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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in 2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year.

Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament, the highest courts in Scotland, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. It is also the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scottish law, literature, philosophy, the sciences, and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of three in the city, is considered one of the best research institutions in the world. The financial centre of Scotland, Edinburgh, is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth-largest in Europe, and the thirteenth-largest in the world.

The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland, and the Scottish National Gallery. The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th and 19th centuries. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it Britain’s second-most visited tourist destination, attracting 4.9 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas, in 2018. (Full article...)

Selected location article

Front of the Playfair Building

The City Observatory was an astronomical observatory on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is also known as the Calton Hill Observatory.

The site is enclosed by a boundary wall with a monument to John Playfair, president of the Edinburgh Astronomical Institution, in the southeast corner. The oldest part is the Gothic Tower in the southwest corner, facing Princes Street and Edinburgh Castle. It is also known as Observatory House, the Old Observatory, or after its designer James Craig House. The central building with the appearance of a Greek temple is the Playfair Building, named after the building's designer William Henry Playfair. This houses the 6-inch (15 cm) refractor in its dome and the 6.4-inch (16 cm) transit telescope in its eastern wing. The largest dome of the site is the City Dome in the northeast corner. During the early 20th century this contained a 22-inch (56 cm) refractor. In 2018, the entire site was restored and new buildings were added. The City Observatory site was opened freely to the public for the first time on 24 November 2018 as Collective, a centre for contemporary art. (Full article...)

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Selected transportation article

Entrance to Edinburgh Park railway station

Edinburgh Park railway station is a railway station in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, serving the Edinburgh Park business park and the Hermiston Gait shopping centre. The new station building was designed by IDP Architects, and it opened on 4 December 2003. It is the first intermediate station between Haymarket and Linlithgow since 1951. Ticket barriers came into use on 25 March 2015.

There are two platforms, linked by a covered footbridge, which is accessible by either stairs or a lift. There is also a pedestrian underpass just outside the station, accessible from both platforms. Tickets are available from one of the two ticket machines. (Full article...)

Selected area article

The Meadows

The Meadows is a large public park in Edinburgh, Scotland, to the south of the city centre.

It consists largely of open grassland crossed by tree-lined paths, but also has a children's playground, a croquet club, tennis courts and recreational sport pitches. It is bordered by the University of Edinburgh's George Square campus, the Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre, the main university library, St Thomas of Aquin's High School and the Quartermile development on the site of the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary to the north, Marchmont, Summerhall and Sciennes to the south and Newington to the east. To the south-west it becomes Bruntsfield Links where there is a free, public Short Hole Golf Course (pitch and putt). (Full article...)

Selected environment article

The Pentland Hills seen from Caerketton Hill

The Pentland Hills are a range of hills southwest of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around twenty miles (thirty kilometres) in length, and runs southwest from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale. (Full article...)

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Selected arts article

Caledonian Brewery

The history of beer in Edinburgh is perhaps the lengthiest of any region of Scotland. Throughout the history of Edinburgh, brewing takes its place as one of the most important and oldest industries. The origin of brewing goes back to the 12th century monks of Holyrood Abbey, who took advantage of the clear spring water for the production of their ale. The brewing industry certainly contributed to Edinburgh's earned moniker of "Auld Reekie" so named due to all the smoke produced by coal and wood burning furnaces and boilers. This is evidenced by the fact that at the turn of the 20th century, Edinburgh had no less than thirty-five breweries churning out this smoke from its maltings and brewhouses. This haze may not have been so noticeable were it not for the density of the buildings and population in such proximity. There are two lists below, one for defunct and one for operational breweries & microbreweries in Edinburgh. (Full article...)

Selected education article

Heriot-Watt University (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by royal charter in 1966. It is the eighth-oldest higher education institution in the United Kingdom. The name Heriot-Watt was taken from Scottish inventor James Watt and Scottish philanthropist and goldsmith George Heriot.

The annual income of the institution for 2022–23 was £259.5 million of which £33 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £266.7 million. Known for its focus on science as well as engineering, it is one of the 23 colleges that were granted university status in the 1960s, and it is sometimes considered a plate glass university, like Lancaster and Warwick. (Full article...)

Selected sports article

The Inverleith Sports Ground is a rugby union stadium in Inverleith, Edinburgh, Scotland which is the home ground of amateur club Stewart's Melville RFC and was the home ground of the Scotland national rugby union team between 1899 and 1925. (Full article...)

Selected religion article

The Church of Scotland Offices

The Church of Scotland offices are located in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland (in the New Town), at 121 George Street. These imposing buildings are popularly known in Church circles as "one-two-one". They were designed in a Scandinavian-influenced style by the architect Sydney Mitchell and built in 1909–1911 for the United Free Church of Scotland. Following the union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929 the church offices were henceforth used by the newly united church.

A matching extension, incorporating a ground floor bookshop, was built in the 1930s on the east side (119 George Street). A proposed matching extension on the west side (replacing the still-existing buildings at 123 George Street) was never built. 123 George Street is, however, owned by the Church of Scotland and has been incorporated into the offices. The church offices also incorporate a chapel near the main entrance and a staff canteen in the basement. (Full article...)

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