Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas.

Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands.

Aberdeen has a long, sandy coastline. Since the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s, other nicknames have been the Oil Capital of Europe or the Energy Capital of Europe.

In 1319, Aberdeen received Royal Burgh status from Robert the Bruce, transforming the city economically.

The traditional industries of fishing, paper-making, shipbuilding, and textiles have been overtaken by the oil industry and Aberdeen's seaport.

It has an official population estimate of 210,400.

During the mid-18th to mid-20th centuries, its buildings incorporated locally quarried grey granite, whose mica deposits sparkle like silver.

The area around it has been settled for at least 8000 years, when prehistoric villages lay around the mouths of the rivers Dee and Don.

Its two universities, the University of Aberdeen, founded in 1495, and the Robert Gordon University, which was awarded university status in 1992, make it the educational centre of the north-east.

Aberdeen Heliport is one of the busiest commercial heliports in the world.