Northwest Europe: 05A SCOTLAND (Caledonia): Introduction (Scotland)

Mainland Scotland is divided into three geographical regions all of which lie in a southwest-northeast orientation. In the north the Great Glen (a seventy-eight mile (125 km) long narrow valley, formed by the Great Glen Fault (430-390 mya), bisects the Scottish Highlands into the Northern Highlands (northwest) and the Grampian mountains (northeast). South of the Grampians are the Scottish Lowlands comprising the Central Lowlands, a long valley that is home to three-quarters of the country’s population and includes two of Scotland’s largest cities Edinburgh and Glasgow; and further south the Southern Uplands largely made up of moors and not nearly as high as the Northern Highlands.