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Frequently asked questions

Introduction

Issues relating to the geography and politics of the United Kingdom and nearby territories can be surprisingly complex and controversial, and the subjects raised in this FAQ regarding the Scotland article are best understood in this context. We aim to be enyclopaedic and neutral. We also recognise that reconciling diverse views can be hard work as common phrases are sometimes interpreted in different ways in different cultures. We ask that editors new to this page read the following with an open mind. Where necessary, please research the facts rather than simply jumping to conclusions based on what you "know to be true".

Lead section

Q1: Is Scotland a "country"?

A1: Numerous reliable sources support the view that Scotland is a country—see for example the article entitled Countries of the United Kingdom, and a table of references at Talk:Countries of the United Kingdom/refs. This view is shared with other reputable encyclopedias. There has been a long-standing consensus to describe Scotland in this way.

This is one of the most frequent questions raised by visitors to this talk page. However, in the absence of a formal British constitution, and owing to a convoluted history of the formation of the United Kingdom, a variety of terms exist which are used to refer to Scotland,^[1] England, Northern Ireland, Wales and the UK itself. Reliable and official sources support use of the word "countries", and this term has broadly won preference amongst the editing community. Note however, that a country is not the same as a "sovereign state", and that "constituent country" is also used in other parts of Wikipedia. The community endeavours to achieve an atmosphere of neutrality, compromise, and camaraderie on this issue.

Q2: Why don't we refer to Scotland as a "nation"?

A2: Widespread confusion surrounds the use of the word "nation". In standard British English, and in academic language, a nation is defined as a social group and not a division of land. This is also the approach taken in the article entitled nation, across Wikipedia and in other major encyclopedias (for example, the Scottish people and the Québécois are described as "nations"). The term Home Nations is generally used only in sporting contexts. It is not used in major reputable sources outside of sport.

Infobox-related issues

Q3: Why are two flags used?

A3: There have been extremely complex discussion about these matters. The Royal Standard of Scotland (commonly referred to as the "Lion Rampant") was used by the King of Scots until 1603. Today, its correct use is restricted to official representatives of The Monarch.^[2] The blue and white Saltire is the flag of Scotland and is widely used by national and local government offices and in numerous other less official capacities. As with other issues described here this outcome is to some extent a compromise solution that seems to suit all parties in that it identifies symbols of Scotland as an entity in its own right, whilst also emphasising the importance of the relationship with the United Kingdom.

Q4: Isn't Flower of Scotland the national anthem?

A4: There is no official Scottish national anthem. Although there is no doubt that Flower of Scotland is currently amongst the most popular unofficial national anthems in Scotland, it is not the only one, nor even the longest established.

Q5: What is the reference to the "Scots language" about?

A5: Scots is spoken by 30% of the Scottish population (approximately 1.5 million individuals) according to the 1996 estimate of the General Register Office for Scotland.^[3] It is recognised by the European Union's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.^[4] By contrast, Scottish English is a variation of standard British English. Whilst the distinction is by no means clear cut, Wikipedia policy permits the use of Scottish English words and phrases where appropriate. Scots, on the other hand, has its own site: see the Scots Wikipedia.

Q6: Wasn't Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom the first Queen Elizabeth to reign over Scotland?

A6: Yes, but "Elizabeth II" is her legal title, as resolved in Scots law in the legal action entitled MacCormick v. Lord Advocate.

Related issues

Q7: What is the difference between "Great Britain" and the "United Kingdom"?

A7: See the article entitled "Terminology of the British Isles". Great Britain is the name of the largest island that the UK encompasses, and is not generally used in source material as the name of the sovereign state.

Q8: Isn't Northern Ireland a province, and Wales a principality?

A8: This view is supported by some sources, but the current consensus amongst the editing community is aligned to a greater body of work which describes both Northern Ireland and Wales as countries. However, the terms are not all mutually exclusive: a country can also be a principality or a province, and these terms are mentioned throughout Wikipedia as alternative names in afternotes.

References

^ Scottish Parliament. "Your Scotland questions; Is Scotland a country?". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 2008-08-01. As the UK has no written constitution in the usual sense, constitutional terminology is fraught with difficulties of interpretation and it is common usage nowadays to describe the four constituent parts of the UK (Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland) as 'countries'.
^ The "Lion Rampant" Flag The Court of the Lord Lyon. Retrieved on 10 October 2008.
^ "Scotland's Languages" University of Glasgow. Retrieved 7 December 2008. The proportion is said to rise to 90% in the North East.
^ Both Scots and Scottish Gaelic are officially recognised as autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. See "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages" Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 September 2007.

This article is written in Scottish English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, realise, travelled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Scotland was one of the Geography and places good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
April 14, 2006	Good article nominee	Listed
August 12, 2006	Peer review	Reviewed
December 29, 2006	Good article reassessment	Kept
May 12, 2007	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
October 2, 2007	Good article reassessment	Kept
January 25, 2008	Peer review	Reviewed
January 13, 2009	Good article reassessment	Kept
January 9, 2019	Good article reassessment	Delisted
Current status: Delisted good article

Scotland Top‑importance

	Scotland portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Scotland, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Scotland and Scotland-related topics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ScotlandWikipedia:WikiProject ScotlandTemplate:WikiProject ScotlandScotland
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Celts Top‑importance

	Scotland is within the scope of WikiProject Celts, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of the ancient Celts and the modern day Celtic nations. If you would like to participate, you can edit this article or you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks or take part in the discussion. Please Join, Create, and Assess.CeltsWikipedia:WikiProject CeltsTemplate:WikiProject CeltsCelts
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

United Kingdom Top‑importance

	United Kingdom portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United Kingdom, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the United Kingdom on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.United KingdomWikipedia:WikiProject United KingdomTemplate:WikiProject United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

UK geography Top‑importance

	United Kingdom portal This article falls within the scope of WikiProject UK geography, a user-group dedicated to building a comprehensive and quality guide to places in the United Kingdom on Wikipedia. If you wish to participate, share ideas or merely get tips you can join us at the project page where there are resources, to do lists and guidelines on how to write about settlements.UK geographyWikipedia:WikiProject UK geographyTemplate:WikiProject UK geographyUK geography
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Countries

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Countries, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of countries on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CountriesWikipedia:WikiProject CountriesTemplate:WikiProject Countriescountry

WikiProject Countries to-do list:

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Article requests : Check out the article alerts; see if anything catches your fancy.
Cleanup : clean-up listing for Countries
Stubs : de-stub articles in Category:Stubs by region.
Other : add {{WPCountries}} to talk pages of related articles, and assess.

	Scotland notice board
	Regional Notice Boards

Audio Track Doesn’t Say “Scotland”

Yeah, I'm really confused isn't the audio track in the header of this article, supposed to be a pronunciation guide for the word "Scotland"? But for some reason it says "Uhvupa". Am I missing something or do we need to re-record it? DSQ (talk) 11:18, 15 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The audio is for "Alba", not "Scotland". JaggedHamster (talk) 11:36, 15 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Is it? Because that's not how you pronounce the word Alba, that would be "Al-ah-ba" or "Al-ah-pa".

Even if it was the correct pronunciation, which it definitely is not, the audio file link should not be next to the word "Scotland" surely? It should be moved to be next to the word Alba.

Because the file is in the header multiple non English Wikipedia pages used this audio file as an example of how to say the word Scotland. That's how I discovered it by finding it on the Japanese language Wikipedia page スコットランド. DSQ (talk) 18:55, 17 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It does sound like it's supposed to say Alba, but it is a shocking rendition. Catfish Jim and the soapdish 19:04, 17 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Okay it’s good to know it’s not just me! Would anyone be opposed to my changing it? DSQ (talk) 08:23, 19 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Go for it. I definitely wasn't claiming it was a good pronunciation of Alba, just explaining the confusion. JaggedHamster (talk) 08:29, 19 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Neither the sound file nor the IPA seem to be present in the current version, presumbaly swept away in the to-ing and fro-ing of the last few weeks.

If I understand that your intention is to produce a new sound file of the pronunciation of Alba, how is your Gaelic? Mutt Lunker (talk) 11:54, 19 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

...had missed from the above that you're aware it's not as someone uninformed might render it from English language spelling conventions. Out of idle curiosity I did a web search for pronunciation examples and there are some shockers. Mutt Lunker (talk) 12:03, 19 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It wasn't my intention to record a new version unfortunately as I think my accent isn't ready to represent our country just yet. I just felt it was imperative that the recording be removed. DSQ (talk) 01:13, 14 June 2024 (UTC) DSQ (talk) 01:13, 14 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yes 2A00:20:404C:6EC2:B7B9:1712:1A2B:E340 (talk) 14:16, 11 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 5 July 2024

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Change the Secretary of State from Alister Jack to Ian Murray Wardenofsomething (talk) 23:20, 5 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done Jamedeus (talk) 06:22, 8 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Constituent country

I personally think the first line "Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom." should be changed to "Scotland is a constituent country that is part of the United Kingdom". I understand that a constituent country is just a type of country, although when someone hears the word country they wouldn't think of a constituent country. I do think that the first line of the article is linked well considering "country" leads to the actual page of the constituent countries that make up the United Kingdom, although I think it'd be better to call Scotland a constituent country, as not only is it more specific but it is also the correct name that it should be given.

Scotland shouldn't be called just a country, as it is already part of a country (United Kingdom). To any typical person it wouldn't make much sense for four countries to be part of one country, that'd more be a continent.

It doesn't hurt anyone to call it a constituent country as it doesn't change the meaning of the first line, nor does it change the truth, rather, it's even more correct, stating the type of country Scotland actually is.

Wordings like these tend to lead people to mistakes, causing many people to just call nations such as Scotland "a country inside a country" without actually knowing the difference between the status of Scotland and the status of another country such as Russia. They are not the same thing, so they shouldn't be called the same thing.

Thank you, Setergh (talk) 16:35, 25 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This is all covered by the first item in the FAQ on this page. JaggedHamster (talk) 19:28, 25 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

CoA of Scotland

Is that the coat of arms of Scotland, or the coat of arms of the United Kingdom in Scotland? Pur 0 0 (talk) 17:05, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

They're the arms of dominion of the King in right of Scotland. Dgp4004 (talk) 17:45, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

But wouldn't using this for Scotland be an equivalent of using the CoA used by the rest of UK for Northern Ireland? Pur 0 0 (talk) 15:48, 2 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I think the difference is that these arms are specific to Scotland. Dgp4004 (talk) 19:35, 2 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Union of the Crowns

The Union of the Crowns regards the accession of an individual to the throne of two kingdoms, not the union of two kingdoms. Mutt Lunker (talk) 00:02, 12 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

[IsScotland?-1] Scottish Parliament. "Your Scotland questions; Is Scotland a country?". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 2008-08-01. As the UK has no written constitution in the usual sense, constitutional terminology is fraught with difficulties of interpretation and it is common usage nowadays to describe the four constituent parts of the UK (Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland) as 'countries'.

[2] The "Lion Rampant" Flag The Court of the Lord Lyon. Retrieved on 10 October 2008.

[3] "Scotland's Languages" University of Glasgow. Retrieved 7 December 2008. The proportion is said to rise to 90% in the North East.

[4] Both Scots and Scottish Gaelic are officially recognised as autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. See "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages" Scottish Government. Retrieved 27 September 2007.

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