Portal:Edinburgh

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Edinburgh (/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ Scots: [ˈɛdɪnbʌrə]; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann [ˌt̪un ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ]) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city is located in south-east 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 has a population of 912,490.

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, founded in 1582 and now one of three in the city, is considered one of the best research institutions in the world. It 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...)

Selected location article

Edinburgh shown within Scotland

A scheduled monument in Scotland is a nationally important archaeological site or monument which is given legal protection by being placed on a list (or "schedule") maintained by Historic Environment Scotland. The aim of scheduling is to preserve the country's most significant sites and monuments as far as possible in the form in which they have been inherited.

The process of scheduling is governed by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, which aims "to make provision for the investigation, preservation and recording of matters of archaeological or historical interest". The term "scheduled monument" can apply to the whole range of archaeological sites which have been deliberately constructed by human activity but are not always visible above ground. They range from prehistoric standing stones and burial sites, through Roman remains and medieval structures such as castles and monasteries, to later structures such as industrial sites and buildings constructed for the World Wars. Some buildings or structures which were both scheduled and listed have had their listing designations removed to reduce the duplication. (Full article...)

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Selected transportation article

Station bays in April 2012

Edinburgh bus station is a central bus station in the city centre of Edinburgh.

The bus station is situated on Elder Street, where the buses enter & exit, with pedestrian access from there and St Andrew Square. (Full article...)

Selected area article

The Flag of Currie

Currie (Scottish Gaelic: Currach, IPA:[ˈkʰuːᵲəx]) is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated 7 miles (11 kilometres) south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. It is situated between Juniper Green to the northeast and Balerno to the southwest. It gives its name to a civil parish.

In 2001, the population of Currie was 8,550 and it contained 3,454 houses. (Full article...)

Selected environment article

Panoramic view of Edinburgh from Blackford Hill (click for larger image)

Blackford Hill 164 metres (538 ft) is a hill in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It is in the area of Blackford, between Morningside, and the Braid Hills. Together with the Hermitage of Braid, it comprises the 60.3 hectares (149 acres) Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill Local Nature Reserve, within which lies Hermitage House. (Full article...)

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Selected arts article

The Queen's Hall is a performance venue in the Southside, Edinburgh, Scotland. The building opened in 1824 as Hope Park Chapel and reopened as the Queen's Hall in 1979.

Hope Park Chapel opened as a chapel of ease within the West Kirk parish in 1824. The chapel became a parish church with the name Newington Parish Church in 1834. The congregation supported the creation of a mission church in St Leonard's in 1878. The two congregations united to form Newington and St Leonard's Parish Church in 1932. The church was dissolved in 1976 and the building was purchased by the Scottish Philharmonic Society. It was reopened as a performance venue in 1979 by Elizabeth II, after whom the building was renamed. The hall has hosted artists including Nina Simone, Nick Cave, and Adele. In 2018, the hall estimated it welcomed 90,000 visitors across 200 concerts annually. It is the only major venue to host events for all of the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe, and the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival. (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 19,500 students, including those on-campus in Scotland and others studying on 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

Location in Edinburgh

Ainslie Park is a football stadium located in Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish League Two club Spartans and the club's women's team in the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL). In addition, Edinburgh City shared the ground between 2017 and 2022 during the redevelopment of Meadowbank Stadium, and Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale also played there during the 2021–22 season. Another SWPL team, Hibernian, also previously played there from 2016 to 2021. (Full article...)

Selected religion article

The Church of Scotland (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 active 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. 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.

The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church and established itself as a church in the Reformed tradition. The church belongs to the Presbyterian tradition of Reformed Christianity (Calvinism), having no head of faith or leadership group and believing that God invited the church's adherents to worship Jesus. (Full article...)

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