Orkney Islands

The Orkney Islands are one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland, and form a traditional county and Lieutenancy area. Orkney consists of about 70 small islands 16 km north of Caithness in northern Scotland. The largest island in the group is known as "The Mainland"; about 20 are inhabited in total.

Communications

Frequent ferry services operate on the following routes:

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• Lerwick to Kirkwall
• Aberdeen to Kirkwall
• Scrabster to Stromness
• John O'Groats to Burwick, South Ronaldsay
• Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope

Most of the larger islands have their own airfield or airstrip. Loganair operates regular services to six islands from Kirkwall. These include the shortest scheduled air service in the world, between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray. The flight is scheduled at two minutes' duration but can take less than a minute if the wind is in the right direction.

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