Scotland is an autonomous administrative and political part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Great Britain). It occupies the northern part of the island of Great Britain and borders on land with England. On other sides it is washed by the seas of the Atlantic Ocean: the North Sea in the east, the Northern Strait and the Irish Sea in the west and southwest. In addition to the territory on the main British island of Scotland also belong to about 790 small islands, most of which are uninhabited.
The Scottish Kingdom is an independent state that existed from 854 to 1707. In 1603, King James VI of Scotland became the first king of England and Ireland from the Stuart dynasty. In 1707, the "Union Act" was signed, which formed the Kingdom of Great Britain, after which the Parliament of Scotland was dissolved, and a single parliament began to meet in Westminster.