responsibility for Scotland's defence, international relations and certain other areas. A Scottish independence referendum was held in September 2014, at which time independence was rejected. The latest Scottish parliament election results for major parties: | Scottish National Party- 64 MSPs | Scottish Conservatives- 31 MSPs | Scottish Labour- 22 MSPs | Scottish Greens- 8 MSPs | Scottish Liberal Democrats- 4 MSPs For centuries, a core aspect of Scotland's political geography has been the general divide between the Highlands and the Lowlands, a divide both physical and cultural. The physical geography of the divide (via the Highland Boundary Fault) and the political geography of the divide greatly overlap but are not identical. Despite any suggestiveness of the etymons "high" and "low", the division of Highlands and Lowlands does not thoroughly correspond either to elevation or to latitude in the sense of Northern Scotland and Southern Scotland being "upper" and "lower" (as north and south are often termed in various countries), and yet interestingly, the division does bear some noticeable degree of correspondence to both elevation and latitude, with upward and northward both tending toward stronger Highlander identity, more preservation of Gaelic versus Scots, and other political differentials (e.g., in previous centuries, degree of Unionism, degree of Jacobitism, and others). Economic geography The gross domestic product (GDP) of Scotland in 2006 is estimated to have been £124 billion, resulting a per capita GDP of approximately £24,000. Major industries include banking and financial services, steelmaking, transport equipment manufacturing, oil and gas, agriculture, whisky distilling, and tourism. See also Royal Scottish Geographical Society Geography of the United Kingdom Geography of England Geography of Wales Geography of Ireland References