Editing Scotland (section)

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in Scotland}}

[[File:St.Giles Cathedral - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[High Kirk of Edinburgh]]]]
As per the 2022 Census, a majority of Scots (51.12%) reported not following any religion. The most practiced religion is Christianity (38.79%), mostly the [[Church of Scotland]] (20.36%) and [[Catholic Church in Scotland|Roman Catholicism]] (13.3%).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion |url=https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/2022-results/scotland-s-census-2022-ethnic-group-national-identity-language-and-religion/ |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=Scotland's Census |language=en |archive-date=21 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521162438/https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/2022-results/scotland-s-census-2022-ethnic-group-national-identity-language-and-religion/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In almost every council area, the most common response to the census question was "No religion," except in [[Outer Hebrides|Na h-Eileanan Siar]] and [[Inverclyde]], where the Church of Scotland (35.3%) and Catholicism (33.4%) were the most common responses, respectively.<ref name=":1" />

Forms of [[History of Christianity in Scotland|Christianity]] have dominated religious life in what is now Scotland for more than 1,400 years.<ref>L. Alcock, ''Kings and Warriors, Craftsmen and Priests in Northern Britain AD 550–850'' (Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland), {{ISBN|0-903903-24-5}}, p. 63.</ref><ref>Lucas Quensel von Kalben, "The British Church and the Emergence of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom", in T. Dickinson and D. Griffiths, eds, ''Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, 10: Papers for the 47th Sachsensymposium, York, September 1996'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), {{ISBN|086054138X}}, p. 93.</ref>
Since the [[Scottish Reformation]] of 1560, the [[national church]] (the [[Church of Scotland]], also known as [[Kirk|The Kirk]]) has been [[Protestant]] in orientation and [[Reformed theology|Reformed]] in theology. Since 1689 it has had a [[Presbyterian]] system of church government independent from the state.<ref name="Keay" /> Its membership dropped just below 300,000 in 2020 (5% of the total population)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/80744/Order-of-Proceedings-2021.pdf|title=Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 CONGREGATIONAL STATISTICS 2020 Summary Page 75|access-date=27 April 2022|archive-date=2 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602190154/https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/80744/Order-of-Proceedings-2021.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="scotsman.com">{{Cite web |title=Church of Scotland 'struggling to stay alive' |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/church-of-scotland-struggling-to-stay-alive-1-3391152 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005055504/http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/church-of-scotland-struggling-to-stay-alive-1-3391152 |archive-date=5 October 2015 |access-date=28 June 2016 |website=scotsman.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Survey indicates 1.5&nbsp;million Scots identify with Church |url=http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news_and_events/news/archive/articles/survey_indicates_1.5_million_scots_identify_with_church |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207160336/http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news_and_events/news/archive/articles/survey_indicates_1.5_million_scots_identify_with_church |archive-date=7 December 2016 |access-date=29 September 2016 |website=Churchofscotland.org.uk}}</ref> The Church operates a territorial parish structure, with every community in Scotland having a local congregation.

Scotland also has a significant [[Roman Catholic Church in Scotland|Roman Catholic]] population with 13.3% professing that faith, particularly in Greater Glasgow and the north-west.<ref>Andrew Collier, "Scotland's Confident Catholics", ''[[The Tablet]]'' 10 January 2009, 16.</ref><ref name=":1" /> After the Reformation, Roman Catholicism in Scotland continued in the Highlands and some western islands like [[Uist]] and [[Barra]], and it was strengthened during the 19th century by immigration from Ireland. Other Christian denominations in Scotland include the [[Free Church of Scotland (since 1900)|Free Church of Scotland]], and various other Presbyterian offshoots. Scotland's third largest church is the [[Scottish Episcopal Church]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 May 2016 |title=Scottish Episcopal Church could be first in UK to conduct same-sex weddings |url=http://www.scottishlegal.com/2016/05/20/scottish-episcopal-church-could-be-first-in-uk-to-conduct-same-sex-weddings |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913144202/http://www.scottishlegal.com/2016/05/20/scottish-episcopal-church-could-be-first-in-uk-to-conduct-same-sex-weddings |archive-date=13 September 2017 |access-date=1 October 2016 |website=Scottish Legal News}}</ref>

Other minority faiths include [[Islam in Scotland|Islam]] (2.2%), [[Hinduism in Scotland|Hinduism]] (0.55%), Sikhism and Buddhism.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="2011 census religion">{{Cite web |title=Scotland's Census 2011 |url=http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/censusresults/release2a/scotland/KS209SCb.pdf |access-date=11 August 2016 |publisher=National Records of Scotland |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052049/http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/censusresults/release2a/scotland/KS209SCb.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="GROSCOT">{{Cite web |title=Analysis of Religion in the 2001 Census |url=http://www.gro-gov.scot/press/news2005/analysis-of-religion-in-the-2001-census.html |access-date=26 September 2007 |publisher=General Register Office for Scotland}}</ref> The [[Samyé Ling]] monastery near [[Eskdalemuir]], which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007, is the oldest [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] monastery in Western Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In the Scottish Lowlands, Europe's first Buddhist monastery turns 40 |url=http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=3,4102,0,0,1,0 |access-date=17 September 2014 |website=Buddhistchannel.tv |archive-date=19 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140919134434/http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=3,4102,0,0,1,0 |url-status=live }}</ref>