{"id":489,"date":"2020-05-02T00:11:16","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T22:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurominority.eu\/?page_id=489"},"modified":"2020-05-05T21:29:19","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T19:29:19","slug":"scotland","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.eurominority.eu\/index.php\/en\/scotland\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scotland, eyeing independence<\/h2>
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Scotland is a nation situated to the north of the British Isles. Largely autonomous today, a Scottish parliament elected by universal suffrage has managed affairs since 1999. Its separatist first minister wishes to organise a referendum on self-determination.<\/p>

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The Cross of St Andrew has been the Scottish flag since the early 14th century. White on a blue background, it is commonly called \u2018The Saltire\u2019 after its heraldic name. The legend dates back to the 10th century, which would make it the oldest European flag still in use. It would appear in the sky on the eve of a victorious battle for King Angus against the Anglo-Saxons. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Scotland was\ninitially populated by the Picts and the Scots, who were most likely Celts and\nfrom whom they take their name. Scotland did not have a strong Roman presence.\nThe emperors Hadrian and Antonius built walls across the south of the country\nin defence of their empire, thus minimising Roman influence. In the 10th\ncentury, Domnall II (Donald II) became the first king of the Alban kingdom\nextending throughout the Gaelic and Scots territory. It was in the Middle Ages\nthat the different kingdoms making up this region united to create Scotland,\nwhile also maintaining ties with neighbouring England. Over many centuries,\nthere were successive wars between the two states. It was not until the 14th\ncentury that England recognised the independence of its neighbour, which by\nthen had its own parliament. Even though Scotland lost its independence in\n1707, polls regularly give the figure of 35% for Scots in favour of\nindependence.<\/p>

Today, a\nspecial feature of Scotland remains its use of the minority languages, Gaelic\nin the north-west and Scottish in the south-east. The Scottish nation cannot\ntherefore be defined in linguistic terms. The Scottish independence movements,\nborn in the 1920s (inspired at that time by their Irish neighbours Sinn F\u00e9in),\nare trying to regain their power by maintaining a unique culture made up of\nsymbols known around the world.<\/p>

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Identity card <\/h3>
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Name <\/em> <\/td> Alba<\/strong> | <\/strong> Scottish Gaelic<\/em>
Scotland <\/em><\/strong>| Scots, English<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Population <\/em><\/td> 5,094,800 inhab.<\/strong> (2005) <\/td><\/tr>
Area<\/em> <\/td> 78,772 km\u00b2 <\/strong><\/td><\/tr>

\ufeffLanguages <\/em> <\/td>		 G\u00e0idhlig<\/strong> | <\/strong> Scottish Gaelic<\/em> (official)
Scots leid<\/em><\/strong> | Scots<\/em> (official)
English <\/em><\/strong>(official) <\/td><\/tr>
Number of native speakers<\/em> <\/td> 58,400 to 92,400<\/strong> | Scottish Gaelic<\/em> (2001)
1,500,000<\/strong> | Scots<\/em> (1996) <\/td><\/tr>
State of guardianship<\/em> <\/td> United Kingdom<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Official status<\/em> <\/td> Constitutive Nation of the United Kingdom with its own Parliament<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Capital<\/em><\/td> D\u00f9n Eideann<\/strong> | Scottish Gaelic<\/em>
Edinburgh <\/em><\/strong>| Scots, <\/em> English<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Historic religion<\/em> <\/td> Anglican Christian and Presbyterian<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Flag<\/em> <\/td> Bratach-croise<\/strong> | <\/strong> Scottish Gaelic<\/em>
Saltire <\/em><\/strong> <\/em>| Scots, <\/em> English<\/em>
Saint Andrew\u2019s Cross<\/em><\/strong> | English<\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
Anthem<\/em> <\/td> Fl\u00f9ir na h-Alba<\/strong> | Scottish Gaelic<\/em>
Flouer o Scotland<\/em><\/strong> | Scots<\/em>
Flower of Scotland<\/em><\/strong> | English<\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
Motto<\/em> <\/td> Nemo me impune lacessit<\/strong> | <\/strong>Latin<\/em>
Cha togar m\u2019 fhearg gun d\u00ecoladh<\/em><\/strong> | Scottish Gaelic<\/em>
No one provokes me with impunity<\/em><\/strong> | English<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
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Timeline <\/h3>
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