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.

Geography

The Pentland Firth separates Orkney from the mainland of Scotland. The firth is 11 km wide between Brough Ness on the island of South Ronaldsay and Duncansbay Head in Caithness.

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Orkney lies between 58° 41' and 59° 24' North, and 2° 22' and 3° 26' West, measures 80 km from northeast to southwest and 47 km from east to west, and covers 973 km². Excepting on the west coasts of the larger islands, which present rugged cliff scenery remarkable both for beauty and for colouring, the group lies somewhat low and is of bleak aspect.

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The highest hills are on Hoy. The only other islands containing heights of any importance are The Mainland, with Ward Hill (268 m), and Wideford Hill and Rousay. Nearly all of the islands possess lochs (lakes), and The Loch of Harray and The Loch of Stenness on The Mainland attain noteworthy proportions. The rivers are merely streams draining the high land. Excepting on the west fronts of the Mainland, Hoy and Rousay, the coastline of the islands is deeply indented, and the islands themselves are divided from each other by straits generally called "sounds" or "firths", though off the north-east of Hoy the designation "Bring Deeps" is used, south of The Mainland is Scapa Flow and to the south-west of Eday is found the Fall of Warness.

Related Topics:
The Loch of Harray - The Loch of Stenness - Scapa Flow - Fall of Warness

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The very names of the islands indicate their nature: the terminal "a" or "ay" represents the Norse ey, meaning "island", which is scarcely disguised even in the words "Pomona" (an older alternative name for The Mainland) and "Hoy". The islets are usually styled "holms" and the isolated rocks "skerries".

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The tidal currents, or races, or "roost" (as some of them are called locally, from the Icelandic) off many of the isles run with enormous velocity, and whirlpools are of frequent occurrence, and strong enough at times to prove a source of danger to small craft.

Related Topics:
Tidal current - Icelandic

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The charm of Orkney does not lie in their ordinary physical features, so much as in beautiful atmospheric effects, extraordinary examples of light and shade, and rich coloration of cliff and sea.

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The islands are notable for the lack of trees, which is partly accounted for by the amount of wind (although the climate in general is temperate). The formation of peat is evidence that this was not always the case, and deliberate deforestation is believed to have taken place at some stage prior to the Neolithic, the use of stone in settlements such as Skara Brae being evidence of the lack of availability of timber for building.

Related Topics:
Peat - Neolithic - Skara Brae

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Most of the land is still taken up by farms, and agriculture is by far the most important sector of the economy, with fishing also being a major occupation. Orkney exports beef, cheese, whisky, beer, fish and seafood.

Related Topics:
Beef - Cheese - Whisky - Beer - Fish - Seafood

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