City of Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and the second largest city with a population of 448,000 in an area of 100 sq miles. Edinburgh is a city and a county and is placed on the South East coast of Scotland. The city is split into ‘Old City’, medieval buildings around the Royal Mile, and the ‘New City’ built in the 18th century by James Craig around George Street.

Edinburgh is very strong financially with the second highest GDP (after London) of any city in the UK. Banking, insurance and investment are major employers with the head offices of both Standard Life and Scottish Widows in the city. Brewing (Scottish and Newcastle and Caledonian), tourism and local government remain the other major employers in the city. Edinburgh is world famous for its shopping with top designer stores along Prince Street shopping and elsewhere.

Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Parliament at Hollyrood House which has devolved powers over Scottish matters and was inaugurated in 1999 working in parallel with the UK government at Westminster. There are 129 democratically elected members (MSP’s) who stand for 4 year terms and have power over justice, agriculture, foreign policy, energy and the economy. The parliament stands in a modern and distinctive £500 million building, completed in 2004.

Visitors from across the world flock to see Edinburgh Castle which dates back to 900AD and has featured in many of the important dates in Scotland’s history. The Castle is home to the Military Tattoo every year with military bands parading and performing accompanied by fireworks and Mons Meg which is a giant French made cannon used in wars with the English.

The Edinburgh Festival every summer attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city with a film festival, street performers, comedy acts and major International stars drawing crowds.

There are a great number of notable museums and art galleries some of which are: Museum of Scotland, Royal Museum, National Library of Scotland, Museum of Edinburgh and National War Museum of Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, National Gallery of Scotland and Scottish Gallery of Modern Art.

Other sights include: the Scott monument, Arthurs Seat, Edinburgh Zoo, Murrayfield Stadium University of Edinburgh, Herriot-Watt University, Napier University and the ghost tours of the ‘Old City’ area.

Famous literary residents include: economics pioneer Adam Smith, philosopher David Hume, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author Sir Walter Scott, biographer James Boswell, children’s author JK Rowling and bestselling crime author Ian Rankin.