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Much of Scotland (particularly the West Central Belt around Glasgow) has experienced problems owing to the religious divide between Presbyterians and Catholics. Many Scottish Catholics maintain that, because many Establishment and business figures have links to the Orange Order, sectarianism is deeply rooted in Scottish society. This problem has historically manifested itself in a number of ways, particularly in employment and in football fanaticism. The problems associated with sectarianism in Scotland have diminished markedly compared with the past, although issues do remain to a certain degree. Scottish police have recently moved to restrict the number of Orange parades.

Scotland also has its own unique family of languages and dialects, helping to foster a strong sense of "Scottish-ness". An organisation called Iomairt Cholm Cille has been set up to support Gaelic-speaking communities in both Scotland and Ireland and to promote links between them.

In 1603, the Scottish King James VI inherited the throne of England, and became James I of England. James moved to London and only returned to Scotland once. In 1707, the Scottish and English Parliaments signed the Treaty of Union, which was deeply unpopular in Scotland, as it had been negotiating from a position of economic weakness and suffering from English tariffs. Implementing the treaty involved dissolving both the English and the Scottish Parliaments, and transferring all their powers to a new Parliament sitting in London which then became the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A customs and monetary union also took place.

HM Queen Elizabeth II, head of state of the United Kingdom, is descended from King James VI of Scotland, the first Scottish monarch to also be King of England (James I of England from 1603). While some controversy has simmered amongst the Scottish public over her official title since her coronation (many believe that, being the first Queen Elizabeth of Scotland, she should use the style "Elizabeth I"), the courts of Scotland have confirmed "Elizabeth II" as her official title. She has said that in the future monarchs will follow the international ordinal tradition that, where a monarch reigns in a number of non-independent territories (or independent territories that agree to share a monarch) that each have a differing number of previous monarchs of the same name, the highest ordinal used in any of the territories is the one used across all.

The traditional political divides of left and right have also intersected with arguments over devolution, which all the UK-wide parties have supported to some degree throughout their history (although both Labour and the Conservatives have swithered a number of times between supporting and opposing it). However, now that devolution has occurred, the main argument about Scotland's constitutional status remains between those who support Scottish independence and those who oppose it. Recent trends indicate, according to the State of the Nation Poll 2004, that 66% of Scots would like the Scottish Parliament to have more powers, while only 2% would like to see the powers returned to Westminster.

Scotland has a high proportion of irreligious / atheists, the second highest type of (un)belief in the population.

During the 1920s and 1930s, as ship-building and other industrial pursuits came to be more profitable outwith the British Isles, Glasgow and Clydebank slowly decayed and fell into economic depression.

Until 1832 Scottish politics remained very much in the control of landowners in the country, and of small cliques of merchants in the burghs. However by 1885 around 50% of the male population had the vote, the secret ballot had become established, and the modern political era had started.

The largest political party operating in Scotland is the Labour Party. They replaced the Liberals as Scotland's main political force in the early twentieth century and traditionally represent the interests of workers and trade-unionists. They currently operate as the senior partners in a coalition Scottish Executive.

Scotland retains its own distinct sense of nationhood. Academic research consistently shows that people in Scotland feel Scottish, whilst not necessarily feeling the need to see that translated into the establishment of a fully-independent Scottish nation-state.

Scotland's location on the north-western periphery of Europe did not mean the country had a small part in the Second World War. October 1939 saw naval bases in Scotland taking the first German attacks on Britain, both submarine and bomber attacks on Scapa Flow and raids on Rosyth which met with RAF fighters getting their first successes over Britain downing bombers into the Firth of Forth and onto East Lothian. The shipyards and heavy engineering factories in Glasgow and Clydeside played a key role in the war effort, and soon became targets for the Luftwaffe. The town of Clydebank in particular suffered great destruction and loss of life during the blitz. The Highlands again provided a disproportionate number of troops for the war effort. Many thousands of Commandos and resistance fighters received training in the harsh conditions of the Lochaber mountains.

Scotland ( Alba in Scottish Gaelic and sometimes known also as Caledonia) is a country or nation and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. Scotland has a land boundary with England on the island of Great Britain and is otherwise bounded by seas and oceans.

From 1885 to 1918 the Liberal party almost totally dominated Scottish politics. Only in the khaki election of 1900 did the Conservative Party -- known as the Unionists in Scotland -- win a majority of seats.