The head must be round, the skull is broad with a well rounded forehead. Cheeks are full and round (chubby).
The ears are small to medium-sized and set wide apart, with rounded ear tips.
The nose is broad, straight and short, and has a slight indentation between the eyes, but not a stop like Persian or Exotic.
The eyes are large and round and set wide apart. Eye colour is different on different coat colours: Orange eyes are found in solid colours, tabbies, white, smoke, bicolour. Blue eyes are found in white, bicolour and colourpoint (but bare in mind that the blue of a colourpoint is genetically different from the blue in a white cat!). Green eyes are found in black/blue silver shaded, shell and silver tabbies.
The muzzle is broad, short and rounded. The jaws are broad, bite is level.
The head is carried on a short, thick neck.

Beau Monde Dilia

Alena von der Münchnerau Britisch Kurzhaar

Compare the head of the Highlander with that of the British Shorthair, and you will not see any difference, except the coat length. Also the ears and eyes have the same shape, size and placement. The neck is short and thick.

The breed is medium to large in size, the body is short (called cobby). Shoulders are broad and muscular, the chest is broad and rounded. Legs are short to medium long, strong with large, round paws.
Bone structure is very solid.
The tail is short and thick, the tail tip is rounded. The tail shall be shorter than the body length.

The coat is medium long with a dense undercoat. The coat stands away from the body and is not flat lying or flowing. A full ruff and britches are desired. The coat has a plush-like texture, which may be slightly different between the various colors.

Beau Monde Ellis

You can see, what is meant with a full ruff in a semi-long coat. You can also see the head once more, which has clearly the same shape as in the British Shorthair.

History

Very little written documentation is known about the British Longhair, they have been around always, and appeared in many shorthair litters. As it was common that British have to be shorthaired, the longhaired kittens were sold as pets for many years. Thus, the breeding history as a separate, distinctive breed  is very young.
On August 29-31,2001 the British Longhair was added as NBC to the British Group by TICA. The standard in TICA is from January 5,2004.
What is also very strange, is the decision of FIFe to recognize from January 1, 2002, as British cats only the British Shorthair. Thus creating the problem that longhaired British cats are neglected and sold as house pets.

As you can see on the pictures, the standard and level of the breed is very stabalized.

Temperament

The Highlander are independent, yet very affectionate to their people. They follow them around the house to make sure that everything is done right. Males are very people oriented. They are very quiet, rather little talking, and very gentle. Everything is done cautiously, they are not seriously in a hurry. They make ideal pets for less active owners as well as for rather busy households.

Grooming

The Highlander is an easy going cat, their coat has no tendency to get filthy or knotted. They do not need to be excessively groomed. Their coat should be combed from time to time to get rid of old and dead hairs.

Naming of the breed

In Europe mostly the names Highlander and British Longhair are in use.

The naming Highlander can be confused with a new breed of the same name developed in the USA, which has a bobbed-tail and curled ears like the Curls.

There are also used the names Lowlander and Britanica in some organizations.