Aberdeen is situated on the North Sea coast, between the River Don, to the north, and the River Dee, to the south. The mouths of the two rivers are about 2 miles (3 kilometers) apart. The Don is spanned by the 14th-century Bridge of Balgownie (Auld Brig o' Don), and the Dee by the 16th-century Old Bridge of Dee.

Aberdeen is called the Granite City because nearly all of its buildings are made of the pale granite that is quarried nearby. The square, solid buildings that line Union Street, in the New City, date chiefly from the 19th century. Marischal College, perhaps the world's largest granite building, was begun in 1844. It is topped with many spires and pinnacles.

To the north are the narrow, twisting streets of the Old Town. Here many buildings date from the 16th century, and some are considerably older. For example, the plain stone Cathedral of St. Machar was begun in the 15th century. King's College, founded in 1494, joined with Marischal College in 1860 to form the University of Aberdeen.

Since the North Sea oil boom of the 1970s, Aberdeen has become the hub of the North Sea oil industry and a major supply center for North Sea oil platforms. The business boom financed the construction of housing, offices, and schools. Revenues of the port of Aberdeen increased fifteenfold in the boom years. Aberdeen's original and main harbor has been continually improved, enlarged, and modernized. In addition to fishing, other industries are chemicals, fertilizers, papermaking, tanning, machinery manufacturing, shipbuilding, granite quarrying, and curing and canning of the abundant fish catch.

The city's oldest surviving charter dates from 1179. Royal charters of 1489 and 1498 created a free burgh with the church as its administrator. The present city was incorporated in 1891. (See also Scotland.) Population (1999), 213,070.