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The Scottish people or Scots (Scots: Scots fowk; Scottish Gaelic: Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland.Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or Alba) in the 9th century.
The geography of Scotland is varied from rural lowlands to unspoilt uplands, and from large cities to sparsely inhabited islands. Located in Northern Europe, Scotland comprises the northern part of the island of Great Britain as well as 790 surrounding islands encompassing the major archipelagos of the Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands and the Inner and Outer Hebrides. [3]
Lakes in Scotland are known as lochs, with the exception of the Lake of Menteith and a few man-made lakes. The largest loch is Loch Lomond and is 71.1 km 2 (27.5 sq mi) in area and is Britain's largest freshwater body. In Scotland, water is a plentiful resource. Scotland's numerous lochs and rivers provide all of Scotland's water needs.
The mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far back into the abyss of time; and whilst we listened with earnestness and admiration to the philosopher who was now unfolding to us the order and series of these wonderful events, we became sensible how much further reason may sometimes go than imagination may venture to follow.
Scotland occupies the cooler northern section of Great Britain, so temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the British Isles, with the coldest ever UK temperature of −27.2 °C (−17.0 °F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains, on 10 January 1982 and also at Altnaharra, Highland, on 30 December 1995.
Gazetteer for Scotland – Extensive guide to the places and people of Scotland, by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and University of Edinburgh; Scottish economic statistics 2005 (pdf) – from the Scottish Executive; Scottish Census Results On Line – official government site for Scotland's census results
Ettrick Forest, previously a hunting reserve was opened up for settlement in this period. The geography of Scotland in the early modern era covers all aspects of the land in Scotland, including physical and human, between the sixteenth century and the beginnings of the Agricultural Revolution and industrialisation in the eighteenth century.
Scotland is the most sparsely populated country of the United Kingdom. [155] [156] In August 2012, the Scottish population reached an all-time high of 5.25 million people. [157] The reasons given were that, in Scotland, births were outnumbering the number of deaths, and immigrants were moving to Scotland from overseas.