Wikipedia

Portal:Edinburgh

Portal topics
Activities
Culture
Geography
Health
History
Mathematics
Nature
People
Philosophy
Religion
Society
Technology
Random portal

The Edinburgh Portal
Welcome! — Fàilte! — Walcome!

Shortcuts
Scott Monument

Edinburgh (/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ ⓘ, ED-in-bər-ə; Scots: [ˈɛdɪnbʌrə]; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann [t̪un ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ]) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth estuary and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in mid-2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year.

Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, the highest courts in Scotland, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. It is also the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scottish law, literature, philosophy, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of three in the city, is considered one of the best research institutions in the world. The financial centre of Scotland, Edinburgh is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth largest in Europe, and the thirteenth largest internationally.

The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th/19th centuries. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the UK's second-most visited tourist destination, attracting 4.9 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas in 2018. (Full article...)

Read more...

Selected location article

The main lawn of Dean Gardens in February 2009

The Dean Gardens (previously known as Eton Terrace Gardens) are private communal gardens near the Stockbridge suburb of the New Town area of Edinburgh, EH4. The gardens lie over a 2.9 hectares (7.2 acres) sized site on the steep north bank of the Dean Valley through which runs the Water of Leith. A public view of the gardens can be seen from the Dean Bridge, under which the gardens lie. The gardens have been listed on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes as part of the New Town Gardens heritage designation since March 2001. (Full article...)

Selected images

Selected transportation article

Since 1999 the percentage of all trips in Edinburgh made by bicycle has risen by an eighth, however travelling by bicycle still accounts for less than 2% of all trips taken by Edinburgh residents, with bicycle use lower than in many other European cities such as Amsterdam or Paris. Like most cities cycling is seen as a clean, environmentally friendly method of transportation, which needs little space, the provision of few, inexpensive facilities as well as a means of attempting to cut down on traffic congestion.

At present there are around 75 km of off-road cycleways in the Edinburgh area, with a similar length on on-road cycleways in the city. Greenways, which are the car-free bus corridors on the main radial routes into the city centre double up as cycle lanes. (Full article...)

Selected area article

Forrester is a primarily residential area of Corstorphine, Edinburgh which has its own high school and rugby club. The closest railway stations are at South Gyle and Edinburgh Park, but it is itself wedged between the two railway lines. It is not to be confused with "Forrester Road", which is on the other side of Corstorphine on the slopes of Corstophine Hill. It is named for the Forrester Family, who used to be the lairds of Corstorphine.

The area is featured in the novel Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. (Full article...)

Selected environment article

A view of Calton Hill with some of its many monuments, seen from the Salisbury Crags

Calton Hill (/ˈkɔːltən/; Scottish Gaelic: Cnoc Coilltinn) is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the city.

Calton Hill is the headquarters of the Scottish Government, which is based at St Andrew's House, on the steep southern slope of the hill. The Scottish Parliament Building and other prominent buildings such as Holyrood Palace lie near the foot of the hill. Calton Hill is also the location of several monuments and buildings: the National Monument, the Nelson Monument, the Dugald Stewart Monument, the old Royal High School, the Robert Burns Monument, the Political Martyrs' Monument and the City Observatory. (Full article...)

Did you know?

Selected arts article

Performing Mahler in Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh

The Edinburgh University Music Society (EUMS) is a student-run musical organisation based in Edinburgh. Since its founding in 1867, the EUMS has been based within the University of Edinburgh.

The society performs in three concert series throughout the year whilst also undertaking a programme of charity events and education projects. (Full article...)

Selected education article

Edinburgh Napier University (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Napier Dhùn Èideann) is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napier. The technical college was inaugurated as a university in 1992 by Lord Douglas-Hamilton, becoming Napier University. In 2009, the university was renamed Edinburgh Napier University.

The university is based around its three main Edinburgh campuses: Merchiston, Craiglockhart, and Sighthill. It has over 21,000 students, including those on-campus in Scotland and others studying transnational programmes abroad and online. In 2018 this included nearly 9,500 international and EU students, from more than 140 nations worldwide. (Full article...)

Selected sports article

The Scotland national rugby union team (Scots: Scotland naitional rugby union team, Scottish Gaelic: sgioba nàiseanta rugbaidh na h-Alba) represents the Scottish Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship, where they are the current Calcutta Cup and Doddie Weir Cup holders. They also participate in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years.

The history of the team dates from 1871, when the Scottish rugby team played their first official test match, winning 1–0 against England at Raeburn Place. Scotland competed in the Five Nations from the inaugural tournament in 1883, winning it 14 times outright—including the last Five Nations in 1999—and sharing it another eight. In 2000, the competition accepted a sixth competitor, Italy, thus forming the Six Nations. Since this change, Scotland have yet to win the competition. The Rugby World Cup was introduced in 1987 and Scotland have competed in all ten competitions, the most recent being in 2023, where they failed to reach the quarter-finals. Their best finish came in 1991, where they lost to the All Blacks in the third place play-off. (Full article...)

Selected religion article

The Church of Scotland (CoS; Scots: The Kirk o Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais na h-Alba) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 259,200 members in 2023. While membership in the church has declined significantly in recent decades (in 1982 it had nearly 920,000 members), the government Scottish Household Survey found that 20% of the Scottish population, or over one million people, identified the Church of Scotland as their religious identity in 2019.

In the 2022 census, 20.4% of the Scottish population, or 1,108,796 adherents, identified the Church of Scotland as their religious identity. The Church of Scotland's governing system is presbyterian in its approach, therefore, no one individual or group within the church has more or less influence over church matters. There is no one person who acts as the head of faith, as the church believes that role is the "Lord God's". As a proper noun, the Kirk is an informal name for the Church of Scotland used in the media and by the church itself. (Full article...)

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories
Edinburgh
Edinburgh-related lists
Buildings and structures in Edinburgh
Crime in Edinburgh
Culture in Edinburgh
Economy of Edinburgh
Education in Edinburgh
Environment of Edinburgh
Geography of Edinburgh
Health in Edinburgh
History of Edinburgh
Organisations based in Edinburgh
People associated with Edinburgh
Politics of Edinburgh
Religion in Edinburgh
Science and technology in Edinburgh
Sport in Edinburgh
Tourism in Edinburgh
Transport in Edinburgh
Women in Edinburgh
Edinburgh stubs

Topics

In the news

No recent news

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Purge server cache

Retrieved from "https://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Portal:Edinburgh&oldid=1211822054"