16 interesting facts about Edinburgh

The beautiful city of Edinburgh is so old, and there are so many buildings from bygone times that here all the walls are literally breathe antiquity. Getting here, you immediately feel the greatness of this place, and you feel all the countless centuries through which Edinburgh has passed. However, this city does not give the impression of being old or decrepit – on the contrary, life is in full swing here, and millions of tourists annually come here to join this seething stream at least for a while.

Facts about the city of Edinburgh

1. The population of Edinburgh is 470 thousand people.
2. Two districts of Edinburgh are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
3. This city was first mentioned in the chronicles of the beginning of the 12th century, but it has been established for certain that a settlement has existed on this site since at least the 7th century, which makes Edinburgh one of the most ancient European cities.
4. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, but in size it is only the second city in the country, behind Glasgow (interesting facts about Scotland).
5. It has been serving as the capital for more than 6 centuries.
6. The climate in Edinburgh is quite mild, but cool, the records of positive and negative temperatures here are +31 and -18 degrees, respectively. In practice, the temperature rarely drops below 0 even in winter, and it snows infrequently here.
7. There are no large factories or plants on the territory of Edinburgh, so the air here is extremely clean.
8. On the Tristan Islands da Cunha, hardly one of the most distant patches of land from the mainland, there is a single settlement that was named after the Scottish capital – Edinburgh of the Seven Seas.
9. In terms of tourist attendance among all cities in the UK, Edinburgh ranks 2nd, second only to London (interesting facts about London). More than 13 million people visit it every year, which is more than 25 times the number of citizens themselves.
10. The hills on which Edinburgh is located are of volcanic origin.
11. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the man who gave the world Sherlock Holmes, was a native of this particular city.
12. The famous Edinburgh Castle is visited by more than 1.25 million people every year.
13. Edinburgh in all of Scotland is the most popular place for tourists. Even the famous Loch Ness is not so popular.
14. A huge mosque was built in Edinburgh at the end of the 20th century, and the construction was sponsored by the ruling dynasty of Saudi Arabia (interesting facts about Saudi Arabia).
15. The unemployment rate in Edinburgh is lower than in any other major city in the UK.
16. Despite the diversity of the local population, about 95% of the townspeople here are Europeans. In London, their share does not even reach 50%.