Scoția

Scotland is occupying the northern third of the British island and it is mainly divided into three different parts, called Highlands, Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands. The Highlands are a thinly populated mountainous area north of Stirling and west of Aberdeen. More than one-half of the surface of Scotland is occupied by the Highlands, the most rugged (dt. felsig) region on the whole island. But this area is also known for their scenic grandeur (dt. landschaftliche Herrlichkeit). Moorland plateaus, mountain lakes, sea lochs, swift-flowing (dt. schnell fliessend) streams, and dense thickets (dt. dichtes Dickicht) are common to the Highlands. Furthermore the Highlands are divided into two parts by a depression known as the Glen More, or Great Glen, which extends from Moray Firth to Loch Linnhe. Southeast of this cutting line the topography is highly diversified. This region is traversed by the Grampian Mountains, the principal mountain system in Scotland.

The highest peak of the Grampians is called Ben Nevis (1343m), which is also the highest summit in Great Britain.

In the South of the Highlands there are the Lowlands, a narrow belt comprising (dt. umfassen) only about one-tenth of the area of Scotland, but containing the majority of the country s population. The Lowlands include most of the county s cultivated farmland and a few chains of rolling hills as well.

The terrain of the Southern Uplands is much less elevated and rugged than the Highlands. It consits largely of a moorland plateau traversed by rolling hills and broken by mountainous outcroppings. Adjoining (dt. angrenzend) the Southern Uplands region along the boundary with England are the Cheviot Hills.

Situated off the north and west coasts of Scotland are the Islands, the main groups being the Orkneys and Shetlands off the north coast and the Hebrides off the west coasts. The largest of the other islands is Arran. All of the islands are sparsely (dt. sparlich) populate.

Scotland is charcterized by an abundance (dt. Reichtum) of streams and lakes, which are called lochs. Lochs are especially common in the central and northern regions, e. g.: Loch Lomond (the largest) or the famous Loch Ness. Many of the rivers in the west are just small streams, generally of little commercial importance. The longest river of Scotland is the Tay. However, these rivers are not really impotant.

The coastline of Scotland is very irregular. The western coast in particular is deeply penetrated (dt. durchdrungen) by numerous arms of the sea, which are called firths (dt. Fjord). The Firth of Clyde, which is the principal navigational stream, site (dt. Platz) of the port of Glasgow, the Firth of Lorne and Solway Fith are the main firths.

Climate: The climate of Scotland is influenced by the surrounding seas. Extreme seasonal variations are rare, as a ressult of the moderating influences. The outstanding climatic features are temperate winters and cool summers. In the western coastal ...