Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland (Gaelic: Rìoghachd na h-Alba, Scots: Kinrick o Scotland) was a sovereign state in Northern Europe that is traditionally said to have been founded in 843 and was incorporated into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Its territories expanded and shrank throughout its history, but eventually came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain sharing a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England. In 1603, James VI of Scotland became King of England, joining Scotland with England in a personal union. In 1707, the two kingdoms were united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, under the terms of the Acts of Union. Since the final capture of the Royal Burgh of Berwick by the Kingdom of England in 1482 (following the annexation of the Northern Isles from the Kingdom of Norway in 1472) the territory of the Kingdom of Scotland has corresponded to that of modern-day Scotland, bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. Apart from the mainland, the Kingdom of Scotland consisted of over 790 islands.

Edinburgh, the capital, was preceded by the towns of Scone/Perth, Dunfermline and Stirling as the country's capital. The population of the Kingdom of Scotland in 1701, six years before the passing of the Acts of Union, was approximately 1.1 million.