Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and is its second
largest city after Glasgow. It is one of Scotland's
32 local government council areas and is the seventh
largest city in the United Kingdom.
Located
in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the
east coast of Scotland's Central Belt, along the Firth
of Forth, near the North Sea. Owing to its rugged setting
and vast collection of Medieval and Georgian architecture,
including numerous stone tenements, it is often considered
one of the most picturesque cities in Europe.
It
forms the City of Edinburgh council area; the city council
area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30-square-mile (78
km²) rural area.
It
has been the capital of Scotland since 1437 (replacing
Scone) and is the seat of the Scottish Parliament. The
city was one of the major centres of the Enlightenment,
led by the University of Edinburgh, earning it the nickname
Athens of the North. The Old Town and New Town districts
of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site in 1995. There are over 4,500 listed buildings
within the city. In the census of 2001, Edinburgh had
a total resident population of 448,625.
Edinburgh
is well-known for the annual Edinburgh Festival, a collection
of official and independent festivals held annually
over about four weeks from early August. The number
of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festival
is roughly equal to the settled population of the city.
The most famous of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe
(the largest performing arts festival in the world),
the Edinburgh Comedy Festival (the largest comedy festival
in the world), the Edinburgh International Festival,
the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the Edinburgh International
Film Festival, and the Edinburgh International Book
Festival.
Other
notable events include the Hogmanay street party (31
December), Burns Night (25 January), St. Andrew's Day
(November 30), and the Beltane Fire Festival (30 April).
The
city is one of Europe's major tourist destinations,
attracting around 13 million visitors a year, and is
the second most visited tourist destination in the United
Kingdom, after London.
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