Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 37, 2011

The Kingdom of Scotland (Gaelic: Rìoghachd na h-Alba, Scots: Kinrick o Scotland) was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared 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 1472, following the annexation of the Northern Isles from the Kingdom of Norway, and the final capture of the Royal Burgh of Berwick by the Kingdom of England in 1482, the territory of the Kingdom of Scotland has corresponded to that of modern-day Scotland. It was 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, Dunfermline and Stirling as the country's capital. By the termination of independence in 1707 the population of the Kingdom of Scotland was approximately 1.1 million