Difference between revisions of "Edinburgh" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
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'''Edinburgh''' ({{audio2|En-uk-edinburgh.ogg}}, {{pronEng|ˈɛdɪnb(ə)rə}}; {{lang-gd|'''Dùn Èideann'''}}) is the [[capital]] of [[Scotland]] and is its second largest [[City status in the United Kingdom|city]] after [[Glasgow]]. It is one of Scotland's 32 [[Local government in Scotland|local government]] [[Council areas of Scotland|council areas]].
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'''Edinburgh''' ({{audio2|En-uk-edinburgh.ogg}}, {{pronEng|ˈɛdɪnb(ə)rə}}; {{lang-gd|'''Dùn Èideann'''}}) is the [[capital]] of [[Scotland]] and is its second largest [[City status in the United Kingdom|city]] after [[Glasgow]].  
  
 
Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the [[Central Belt]], along the [[Firth of Forth]], near the [[North Sea]]. Owing to its rugged setting and vast collection of Medieval and [[Georgian architecture]], including numerous stone [[tenements]], it is often considered one of the most [[picturesque]] cities in Europe.
 
Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the [[Central Belt]], along the [[Firth of Forth]], near the [[North Sea]]. Owing to its rugged setting and vast collection of Medieval and [[Georgian architecture]], including numerous stone [[tenements]], it is often considered one of the most [[picturesque]] cities in Europe.
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It forms the ''City of Edinburgh'' [[council area]]; the [[City of Edinburgh Council|city council area]] includes urban Edinburgh and a 30-square-mile (78 km²) rural area.
 
It forms the ''City of Edinburgh'' [[council area]]; the [[City of Edinburgh Council|city council area]] includes urban Edinburgh and a 30-square-mile (78 km²) rural area.
  
It has been capital of Scotland since 1437 (replacing [[Scone, Scotland|Scone]]) and is the seat of the [[Scottish Parliament]]. The city was one of the major centres of [[Age of Enlightenment|the Enlightenment]], led by the [[University of Edinburgh]], earning it the nickname ''Athens of the North''. The [[Old Town, Edinburgh|Old Town]] and [[New Town of Edinburgh|New Town]] districts of Edinburgh were listed as a [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] in 1995. There are over 4,500 [[listed buildings]] within the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Environment/Planning_buildings_i_i_/Built_heritage/CEC_conservation_in_edinburgh_ |title=Conservation in Edinburgh |accessdate=2007-05-20 |publisher=The City of Edinburgh Council }}</ref> In the [[UK census 2001|census of 2001]], Edinburgh had a total resident population of 448,625.
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It has been capital of Scotland since 1437 (replacing [[Scone, Scotland|Scone]]) and is the seat of the [[Scottish Parliament]]. The city was one of the major centres of [[Age of Enlightenment|the Enlightenment]], led by the [[University of Edinburgh]], earning it the nickname ''Athens of the North''. The [[Old Town, Edinburgh|Old Town]] and [[New Town of Edinburgh|New Town]] districts of Edinburgh were listed as a [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] in 1995. There are over 4500 [[listed buildings]] within the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Environment/Planning_buildings_i_i_/Built_heritage/CEC_conservation_in_edinburgh_ |title=Conservation in Edinburgh |accessdate=2007-05-20 |publisher=The City of Edinburgh Council }}</ref> In the [[UK census 2001|census of 2001]], Edinburgh had a total resident population of 448,625.
 
 
Edinburgh is well-known for the annual [[Edinburgh Festival]], a collection of official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks from early August. The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city. The most famous of these events are the [[Edinburgh Fringe]] (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the [[Edinburgh Comedy Festival]] (the largest comedy festival in the world), the [[Edinburgh International Festival]], the [[Edinburgh Military Tattoo]], and the [[Edinburgh International Book Festival]].
 
 
 
Other notable events include the [[Hogmanay]] street party (31 December), [[Burns Night]] (25 January), [[St. Andrew's Day]] (November 30), and the [[Beltane Fire Festival]] (30 April).
 
  
 
The city is one of Europe's major [[Tourism in Scotland|tourist]] destinations, attracting 1 million visitors a year, and is the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/Images/TopTowns2005_tcm12-24666.pdf |title=Overseas Visitors to the UK - Top Towns Visited 2005 |accessdate=2007-01-28 |publisher=VisitBritain }}</ref>
 
The city is one of Europe's major [[Tourism in Scotland|tourist]] destinations, attracting 1 million visitors a year, and is the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/Images/TopTowns2005_tcm12-24666.pdf |title=Overseas Visitors to the UK - Top Towns Visited 2005 |accessdate=2007-01-28 |publisher=VisitBritain }}</ref>
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Scotland has a rich history of science and Edinburgh has its fair share of famous names. [[James Clerk Maxwell]], the founder of the modern theory of [[electromagnetism]], was born here and educated at the [[Edinburgh Academy]], as was the telephone pioneer [[Alexander Graham Bell]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=42027 |title=Alexander Graham Bell |accessdate=2007-03-23 |publisher=University of Toronto }}</ref> Other names connected to the city include [[Max Born]], physicist and [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel laureate]]; [[Charles Darwin]], the biologist who discovered [[natural selection]];  [[David Hume]] a philosopher, economist and historian; [[James Hutton]], regarded as the "Father of [[Geology]]"; [[John Napier]] inventor of [[logarithm]]s;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Napier.html |title=John Napier |accessdate=2007-03-23 |date=April 1998 |author=J J O'Connor and E F Robertson |publisher=University of St Andrews }}</ref> and [[Ian Wilmut]] the geneticist involved in the cloning of [[Dolly (sheep)|Dolly the sheep]] just outside Edinburgh.  The stuffed carcass of Dolly the sheep is now on display in the National Museum of Scotland.
 
Scotland has a rich history of science and Edinburgh has its fair share of famous names. [[James Clerk Maxwell]], the founder of the modern theory of [[electromagnetism]], was born here and educated at the [[Edinburgh Academy]], as was the telephone pioneer [[Alexander Graham Bell]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=42027 |title=Alexander Graham Bell |accessdate=2007-03-23 |publisher=University of Toronto }}</ref> Other names connected to the city include [[Max Born]], physicist and [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel laureate]]; [[Charles Darwin]], the biologist who discovered [[natural selection]];  [[David Hume]] a philosopher, economist and historian; [[James Hutton]], regarded as the "Father of [[Geology]]"; [[John Napier]] inventor of [[logarithm]]s;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Napier.html |title=John Napier |accessdate=2007-03-23 |date=April 1998 |author=J J O'Connor and E F Robertson |publisher=University of St Andrews }}</ref> and [[Ian Wilmut]] the geneticist involved in the cloning of [[Dolly (sheep)|Dolly the sheep]] just outside Edinburgh.  The stuffed carcass of Dolly the sheep is now on display in the National Museum of Scotland.
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==Of interest==
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Edinburgh is well-known for the annual [[Edinburgh Festival]], a collection of official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks from early August. The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city. The most famous of these events are the [[Edinburgh Fringe]] (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the [[Edinburgh Comedy Festival]] (the largest comedy festival in the world), the [[Edinburgh International Festival]], the [[Edinburgh Military Tattoo]], and the [[Edinburgh International Book Festival]].
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Other notable events include the [[Hogmanay]] street party (31 December), [[Burns Night]] (25 January), [[St. Andrew's Day]] (November 30), and the [[Beltane Fire Festival]] (30 April).
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==

Revision as of 20:23, 13 October 2008

Coordinates: 55°56′58″N 3°09′37″W / 55.949556, -3.160288
City of Edinburgh
Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann
Scots: Edinburgh, Embra, Embro, Edinburrie
Auld Reekie, Athens of the North, Capital of Scotland

File:EdinburghFromCastle.jpg
View Over Edinburgh.

Edinburgh (Scotland)
Edinburgh

City of Edinburgh shown within Scotland
Area[1]  100 sq mi (259 km²)
Population 457,830 (30 June 2005)
Urban 1,250,000
OS grid reference NT275735
 - London 332 miles (535 km) SSE
Council area City of Edinburgh
Lieutenancy area Edinburgh
Constituent country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town EDINBURGH
Postcode district EH1-EH13; EH14 (part); EH15-EH17
Dialling code 0131
Police
Fire
Ambulance Scottish
European Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament Edinburgh South
Edinburgh West
Edinburgh South West
Edinburgh North and Leith
Edinburgh East
Scottish Parliament Edinburgh North and Leith
Edinburgh Central
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
Edinburgh Pentlands
Edinburgh South
Edinburgh West
Lothians
List of places: UK • Scotland

Edinburgh (Template:Audio2, pronounced /ˈɛdɪnb(ə)rə/; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann) is the capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow.

Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea. Owing to its rugged setting and vast collection of Medieval and Georgian architecture, including numerous stone tenements, it is often considered one of the most picturesque cities in Europe.

It forms the City of Edinburgh council area; the city council area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30-square-mile (78 km²) rural area.

It has been capital of Scotland since 1437 (replacing Scone) and is the seat of the Scottish Parliament. The city was one of the major centres of the Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh, earning it the nickname Athens of the North. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. There are over 4500 listed buildings within the city.[2] In the census of 2001, Edinburgh had a total resident population of 448,625.

The city is one of Europe's major tourist destinations, attracting 1 million visitors a year, and is the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London.[3]

Geography

The origin of the city's name in English is understood to come from the Brythonic Din Eidyn (Fort of Eidyn) from the time when it was a Gododdin hillfort.[4] In the 1st century the Romans recorded the Votadini as a Brythonic tribe in the area, and about AD 600 the poem Y Gododdin, using the Brythonic form of that name, describes warriors feasting "in Eidin's great hall".[4]

Detail of the Hereford Mappa Mundi, Edinburgh is clearly labeled on this T and O map of the British isles from c. 1300

It came to be known to the English, the Bernician Angles, as Edin-burh, which some people once believed derived from the Old English for "Edwin's fort", with a reference to the 7th century king Edwin of Northumbria. However, since the name apparently predates King Edwin, this is highly unlikely. The burgh element means "fortress" or "walled group of buildings", i.e. a town or city and is akin to the German burg, Latin parcus, Greek πύργος (pyrgos) etc. Burh is simply a translation of Brythonic Din; Edin is untranslated.

Topography: Physical qualities of a particular place. Example: Mexico City a. Mountain flanked basin b. on dry lake bed c. vulnerability to earthquakes d. trapped air pollution (also true in L.A. and Athens) Elevation Edinburgh has a temperate maritime climate, which is relatively mild despite its northerly latitude. Winters are especially mild, with the average maximum daytime temperature in January of 43.2°F (6.2°C), rising to an average maximum of around 65.8°F (18.8°C) in July. The proximity of the city to the sea mitigates any large variations in temperature or extremes of climate. Edinburgh is renowned as a windy city, with the prevailing wind direction coming from the south-west which is associated with warm, unstable air from the Gulf Stream. Mean annual precipitation is 26.3 inches (668mm).



Rivers and canals Size – land area, size comparison Environmental issues Districts


History

An 1802 illustration of Edinburgh from the West.

See Timeline of Edinburgh history