The first inhabitants of Scotland were the Picts, (from the Latin for painted) a Celtic tribe described by one of their chiefs, Calgacus, as ‘the most distant dwellers upon the earth, the last of the free, beyond us lies no nation, nothing but waves and rocks.’ Sometime around 82 CE to 208 CE, the Romans invaded Scotland, naming it Caledonia. The Romans made little headway against the fierce Pictish warriors and retreated behind Hadrian’s Wall, concentrating their efforts on subduing and civilising the lands south of the border.

A Celtic tribe from Ireland, known as the Scots, migrated to the west coast of Scotland in about 500 CE. Kenneth McAlpin, king of the Scots, ascended the throne of the Pictish kingdom around 843 CE, uniting the various Scots and Pictish tribes under one kingdom called Dalriada. By the 11th century CE, the monarchy had extended its borders to include much of what is Scotland today.

English influence in the region began to grow when Malcolm III, king of Scotland from 1057–1093 CE, married an English princess. English kings began to covet their northern neighbour, Scotland, and thoughts of conquest began to grow over the 12th and 13th centuries CE, and in 1296 CE King Edward I of England successfully invaded Scotland. The following year Robert the Bruce led a revolt and was crowned king of Scotland (Robert I) in 1306 CE, finally defeating the English in 1314 CE at the Battle of Bannockburn. In 1328 the English finally recognized Scottish independence.

In the 16th century John Knox introduced the Scottish Reformation, and the Presbyterian Church replaced Catholicism as the official religion. In 1567, Mary, queen of Scots, a Catholic, abdicated and was later executed by her cousin Elizabeth I of England. Mary's son, James VI, was raised as a Protestant, and in 1603 he succeeded Elizabeth on the English throne as King James I of England and James VI of Scotland, and became ruler of both Scotland and England, although the countries remained separate. In 1707, after a century of turmoil, Scotland and England passed the Act of Union, which united Scotland, England, and Wales under one ruler, as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The House of Hanover replaced the Stuart’s on the throne in 1714, which caused a rebellion among Scots who still supported the Stuarts. The Jacobites, as the rebels were known, led two unsuccessful uprisings, in 1715 and again in 1745, which resulted in the forced migration of many Highlanders and Islanders, known as the Highland Clearances.

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, Scotland, whose chief product had been textiles, began developing the industries of shipbuilding, coal mining, iron, and steel. In the late 20th century, Scotland concentrated on electronics and high-tech industries. The North Sea has also become an important source of oil and gas.

In May 1999, Scotland elected its first separate parliament in three centuries. Labour won the largest number of seats, defeating the Scottish National Party (SNP), which supports Scotland's independence from Britain. The SNP dealt Labour a stunning blow in parliamentary elections in May 2007, taking 47 out of 129 seats. The Labour Party won 46 seats. Prior to the election, the SNP held 25 seats.