Month: May 2008

Scotland Scotland (Scots) Alba (Scottish Gaelic)
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: various, predominantly "Flower of Scotland"
Location of Scotland (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the United Kingdom (green)
Status	Country
Capital	Edinburgh 55°57′11″N 3°11′20″W / 55.95306°N 3.18889°W / 55.95306; -3.18889
Largest city	Glasgow 55°51′40″N 4°15′00″W / 55.86111°N 4.25000°W / 55.86111; -4.25000
Ethnic groups (2022)[1]	List 92.9% White 3.9% Asian 1.2% Black 1.1% Mixed 0.9% other
Religion (2022)[1]	List 51.1% no religion 38.8% Christianity 20.4% Church of Scotland 13.3% Roman Catholic 5.1% other Christian 2.2% Islam 0.6% Hinduism 0.3% Buddhism 0.2% Sikhism 0.1% Judaism 0.6% other 6.2% not stated
Demonym(s)	Scottish • Scots
Sovereign state Legal jurisdiction	United Kingdom Scotland
Government	Devolved parliamentary legislature within a constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Charles III
• First Minister	John Swinney
Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Secretary of State	Alister Jack
• House of Commons	59 MPs (of 650)
Legislature	Scottish Parliament
Formation
• Established	9th century (traditionally 843)
• Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton	17 March 1328
• Treaty of Berwick	3 October 1357[2]
• Union with England	1 May 1707
• Devolution	19 November 1998
Area
• Total[a]	80,231 km2 (30,977 sq mi)[3]
• Land[b]	77,901 km2 (30,078 sq mi)[3]
Population
• 2022 census	5,439,842
• Density	70/km2 (181.3/sq mi)[4]
GVA	2022 estimate
• Total	£165.7 billion
• Per capita	£30,419[5]
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	£211.7 billion
• Per capita	£38,622[6][c]
Gini (2020–23)	33[7] medium
HDI (2021)	0.921[8] very high
Currency	Pound sterling (GBP; £)
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Driving side	left
Calling code	+44
ISO 3166 code	GB-SCT
Internet TLD	.scot[d]

Scotland (Scots: Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its only land border, which is 96 miles (154 km) long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,439,842 and accounts for 8% of the population of the UK.^[9] Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the largest of the cities of Scotland.

The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI inherited the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland, forming a personal union of the three kingdoms. On 1 May 1707 Scotland and England combined to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain,^[10][11] with the Parliament of Scotland subsumed into the Parliament of Great Britain. In 1999 a Scottish Parliament was re-established, and has devolved authority over many areas of domestic policy.^[12] The country has a distinct legal system, educational system, and religious history from the rest of the UK, which have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity.^[13] Scottish English and Scots are the most widely spoken languages in the country, existing on a dialect continuum with each other.^[14] Scottish Gaelic speakers can be found all over Scotland, however the language is largely spoken natively by communities within the Hebrides.^[15] The number of Gaelic speakers numbers less than 2% of the total population, though state-sponsored revitalisation attempts have led to a growing community of second language speakers.^[16]

The mainland of Scotland is broadly divided into three regions: the Highlands, a mountainous region in the north and north-west; the Lowlands, a flatter plain across the centre of the country; and the Southern Uplands, a hilly region along the southern border. The Highlands are the most mountainous region of the British Isles and contain its highest peak, Ben Nevis, at 4,413 feet (1,345 m).^[9] The region also contains many lakes, called lochs; the term is also applied to the many saltwater inlets along the country's deeply indented western coastline. The geography of the many islands is varied. Some, such as Mull and Skye, are noted for their mountainous terrain, while the likes of Tiree and Coll are much flatter.

Etymology[edit]

Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels.^[17] Philip Freeman has speculated on the likelihood of a group of raiders adopting a name from an Indo-European root, *skot, citing the parallel in Greek skotos (σκότος), meaning "darkness, gloom".^[18] The Late Latin word Scotia ("land of the Gaels") was initially used to refer to Ireland,^[19] and likewise in early Old English Scotland was used for Ireland.^[20] By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to (Gaelic-speaking) Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, both derived from the Gaelic Alba.^[21] The use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages.^[10]

History[edit]

Prehistory[edit]

Prehistoric Scotland, before the arrival of the Roman Empire, was culturally divergent.^[22]

Repeated glaciations, which covered the entire land mass of modern Scotland, destroyed any traces of human habitation that may have existed before the Mesolithic period. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, as the ice sheet retreated after the last glaciation.^[23] At the time, Scotland was covered in forests, had more bog-land, and the main form of transport was by water.^[24] These settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period. Neolithic habitation, burial, and ritual sites are particularly common and well preserved in the Northern Isles and Western Isles, where a lack of trees led to most structures being built of local stone.^[25] Evidence of sophisticated pre-Christian belief systems is demonstrated by sites such as the Callanish Stones on Lewis and the Maes Howe on Orkney, which were built in the third millennium BC.^[26]: 38

Early history[edit]

The first written reference to Scotland was in 320 BC by Greek sailor Pytheas, who called the northern tip of Britain "Orcas", the source of the name of the Orkney islands.^[24]: 10

Most of modern Scotland was not incorporated into the Roman Empire, and Roman control over parts of the area fluctuated over a rather short period. The first Roman incursion into Scotland was in 79 AD, when Agricola invaded Scotland; he defeated a Caledonian army at the Battle of Mons Graupius in 83 AD.^[24]: 12 After the Roman victory, Roman forts were briefly set along the Gask Ridge close to the Highland line, but by three years after the battle, the Roman armies had withdrawn to the Southern Uplands.^[27] Remains of Roman forts established in the 1st century have been found as far north as the Moray Firth.^[28] By the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan (r. 98–117), Roman control had lapsed to Britain south of a line between the River Tyne and the Solway Firth.^[29] Along this line, Trajan's successor Hadrian (r. 117–138) erected Hadrian's Wall in northern England^[24]: 12 and the Limes Britannicus became the northern border of the Roman Empire.^[30][31] The Roman influence on the southern part of the country was considerable, and they introduced Christianity to Scotland.^{[24]: 13–14 [26]: 38}

The Antonine Wall was built from 142 at the order of Hadrian's successor Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161), defending the Roman part of Scotland from the unadministered part of the island, north of a line between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth.^[32] The Roman invasion of Caledonia 208–210 was undertaken by emperors of the imperial Severan dynasty in response to the breaking of a treaty by the Caledonians in 197,^[28] but permanent conquest of the whole of Great Britain was forestalled by Roman forces becoming bogged down in punishing guerrilla warfare and the death of the senior emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) at Eboracum (York) after he was taken ill while on campaign. Although forts erected by the Roman army in the Severan campaign were placed near those established by Agricola and were clustered at the mouths of the glens in the Highlands, the Caledonians were again in revolt in 210–211 and these were overrun.^[28]

To the Roman historians Tacitus and Cassius Dio, the Scottish Highlands and the area north of the River Forth was called Caledonia.^[28] According to Cassius Dio, the inhabitants of Caledonia were the Caledonians and the Maeatae.^[28] Other ancient authors used the adjective "Caledonian" to mean anywhere in northern or inland Britain, often mentioning the region's people and animals, its cold climate, its pearls, and a noteworthy region of wooded hills (Latin: saltus) which the 2nd century AD Roman philosopher Ptolemy, in his Geography, described as being south-west of the Beauly Firth.^[28] The name Caledonia is echoed in the place names of Dunkeld, Rohallion, and Schiehallion.^[28]

The Great Conspiracy constituted a seemingly coordinated invasion against Roman rule in Britain in the later 4th century, which included the participation of the Gaelic Scoti and the Caledonians, who were then known as Picts by the Romans. This was defeated by the comes Theodosius; but Roman military government was withdrawn from the island altogether by the early 5th century, resulting in the

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Look up Phase, phase, or phases in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Phase or phases may refer to:

Science[edit]

• State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist
• Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform
• Phase space, a mathematical space in which each possible state of a physical system is represented by a point — this equilibrium point is also referred to as a "microscopic state"
  • Phase space formulation, a formulation of quantum mechanics in phase space
• Phase (waves), the position of a point in time (an instant) on a waveform cycle
  • Instantaneous phase, generalization for both cyclic and non-cyclic phenomena
• AC phase, the phase offset between alternating current electric power in multiple conducting wires
  • Single-phase electric power, distribution of AC electric power in a system where the voltages of the supply vary in unison
  • Three-phase electric power, a common method of AC electric power generation, transmission, and distribution
• Phase problem, the loss of information (the phase) from a physical measurement
• Phase factor, a complex scalar used in quantum mechanics
• In continuous Fourier transform, the angle of a complex coefficient representing the phase of one sinusoidal component
• The argument or angle of complex numbers is sometimes called the phase

Other sciences[edit]

• Archaeological phase, a discrete period of occupation at an archaeological site
• Color phase, in biology, a group of individuals within a species with a particular coloration
• Gametic phase, in genetics, the relationship between alleles at two chromosomal loci
• Lunar phase, the appearance of the Moon as viewed from the Earth
• Planetary phase, the appearance of the illuminated section of a planet
• Phase separation, in physical chemistry, the separation of a liquid mixture into two immiscible liquids above and below a meniscus
• Phase (syntax), in linguistics, a cyclic domain (proposed by Noam Chomsky)
• In biology, a part of the cell cycle in which cells divide (mitosis) and/or reproduce (meiosis)

Music[edit]

• Phase (band), a Greek alternative rock band
• Phases (band), an indie pop American band, formerly known as JJAMZ
• Phase (Jack Garratt album), 2016
• Phases (The Who album), a 1981 box set of albums by The Who
• Phases (I See Stars album), 2015
• Phase (Mildlife album), 2017
• Phases (Angel Olsen album), 2017
• "Phases", a song by English alternative rock band Keane from their 2019 album Cause and Effect

Other entertainment[edit]

• "Phases" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), a 1998 episode of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Phases (.hack), fictional monsters in the .hack franchise
• Phase, an incarnation of the DC Comics character usually known as Phantom Girl

Other uses[edit]

• Phase 10, a card game created by Fundex Games
• Phase (video game), a 2007 music game for the iPod developed by Harmonix Music Systems
• Phase (combat), usually a period of combat within a larger military operation
• A musical composition using Steve Reich's phasing technique

See also[edit]

• Phase 1 (disambiguation)
• Phase 2 (disambiguation)
• Phase 3 (disambiguation)
• Phase 4 (disambiguation)
• Phase 5 (disambiguation)
• Phase space (disambiguation)
• Phaser (disambiguation)
• Phasing (disambiguation)
• Phasor (disambiguation)
• Phaze, a fictional world in Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept series
• Faze (disambiguation)
• FASOR (disambiguation)
• Stage (disambiguation)

Topics referred to by the same term

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Phase.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Sir Lewis Hamilton MBE HonFREng
Hamilton at the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix
Born	Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton[1] (1985-01-07) 7 January 1985 (age 39)[2] Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England
Occupations	Racing driver
Family	Nicolas Hamilton (half-brother)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	British
2024 team	Mercedes[3]
Car number	44[note 1]
Entries	343 (343 starts)
Championships	7 (2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
Wins	103
Podiums	198
Career points	4724.5
Pole positions	104
Fastest laps	67
First entry	2007 Australian Grand Prix
First win	2007 Canadian Grand Prix
Last win	2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Last entry	2024 Austrian Grand Prix
2023 position	3rd (234 pts)
Signature
Website	lewishamilton.com
Previous series
2006 2004–05 2002–03 2003 2002 2001	GP2 Series Formula 3 Euro Series Formula Renault UK British Formula 3 Formula Renault Eurocup British Formula Renault Championship
Championship titles
2006 2005 2003	GP2 Series Formula 3 Euro Series Formula Renault UK
Awards
2022 2020 2014, 2018, 2020–21 2008 2007–08, 2014–15, 2017–20 2006–07 2003	FIA Action of the Year Sportsman of the Year FIA Personality of the Year Breakthrough of the Year International Racing Driver Award AS Rookie of the Year Autosport British Club Driver of the Year

This article is part of a series about Lewis Hamilton
British racing driver Career achievements Rivalries Fernando Alonso Nico Rosberg Sebastian Vettel
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Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE HonFREng (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver competing in Formula One, driving for Mercedes. Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Michael Schumacher), and holds the records for most wins (103), pole positions (104), and podium finishes (198), among others.

Born and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, Hamilton joined the McLaren Young Driver Programme in 1998. This led to a Formula One drive with McLaren from 2007 to 2012, making him the first black driver to race in the series. In his debut season, Hamilton set numerous records as he finished runner-up to Kimi Räikkönen by one point. The following season, he won his maiden title in dramatic fashion—making a crucial overtake on the last lap of the last race of the season—to become the then-youngest ever Formula One World Champion. After six years with McLaren, Hamilton signed with Mercedes in 2013.

Changes to the regulations for 2014 mandating the use of turbo-hybrid engines saw the start of a highly successful period for Hamilton, during which he won six further drivers' titles. Consecutive titles came in 2014 and 2015 during an intense rivalry with teammate Nico Rosberg. Following Rosberg's retirement in 2016, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel became Hamilton's closest rival in two championship battles, in which he twice overturned mid-season point deficits to claim consecutive titles again in 2017 and 2018. His third and fourth consecutive titles followed in 2019 and 2020 to equal Schumacher's record of seven drivers' titles. Hamilton surpassed 100 race wins and pole positions in 2021. He will join Ferrari for the 2025 season.

Hamilton has been credited with furthering Formula One's global following by appealing to a broader audience outside the sport, in part due to his high-profile lifestyle, environmental and social activism, and exploits in music and fashion. He has also become a prominent advocate in support of activism to combat racism and push for increased diversity in motorsport. Hamilton was listed in the 2020 issue of Time as one of the 100 most influential people globally, and was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours.

Early life and education[edit]

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton was born on 7 January 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.^[2] His father, Anthony Hamilton, is of Grenadian descent, while his mother, Carmen Larbalestier, is British, from Birmingham,^[7] making him mixed-race;^[8][9] Hamilton's parents separated when he was two, after which he lived with his mother and older half-sisters, Samantha and Nicola, until he was twelve.^[10] Hamilton then lived with his father, stepmother Linda, and his half-brother Nicolas, who is also a professional racing driver.^[11][12] Hamilton was raised a Catholic.^[13]

Hamilton's father bought him a radio-controlled car when he was five.^[14] Hamilton finished second in the national BRCA championship the following year against adult competition.^[15] Being the only black child racing at his club, Hamilton was subjected to racist abuse.^[14][16] Hamilton's father bought him a go-kart for Christmas when he was six and promised to support his racing career as long as he worked hard at school.^[17] To support his son, Hamilton's father took redundancy from his position as an IT manager and became a contractor, sometimes working up to four jobs at a time including employment as a double glazing salesman, dishwasher, and putting up signs for estate agents,^[18] while still attending his son's races.^[19] Hamilton's father later set up his own IT company.^[20] He continued to be Hamilton's manager until early 2010.^[21][22]

Hamilton was educated at The John Henry Newman School, a voluntary aided Catholic secondary school in Stevenage.^[23] Hamilton has said that at the age of five he took up karate to defend himself as a result of bullying at school.^[24] He was also excluded from school for a period when he was mistakenly identified as having attacked a fellow student who was treated in hospital for his injuries.^[25] In addition to racing, he played association football for his school team with eventual England international, Ashley Young.^[20] Hamilton, an Arsenal fan, said that if Formula One had not worked for him, he would have been a footballer or a cricketer, having played both for his school teams.^[26] In February 2001, he began studies at Cambridge Arts and Sciences (CATS), a private sixth-form college in Cambridge.^[27]

Junior racing career[edit]

Karting[edit]

Hamilton began karting in 1993 and quickly began winning races and cadet class championships.^[28][29] Two years later, he became the youngest driver to win the British cadet karting championship at the age of ten. That year, Hamilton approached McLaren Formula One team boss Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards for an autograph and said: "Hi. I'm Lewis Hamilton. I won the British Championship and one day I want to be racing your cars."^[18] Dennis wrote in Hamilton's autograph book: "Phone me in nine years, we'll sort something out then."^[30]

When Hamilton was 12, Ladbrokes took a bet, at 40/1 odds, that Hamilton would win a Formula One race before the age of 23; another predicted, at 150/1 odds, that he would win the World Drivers' Championship before he was 25.^[31] In 1998, Dennis called Hamilton following his second Super One series and British championship wins,^[15] to offer Hamilton a role in the McLaren driver development programme.^[8] The contract included an option of a future Formula One seat, which would make Hamilton the youngest driver to secure a contract that later resulted in a Formula One drive.^[28]

Hamilton continued his progress in the Intercontinental A (1999), Formula A (2000) and Formula Super A (2001) ranks, and became European Champion in 2000 with maximum points. In Formula A and Formula Super A, racing for TeamMBM.com, his teammate was Nico Rosberg, who would later drive for the Williams and Mercedes teams in Formula One; they would later team up again for Mercedes from 2013 to 2016. Following his karting successes, the British Racing Drivers' Club made him a "Rising Star" Member in 2000.^[33] In 2001, Michael Schumacher made a one-off return to karts and competed against Hamilton along with other future Formula One drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Nico Rosberg. Hamilton ended the final in seventh, four places behind Schumacher. Although the two saw little of each other on the track, Schumacher praised the young Briton.^[34]

Formula Renault and Formula Three[edit]

Hamilton began his car racing career in the 2001 British Formula Renault Winter Series, finishing fifth in the standings.^[15] This led to a full 2002 Formula Renault UK campaign with Manor Motorsport in which he finished fifth overall.^[35] He remained with Manor for another year, winning the championship ahead of Alex Lloyd.^[36] Having clinched the championship, Hamilton missed the last two races of the season to make his debut in the season finale of the British Formula 3 Championship.^[37] In his first race he was forced out with a puncture,^[38] and in the second he crashed out and was taken to hospital after a collision with teammate Tor Graves.^[39]

Asked in 2002 about the prospect of becoming one of the youngest ever Formula One drivers, Hamilton replied that his goal was "not to be the youngest in Formula One" but rather "to be experienced and then show what I can do in Formula One".^[40] He made his debut with Manor in the 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series, ending the year fifth in the championship.^[41] He also won the Bahrain F3 Superprix,^[42] and twice raced in the Macau F3 Grand Prix.^[43][44] Williams had come close to signing Hamilton but did not because BMW, their engine supplier at the time, would not fund him.^[45] Hamilton eventually re-signed with McLaren. According to then McLaren executive and future CEO Martin Whitmarsh, who was responsible for guiding Hamilton through the team's young driver programme, he and Anthony Hamilton had a "huge row" at the end of the season, with his father pushing for him to move up to GP2 for 2005, while Whitmarsh felt that he should remain in Formula 3 for a second season, culminating in Whitmarsh tearing up Hamilton's contract; however, Hamilton called Whitmarsh six weeks later and re-signed with the team.^[18]

Hamilton first tested for McLaren in late 2004 at Silverstone.^[46] Hamilton moved to the reigning Euro Series champions ASM for the 2005 season and dominated the championship, winning 15 of the 20 rounds.^[15] He also won the Marlboro Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort.^[47] After the season British magazine Autosport featured him in their "Top 50 Drivers of 2005" issue, ranking Hamilton 24th.^[15]

GP2[edit]

Hamilton moved to ASM's sister GP2 team, ART Grand Prix, for the 2006 season.^[48] Hamilton won the GP2 championship at his first attempt, beating Nelson Piquet Jr. and Alexandre Prémat.^[49] He secured a dominant win at the Nürburgring, despite a penalty for speeding in the pit lane.^[50] At his home race at Silverstone, Hamilton overtook two rivals at Becketts, a series of high-speed bends where overtaking is rare.^[51] In Istanbul he recovered from a spin that left him in eighteenth place to take second.^[52] Hamilton won the title in unusual circumstances, inheriting the final point he needed after Giorgio Pantano was stripped of fastest lap in the Monza feature race.^[53]

Hamilton's success in the GP2 championship coincided with a vacancy at McLaren following the departure of Juan Pablo Montoya to NASCAR and Kimi Räikkönen to Ferrari.^[54][55] After months of speculation on whether Hamilton, Pedro de la Rosa or Gary Paffett would be paired with defending champion Fernando Alonso for 2007, Hamilton was confirmed as the team's second driver.^[56] He was told of McLaren's decision at the end of September, but the news was not made public for almost two months, for fear that it would be overshadowed by Michael Schumacher's retirement announcement.^[57]

Formula One career[edit]

McLaren (2007–2012)[edit]

Hamilton's first season in Formula One saw him partner two-time and defending World Champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren, a team that used works Mercedes engines and was 40% owned by the German manufacturer at the time.^[58] Hamilton is the first and as of 2024^[update] the only black driver to race in the series.^[59][60][61] After finishing on the podium in his debut,^[62] Hamilton went on to set several records as he finished runner-up in the 2007 World Drivers' Championship to Kimi Räikkönen by one point,^[63] including those for the most consecutive podium finishes from debut (9), the joint most wins in a debut season (4) and the most points in a debut season (109).^[64] Throughout the season, Hamilton and Alonso were involved in a number of incidents which resulted in tensions between both drivers and the team, culminating in Alonso and McLaren terminating their contract by mutual consent in November. Following a successful first season at McLaren, Hamilton signed a multi-million-pound contract to stay with the team until 2012.^[65]