Ness.