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Lord Rector Of Glasgow University

Lord Rector of Glasgow University

The position of Lord Rector of Glasgow University is elected every three years by the students at the University of Glasgow. Seldomly referred to as Lord Rector, they are more commonly known just as the Rector, the position's place in the university was enshrined by statute of the Westminster Parliament when they passed the Universities (Scotland) Act 1889 which provided for the election of a Rector at all of the universities in existence at the time in Scotland. To this day it is only the four ancient universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews as well as Dundee who elect a rector, whereas the other universities do not. The role of the Rector is to work on behalf of the students, raising issues of concern on their behalf. They are also entitled to chair the University Court, the University's management body. In the past the position was largely seen as honorific, with students not expecting the person in office to be that active, however in recent years there have been expectations that the person shall be active. Indeed, Ross Kemp resigned after the Glasgow University Students' Representative Council (SRC) voted to request that he did so, such was the extent of student dissatisfaction with his performance. It is not always the case though that students vote for a working rector in modern times. For example, Winnie Mandela was elected largely on the understanding that she would be unable to undertake the position's responsibilities. Indeed, the most recently elected Rector, Mordechai Vanunu has thus far been unable to undertake his responsibilities as Israel refuse to let him leave the country to do so, thus he could reasonably fall into the category as someone elected as a statement of solidarity rather than as a working rector. That said, many of the students involved in the campaign to elect him have since called for his release to allow him to undertake activities relating to the role. Another interesting feature of Vanunu's election is that he was elected in the second scheduled election for Rector in 2004. He was elected in December, whilst the position should have actually been filled in February, 2004, but there were no nominations for the post forthcoming. This caused the university (elections are organised by the University Senate) to set another date for December where he was successfully elected by the students of Glasgow. The Rector works closely with the SRC, with their office being located in the same building as that organisation. [http://www.glasgowstudent.net/system/systempages/file/137/file/rector'sjobd.doc official src definition of the Rector's position, word doc]

List of Rectors

- 1690-1691 : David Boyle, 1st Earl of Glasgow
- 1691-1718 : Sir John Maxwell of Nether Park
- 1718-1720 : Mungo Graham of Gorthie
- 1720-1723 : Robert Dundas, Lord Arniston, the elder
- 1723-1725 : James Hamilton of Aikenhead
- 1725-1726 : Sir Hugh Montgomerie of Hartfield
- 1726-1729 : George Ross, Master of Ross
- 1729-1731 : Francis Dunlop of Dunlop
- 1731-1733 : John Orr of Barrowfield
- 1733-1738 : Colin Campbell of Blythswood
- 1738-1740 : George Bogle of Daldowie
- 1740-1742 : John Graham of Dugalston
- 1742-1743 : John Orr of Barrowfield
- 1743-1746 : George Bogle of Daldowie
- 1746-1748 : Sir John Maxwell of Pollock
- 1748-1750 : George Bogle of Daldowie
- 1750-1753 : Sir John Maxwell of Pollock
- 1799-1801 : Sir Ilay Campbell of Succoth
- 1820-1822 : Francis Jeffrey
- 1865-1868 : John Inglis, Lord Glencorse
- 1868-1871 : Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
- 1871-1877 : Benjamin Disraeli
- 1877-1880 : William Ewart Gladstone
- 1880-1883 : John Bright
- 1883-1884 : Henry Fawcett
- 1884-1887 : Prof. Edmund Law Lushington
- 1887-1891 : Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton
- 1891-1893 : Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour
- 1893-1896 : Sir John Eldon Gorst
- 1896-1899 : Joseph Chamberlain
- 1899-1902 : Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
- 1902-1905 : George Wyndham
- 1905-1908 : Herbert Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford & Asquith
- 1908-1911 : George Nathaniel, 1st Baron Curzon
- 1911-1914 : Augustine Birrell
- 1914-1919 : Raymond Poincaré
- 1919-1923 : Andrew Bonar Law
- 1923-1925 : Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
- 1925-1928 : Sir Austen Chamberlain
- 1928-1931 : Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin
- 1931-1934 : Compton Mackenzie
- 1934-1937 : Sir Iain Colquhoun, Bt. of Luss
- 1937-1938 : Rev Dick Sheppard
- 1938-1945 : Sir Archibald Sinclair, Bt. of Ulbster
- 1945-1948 : Sir John Boyd-Orr
- 1948-1950 : Walter Elliot
- 1950-1953 : John MacCormick
- 1953-1956 : Dr Tom Honeyman
- 1956-1959 : Rab Butler
- 1959-1962 : Quintin McGarel Hogg, Lord Hailsham
- 1962-1965 : Chief Albert Luthuli
- 1965-1968 : John Reith, 1st Baron Reith
- 1968-1971 : Rev. George MacLeod
- 1971-1974 : Jimmy Reid
- 1974-1977 : Arthur Montford
- 1977-1980 : John L. Bell
- 1980-1984 : Reginald Bosanquet
- 1984-1987 : Michael Kelly
- 1987-1990 : Winnie Mandela
- 1990-1993 : Pat Kane
- 1993-1996 : Johnny Ball
- 1996-1999 : Richard Wilson
- 1999-2000 : Ross Kemp
- 2001-2004 : Greg Hemphill
- 2004-present : Mordechai Vanunu Category:University of Glasgow Glasgow, Rector of

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow, founded in 1451, is the largest of the three universities in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a renowned centre for teaching and research and one of the ancient universities of Scotland and is amongst the largest and most prestigious in the United Kingdom.

History

It was founded in 1451 by papal bull of Pope Nicholas V, at the suggestion of King James II, giving Bishop William Turnbull permission to add the university to the city's cathedral. Its founding came about as a result of King James II's wish that Scotland have two Universities to equal Oxford and Cambridge of England. It is the second oldest university in Scotland (the 4th oldest in the United Kingdom), the oldest being the University of St Andrews (founded in 1413). The Universities of St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen are ecclesiastical foundations, while Edinburgh is a city foundation. Glasgow has enjoyed a (usually friendly) rivalry with the University of St Andrews since its creation, and with Edinburgh University since its foundation in 1583. Of all the universities and tertiary education establishments in Scotland, only Glasgow and Edinburgh offer a complete range of professional studies including law, medicine, dentistry, and engineering, combined with a comprehensive range of academic studies including science, social science, ancient and modern languages, literature, and history.

Present

Glasgow has the fourth largest financial endowment among UK universities at £120m, and the fifth largest endowment per student, according to the Sutton Trust (2002). In 2003 the university had around 17,000 students and 4,500 members of staff. Over 3,600 of these are postgraduate students, while around 2,600 are foreign students. The university is a member of the Russell Group of elite British Universities and is a founding member of the organisation Universitas 21, an international grouping of universities dedicated to setting world-wide standards for higher education.

Facilities

Universitas 21 Universitas 21 The university's initial accommodations were part of the complex of religious buildings in the precincts of Glasgow Cathedral. This coexistence became increasingly uneasy with time, particularly following the protestant reformation, after which Glasgow became a predominantly Protestant city. In the 17th century this, combined with the university's growth and the broadening and secularisation of its curriculum, led it to establish its own two-quadrangled building outside the cathedral precincts, on the nearby medieval High Street. Over the following centuries, the university's size and scope continued to expand. It was a centre of the Scottish Enlightenment and subsequently of the industrial revolution, and its expansion in the High Street was constrained by the density of the burgeoning mercantile district. Consequently in 1870, it moved to a (then a greenfield site) on the Gilmorehill in the West End of the city (around three miles west of its prior location), enclosed by a large loop of the River Kelvin. Its accommodations there were a number of custom-made buildings, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic revival style. The largest of these (now called the Gilbert Scott Building) echoed (in a far grander scale) the High Street campus' twin quadrangle layout. Between the two quadrangles Scott built an open cloister, above which are his grand Bute Hall (used for examinations and graduation ceremonies), and the buildings' signature Gothic bell tower. The sandstone cladding and Gothic design of the buildings' exterior belie the modernity of its Victorian construction — Scott's building is hung on a (then cutting-edge) riveted iron frame, with a lightweight wooden-beam roof. Even these enlarged premises could not contain the ever-growing university, which quickly spread across much of Gilmorehill. The 1930s saw the construction of the award-winning round reading room (it is now a grade-A listed building) and an aggressive programme of house purchases, in which the university (fearing the surrounding district of Hillhead was running out of suitable building land) acquired several terraces of Victorian houses and joined them together internally. The departments of Psychology, Computing Science, and Eastern European Languages continue to be housed in these terraces. More buildings were built beside the main buildings, filling the land between University Avenue and the river with natural science buildings and the faculty of medicine. The medical school spread into neighbouring Partick and joined with the Western General Infirmary. The growth and prosperity of the city, which had forced the university's relocation to Hillhead, again proved problematic when more real estate was required. The school of veterinary medicine, which was founded in 1862, moved to a new campus in the leafy suburb of Garscube in 1954. The university later moved its sports ground and associated facilities to Anniesland (around two miles west of the main campus) and built student halls of residence in both Anniesland and Maryhill. 1954 The growth of tertiary education from the 1960s led the university to build numerous modern buildings across the hill, including several brutalist concrete blocks: the Maclaurin building (housing the department of mathematics, named after university graduate Colin Maclaurin); the Boyd Orr building (a squat grey concrete tower housing lecture rooms and laboratories); and the Adam Smith building (housing the social science faculty, named after university graduate Adam Smith). Other additions around this time, including the glass-lined library tower and the amber-brick geology building were more in keeping with the Gilmorehill's leafy suburban architecture. Interestingly, the erection of these buildings around 1968 also involved the demolition of a large number of houses in Ashton Road, and rerouting the west end of University Avenue to its current position. The University's Hunterian Museum resides in the Gilbert Scott Building, and the related Hunterian Gallery is housed in buildings attached to the University Library. The latter includes "The Mackintosh House", a rebuilt terraced house designed by, and furnished after, architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The university opened a campus in the borders town of Dumfries. The Crichton campus, designed to meet the needs for tertiary education in an area far from major concentrations of population, is jointly operated by the University of Glasgow, the University of Paisley, Bell College, and the Open University. It offers a modular curriculum, leading to one of a small number of liberal arts degrees. In October 2001 the century-old Bower Building (home to the university's botany department and biological museum) was gutted by fire. Manuscripts by naturalist Charles Darwin, together with a large number of samples obtained on his expeditions, were destroyed. The interior and roof of the building were largely destroyed, although the main facade remained intact. After a £10.8 million refit, the building re-opened to staff and students in November 2004. The Wolfson Medical School Building, with its award-winning glass-fronted atrium, opened in 2002 [http://www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/medicine/medschool.html]. The university is currently over a number of different campuses. The main one is the Gilmorehill campus, in Hillhead. As well as this there is the Vet School at the top of Maryhill Road, on the Garscube Estate. The University also operates a Dental School in the city centre; as well as the aforementioned Crichton campus in Dumfries; and in 2003 they opened their new Education Faculty Building (the St Andrews Building, replacing Bearsden's St Andrews Campus) in the Woodlands area of the city on the site of the former Queens College, which had in turn been bought by Glasgow Caledonian University, from whom the university acquired the site. As well as these teaching campuses the university has halls of residence in and around the North-West of the city. They have the Murano Street halls in Maryhill; the Wolfson halls, also in Maryhill; Queen Margaret halls, in Kelvinside; and Kelvinhaugh Gate, in Yorkhill. In recent years, Dalrymple and Horselethill halls in Dowanhill, Reith halls in North Kelvinside and the Maclay halls in Park Circus (near Kelvingrove Park), have closed and been sold, as the development value of such property increased. The university also has a large sports complex in their Garscube Estate, beside their Wolfson Halls and Vet School. This is a new facility. They sold their previous sports ground (Westerlands) which was in the Anniesland area of Glasgow. The university also has a boathouse situated on the River Clyde. It is out of here that Glasgow University Boat Club train. Glasgow University Boat Club Glasgow University Boat Club

Governance and administration

In common with the other Ancient universities of Scotland the University's constitution is laid out in the Universities (Scotland) Acts. These Act create a tripartite structure of bodies - the University Court (governing body), the Academic Senate (academic affairs) and the General Council (advisory). There is also a clear separation between governance and executive administration.

University Court

The governing body of the University is the University Court, which is responsible for contractual matters; employing staff; and all other matters relating to finance and administration. The Court takes decisions about the deployment of resources as well as formulating strategic plans for the university. The Court is chaired by the Rector (see below for more information), who is elected by all the matriculated students at the university.

Academic Senate

The Academic Senate (or University Senate) is the body which is responsible for the management of academic affairs, and the awarding of all degrees. The Senate consists of various academics and is chaired by the Prinicpal of the university.

Committees

There are also a number of committees of both the Court and Senate that make important decisions and investigate matters referred to them. As well as these bodies there is a General Council made up of the university graduates that is involved in the running of the university. The graduates also elect the Chancellor of the university. A largely honorific post, the current Chancellor is Sir William Kerr Fraser, a former Principal of Glasgow University.

Executive administration

However, day to day management of the University is undertaken by the University Principal (who is also Vice-Chancellor) and the Secretary of Court. The current principal is Sir Muir Russell who replaced Professor Sir Graeme Davies in October, 2003. The current secretary of court is David Newall. There are also five Vice-Principals, each with a specific remit. There is a Vice-Principal in charge of Learning and Teaching (who also acts as the Clerk to Senate); a Vice-Principal Estates; a Vice-Principal Research; a Vice-Principal External Relations; and a Vice-Principal Staffing. They each play a major role in the day to day management of the university.

Faculties

There are currently nine faculties at Glasgow University. They are Arts; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Education (formed when the university merged with St Andrews College of Education); Engineering; Information and Mathematical Sciences; Law, Business and Social Sciences; Medicine (includes Dentistry and Nursing); Physical Sciences; and Veterinary Medicine. The Veterinary School is perhaps Glasgow's most famous Faculty, having wrought the personalities of James Herriot (aka Alf Wight), Eddie Straiton ("The TV Vet"), Sir William Weipers, among many others and has the distinction of having its degree recognised not only by the UK, but also the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, as well as most other countries in the world, an honour shared by only a handful of other institutions. The Medical Faculty is also one of Glasgow's greatest strengths. Traditionally considered one of the top schools in the UK, it placed first in The Times' 2004 ranking of UK university medical departments.

Students

Unlike the majority of Scotland's universities, the students at the University of Glasgow are not members of the National Union of Students - membership has been rejected on a number of occasions on both economic (the costs of membership would exceed £70,000 per year for an institution of this size) and political grounds. Neither does their representative body take the form of a Students' Association, as it does at the other Scottish universities. However, every student is automatically represented by the Glasgow University Students' Representative Council (SRC) and has the right to stand for election to this body and elect its members. The President of the SRC, along with one other SRC member, the Court Assessor, sits on the University Court and a number of SRC members sit on the Academic Senate (which also has the responsibility of overseeing student discipline). Each student has the right to opt out of being a SRC member, although this very rarely happens. Students also elect a Rector (officially styled "Lord Rector") who holds office for a three year term and is legally entitled to chair the university court. This position is in practice largely an honorary and ceremonial one, and has been held by political figures including William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli, Andrew Bonar Law, Robert Peel, Raymond Poincaré, Arthur Balfour, and 1970s union activist Jimmy Reid, and latterly by celebrities such as TV presenters Arthur Montford and Johnny Ball, musician Pat Kane, and actors Richard Wilson, Ross Kemp and Greg Hemphill. In the past, few Rectors have actually been present to perform the duties of their office, although in recent years there has been a trend to elect people on the expectation that they will be working rectors. Ross Kemp was asked to resign by the SRC (which he did) for what they felt was a failure to act as a working rector. In 2004, for the first time in its history, the University was left without a Rector as no nominations were received. When the elections were run in December, Israeli whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was chosen for the post [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4100119.stm], even though he is unable to attend due to restrictions placed upon him by the Israeli government. Mordechai Vanunu Students can also be members of one of the university's two students' unions, Glasgow University Union (GUU) and the Queen Margaret Union (QMU). These are largely social institutions, providing their members with facilities for dining, recreation, socialising, and drinking, and both have a number of meeting rooms available for rental to members. Students are currently barred from holding membership of both unions (by the GUU's bye-laws which state that members cannot be members of other unions, but this is frequently breached), although they can use most of the facilities of both provided they are a member of one. A significant attempt was made to introduce Automatic Joint Student Membership at the end of the 2003/2004 session, which would see all matriculated students automatically become a member of both unions. However, this ran out of time due to a technical failing in the tabling of a resolution to make the necessary constitutional changes at a Special General Meeting of the GUU. Towards the end of the 2004/2005 academic year a motion was put to the SRC suggesting a referendum on whether the student bodies should merge into a single Students Association. The motion was withdrawn but is likely to reappear in the future. Sporting affairs are regulated by the Glasgow University Sports Association (GUSA) (previously the Glasgow University Athletics Club). Students who join one of the sports clubs affiliated with the university, such as the Glasgow University Shinty Club club, must join GUSA. There is also an active student media scene at Glasgow University, part of, but editorially independent from, the SRC. There is a newspaper, the Glasgow University Guardian; a magazine, Glasgow University Magazine (GUM); a television station, Glasgow University Student Television (GUST); and a radio station, Subcity. In recent years, independent of the SRC, the Queen Margaret Union has published a fortnightly magazine, qmunicate, and Glasgow University Union has produced the GUUi.

Alumni and faculty

See: List of Alumni and Faculty of the University of Glasgow Famous scholars associated with the university include Lord Kelvin, Adam Smith, James Watt, John Logie Baird, Colin Maclaurin, and Joseph Lister. Philosopher Francis Hutcheson studied at Glasgow, and protestant reformer John Knox may also have done so. In more recent times, the university boasts of having Europe's largest collection of life scientists, etc.

External links

- [http://www.gla.ac.uk/ University of Glasgow website]
- [http://www.glasgowstudent.net Glasgow University Students' Representative Council]
- [http://www.guu.co.uk/ Glasgow University Union]
- [http://www.qmu.org.uk/ Queen Margaret Union]
- [http://www.gla.ac.uk/student/gusa/ Glasgow University Sports Association (GUSA)]
- [http://www.subcity.org/ Subcity Radio]
- [http://www.src.gla.ac.uk/gust/ Glasgow University Student Television (GUST)] Category:Glasgow Category:Visitor attractions in Glasgow Category:Buildings and structures in Glasgow Glasgow, University of Glasgow, University of ja:グラスゴー大学

Scotland

Scotland (Alba in Gaelic) is a nation in northwest Europe and a constituent country of the United Kingdom. The name originally meant Land of the Gaels (see below). The country occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shares a land border to the south with England and is bounded by the North Sea on the east and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. Its capital city is Edinburgh. Despite no longer being an independent sovereign state, Scotland is still considered a country in its own right. Scotland existed as an independent Kingdom until 1 May 1707, when the Act of Union 1707 merged Scotland with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The flag of Scotland — the Saltire — is thought to be the oldest national flag still in use. The patron saint of Scotland is Saint Andrew, and Saint Andrew's Day is the 30 November. There are currently attempts to create an additional national holiday on this day.

Etymology

The English language name Scotland could date from at least the first half of the 10th century, when it was used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The word Scot- was borrowed from Latin. We cannot assume Scotland was being used here to mean anything other than Land of the Gaels, just like Latin Scotia. Scottish kings adopted the title Basileus/Rex Scottorum (= High King/King of the Gaels) and Rex Scotiae (King of Gael-Land) some time in the 11th century. The earliest attribution of the latter Latin title was by the Germany-based Irish writer Marianus Scotus, recording the death of King Máel Coluim mac Cináeda as Moelcoluim Rex Scotiae, for the year 1034. In taking this title, they were likely influenced by the style Imperator Scottorum known to have been employed by Brian Bóruma in 1005. In the early 13th century, the Scotto-Norman author of de Situ Albanie protested that Scotia was a corrupt word for what should be called Albania; but by then Scotia was becoming the norm in Latin, French and English; and hence Scotia and its derivitives prevailed in all languages except the Celtic ones. The Kingdom of Scotland has traditionally been regarded as being united in 843, by Cináed mac Ailpín, King of the Picts, the man who is known to the modern English-speaker as King Kenneth I of Scotland.

History

See also the main article: History of Scotland. The written history of Scotland largely began with the arrival of the Roman Empire in Britain, when the Romans occupied what is now England and Wales, administering it as a Roman province called Britannia. To the north was territory not governed by the Romans—Caledonia, peopled by the Picts. From a classical historical viewpoint Scotland seemed a peripheral country, slow to gain advances filtering out from the Mediterranean fount of civilisation, but as knowledge of the past increases it has become apparent that some developments were earlier and more advanced than previously thought, and that the seaways were very important to Scottish history. The country's lengthy struggle with England, its more powerful neighbour to the south, was the cause of the Wars of Scottish Independence, forcing Scotland to rely on trade, cultural and often strategic ties with a number of European powers, most notably France. In these, the Scots repudiated the English king's assertions of paramountcy. They fought firstly under the leadership of Sir William Wallace and Andrew de Moray in support of John Balliol, and later under that of Robert the Bruce. Bruce, crowned as King Robert I in 1306, won a decisive victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Battle of Bannockburn From roughly the end of the 14th century, Scotland began to show a split into two cultural areas — the mainly Scots, or English, speaking Lowlands, and the mainly Gaelic-speaking Highlands. Gaelic persisted in remote parts of the southwest, which had formed part of the rival kingdom of Galloway during the early medieval period, probably up until the late 1700s. Historically, the Lowlands were closer to the mainstream European culture, and adopted a variant of the feudal system after the Norman Conquest of England. A number of major families of Norman ancestry, such as the Bruce, Douglas, and Stewart families, provided most of the monarchs after approximately 1100. By comparison, the clan system of the Highlands formed one of the region's more distinctive features, with a number of powerful clans remaining dominant until after the Act of Union. It is worth noting that the Western Isles, along with Orkney and Shetland, were part of Norway until 1266 and 1468 respectively; the culture of these islands, in many ways, remained distinct from the rest of Scotland until the modern period. In 1603, the Scottish King James VI inherited the throne of England, and became James I of England. James moved to London, only returning to Scotland once. Although he subsequently styled himself as the King of Great Britain, this was a personal union: the two nations shared a head of state but remained separate kingdoms, with the exception of a brief period when Oliver Cromwell overthrew the monarchy and Scotland was under English military occupation. In 1707, the Scottish and English Parliaments enacted the Acts of Union, which merged the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Union dissolved both the English and the Scottish Parliaments, and transferred all their powers to a new Parliament sitting in London which then became the Parliament of the United Kingdom. However, most of Scotland's institutions remained separate, notably the country's legal system and its established church; these distinctions remain to the present day. In 1801, Scotland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, when the Kingdom of Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland. Since 1922, Scotland has been one of the four constituent nations (along with England, Northern Ireland and Wales) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In 1997 the people of Scotland voted to create a new devolved Scottish Parliament, subsequently established by the UK government under the Scotland Act 1998. Following the Act of Union and the subsequent Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, Scotland became one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Its industrial decline following the Second World War was particularly acute, but in recent decades the country has enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance, fuelled in part by a resurgent financial services sector, the proceeds of North Sea oil and gas, and latterly the devolved parliament.

Geography

Clan Grant Main article: Geography of Scotland. Scotland comprises the northern part of the island of Great Britain; it is bordered on the south by England. Scotland's territorial extent is generally that established by the 1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and England and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway. Exceptions include the Isle of Man, which is now a crown dependency outside the United Kingdom, Orkney and Shetland, which are Scottish rather than Norwegian, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, which was defined as subject to the laws of England by the 1746 Wales and Berwick Act. The country consists of a mainland area plus several island groups, including Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. Three main geographical and geological areas make up the mainland: from north to south, the generally mountainous Highlands containing Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, the low-lying Central Belt, and the hilly Southern Uplands. The majority of the Scottish population resides in the Central Belt, which contains three of the country's six largest cities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Stirling) and many large towns. Most of the remaining population lives in the North-East Lowlands, where two of the remaining three cities (Aberdeen and Dundee) are situated. The final city, Inverness, is situated where the River Ness meets the Moray Firth, on the Great Glen Fault between the North-West Highlands and the Cairngorms. Highest maximum temperature: 32.9°C (91.2°F) at Greycrook, near Newtown St. Boswells, Borders on 9 August 2003. Lowest minimum temperature: -27.2°C (-17.0°F) at Braemar, Aberdeenshire on 11 February 1895 and 10 January 1982 and at Altnaharra, Highland on 30 December 1995. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/scotland/#temperature]

Major cities

The six designated cities in descending order of population size:
- Glasgow
- Edinburgh, the capital
- Aberdeen
- Dundee
- Inverness
- Stirling Scottish towns:
- List of burghs in Scotland

Waterways

- Major Rivers:
- The Clyde, The Dee, The Don, The Forth, The Tay, The Tweed, The Spey, ...
- Firths:
- Solway, Clyde, Cromarty, Dornoch, Forth, Lorne, Moray, Tay
- Sea Lochs (fjords):
- Loch Linnhe, Loch Fyne, Loch Long, Loch Etive, Loch Sunart, Loch Nevis, Loch Hourn, Loch Broom, Loch Eil
- Freshwater Lochs (lakes) include:
- Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, Loch Morar, Loch Tay, Loch Rannoch, Loch Awe, Loch Shiel, Loch Maree, The Lake of Menteith
- Artificial & Enhanced waterways include:
- Caledonian Canal, Crinan Canal, Forth and Clyde Canal, Union Canal
- See Also Falkirk Wheel

Geology

When vulcanism actively occurred in East Lothian, 350 million years ago, the rocks which now comprise Scotland lay close to the equator, and formed part of the newly amalgamated supercontinent of Pangaea. The continental plates making up Pangaea continued to converge, and a major collision occurred with the continent of Gondwana. The northern and southern parts of the island of Great Britain became adjoined only 75 million years before the onset of vulcanism in East Lothian. Before then, Scotland lay on the margin of the Laurentian continent, which included North America and Greenland. England and Wales lay some 40° of latitude further south, adjacent to Africa and South America in the Gondwanan continent. In the Early Ordovician, approximately 475 million years ago, England and Wales, on the Avalonian plate, rifted away from Gondwana and drifted northward towards Laurentia. The Iapetus Ocean, which separated the two land masses, began to close. By the mid-Silurian, about 420 million years ago, its margins had become attached along the Iapetus Suture, which roughly follows a line running West to East from the Solway Firth to Northumberland. When the later episode of vulcanism occurred, approximately 270 million years ago, Scotland still comprised part of Pangaea, but had drifted northward. East Lothian stood at about 8°North. Consolidation of Pangaea had continued so that the nearest ocean, the Tethys seaway, lay between Eurasia and Africa. Siccar Point in Berwickshire, Scotland, is where James Hutton (the "father" of modern geology) first observed this classic unconformity and recognized the meaning of stratigraphy.

Government and politics

Government

As one of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, Scotland is represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom in London. The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh has the power to govern the country on Scotland-specific matters and has a limited power to vary income tax. The United Kingdom Parliament retains responsibility for Scotland's defence, international relations and certain other areas. The Scottish Parliament is not a sovereign authority, and the UK Parliament could, in theory, overrule or even abolish it at any time. For the purposes of local government, Scotland is divided into 32 unitary authority districts. Popular folk-memory continues to divide Scotland into 33 traditional counties.

Head of state

traditional counties]] Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the United Kingdom, is descended from King James VI, King of Scots, the first Scottish monarch to also be King of England (James I, King of England from 1603). While great controversy has simmered amongst the Scottish public over her official title since her coronation (many believe that, being the first Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain, she should use the regnal name "Elizabeth I"), the courts of Scotland have confirmed "Elizabeth II" as her official title. She has said that in the future monarchs will follow the international ordinal tradition that, where a monarch reigns in a number of non-independent territories (or independent territories that agree to share a monarch) that each have a differing number of previous monarchs of the same name, the highest ordinal used in any of the territories is the one used across all (see List of regnal numerals of future British monarchs). Monarchs between 1603 and 1707, such as James VI and I and James VII and II, reigned over separate states and hence used a dual ordinal (see Personal union). Properly, the Scottish monarch was known as King of Scots or Queen of Scots, and referred to as "your Grace", rather than "your Majesty".

Scots Law

Scotland retains its own unique legal system, based on Roman law, which combines features of both civil law and common law. The terms of union with England specified the retention of separate systems. The barristers being called advocates, and the judges of the high court for civil cases are also the judges for the high court for criminal cases. Scots Law differs from England's common law system. Formerly, there were several regional law systems in Scotland, one of which was Udal Law (also called allodail or odal law) in Shetland and Orkney. This was a direct descendant of Old Norse Law, but was abolished in 1611. Despite this, Scottish courts have acknowledged the supremacy of udal law in some property cases as recently as the 1990s. There is a movement to restore udal law[http://www.udallaw.com/] to the islands as part of a devolution of power from Edinburgh to Shetland and Orkney. The laws regarding the nobility are also different in Scotland. Lords known as "Barons" in England are known as "Lords of Parliament." Gentlemen known as "Barons" in Scotland are not members of the House of Lords, as their titles (although still legitimate) are based on the old system of feudal baronies. Various systems based on common Celtic or Brehon Laws also survived in the Highlands until the 1800s.

Politics

See main article: Politics of Scotland, also Politics of the United Kingdom Politics of the United Kingdom Historically the politics of Scotland have reflected those of the UK as a whole, although with some differences. For example, besides the main UK-wide political parties (Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats) a number of Scottish-specific parties operate. These include the Scottish National Party (SNP) which is Scotland's second largest party and forms the main opposition in Parliament to the Labour-Liberal Democrats coalition, as well as the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Scottish Green Party. These parties became more of a force in Scottish politics after the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1998. Unlike England, which has a more of a left/right split politically, the political right in Scotland is actually amongst the smallest political groupings with the four main Parties all coming from a mix of far-left to moderate-left philosophies. The traditional political divides of left and right have also intersected with arguments over devolution, which all the UK-wide parties have supported to some degree throughout their history (although both Labour and the Conservatives have swithered a number of times between supporting and opposing it). However, now that devolution has occurred, the main argument about Scotland's constitutional status remains between those who support Scottish independence and those who oppose it. Recent trends indicate, according to the Joseph Rowntree [http://www.jrrt.org.uk/FINDINGS.pdf Reform Trust "State of the Nation Poll"] 2004, that 66% of Scots would like the Scottish Parliament to have more powers, while only 2% would like to see the powers returned to the House of Commons and Whitehall, with 21% happy with the status quo.

Language

Scotland has three distinct languages: English, Gaelic, and Scots. Almost all Scots speak Scottish Standard English. It is estimated by the General Register Office for Scotland that 30% of the population are also fluent in Scots, a West Germanic language sister to the English language. Slightly more than 1% of the population are native Gaelic speakers, a Celtic language similar to Irish. Eilean Siar is the only unitary council region of Scotland where Gaelic is spoken by a majority of the population and that fact is reflected in the use of Gaelic in its official name. Almost all Gaelic speakers also speak fluent English. By the time of James VI's accession to the English throne, the old Scottish Court and Parliament spoke and wrote in Scots, also known as Lowland Scots or Lallans (although strictly speaking Lallans is a literary dialect of the Scots language). Scots is widely believed to have developed from the Northumbrian form of Anglo-Saxon, spoken in Bernicia which, in the 6th century, conquered the Brythonic kingdom of Gododdin (modern-day Lothian) and renamed its capital, Dunedin, to Edinburgh. The influence of settlers from the Low Countries and Norway in the east coast burghs founded from the reign of David I onwards was also an important factor in the development of the language, however. Scots contains a number of loanwords from Gaelic. Equally, there is a strong movement in the Aberdeen area to have Doric, the dialect of Scots spoken around Aberdeen, recognised as a language. In addition, there is a movement to revive Norn, a dialect of Old Norse which died out in the 19th century, on Orkney and Shetland. Town names on signs in Shetland are written in both languages. The Scottish Parliament recognises both English and Gaelic as official languages of Scotland, both receiving "equal respect" although not equal validity. Gaelic received official recognition through the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005. The Scots language was also officially recognised as a "regional or minority language" under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ratified by the United Kingdom in 2001, and the Scottish Executive, has promised to provide support in their Partnership Agreement 2003. The [http://www.scotsdictionaries.org.uk/ Scottish Language Dictionaries] receive some state funding via the Scottish Arts Council.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Scotland Scotland has a civic and ethnic culture distinct from that of the rest of the British Isles. It originates from various differences, some entrenched as part of the Act of Union, others facets of nationhood not readily defined but readily identifiable.

Scottish education

The system of Education in Scotland is also separate, and has a distinctive history as the first country since Sparta in classical Greece to implement a system of general public education. The early roots were in the Education Act of 1496 which first introduced compulsory education for the eldest sons of nobles, then the principle of general public education was set with the Reformation establishment of the national Kirk which in 1561 set out a national programme for spiritual reform, including a school in every parish. In 1633 the Parliament of Scotland introduced a tax on local landowners to fund this, subsequently strengthened with the Education Act of 1696 which remained in force until 1872. The Act of Union guaranteed the rights of the Scottish universities and confirmed the position of the Kirk, maintaining Scotland's pre-eminence in public education. Education finally came under the control of the state rather than the Kirk and became compulsory for all children from the implementation of the Education Act of 1872 onwards. As a result, for over two hundred years Scotland had a higher percentage of its population educated at primary, secondary and tertiary levels than any other country in Europe. The differences in education have manifested themselves in different ways, but most noticeably in the number of Scots who went on to become leaders in their fields during the 18th and 19th centuries. The then-Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace stated in October 2004 that Scotland still produces a higher number of university and college graduates per head than anywhere else in Europe. School students in Scotland sit Standard Grade exams while students in England sit GCSE exams, and then a broad range of Higher Grade exams rather than becoming more specialised under the English A-level system. Following this, a Scottish university's honours degree takes four years of study as opposed to three in the rest of the UK. The university systems in several Commonwealth countries show marked affinities with the Scottish rather than the English system.

Banking and currency

Finance in Scotland also features unique characteristics. Although the Bank of England remains the central bank for the UK Government, three Scottish corporate banks still issue their own banknotes: (the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank). These notes have no status as legal tender in England, Wales or Northern Ireland; but in practice they are universally accepted throughout the UK (including in Northern Ireland, where Irish banks also issue their own banknotes), as well as in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands). The Royal Bank of Scotland still produces a £1 note, unique amongst British banks. The full range of notes commonly accepted are £1, £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100. Bank of England currency is also accepted as legal currency in Scotland. (See British banknotes for further discussion) The only legal tender, by a strict definition, in Scotland is coinage of the Royal Mint (including gold); by statute, Bank of England notes below the value of £5 are legal tender, but none are currently circulating. No Bank of England notes in use, or any of the Scottish banknotes, are legal tender in Scotland. In practice this has little effect, as creditors are obliged to accept any "reasonable" attempt to settle a debt under Scots law. All four sets of banknotes are freely accepted in Scotland, and can be considered legal currency, though it is unusual for notes over £20 to be used in normal business. The pound Scots, which ceased being used with the Act of Union, is still sometimes invoked. Originally the same value as the pound sterling, today it is treated as being worth one-twelfth of a pound sterling, or eight and a third pence, the value it had in 1707. It only exists in a legal sense; generally in archaic laws or bequests, with values given either in pounds Scots or in merks, another archaic unit of currency. The merk, or mark, was worth around thirteen or fourteen shillings Scots — just over one English shilling. Both the Bank of Scotland and the Bank of England were founded by William Paterson of Dumfries. In addition the modern system of branch banking (in which banks maintain a nationwide system of offices rather than one or two central offices) originated in Scotland. Only strong political pressure during the 19th century prevented the resultant strong banking system from taking over banking in England. However, although Scottish banks proved unwelcome in England at the time, their business model became widely copied, firstly in England and later in the rest of the world. The Savings Bank movement was created in Scotland in 1810 by the Reverend Henry Duncan as a means of allowing his parishioners to save smaller amounts of money than the major banks would accept as deposits at that time. His model for the Ruthwell Parish Bank was adopted by well-to-do sponsors throughout the world, with most of the British savings banks eventually amalgamating to form the Trustee Savings Bank - more recently merged with the commercial bank, Lloyds Bank, to form Lloyds TSB - and the American examples becoming a Savings and Loan Association. See [http://www.savingsbanksmuseum.co.uk/] for further information.

Sport

Savings and Loan Association Scotland also has its own sporting competitions distinct from the rest of the UK, such as the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Rugby Union. This gives the country independent representation at many international sporting events such as the football World Cup and various rugby tournaments such as the Six Nations. Scotland cannot compete in the Olympic Games independently however, and Scottish athletes must compete as part of the Great Britain team if they wish to take part. Scotland does however send its own team to compete in the Commonwealth Games. Association Football is the most popular sport in the country, both played and watched. Innovations such as a passing style of play, a team working as a unit, half-time and free-kicks were introduced by Queen's Park F.C., all of which were later incorporated and remain in the modern game. Their Hampden Park home, the world's first and oldest international football stadium, holds several European attendance records including 149,415 watching a Scottish international. The Scottish Football Association is the second oldest national football association in the world, with the Scottish national football team playing and hosting the world's first ever international football match. The Scottish Cup is the world's oldest national trophy. The oldest professional football club in Scotland is Kilmarnock FC, founded in 1869. Scotland is considered the "Home of Golf", and is well known for its many courses, including the Old Course that is synonymous with the game. Established in 1754, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews also codified the rules of golf. As well as its world famous Highland Games, where several traditional events such as the McGlashan stones are now common in world strongman events, Scotland has also given the world curling, and shinty, a stick game related to Ireland's hurling, and similar to England's field hockey. Whilst stereotypically seen as an English game, Scottish cricket has always had a large following throughout the country. Scottish cricketScottish professional rugby clubs compete in the Celtic League, along with teams from Ireland and Wales. However, the country retains a national league for amateur and semi-pro clubs. Shinty is run by the Camanachd Association and is played primarily in its Highland heartland, but also in most universities and cities. Kingussie have the distinction of appearing in the Guinness Book of Records as the most successful sporting team of all time, having won the league for twenty years in a row.

Media

Scotland has distinct media from the rest of the UK. For example, it produces many national newspapers such as Daily Record (Scotland's leading tabloid), The Herald broadsheet, based in Glasgow, and The Scotsman in Edinburgh. The Herald, formerly known as the Glasgow Herald, changed its name to promote a national rather than a regional identity, while The Scotsman, which used to be a broadsheet, recently switched to tabloid format. Sunday newspapers include the tabloid Sunday Mail (published by Daily Record parent company Trinity Mirror) and the Sunday Post, while the Sunday Herald and Scotland on Sunday have associations with The Herald and The Scotsman respectively. Regional dailies include The Courier and Advertiser in Dundee in the east, and The Press and Journal serving Aberdeen and the north. Scotland has its own BBC services which include the national radio stations, BBC Radio Scotland and Gaelic language service, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal. There are also a number of BBC and independent local radio stations throughout the country. In addition to radio, BBC Scotland also runs two national television stations. Much of the output of BBC Scotland Television, such as news and current affairs programmes, and the Glasgow-based soap opera, River City, are intended for broadcast within Scotland, whilst others, such as drama and comedy programmes, aim at audiences throughout the UK and further afield. Sports coverage also differs, reflecting the fact that the country has its own football leagues, separate from those of England. Three independent television stations (Scottish TV, Grampian TV and ITV1 Border) also broadcast in Scotland. Although they previously had independent existences, Scottish TV (serving the Central Lowlands) and Grampian (serving the Highlands and Islands) now belong to the same company (The Scottish Media Group) and resemble each other closely, apart from local news coverage. English-based ITV1 Border has had a more complex position, as it serves communities on both sides of the border with England, as well as the Isle of Man, and it now has separate news programs for each side of the border. Most of the independent television output equates to that transmitted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the exception of news and current affairs, sport, cultural and Gaelic language programming.

Other facets of Scottish culture

Isle of Man Scotland retains its own distinct sense of nationhood. Academic research consistently shows that people in Scotland feel Scottish, whilst not necessarily feeling the need to see that translated into the establishment of a fully-independent Scottish nation-state. Scotland also has its own unique family of languages and dialects, helping to foster a strong sense of "Scottish-ness". See Scots language and Scottish Gaelic language. An organisation called Iomairt Cholm Cille (http://www.colmcille.net) has been set up to support Gaelic-speaking communities in both Scotland and Ireland and to promote links between them. Scotland retains its own national church, separate from that of England. See Church of Scotland and the section on "Religion" below. These factors combine together to form a strong, readily identifiable Scottish civic culture.

Religion

The Church of Scotland (sometimes referred to as The Kirk) is the national church, but it is not subject to state control nor is it "established" in the same manner as the Church of England within England. It is, however, recognised as the national church by Act of Parliament - Church of Scotland Act 1921. The Church of Scotland differs from the Church of England in several key respects, most notably in terms of not having a prescriptive liturgy and also in that it has a Presbyterian rather than Episcopalian form of church governance. Presbyterian church government was guaranteed by the Act of Union in 1707. The Scots are proud of the fact that the Scottish Reformation took place at a grassroots level, unlike the English experience, where the reformation, at least in its first thrust under Henry VIII, was a politically motivated top-down reform. The Scottish Reformation, initiated in 1560 and led by John Knox, was Calvinist, and throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Church of Scotland maintained a strict theology and kept a tight control over the morality of the population. The Church had an overwhelming influence on the cultural development of Scotland in early modern times. Because Calvinism does not adhere to the Liturgical Year, for example, Christmas was not widely celebrated in Scotland until the mid-20th century. The intellectual nature of Calvinism contributed greatly to the predominance of Scottish thinkers in the age of Enlightenment (see Scottish Enlightenment), but the Church's distrust of the sensual is seen as the reason why Scotland contributed little to classical music and art before the 19th century. Since the mid-19th century, however, the Church of Scotland has developed into a generally tolerant and heterogenous church with an interest in ecumenism. A number of other Christian denominations exist in Scotland, foremost amongst them Roman Catholicism, which survived the reformation especially on islands like Uist and Barra despite the suppression of the 16th to late 18th centuries, and was strengthened in the 19th century by immigration from Ireland. It has now become the largest Christian denomination after the Church of Scotland, and is strongest in the West of Scotland (although roadside shrines can be seen in the South Isles of the Outer Hebrides, similar to those in Ireland). Much of Scotland (particularly the West Central Belt around Glasgow) has experienced problems caused by the religious divide between Presbyterians and Roman Catholics. Some Scots maintain that sectarianism is still deeply rooted in Scottish society. This problem has historically manifested itself in a number of ways, particularly in discrimination in employment and in football fanaticism. The problems associated with sectarianism in Scotland have diminished markedly in recent years, although some issues remain. The Scottish police have recently moved to restrict the number of Orange Order parades and the state funding of separate Roman Catholic primary and secondary schools remains a controversial issue. As well as the Church of Scotland there are various other Protestant churches, including the Scottish Episcopal Church, which forms a full part of the Anglican Communion, and the Free Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian off-shoot from the Church of Scotland adhering to a more conservative style of Calvinism. Islam is the largest non-Christian religion in Scotland, although its numbers remain small. There are also significant Jewish (though higher in past decades) and Sikh communities, especially in Glasgow (Nancy Morris is Scotland's first woman rabbi). Scotland has a high proportion of persons who regard themselves as belonging to 'no religion'. Indeed, this was the second most common response in the 2001 census.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Scotland Most Scottish industry and commerce is concentrated in a few large cities on the waterways of the central lowlands. Edinburgh, on the Firth of Forth, is a cultural centre, the capital of Scotland, and one of the top financial centres in Europe. Glasgow, one of the largest cities in the UK, lies on the River Clyde; it is Scotland's leading seaport and today is the fourth largest manufacturing centre in the UK, accounting for well over 60% of Scotland's manufactured exports, with particular strengths in shipbuilding, engineering, food and drink, printing, publishing, clothing and textiles as well as new growth sectors such as software development and biotechnology. The dominant sector of Glasgow's economy is the service sector industries such as finance and banking, public administration, education, healthcare, and tourism. Glasgow is one of Europe's top 20 financial centres and is home to many of Britain's leading businesses. Glasgow also has the UK's largest and most economically important commerce and retail district. Although heavy industry has declined, the high-technology Silicon Glen corridor has developed between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Tourism is also very important. The significance of coal, once Scotland's most important mineral resource, has declined. Oil, however, gained prominence in Scotland's economy during the 1970s, with the growth of North Sea oil extraction companies. Natural gas is also abundant in the North Sea fields. Aberdeen is the centre of the oil industry. Scotland is a net exporter of energy to the rest of the UK, with abundant electricity generation capacity. Other important industries are textile production (woollens, worsteds, silks, and linens), distilling, and fishing. Textiles, beer, and whisky, which are among Scotland's chief exports, are produced in many towns. Salmon are taken from the Tay and the Dee, and numerous coastal towns and villages are supported by fishing from the North Sea. Only about one quarter of the land is under cultivation (principally in cereals and vegetables), but sheep raising is important in the less arable mountainous regions. Because of the persistence of feudalism and the land enclosures of the 19th cent. (see History, below), the ownership of most land in Scotland is concentrated in relatively few hands (some 350 people own about half the land). In 2003, as a result, the Scottish Parliament passed a land reform act that empowered tenant farmers and communities to purchase land even if the landlord did not want to sell.

National symbols

- The Flag of Scotland dates from the 9th century making it one of the oldest flags in the world. It now forms part of the Union Flag, the national flag of the United Kingdom. However the Flag of Scotland, known as the Saltire or St Andrew's Cross can be found flying all over Scotland.
- The Royal Standard of Scotland, a banner showing the old royal arms of the Kings of Scotland is also frequently to be seen, particuarly at sporting events involving a Scottish team. Often called the lion rampant (after its chief heraldic device), it is the property of the Queen and its use by anybody else is technically illegal. The banner is flown from Holyrood Palace and Balmoral Castle when the Queen is not in residence.
- The unicorn is also used as a symbol of Scotland. The Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland, used prior to 1603 by the Kings of Scotland, incorporated a lion rampant shield supported by two unicorns. On the union of the crowns, the Arms were quartered with those of England and Ireland, and one unicorn was replaced by a lion (the supporters of England).
- The thistle, the national flower of Scotland, features in many Scottish symbols and logos, and UK currency. According to one common legend, a Danish attacker stepped on one at night, so alerting the defenders of a Scottish castle; hence it is called the "guardian thistle".
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University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is one of the ancient universities of Scotland and is amongst the largest and most prestigious in the United Kingdom.
History
The founding of the University is attributed to Bishop Robert Reid of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, who left the funds on his death in 1558 that ultimately provided the endowment for the University of Edinburgh. The University was established by a Royal Charter granted by James VI in 1582. This was an unusual move at the time, as most universities were established through Papal bulls. What makes the University of Edinburgh even more unusual is the fact that its funding came the following year from the Town Council, making it in many ways the first civic university, known as the "Tounis College". It became the fourth Scottish university in a period when the much more populous and richer England had only two. By the 18th century Edinburgh was a leading centre of the European Enlightenment and became one of the continent's principal universities. Papal bull building, home of its Law School]] Papal bull Before the building of Old College to plans by Robert Adam implemented after the Napoleonic Wars by the architect William Henry Playfair, the University of Edinburgh did not enjoy a custom built campus and existed in a hotchpotch of buildings from its establishment until the early 19th Century. The university's first custom built building was the magnificent Old College, now the School of Law, situated on South Bridge. Its first forte in teaching was anatomy and the developing science of surgery, from which it expanded into many other subjects. From the basement of a nearby house ran the anatomy tunnel corridor. It went under what was then North College Street (now Chambers Street), and under the University buildings until it reached the University's anatomy lecture theatre, delivering bodies for dissection. It was from this tunnel that the body of William Burke was taken after he had been hanged. Towards the end of the 19th century, Old College was becoming too cramped and so Robert Rowand Anderson was commissioned to design a new Medical School premise in 1875. The medical school was more or less built to his design and was completed by the addition of the awe inspiring McEwan Hall in the 1880s. The building now known as New College was originally built as a Free Church college in the 1840s and has been the home of Divinity at the University since the 1920s. In addition, the University is responsible for a number of historic and modern buildings across the City, including the oldest purpose-built concert hall in Scotland, and the second oldest in use in the British Isles, St Cecilia's Concert Hall; Teviot Row House, which is the oldest purpose built Student Union Building in the world; and the handsomely restored 17th-century Mylne's Court student residence which stands at the head of Edinburgh's Royal Mile. Edinburgh's Library pre-dates its University by three years. Founded in 1580, its collection has grown to become the largest university library in Scotland with over 2 million periodicals, manuscripts, theses, microforms and printed works. These are housed in the main University Library building in George Square - one of the largest academic library buildings in Europe, designed by Basil Spence - and an extensive series of Faculty and Departmental Libraries. The two oldest Schools - Law and Divinity - are both well-esteemed in their respective subjects, with Law being based in Old College, and Divinity being based in New College, on the Mound, just in front of the temporary home of the Scottish Parliament. Students at the university are represented by the Edinburgh University Students' Association, EUSA, comprising Edinburgh University Union (EUU) which was founded in 1889 and the Student Representative Council (SRC), founded in 1884 by Robert Fitzroy Bell. Edinburgh University also boasts a student newspaper (Student) founded by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1887. In 2002 the University was re-organised from its 9 academic faculties into three 'Colleges'. While technically not a collegiate university, it now comprised of the Colleges of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Science & Engineering (SCE) and Medicine & Vet Medicine (MVM). Within these Colleges are 'Schools' - roughly equivalent to the departments they succeeded. (However, it is notable that individual Schools have a good degree of autonomy regarding their finances and internal organisation) This has brought a certain degree of uniformity (in terms of administration at least) across the University. Along similar lines, all teaching is now done over two semesters (rather than 3 terms) - bringing the timetables of different Schools into line with one another, and coming in to line with many other large universities. (notably in the US, but to an increasing degree in the UK as well)
Present
The University of Edinburgh is a member of the Russell Group of large, research-led British universities. It is also the only Scottish university (and the only British university apart from Oxford and Cambridge) to be a member of both the Coimbra Group and the LERU: two associations of leading European universities. The university is a member of Universitas 21, an international association of research-driven universities. The Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings 2005 placed Edinburgh at 30th overall in the world, and 16th in biomedicine, 27th in the arts, and 38th science. In another ranking compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Edinburgh was placed ninth in Europe and 47th worldwide. The latest university ranking of around 120 British institutions (published by the Times newspaper in 2005) ranks Edinburgh the fifth best university in Britain. In 2005, it has been named Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year. The University's School of Management is also making strides in recent years, having been ranked 25th, 27th and 30th in the world in the last three international rankings of MBA programs by the Economist. The management school also offers the hugely successful MSc. in Finance and Investment which began in the 2004 academic year. Edinburgh has the third largest financial endowment among UK universities at £160m, according to the Sutton Trust (2002). It is also the third largest endowment per student.
Location
Edinburgh is one of the greenest and most architecturally beautiful cities in Europe often referred to as the "Athens of the North". The University plays an integral role in the city, contributing to its vibrant atmosphere. However, as well as the architectural gems cited above, it has contributed several of the most ugly buildings in the city. These include the Appleton Tower and the University Library (at George Square) and the Darwin building (at the south Edinburgh King's Buildings site). With the expansion in topics of study the university has expanded its campuses such that it now has seven main sites:
- The Chancellor's Building was opened on 12th August 2002 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and houses the new £40 million Medical School at the New Royal Infirmary in Little France. It was a joint project between private finance, the local authorities and the University to create a large modern hospital, veterinary clinic and research institute and thus the University is currently (2003) in the process of moving its Veterinary and Medical Faculties there (and quite possibly also the School of Nursing). It has two large lecture theatres and a medical library. It is connected to the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by a series of corridors.
- George Square and surrounding streets in the southern central area of the city is the oldest region, occupied primarily by the schools of art, social science, medicine and law, as well as the main university library. It is also used for teaching first year undergraduates in science and engineering. Nearby are the main EUSA buildings of Potterrow, Teviot Row House (the oldest custom-built students union in the country) and the Pleasance Societies Centre. Old residents of George Square include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
- The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at Summerhall, at the East end of The Meadows. This houses Veterinary Medicine.
- The King's Buildings, further south, houses most of the Science and Engineering schools including a Biology School that is a world leader in genetics. The Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) and British Geological Survey (BGS) also have a presence on campus.
- New College, on the Mound, which houses the School of Divinity parts of which are also used by the Church of Scotland.
- Moray House School of Education just off the Royal Mile, used to be the Moray House Institute for Education until that was acquired by the University in 1998. The University has since extended it and agglomerated it with its own Sports Institute along with a large new building to house the expanding Institutes. The Moray House campus is being amalgamated with the George Square campus through simple ownership of much of the intervening land.
- Pollock Halls, adjoining Holyrood Park to the east, provides accommodation (mainly half board) for the majority of students in their first year. Two of the older houses in Pollock Halls were demolished in 2002 and a new building has been built in their place, leaving a total of ten buildings. Most other students in the city live in private flats in the Marchmont, Newington, Bruntsfield, New Town and Leith areas, although some university-owned flats are also available there.
Alumni and faculty
The University has many famous alumni, including:
Politics

- Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Robin Cook, Foreign Secretary
- Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport
- Lord Melville, statesman
- Lord Robert Finlay, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain
- Jennie Lee, Minister for the Arts and founder of the Open University
- Lord MacKay, Lord Chancellor
- David McLetchie, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party
- Lord Petty-Fitzmaurice, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Malcolm Rifkind, Foreign Secretary
- Lord John Russell, Prime Minister
- David Steel, leader of the Liberal Party and first Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
- Jim Wallace, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Deputy First Minister
- Charles Tupper, Prime Minister of Canada
- Ike Skelton, U.S. congressman from Missouri
- Mike Synar, U.S. congressman from Oklahoma
- John Witherspoon, signatory, American Declaration of Independence
- Benjamin Rush, signatory, American Declaration of Independence
- Julius Nyerere, first President of Tanzania
- Yun Po Sun, President of South Korea
- Hastings Banda, President of Malawi
Sciences

- Sir Michael Atiyah, mathematician
- Charles Glover Barkla, Nobel laureate in Physics
- Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone
- Joseph Bell, medic
- Joseph Black, physicist and chemist
-