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Top-level
 2/ So first up Scotland 🏴 is #geoweird in that it's not really clear what exactly it is. Is it a country? A region? A country within a country? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom It's part of the UK 🇬🇧, but has its own legal system: Some day we'll do a UK #geoweirdness thread, but be warned it will very, very long. No country (countries?) is/are as odd. 13 comments
4/ You may not have recognised the map of Scotland 🏴 in the toot that started this thread. Traditionally many/most maps of Scotland or the entire UK 🇬🇧 have Shetland - the northernmost islands - in a box to save space. In 2018 a law was introduced to ban "putting Shetland in a box", in an effort to combat "misconceptions about our islands" 5/ The Shetland boxing controversy lead to delightful "revenge maps" like this where the UK 🇬🇧 is boxed. Perhaps fitting in that Shetland only joined Scotland 🏴 in the 15th century. Before that the Northern Isles (Shetland and Orkney) were part of the Kingdom of Norway 🇳🇴 6/ Scotland 🏴 fields its own national teams in most sports, but in the Olympics Scottish athletes compete as part of the UK 🇬🇧 team. The national football team will open Euro 2024 versus hosts Germany 🇩🇪 on June 14th. Scotland has its own football leagues, which also include Berwick Rangers FC, a team based in Berwick-upon-Tweed which is just south of the border in England 🏴. 7/ Speaking of the border, many people mistakenly believe famous Hadrian's Wall to be the border between Scotland 🏴 and England 🏴. In fact it lies entirely in England, and was built by the Romans, well before Scotland and England existed The actual border has moved many times over the centuries. 8/ Heading north we have another bit of Scottish #geoweirdness - the island Lewis and Harris (Leòdhas agus na Hearadh in Scottish Gaelic), which, despite the dual name is a single island. 🤔 The Island is part of the Outer Hebrides, the area with the highest concentration of Scottish Gaelic speakers 9/ Of course no mention of 🏴 Scottish #geoweirdness would be complete without also mentioning that remote, uninhabited Rockall is - if you accept the British view - technically part of Scotland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockall Ireland 🇮🇪 does not recognise the 🇬🇧 UK's territorial claim to Rockall. 11/ In the 1690s, before unification with England 🏴, there was a short-lived effort to establish a 🏴 Scottish colony - with the main settlement being named New Edinburgh - in what is today Panama 🇵🇦. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darien_scheme The settlement failed and 80% of the settlers died in the first year. The resulting financial weakness of the backers was one of the reasons for unification with England.  @opencage Sorry to report that Berwick's slightly anomalous position did not lead it to at war with Russia from 1854-1914, see https://www.berwickfriends.org.uk/history/berwicks-war-with-russia/ |
Gregory's Server
3/ Scotland 🏴 and England 🏴 united in 1707.
The relationship between the "constituent countries" of the UK 🇬🇧 has evolved over time.
Fans of obscure political/geographic crossover references may recall the "West Lothian question" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian_question
in 1999 Scottish Parliament was (re)established. The popular Scottish National Party advocates for independence from the UK, and this culminated in the 2014 independence referendum, with "No" winning 55.3% to 44.7%
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Scottish_independence_referendum
3/ Scotland 🏴 and England 🏴 united in 1707.
The relationship between the "constituent countries" of the UK 🇬🇧 has evolved over time.
Fans of obscure political/geographic crossover references may recall the "West Lothian question" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian_question