The
Kingdom of Scotland (; ) was a
state in north-west
Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843, which joined with the
Kingdom of England to form a unified
Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of
Great Britain, sharing a
land border to the south with the
Kingdom of England. It suffered many invasions by the English, but under
Robert I it fought a successful
war of independence and remained a distinct state in the late Middle Ages. In 1603,
James VI of Scotland became
King of England, joining Scotland with England in a
personal union. In 1707, the two kingdoms were united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain under the terms of the
Acts of Union. From the final capture of the
Royal Burgh of
Berwick by the Kingdom of England in 1482 (following the annexation of the
Northern Isles from the
Kingdom of Norway in 1472) the territory of the Kingdom of Scotland corresponded to that of modern-day
Scotland, bounded by the
North Sea to the east, the
Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the
North Channel and
Irish Sea to the southwest.