Lowlands

The Highlands and Islands may be the most famous part of Scotland, but it's in the Lowlands and Aberdeenshire, with its low lying farmlands, that the nation's character really comes to the fore. More than 80% of Scotland's population live in this area, a vast swathe of the country stretching from the North East, to the border with England in the South. This is a landscape characterised by sprawling urban centres, huge areas of agricultural farmland, fragmented forests and mighty rivers. It is the most intensely managed part of Scotland's landscape. But wildlife still survives here, clinging on, and in some places a few species are beginning to stage a comeback.