Scotland

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Country Name

Scotland.

Location

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.

It has a 154 km (96 miles) border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast, and the Irish Sea to the south.

Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland includes more than 790 islands.

Capital

Edinburgh.

Reason for Naming

"Scotland" comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels. Philip Freeman has speculated on the likelihood of a group of raiders adopting a name from an Indo-European root, *skot, citing the parallel in Greek Skotos (σκότος), meaning "darkness, gloom". The Late Latin word Scotia ("land of the Gaels") was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to (Gaelic-speaking) Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, both derived from the Gaelic Alba. The use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages.

Flag

The flag of Scotland was adopted in the 15th century.

The Flag of Scotland is a white X-shaped cross, which represents

the cross of the patron saint of Scotland, Saint Andrew on a blue background. The flag is called the Saltire or the Saint Andrew's Cross.

The white color on the Scotland flag represents honesty and peace

while blue is a symbol of loyalty, truth, justice, and vigilance.