The Hitchhiker's Guide to Scotland

Believe it or not, Scotland is a country in North-Western Europe, occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Scotland is part of the United Kingdom.

The climate of Scotland is temperate and oceanic, and tends to be very changeable. In other words, during the most of the year, the weather is unbearably cold and rainy. In some regions however, Scotland has a similar climate to the Arctic Circle.

There are three officially recognized languages in Scotland: English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic (a language which is completely different from English). Scottish people tend to speak with very strong Scots accent which can be difficult to understand even for a person who speaks English language.

In 1999 Her Majesty The Queen opened the Scottish Parliament, the first Scottish Parliament in more than 300 years. The Parliament is has 129 members and it is situated in Edinburgh.

It is estimated that only 5 million of people live in Scotland, which constitutes about 8.5% UK’s population.

The land area in Scotland is more or less of the size of Hokkaido Island, this Japanese island has also similar climate conditions and population to Scotland.

There’s little known about people of that great country. Scot people are said to have very deep pockets and very short hands. Men wear quilts and pronounce “R” in a very unique way, impossible to imitate by anyone else in the world.

One of the most “infamous” Scottish dish is haggis. It consists of a sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours.

A “fried Mars bar” is considered to be another bizarre Scottish dish, normally fried in a type of batter commonly used for deep frying fish, sausages, and other battered products, although a coconut batter is also used. The Mars Bar is typically chilled before use to prevent it from melting into the frying fat, though a cold Mars Bar can fracture when heated.

Deep-fried pizza – one of the weirdest things to eat in Scotland, a ready cooked pizza is bent in half (so the topping stays inside) and put it into boiling oil. Delllicious!

Edinburgh was the first city in the world with its own fire-brigade.

Scottish waters have some of Europe's largest oil reserve.

As per the census conducted in 1909, the Scots were the tallest race in Europe. But due to the World War I, the average height of the men in Scotland fell by 9 inches in 1930.

The law in Scotland is very unique as it allows three verdicts in criminal cases including a ‘not proven’ verdict.

The Scots have a better way of life than the rest of the UK, because they are all subsidized by the English taxpayer.

Antonine's wall and Hadrian's wall were both built by the Romans, at different stages of their occupation of the rest of Britain, to keep the Scots at bay