1. The official animal of Scotland is the Unicorn.

1. The official animal of Scotland is the Unicorn.

2. The shortest scheduled flight in the world is one-and-a-half miles long from Westray to Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The journey takes 1 minute 14 seconds to complete.

3. Scotland has approximately 790 islands, 130 of which are inhabited.

4. The Neolithic settlement of Skara Brae (pictured below), on the island of Orkney, is the oldest building in Britain, dating from 3100 BC.

5. The Hamilton Mausoleum in South Lanarkshire has the longest echo of any man-made structure in the world; a whole 15 seconds.

6. Scotland has more than 600 square miles of freshwater lakes, including the famous Loch Ness.

7. The capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, is only its second largest city, after Glasgow.

8. Edinburgh was the first city in the world which had its own fire brigade.

9. Like Rome, Edinburgh (pictured below) was built on seven hills and the capital has more listed buildings than anywhere in the world.

10. Scotland had its own monarch until 1603. After Elizabeth I died, James VI of Scotland also became James I of England, ruling both countries.
11. St Andrews Links is considered the "home of golf"; the sport has been played there since the 15th century.

12. Queen Victoria is reputed to have smoked cigarettes during her visits to the Highlands of Scotland to keep away midges.

13.Edinburgh was home to Skye terrier Grey Friar’s Bobby, who captured the hearts of the nation by sitting on the grave of his dead owner for 14 years.
14.Scotland is currently the second largest country in the UK, after England.

15. The highest point in Scotland is Ben Nevis, (pictured below) at 4,406ft (1343m)

16.The motto of Scotland is “Nemo me impune lacessit”, or: "No one provokes me with impunity". It is used by the Order of the Thistle and on later versions of the Royal coat of arms.

17. The country is a favourite with the Royal family, who holiday at Balmoral castle in Royal Deeside.

18. In the north east of the country, girls are called “quines” and boys “louns”.

19. The very first recorded appearance of the elusive Loch Ness Monster occurred in 565 AD, when a " water beast " attacked one of St. Columba's followers in the loch. '''

20. Scottish city Aberdeen is known as Europe’s oil capital, or the “Granite City”.

21. The deepest loch in Scotland, Loch Morar, reaches 1,077ft (328m) down and is ranked the seventeenth deepest lake in the world.

22. Scotland’s smallest distillery, Edradour in Pitlochry, has 100,000 visitors per year but produces just 90,000 litres of malt whisky.

23. It is home to the oldest tree in Europe (pictured below), a twisted yew which has stood in Fortingall for 3,000 years. According to local legend, Pontius Pilate was born in its shade and played there as a child

24. The raincoat was invented in1824 in Scotland by Charles Macintosh, a chemist born in Glasgow. In Great Britain, the garment is still called a “Mac”.

25. The official religion of Scotland is Christianity, with churches traditionally being called “kirks”.

26. Scotland gained independence in 1314, after Robert the Bruce (pictured below) defeated the English army at the Battle of Bannockburn.

27. The Kingdom of Scotland remained as an independent state until 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union joined it with England, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

28. Since July 1, 1999, Scotland has its own parliament, for the first time since 1707.

29. The country has an area of 30,414 square miles (78,772 km²)

30. The total population is around 5.2 million, around 8.5 per cent of the UK’s population.