Scottish Blog

Many of the people, who are interested in their Scottish family history, have not been to and appreciated Scottish geography. It is hard for everyone who appreciates Scottish history, to travel to Scotland. But, knowing of the Scottish geography that they would witness can help bring people closer to their heritage.

In the broadest sense, Scottish geography can be divided into three separate regions, the Highlands, the Lowlands and the Southern Uplands. Although, Scottish geography can be said to have more, less prominent regions, that are separated by their distinctiveness from its surrounding regions. Most prominently these include the coastal lands stretching from Buchan district of Aberdeenshire round the Moray Firth to the flat expanse of Caithness or the Scottish Islands in waters to the North and West of Scotland.

The Highlands, are the most widely known feature of Scottish geography, this can attributed their romanticized, rugged and mysterious look. Which is caused by the Great Glen fault line (Glen More nan Albin) that runs through the middle of the Highland region. The Great Glen fault line also adds another feature to Scottish geography, the lochs (lakes) which have also added to the fame of Scotland. Amongst the most famous of these lochs is, Loch Ness, which is reputed to be home to the “Loch Ness monster”. North of the Great Glen is another feature of Scottish geography, an ancient weather worn and eroded plateau, optimizing the ruggedness of the Highlands.

South of the Great Glen, Scottish geography is more subdued, with the Cairngorm Mountains being the prime feature.

The Caledonian trend fault line is a feature of Scottish geography which separates the Scottish Highland from the Lowlands. Although, the Lowlands are one of the flattest parts of Scottish geography they are only flat in comparison to surrounding regions. The majority of the Scottish geography in the Lowlands is above 400ft from sea level, made up of soft hills. Although, some areas are more akin to the Highlands and are as high as 2363 feet.

The Scottish geography of the Southern Uplands is more alike the Highlands then the Lowlands. The majority of land is divided up by narrow flat valleys and table top mountains. The Southern Uplands are also some of the most ideal lands for both sheep and agricultural farming.