Aberdeen -Scotland- Harbour, Main Gateway For The North Sea Oil And Gas Offshore Industry Editorial Photo

Aberdeen is Scotland`s third most populous city, with an official population estimate of 196,670 for the city of Aberdeen and 229,800 for the local authority area. Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands. During the mid-18th to mid-20th centuries, Aberdeen`s buildings incorporated locally quarried grey granite, which can sparkle like silver because of its high mica content. Since the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s, Aberdeen has been known as the off-shore oil capital of Europe. The area around Aberdeen has been settled since at least 8,000 years ago, when prehistoric villages lay around the mouths of the rivers Dee and Don. The city has a long, sandy coastline and a marine climate, the latter resulting in chilly summers and mild winters. Traditionally, Aberdeen was home to fishing, textile mills, shipbuilding and paper making. These industries have been largely replaced. High technology developments in the electronics design and development industry, research in agriculture and fishing and the oil industry, which has been largely responsible for Aberdeen`s economic boom in the last three decades, are now major parts of Aberdeen`s economy.