Just How Connected is Scotland to the Rest of the World?

Scotland may be a land mass attached to the rest of Britain in the northern hemisphere of the world, but its links to the rest of the world span far and wide. Questions of Scottish Independence and Brexit aside, it’s important for Scotland to develop its own relationships and build its own links with those countries in the world that can lead to mutually beneficial results. It’s also important to listen to the people and build relationships with countries that have a mutual interest in one another.

So here are three countries that Scotland is bridging the gap with to build stronger links along with an analysis of why we are making the effort to do so.

Scotland and China

Both textile manufacturing giants in their time, its no surprise that Scotland and China share an interesting love affair. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon met with Chinese officials to boost relations between the countries, especially for university students looking to study abroad in top universities. But Paisley has its own heritage related to China, commemorated from the 19th century weaving that the city was famed for. Indeed, 2019 saw a huge celebration for Chinese New Year in February, while Chinese-themes remain popular from Chinese-themed restaurants doing a booming trade to increased interest in learning the languages of China. As the online Fortune House slot game at Paddy Power shows, taking influence and celebrating Chinese culture his hugely enjoyable and can help us embrace how different and interesting the world is outside of what we know.  

Scotland and India

Scotland and India have joined forces to create so-called Future Cities. These programmes are set up to make cities like Glasgow and New Delhi better equipped for city living by harnessing the latest technologies. Estimates that 80% of people are city-dwellers published in the link above mean that there are growing populations, growing pollution, and infrastructure concerns. The University of Strathclyde, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai and The Energy Research Institute in New Delhi have teamed up to try to fix some of these concerns. Scotland has also been popular with Bollywood producers, having had 23 Bollywood flicks shot in the country over the past 10 years. The Scottish connection to India has remained strong since the days of the East India Company following Scotland’s inclusion in the UK in 1707.   

Scotland and Australia

Australia is another far-flung land that actually has more of a Scottish connection than expected. One of the biggest connecting factors of the country that is famous for its sun and the country famed for its rain is the sport of Rugby. The Maclean Bicentennial Memorial Cairn in Sydney Park has a stone in it from every parish of Scotland as a memorial to Scottish pioneers who rushed over to Australia in the 1850s to help contribute towards the building and running of the new cities. Indeed, many Scots made the trip over to Australia as part of the gold rush and stayed long after the ground had stopped spitting out precious metals.

Scotland has extended its reach far across the globe and continues to benefit from these reciprocal relationships it has built. Whatever the future holds, there will likely continue to be strong links build by Scotland with other countries around the world.