Robert Chambers, who said that the sobriquet could not be traced before the reign of Charles II, attributed the name to a Fife laird, Durham of Largo, who regulated the bedtime of his children by the smoke rising above Edinburgh from the fires of the tenements. yonder stands Auld Reekie-you may see the smoke hover over her at twenty miles' distance." Thomas Carlyle said, "Smoke cloud hangs over old Edinburgh,-for, ever since Aeneas Silvius's time and earlier, the people have the art, very strange to Aeneas, of burning a certain sort of black stones, and Edinburgh with its chimneys is called 'Auld Reekie' by the country people." Ī character in Walter Scott's The Abbot says, ". A name the country people give Edinburgh from the cloud of smoke or reek that is always impending over it." The city is affectionately nicknamed Auld Reekie, Scots for Old Smoky, for the views from the country of the smoke-covered Old Town.Ī remark on a poem in an 1800 collection of the poems of Allan Ramsay said, "Auld Reeky. Surgeons' Hall, one of the Greek Revival buildings that earned Edinburgh the nickname "Athens of the North" 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. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th/19th centuries. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the churches of St. The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe, the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. 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, most recently placing 15th in the QS World University Rankings for 2023. It is home to national cultural institutions such as the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. The city is the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Įdinburgh's official population estimates areĥ06,520 (mid-2020) for the locality, 518,500 (mid-2019) for the City of Edinburgh council area, which takes in some outlying villages in the western part of its territory, and 1,384,950 (2019) for the wider Edinburgh and South East Scotland city region which also includes East Lothian, Fife, Midlothian, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian. Time Out magazine rated Edinburgh the best city in the world in 2022.
It is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, and the city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the UK's second-most visited tourist destination attracting 4.9 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas in 2018.
The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scottish law, literature, philosophy, the sciences, and engineering. The city's Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the British monarchy in Scotland. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and the highest courts in Scotland. Edinburgh is Scotland's second-most populous city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous city in the United Kingdom.
Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Edinburgh ( / ˈ ɛ d ɪ n b ər ə/ ( listen) Scots: Edinburgh Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas.