Scotland

Scotland is a part of the United Kingdom and it’s situated in the North of the main British island and includes the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and other smaller islands. It’s a beautiful place surrounded by the North sea and the Atlantic Ocean. There are a lot of hills, moors, rivers, forests, lakes and mountains.
Scotland’s history is very long and it goes back to prehistoric times. The first people who lived in Scotland were Celts, later Roman came and they called Scotland Caledonia.
Today this country has its own parliament, legal system and education system. Scottish have got their own money and their own Celtic language called Gaelic.
The cultural center of Scotland is Edinburgh, its capital city. It isn’t a big city, only 500 thousand people live there. There are many interesting and famous places in Edinburgh, for example Edinburgh Castle, which is home to the Scottish Crown Jewels. There is a National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is famous all over world for it’s arts festivals. There is an Official Festival for theatre, opera and classical music, and unofficial, but the most popular festival, where you can see plays, concerts, dance performances and films. Finally, there is the Military Tattoo, a parade, held in Edinburgh Castle.
One of the most characteristic things about Scots is their national garment called “tartan kilt”. That is a woolen, checked short skirt worn by men.
Scotland like other countries has its own traditions. And for example 25 January Scotland celebrate Burns Night. Robert Burns is Scotland’s national poet and Scots have a big dinner every year to celebrate his birthday. The dinner begins with the sound of bagpipes and the ‘haggis’. The bagpipes its characteristic Scottish instrument and the haggis is Scotland’s national dish, a kind of sausage made from the heart and other organs of a sheep. Then everyone reads poems and sings songs written by Robert Burns. Other popular Scottish writer is sir Walter Scott.
In Scotland, there is a popular legend about a monster. The monster lives in a lake called Loch Ness, near the town of Inverness. Loch Ness is 32 km long, 5 km wide and very, very deep. The monster’s name is Nessie. People say that she is very big, and that she has got a long neck, like a snake. But does Nessie really exist? Some people say yes, some say no. Scientists are exploring the lake with cameras and sound equipment. Sometimes they see something and sometimes they hear something, but they do not understand the mystery of Loch Ness. The legend of the monster is very famous, and millions of tourists from all over the world come to Loch Ness. Everybody wants to be the first person to see Nessie.