Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. It sits in the east of the country, on the Firth of Forth — the wide mouth of the River Forth. The Scottish Parliament meets there, and so do the law courts; it is also a centre for universities, banks, and business. Visitors come for the castle on its rock, the crowded old streets of the Old Town, the tidy planned streets of the New Town, and for August, when the city fills with theatre and music — the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe. People call it a cultural city, and that is fair: theatres, concert halls, museums, and a famous arts explosion once a year. Though actually, people who live there have a working city, not only a postcard. The name is old: a Celtic place, Eidyn, plus the Old English word burg, a fortified town. That is why it ends in -burgh. Say it like ED-in-buh-ruh, not 'Edin-burg'.