Scotland

Scotland is a region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Like its regional counterparts, Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland has its own devolved government for regional affairs, although is still dependent on central government in London for national laws and is represented in the United Kingdom Parliament by 59 members of parliament.

Scotland is located in the northern most part of the UK and borders with England. The capital city of the region is Edinburgh. Other main cities include Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness. A native of the region is known as a Scot, and the adjective is 'scottish', or 'scotch' in some cases

Although not an independent country, Scotland does qualify as a 'nation' in many major sports competitions, especially in football and rugby, and has its own team. In other sports, such as athletics, swimming and Olympic sports, the team is Great Britain (GB) or UK. Although there is no official national anthem of Scotland, Flower of Scotland is played and sung at sporting events and on other special occasions.

The patron saint of Scotland is St. Andrew, celebrated on 30 November, and is also a national holiday. Burns' Night, 25 January is also a traditional Scottish celebration, celebrated also outside the region.

Sporting events

 * 1978 World Cup - Scotland took part whereas England did not qualify