Edinburgh Convention Bureau

1.  Edinburgh's population is over 450,000 but that figure more than doubles to over a million during the famous arts festivals in August.

2.  Each year, Edinburgh hosts the biggest New Year street party in the world, known simply as Edinburgh's Hogmanay. Over 100,000 revellers enjoy wonderful music in Princes Street Gardens and, across the city at midnight, dazzling firework displays on all seven of the hills surrounding the city.

3.  JK Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter books, wrote her first novel 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' in a café in Edinburgh.

4.  Sean Connery grew up in Edinburgh and, as a boy, delivered milk to Fettes College, where the fictitious character of James Bond was educated, as was Tony Blair, Britain’s Prime Minister (1997-2007).

5.  The city's Scotch Whisky Experience, just below Edinbugrh Castle, is dedicated to the 300-year history of Scotch whisky and features sound effects and aromas! For the real thing, you can visit Scotland's southernmost whisky distillery, Glenkinchie, thirty minutes drive from Edinburgh.

6.  Edinburgh University, one of the most famous universities in the world, was established in 1583.

7.  Edinburgh Castle, which dominates the city skyline, is the most popular visitor attraction in Scotland, with well over one million visitors each year.

8.  The word 'caddie' originated from the men who were hired to carry pails of water up the tenement flats in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Golf caddies are thought to stem from Mary Queen of Scots who was educated in France and a keen golfer. Apparently, she christened the students who carried her clubs 'cadets' and, given the French pronunciation of the word, some people believe that this is how the modern meaning of the term developed.

9. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born in Edinburgh and is said to have modelled the famous detective on Professor Joseph Bell, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, who used remarkable powers of observation in his diagnosis of the medical and social conditions of his patients.

10. In the Old Calton Burial Ground, in the centre of Edinburgh, there is a memorial to the Scottish soldiers who died in the American Civil War and a statue of Abraham Lincoln - the first one erected outside the USA.

11. The Royal Yacht Britannia served the Royal Family for over forty years (1954-97) and is the last in a long line of Royal Yachts. Its new permanent home is at Ocean Terminal in the historic port of Leith, where visitors can explore every deck and see many pieces of royal history.

12. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born in Edinburgh. Like his father, Bell was an educator of the deaf. He went first to Canada and then to the United States, where in 1873 he was appointed a professor in the School of Oratory, Boston University.

13. Robert Louis Stevenson lived at 17 Heriot Row in the New Town. His poem 'Leary the Lamplighter' was written about the local lamplighter, who Stevenson could see from his window. Famous landmarks with RLS connections include the Jekyll & Hyde pub, Deacon Brodie's Tavern and The Hawes Inn in South Queensferry which features in his novel 'Kidnapped'.

14. Princes Street Gardens, situated in the city centre, boasts the world's oldest floral clock and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh contains Britain's tallest Palm House in The Glasshouse Experience.

15. John Muir, the founder of America's National Parks, was born just outside Edinburgh and is commemorated at the John Muir House & Country Park in East Lothian.

16. The Palace of Holyroodhouse is HM The Queen's official residence in Scotland. It contains historic apartments where Mary, Queen of Scots lived. Mary's death mask, meanwhile, is housed within Lennoxlove House, home of the Duke of Hamilton, just outside Edinburgh.

17. To follow in the footsteps of Scotland's literary heroes, visitors to the city can join in The Macallan Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour, which takes in the famous and infamous pubs of Edinburgh's Old and New Towns, and a similar Edinburgh Medical Tour takes visitors to some of the famous landmarks associated with the city’s illustrious history in medicine and surgery. Fans of Ian Rankin's famous Edinburgh detective can take the Rebus Tour of the city as well!

18. Some of the movies to have been filmed in Edinburgh and the surrounding district include 'The 39 Steps', 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie', 'Jude' and 'Mary Reilly', and the television series of ‘Rebus’ novels by Ian Rankin.

19. The story of 'Greyfriar's Bobby', the faithful Skye terrier who sat by his master’s grave, is commemorated by a statue of the dog on George IV Bridge, just outside the churchyard and opposite Greyfriar's Bobby pub.

20. The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with cities such as Bath, Rome and Venice.

21. Edinburgh was designated the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature in 2004.