Download geography of Scotland

The geography of Scotland
is highly varied, from rural
lowlands to barren uplands,
and from large cities to
uninhabited islands. Located
in north-west Europe,
Scotland comprises the
northern one third of the island
of Great Britain and over 790
surrounding islands and
archipelagoes.
The topography of Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary
Fault – a geological rock fracture – which traverses the Scottish mainland
from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. The faultline separates two distinctively
different physiographic regions; namely the Highlands to the north and
west and the lowlands to the south and east. The more rugged Highland
region contains the majority of Scotland's mountainous terrain, including
the highest peak,
Ben Nevis.
Lowland areas, in the southern
part of Scotland, are flatter and
home to most of the population,
especially the narrow waist of
land between the Firth (устье
реки) of Clyde and the Firth of
Forth known as the Central Belt.
Glasgow is the largest city in
Scotland, although Edinburgh is
the capital and political centre of
the country.
Ben Macdui
and
Braeriach
are, respectively, the
second and third tallest
peaks in Scotland.
Southern Uplands
The southern 20% or so of the country makes up the
Southern Uplands, a pastoral upland area characterised by
lines of hills divided by broad valleys.
The Pentland Hills and the Lammermuir Hills are several of
the local ranges which make up the Southern Uplands. In
addition to the main upland zones in southern Scotland there
are many individual hills, not part of any range. Several of
these elevations are volcanic in origin.
Central Lowlands
The Central Lowlands can be thought of, very
roughly, as the next 20% of the country as you
progress north from the English Border and
include the Forth-Clyde valley.
Highlands
By far the largest zone, the Highlands comprises the
north western 60% of Scotland. Technically this
includes everywhere north and west of the Highland
Boundary Fault. Scotland's third largest city,
Aberdeen, lies just to the north of the Highland
Boundary Fault, but like the fertile plains of eastern
Aberdeenshire it has more in common with the
Central Lowlands than with the rest of the Highlands.
Mainland Scotland
has 9, 911 km (6,158
miles) of coastline.
Including the
numerous islands,
this increases to
some 16, 490 km
(10,246 miles). The
west coast in
particular is heavily
indented, with long
promontories (мыс)
separated by fjordlike
sea lochs. The east
coast is more regular,
with a series of large
estuarine inlets, or
firths, and long sandy
beaches, for example
at Aberdeen.
Hebrides
Scotland has some 790 islands, most of which
are located off the northern and western coast
of the country. The northern and western
islands of Scotland can be found in three main
groups: Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides
which can be divided into the Inner Hebrides
and the Outer Hebrides. Shetland and Orkney,
together with Fair Isle and Stroma are referred
to as the Northern Isles.
Tay River
The ten major rivers of Scotland, in order
of length, are:
River Tay 193 km (120 miles)
River Spey 172 km (107 miles)
River Clyde 171 km (106 miles)
River Tweed 156 km (97 miles)
River Dee 137 km (85 miles)
River Don 132 km (82 miles)
River Forth 105 km (65 miles)
River Findhorn 101 km (63 miles)
River Deveron 98 km (61 miles)
River Annan 79 km (49 miles)
Freshwater bodies in Scotland are known
as lochs, with the exception of the
Lake of Menteith and one or two manmade "lakes". 90% of the standing
fresh water volume of Great Britain
lies within Scotland.
Lake of Menteith