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Geography and climate
Bounded by the Firth of Forth to the north and the Pentland Hills, which skirt the periphery of the city to the south, Edinburgh lies in the eastern portion of the Central Lowlands of Scotland. The city sprawls over a landscape which is the product of early volcanic activity and later periods of intensive glaciation. Igneous activity between 350 and 400 million years ago, coupled with faulting led to the dispersion of tough basalt volcanic plugs, which predominate over much of the area. One such example is Castle Rock which forced the advancing icepack to divide, sheltering the softer rock and forming a mile-long tail of material to the east, creating a distinctive crag and tail formation. Glacial erosion on the northern side of the crag gouged a large valley resulting in the now drained Nor Loch. This structure, along with a ravine to the south, formed an ideal natural fortress which Edinburgh Castle was built upon. Similarly, Arthur's Seat is the remains of a volcano system dating from the Carboniferous period, which was eroded by a glacier moving from west to east during the ice age. Erosive action such as plucking and abrasion exposed the rocky crags to the west before leaving a tail of deposited glacial material swept to the east. This process formed the distinctive Salisbury Crags, which formed a series of teschenite cliffs located between Arthur's Seat and the city centre. Residential areas Edinburgh, including Marchmont and Bruntsfield are built along a series of drumlin ridges located to south of the city centre which were deposited as the glacier receded.

Other viewpoints in the city such as Calton Hill and Corstorphine Hill are similar products of glacial erosion. The Braid Hills and Blackford Hill are a series of small summits to the south west of the city composed of Lower Devonian volcanic rocks. Blackford Hill is also located to the south of the city centre and is composed Lower Devonian volcanic rocks, lying between Upper Devonian sandstones, representing the northernmost extent of those found in the Pentland Hills.

Edinburgh is drained by the Water of Leith, which finds its source at the Harperrig Reservoir in the Pentland Hills and runs for 29 km (18 miles) through the south and west of the city, emptying into the Firth of Forth at Leith. The nearest the river gets to the city centre is at Dean Village on the edge of the New Town, where a deep gorge is spanned by the Dean Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford and built in 1832 for the road to Queensferry. The Water of Leith Walkway is a mixed use trail that follows the river for 19.6 km (12.2 miles) from Balerno to Leith.

Designated in 1957, Edinburgh is ringed by a green belt stretching from Dalmeny in the west to Prestongrange in the east. With an average width of 3.2 km (2 miles) the principle objective of the green belt was to contain the outward expansion of Edinburgh and to prevent the agglomeration of urban areas. Expansion within the green belt is strictly controlled but developments such as Edinburgh Airport and the Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston are located within the zone. Similarly, urban villages such as Juniper Green and Balerno sit on green belt land. One feature of the green belt in Edinburgh is the inclusion of parcels of land within the city which are designated as green belt even though they do not adjoin the main peripheral ring. Examples of these independent wedges of green belt include Holyrood Park and Corstorphine Hill.

Like much of the rest of Scotland, Edinburgh has a temperate, maritime climate which is relatively mild despite its northerly latitude. Winters are especially mild, with daytime temperatures rarely falling below freezing, and compare favourably with places such as Moscow, Labrador and Newfoundland which lie in similar latitudes. Summer temperatures are normally moderate, with daily upper maxima rarely exceeding 22 °C. The highest temperature ever recorded in the city was 31.4°C on 4 August 1975. The proximity of the city to the sea mitigates any large variations in temperature or extremes of climate. Given Edinburgh's position between the coast and hills, it 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 that can give rise to rainfall - although considerably less than cities to the west, such as Glasgow. Rainfall is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Winds from an easterly direction are usually drier but colder. Vigorous Atlantic depressions, known as European windstorms, can affect the city between October and May.

Economy
Highest quality of life and lowest pollution. http://www.visionnottingham.com/websitefiles/Cushman%20Wakefield%20City%20Rankings%202008%20UK%20Cities%20Monitor(1).pdf

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