Aberdeen, officially Aberdeen City, (Gaelic: Obar Dheathain), is a council area with the official title of city, with 228,000 inhabitants in the North East of Scotland. It is located in the county of Aberdeenshire and is an independent council area. Aberdeen is located on the North Sea and is the third largest city in Scotland after Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The two universities, the University of Aberdeen, founded in 1495, and Robert Gordon University (RGU), which received university status in 1992, make Aberdeen the student city of the north.
Traffic and transport
Aberdeen is a port city with the largest seaport in North East Scotland. Ferries leave from this harbor to the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands.
Six major roads connect Aberdeen to the rest of Scotland. The A90 is the main north-south road connecting Aberdeen to Edinburgh, Dundee, Brechin and Perth to the south and Ellon, Peterhead and Fraserburgh to the north. The A96 is the road to Elgin and Inverness in the northwest. The A93 is the main westbound road towards Royal Deeside and the Cairngorms. After Braemar this road runs southwards, forming an alternative (tourist) route to Perth. The A944 also runs west from Aberdeen to Westhill and Alford. The A92 runs south to Montrose and Arbroath. The A947 runs Aberdeen to Dyce and on to Newmachar, Oldmeldrum, Turriff, Banff and Macduff.
Aberdeen Station is Aberdeen Central Station and can be reached from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and London, among others. Local public transport is provided by First Aberdeen buses.
Aberdeen Airport in nearby Dyce is the city’s international airport. The airport is also one of the busiest commercial helicopter ports in the world, mainly thanks to the oil industry. From the airport you can reach Aberdeen by public transport by taking the 80 Dyce Airlink to Dyce station and transfer to the train to Aberdeen station.
Sport
There are a number of football clubs in Aberdeen, of which Aberdeen FC is the best known. This club plays in the highest football division in Scotland, the SPL, this club won the league four times.
The Grand Prix (Snooker) in Aberdeen has been held in the AECC since 2006. The first round now consists of a group stage, the first two of each group advance to the second round, from which knockout matches will be played again.