Aberdeen is the third most populous city in Scotland with a population of just over 200,000. It has had human settlement for thousands of years.

Robert the Bruce transformed Aberdeen into a property-owning and financially independent community in the 1300's granting with it the nearby Forest of Stocket, whose income still benefits Aberdonians.

Traditionally, Aberdeen was home to fishing, textile mills, paper making and shipbuilding and this has given way over the years to more modern industries like high tech and research.

Major oil deposits were discovered in the North Sea in the late twentieth Century, which led Aberdeen to becoming a centre of Europe's petroleum industry. It has the 2nd largest heliport in the world now and the harbour has become a service centre for the offshore oil rigs.