Scotland particularly in relation to taxation, were devolved to the Scottish Parliament after the referendum, following cross-party talks in the Smith Commission. The mainland of Scotland comprises the northern third of the land mass of the island of Great Britain, which lies off the north-west coast of Continental Europe. The total area is , comparable to the size of the Czech Republic. Scotland's only land border is with England, and runs for between the basin of the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast and the North Sea
Toponymy of England of Scotland resulted in the development of Scots as the spoken language, which was based on the Northumbrian dialect of Old English. Non-Celtic place names are therefore common in southeastern Scotland, for instance Edinburgh. Placenames in Britain have remained relatively stable since the early Norman period, breaking down and 'weathering' to modern forms, but without further dramatic changes. At most, some place names have continued to accrue prefixes or suffixes, such as 'Little'; or distinguishing features, such as a local river name. Many languages have shaped and informed the nomenclature of England: various Celtic languages (including Brythonic, Goidelic (Old Irish),