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Scotland is one of the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK has no single written constitution document. Until the 1707 Acts of Union Scotland was an independent nation state. However, upon these acts coming into effect both Scotland and England's parliaments were dissolved and reconstituted as a parliament for all of Great Britain using the former English parliament's buildings and executive institutions. The Scottish and English crowns were unified in 1603 when James VI of Scotland became James I of England. In 1801 the Kingdom of Great Britain was unified with Ireland.

Scotland comprises the northern part of the island of Great Britain; it is bordered on the south by England. The country consists of a mainland area plus several island groups, including Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. Three main geographical and geological areas make up the mainland: from north to south, the generally mountainous Highlands, the low-lying Central Belt, and the hilly Southern Uplands. The majority of the Scottish population resides in the Central Belt, which contains three of the country's six largest cities, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, and many large towns. Most of the remaining population lives in the North-East Lowlands where two of the remaining three cities, Aberdeen and Dundee, are situated. The final city, Inverness, is situated where the River Ness meets the Moray Firth, on the fault between the North-West Highlands and the Cairngorms.

The modern system of branch banking (in which banks maintain a nationwide system of offices rather than one or two central offices) originated in Scotland. Only strong political pressure during the 19th century prevented the resultant strong banking system from taking over banking in England. However, although Scottish banks proved unwelcome in England at the time, their business model became widely copied, firstly in England and later in the rest of the world.

This state of affairs continued until May 1999 when Scotland's Parliament was established following a referendum. Whereas the old Scottish Parliament had functioned as the full parliament of a sovereign state, the new parliament governs the country only on domestic matters, the United Kingdom Parliament having retained responsibility for Scotland's defence, international relations and certain other areas.

Scotland has many national sporting associations, such as the Scottish Football Association (SFA) or the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU). This gives the country independent representation at many international sporting events such as the football World Cup. Scotland cannot compete in the Olympic Games independently however, and Scottish athletes must compete as part of the Great Britain team if they wish to take part. Scotland does however send its own team to compete in the Commonwealth Games.

In 1997, the Blair Labour government of the United Kingdom held referendums on the issue of devolution: the creation of national assemblies in each of the three countries of the UK except England. Voters in all three countries voted in the affirmative, reversing parts of the three-hundred year old Union of the Parliaments. The new Scottish Parliament stands next to Holyrood House in Edinburgh.

From 1652 to 1658, Scotland formed an integral part of the Puritan-governed Commonwealth, under English control but gaining equal trading rights. Upon its collapse, nominal independence returned with the restoration of Charles II to the throne. Scotland regained its parliament, but the English Navigation Acts prevented the Scots from sharing its commercial success to escape impoverishment. A formal frontier between the two countries was re-established, with customs duties which, while they protected Scottish cloth industries from cheap English imports, also denied access to English markets for Scottish cattle on the hoof or Scottish linens (Braudel 1984 p 370).