Portal:Edinburgh

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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. It is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in 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 British 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 was founded in 1582 and is now one of three universities in the city. The financial centre of Scotland, Edinburgh was in 2020 ranked the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth-largest in Europe, and the thirteenth-largest in the world in the Global Financial Centres Index.

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, St Giles' Cathedral, Greyfriars Kirk, Canongate Kirk and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Old Town and the New Town are together listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and the site has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it Britain's second-most-visited tourist destination, attracting 5.3 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas, in 2023. (Full article...)

Selected location article

Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reformation the Palace of Holyroodhouse was expanded further. The abbey church was used as a parish church until the 17th century, and has been ruined since the 18th century. The remaining walls of the abbey lie adjacent to the palace, at the eastern end of Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The site of the abbey is protected as a scheduled monument. (Full article...)

Selected images

Image 1Fettes College
Image 2Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland
Image 3The Princes Street Gardens, the best known park in Edinburgh
Image 4Arthur's Seat
Image 5The Dean Gallery, part of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Image 6Calton Hill
Image 7Queensferry Crossing road bridge
Image 8Two Edinburgh Trams seen at the West End - Princes Street stop
Image 9The Royal Scottish Academy Building
Image 10The Governor's House
Image 11Scottish baronial-style turrets on Victorian tenements in St. Mary's Street
Image 12Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, 2010
Image 13Sir Walter Scott
Image 14The Castle Rock
Image 15The ruins of Holyrood Abbey
Image 16View looking west along George Street
Image 17David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist born in Edinburgh in 1711
Image 18The High Street, part of the Royal Mile
Image 19City Observatory, the Gothic Tower
Image 20The BT building in Edinburgh Park
Image 21The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle
Image 22Architecture in Edinburgh
Image 23View over Edinburgh
Image 24Ratho Park Golf Club
Image 25The National Monument of Scotland (right) and Nelson Monument (left)
Image 26Fountain at Holyrood Palace
Image 27Jenners Department Store, the oldest department store in Scotland
Image 28St Giles' Cathedral, the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh
Image 29Charlotte Square, a garden square in the New Town
Image 30Edinburgh (from Salisbury Crags) by William Crozier, a painter associated with The Edinburgh School
Image 31The Scottish Parliament Building

Selected transportation article

The Edinburgh City Bypass, designated as A720, is one of the most important trunk roads in Scotland. Circling around the south of Edinburgh, as the equivalent of a ring road for the coastal city, it links together the A1 towards north-east England, the A702 towards north-west England, the M8 through the Central Belt towards Glasgow, the A7 through south-east Scotland and north-west England as well as the A8 leading to the M9 for Stirling and the Queensferry Crossing.

The road is dual carriageway standard throughout, including emergency laybys and hard shoulders in areas. The road is classed as a special road in legal terms. Every motorway in the UK is termed a special road in that specific regulations govern its use. Not every special road is classed as a motorway and this bypass is one of those roads. (Full article...)

Selected area article

Portobello and Joppa Parish Church

Joppa is an eastern suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is bounded on the north by the coast of the Firth of Forth, on the west by Portobello of which it was a suburb when Portobello was a burgh, to the south by the open area south of Milton Road and to the east by Musselburgh in East Lothian. The name "Joppa" is of biblical origin, referring to the port of Jaffa in Israel, and was first bestowed on this part of Edinburgh in the 18th century (apparently because, like its namesake, it sits next to the sea).

Joppa is now largely residential, but salt was once produced from seawater by evaporation at Joppa Pans. Practically nothing remains of the industrial buildings but Rockville, formerly the owner's/manager's house and now a hotel and Rock Cottage. Some light industry has operated from the area near the former railway station in Brunstane Road and at Eastfield. Many of the larger houses near the seafront date from early nineteenth century, with extensive later areas further inland built up in the mid-twentieth century. (Full article...)

Selected environment article

A small crowd on Wester Craiglockhart Hill gathers to watch the demolition of the tower blocks at Oxgangs

Craiglockhart Hill is a combination of two summits, Easter and Wester Craiglockhart, in the suburb of Craiglockhart, Edinburgh.

Easter Craiglockhart Hill's summit is 158m high. In 2004 this hill was designated a local nature reserve. Wester Craiglockhart Hill has a summit of 175m. (Full article...)

Did you know?

... that, as the University of Edinburgh's chaplain, Harriet Harris appointed more than 40 honorary chaplains to serve traditions including Daoism, humanism, paganism and mindfulness?

Selected arts article

English is a West Germanic language that emerged in early medieval England and has since become a global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who migrated to Britain after the end of Roman rule. English is the most spoken language in the world, primarily due to the global influences of the former British Empire (succeeded by the Commonwealth of Nations) and the United States. It is the most widely learned second language in the world, with more second-language speakers than native speakers. However, English is only the third-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

English is either the official language, or one of the official languages, in 57 sovereign states and 30 dependent territories, making it the most geographically widespread language in the world. In the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, it is the dominant language for historical reasons without being explicitly defined by law. It is a co-official language of the United Nations, the European Union, and many other international and regional organisations. It has also become the de facto lingua franca of diplomacy, science, technology, international trade, logistics, tourism, aviation, entertainment, and the Internet. Ethnologue estimated that there were over 1.4 billion speakers worldwide as of 2021^[update]. (Full article...)

Selected education article

Heriot-Watt University (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by royal charter in 1966. It is the eighth-oldest higher education institution in the United Kingdom. The name Heriot-Watt was taken from Scottish inventor James Watt and Scottish philanthropist and goldsmith George Heriot.

The annual income of the institution for 2024–25 was £293.9 million of which £52.3 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £301.1 million. Known for its focus on science as well as engineering, it is one of the 23 colleges that were granted university status in the 1960s, and it is sometimes considered a plate glass university, like Lancaster and York. (Full article...)

Selected sports article

Entrance to Murrayfield Ice Rink

Murrayfield Ice Rink is a 3,800-seat multi-purpose arena in Edinburgh, Scotland, adjacent to Murrayfield Stadium and situated between the Murrayfield, Roseburn and Saughtonhall neighbourhoods. It was built between 1938 and 1939 (but was not used for its intended purpose until the 1950s, having been used as a store during the Second World War) and is home to the Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey team and a seven-sheet curling rink which was constructed in the 1970s following the closure of Haymarket Ice Rink. (Full article...)

Selected religion article

West façade of the church building

St Giles' Cathedral (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), also known as High Kirk of Edinburgh, is one of three cathedrals in Edinburgh, Scotland. The existing building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alterations were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the addition of the Thistle Chapel. St Giles' is closely associated with many events and figures in Scottish history, including John Knox, who served as the church's minister after the Scottish Reformation. The cathedral is administered by the Church of Scotland.

It was probably founded in the 12th century and dedicated to Saint Giles. The church was elevated to collegiate status by Pope Paul II in 1467. In 1559, the church became Protestant with John Knox, the foremost figure of the Scottish Reformation, as its minister. After the Reformation, St Giles' was internally partitioned to serve multiple congregations as well as secular purposes, such as a prison and as a meeting place for the Parliament of Scotland. In 1633, Charles I made St Giles' the cathedral of the newly created Diocese of Edinburgh. Charles' attempt to impose doctrinal changes on the presbyterian Scottish Kirk, including a Prayer Book causing a riot in St Giles' on 23 July 1637, which precipitated the formation of the Covenanters and the beginnings of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. St Giles' role in the Scottish Reformation and the Covenanters' Rebellion has led to its being called "the Mother Church of World Presbyterianism". (Full article...)