Aberdeen

City in Aberdeen City unitary authority, Scotland, on the rivers Don and Dee, 120 km/75 mi north of Dundee; population (2001) 197,300. The third-largest city in Scotland, it is the administrative headquarters of both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire unitary authorities. The unitary authority was created in 1996 from the district of the same name that was part of Grampian region from 1975; before that it was part of Aberdeenshire. North Sea oil is the principal industry, and it is the main centre for offshore oil exploration in Europe. Other industries include oil and gas service industries, fishing, food processing, paper manufacture, textiles, engineering, chemicals, and tourism. Sited on a low-lying coastal area on the banks of the rivers Dee and Don, the city has 3 km/2 mi of sandy beaches.

History
In 1179, William the Lion granted Aberdeen a charter and it became a royal burgh. In 1306, during the war of independence, the townspeople stormed Aberdeen Castle while it was held by Edward I of England, using the password ‘Bon Accord’, which was later incorporated as the city's motto, leading Robert the Bruce to grant the city the ‘Freedom Lands’, as they are still known. In 1337, Aberdeen was burnt down by Edward III of England, and in 1489 the area now known as old Aberdeen became an independent burgh and remained so until 1891. During the 18th century, whaling, textiles, and paper and rope manufacture caused the economy to flourish and by the 19th century the town had diversified into fishing and shipbuilding. The centre of the modern city is largely the product of ambitious 19th-century town planning, with the building of Union Street (1801) nearly bankrupting the city's economy. As Aberdeen's traditional industries declined in the 20th century, the discovery of North Sea oil in 1970 boosted the economy, causing rapid urban and industrial expansion.