Portal:Edinburgh

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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city 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 is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth-largest in Europe, and the thirteenth-largest in the world.

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 and 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 Britain’s second-most visited tourist destination, attracting 4.9 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas, in 2018. (Full article...)

Selected location article

Inverleith House is a historic house, now within the Royal Botanic Garden, in the suburb of Inverleith, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Full article...)

Selected images

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

Selected transportation article

A CAF Urbos 3 in Edinburgh, June 2014

The Edinburgh Tram network operates a fleet of CAF Urbos 3 low-floor trams that were specially designed for use in the city. Twenty-seven were built in Beasain, Spain, between 2009 and 2011. (Full article...)

Selected area article

Turnhouse is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, near Maybury, Gogar, Cammo and West Craigs.

The area is south east of Edinburgh Airport, and Turnhouse is also the name for the former Royal Air Force base, now closed, which dates back to the First World War and was the origin of the current civilian airport. It is now used for cargo operations in tandem with the main Edinburgh Airport. (Full article...)

Selected environment article

The River Almond is a river in Lothian, Scotland. It is approximately 28 miles (45 km) long, rising at Hirst Hill in Lanarkshire near Shotts, running through West Lothian and draining into the Firth of Forth at Cramond, Edinburgh. The name Almond/Amon is simply old Celtic for "river". (Full article...)

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Selected arts article

Portrait by Allan Ramsay, 1766

David Hume (/hjuːm/; born David Home; 7 May 1711 – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beginning with A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–40), Hume strove to create a naturalistic science of man that examined the psychological basis of human nature. Hume followed John Locke in rejecting the existence of innate ideas, concluding that all human knowledge derives solely from experience. This places him with Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and George Berkeley as an empiricist.

Hume argued that inductive reasoning and belief in causality cannot be justified rationally; instead, they result from custom and mental habit. We never actually perceive that one event causes another but only experience the "constant conjunction" of events. This problem of induction means that to draw any causal inferences from past experience, it is necessary to presuppose that the future will resemble the past; this metaphysical presupposition cannot itself be grounded in prior experience. (Full article...)

Selected education article

The University of Edinburgh (Scots: University o Edinburgh, Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as Edin. in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and officially opened in 1583, it is one of Scotland's four ancient universities and the sixth-oldest university in continuous operation in the English-speaking world. The university played a crucial role in Edinburgh becoming a leading intellectual centre during the Scottish Enlightenment and contributed to the city being nicknamed the "Athens of the North".

The three main global university rankings (ARWU, THE, and QS) place the University of Edinburgh within their respective top 40. It is a member of several associations of research-intensive universities, including the Coimbra Group, League of European Research Universities, Russell Group, Una Europa, and Universitas 21. In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2024, the university had a total income of £1.386 billion, with £365.2 million from research grants and contracts. It has the third-largest endowment in the UK, behind only Cambridge and Oxford. The university occupies five main campuses in the city of Edinburgh, which include many buildings of historical and architectural significance, such as those in the Old Town. (Full article...)

Selected sports article

Royal Commonwealth Pool West side

The Royal Commonwealth Pool is a category-A-listed building in St Leonard's, Edinburgh, Scotland that houses one of Scotland's main swimming pools. It is usually referred to simply as the Commonwealth Pool and known colloquially as the 'Commie'. (Full article...)

Selected religion article

Location of the mosque in Edinburgh

The Edinburgh Central Mosque (officially known as the King Fahd Mosque and Islamic Centre of Edinburgh) is located on Potterrow near the University of Edinburgh central area and the National Museum of Scotland. The mosque and Islamic centre was designed by Dr. Basil Al Bayati, and took more than six years to complete at a cost of £3.5M. The main hall can hold over one thousand worshippers, with women praying on a balcony overlooking the hall. The mosque holds chandeliers and a vast carpet, with very little furniture.

The architecture combines traditional Islamic features with a Modernist Scots baronial style. Geza Fehervari, Professor of Islamic Art & Archaeology at London University, said "The architectural elements and decorative details, while basically relying on Islamic, mainly Turkish traditions, successfully interact with the architectural and decorative age-old customs of Scotland." (Full article...)

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v t e Edinburgh
History	Etymology Burning of Edinburgh Mary, Queen of Scots Greyfriars Kirk Burke and Hare Kingdom of Scotland Act of Union 1707 Parliament of Scotland David Hume Edinburgh Review Holyrood Abbey Treaty of Edinburgh Edinburgh town walls Old Town New Town Robert Adam James Craig Church of Scotland Disruption of 1843 Thomas Aikenhead Deacon Brodie North British Railway Visit of King George IV Sir Walter Scott Edwin of Northumbria Devolution Burgh Lothian Edinburgh Stock Exchange Porteous Riots Silvermills Tron riot Greyfriars Bobby Great Fire of Edinburgh
Governance	City of Edinburgh Council Lord Provost of Edinburgh Scottish Parliament
Buildings and landmarks	Arthur's Seat Balmoral Hotel Brass Founders' Pillar Bute House Calton Hill Craiglockhart Castle Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh International Conference Centre Forth Rail Bridge Forth Road Bridge Governor's House Holyrood Palace National Monument New College Old College Parliament House Princes Street Gardens Ross Fountain Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Scott Monument Scottish Parliament Building St Andrew's House St Giles' Cathedral Victoria Quay
Museums and galleries	Fruitmarket Gallery The Georgian House Museum of Edinburgh National Museum of Scotland National War Museum Dynamic Earth Public art Royal Scottish Academy Scottish National Gallery Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Theatres and concert halls	Bedlam Theatre Edinburgh Arena (proposed) Edinburgh Playhouse Festival Theatre King's Theatre Queen's Hall Reid Concert Hall Royal Lyceum Theatre St Cecilia's Hall The Dunard Centre (proposed) Traverse Theatre Usher Hall
Economy	Bank of Scotland Caledonian Brewery Edinburgh Park Edinburgh BioQuarter Fort Kinnaird Ocean Terminal Royal Bank of Scotland Scottish Widows Standard Life
Transport	A1 road Airport Edinburgh Airport Rail Link Edinburgh City Bypass Edinburgh Crossrail Edinburgh Waverley railway station Haymarket railway station Lothian Buses Trams
Health and education	Edinburgh College Edinburgh College of Art Heriot-Watt University Hospitals Moray House School of Education Napier University Queen Margaret University Schools Scotland's Rural College University of Edinburgh
Festivals	Edinburgh Festival Fringe Edinburgh International Book Festival Edinburgh International Film Festival Edinburgh International Festival Edinburgh International Television Festival Hogmanay Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Other topics	Demographics of Edinburgh Geography of Edinburgh Beer in Edinburgh Graveyards and cemeteries in Edinburgh
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