Life in Scotland
Scotland is an exciting place to live and has everything you need - lots of jobs and career opportunities, world-class universities, beautiful countryside, fantastic cities and friendly people.
Where is Scotland?
Scotland is one of the four nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, along with England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The population of Scotland is 5.1 million people. All parts of the UK, including Scotland, are English speaking. In some parts of Scotland Gaelic is also spoken alongside English.
An influential culture
Scotland has a proud cultural history that has contributed a great deal to the worlds of art and science. The Edinburgh International Festival attracts world-class performers to the city every year and Scotland has a long literary tradition, going back to the Enlightenment and philosopher David Hume, the pioneer of economics, Adam Smith and writers Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Sir Walter Scott. Today Scotland is also home to authors J K Rowling, Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin and Iain Banks.
There are nearly 300 museums and galleries in Scotland. National collections of art can be found at the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Famous food and drink
Scotland has some of the finest produce in the UK such as seafood, meat, poultry, cheese and whisky. Scotland is famous for its Aberdeen-Angus beef and Scottish salmon. Haggis, a delicacy made from sheep's offal placed inside a sheep's stomach, is not to everyone’s taste but has a rich flavour and is worth trying at least once.
Scotch whisky (or simply "Scotch") is certainly the best known Scottish drink. Whisky is distilled from barley and flavoured with peat-tainted water.
A wide range of international food and drink is also widely available allowing you to choose from almost every type of world cuisine. Ingredients are available from many different shops including halal butchers, Chinese supermarkets, Italian delicatessens and many supermarkets.
World class education
Scotland was the first country in the world to introduce a universal school education, a model admired and replicated by other countries, and Scotland's tradition of excellence in education is world renowned today.
All overseas students graduating from a Scottish university or college with an undergraduate degree or masters can apply to stay on and work in Scotland for an additional two years under the government's Fresh Talent: Post Study scheme and the figures for overseas students studying in Scotland, rises every year.
