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Scotland

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	EDINBURGH
	GLASGOW

	SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS
	SKYE

THE FACTS ABOUT SCOTLAND

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CAPITAL	Edinburgh

AREA	78,772 sq km

POPULATION	5 million

LANGUAGE	English, Gaelic

CURRENCY	Pound sterling

TIME	GMT

TELEPHONE CODES	0044

ELECTRICITY	240V, 50Hz



Scottish Highlands

Visas: As in the rest of Britain, EU citizens may live and work in Scotland, free of any immigration controls. Citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are generally allowed to stay six months without a visa.

Public holidays: New Year's Day; New Year's Bank Holiday; Good Friday; Easter Monday; May Day Bank Holiday; Spring Holiday; Summer Bank Holiday; Late Summer Bank Holiday; Christmas Day; Boxing Day; New Year's Eve.

Good buys: Stock up on whisky and shortbread. Tartan and tweed clothing is also a popular buy.

Local dishes: Celebrated national dishes include haggis with 'tatties and neaps' (potatoes and turnips), black pudding, cock-a-leekie, and world-class fresh meat, fish and seafood.

Good reading: Scottish literary classics include Rob Roy, by Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stephenson's Kidnapped. Any anthology of Robert Burns' poetry is also recommended. Also Muriel Sparks' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Whisky Galore by Compton McKenzie, and Irving Welsh's Trainspotting, a contemporary take on Edinburgh.