This is a list of islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is "land that is surrounded by seawater on a daily basis, but not necessarily at all stages of the tide, excluding human devices such as bridges and causeways".
Scotland has around 900 offshore islands, most of which are to be found in four main groups: Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, sub-divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. There are also clusters of islands in the Firth of Clyde, Firth of Forth, and Solway Firth, and numerous small islands within the many bodies of fresh water in Scotland including Loch Lomond and Loch Maree. The largest island is Lewis and Harris, which extends to , and there are a further 200 islands which are greater than in area. Of the remainder, several, such as Staffa and the Flannan Isles, are well known, despite their small size. Some 101 Scottish islands are currently permanently inhabited, of which 89 are offshore according to 2011 census data. Between 2001 and 2011, Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702"Scotland's 2011 census: Island living on the rise". BBC News. Retrieved 18 August 2013. although by 2022 the total had fallen back to just under 103,000.
The geology and geomorphology of the islands is varied. Some, such as Skye and Mull, are mountainous, while others like Tiree and Sanday are relatively low-lying. Many have bedrock made from ancient Archaean Lewisian Gneiss which was formed 3 billion years ago; Shapinsay and other Orkney islands are formed from Old Red Sandstone, which is 400 million years old; and others, such as Rùm, from more recent Tertiary volcanoes.McKirdy, Alan Gordon, John & Crofts, Roger (2007) Land of Mountain and Flood: The Geology and Landforms of Scotland. Edinburgh. Birlinn. Many of the islands are swept by strong tides, and the Corryvreckan tide race between Scarba and Jura is one of the largest whirlpools in the world.The Corryvreckan is regularly cited as the third largest whirlpool of the world - see for example "Corryvreckan Whirlpool " Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 19 September 2009. Some sources suggest it is the second largest after the Moskstraumen. Other strong tides are to be found in the Pentland Firth between mainland Scotland and Orkney, and another example is the "Grey Dog" between Scarba and Lunga.
The culture of the islands has been affected by the successive influences of Celtic-, Norse- and English-speaking peoples, and this is reflected in names given to the islands. From the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, most of the Scottish islands were united under the Norse-Gaelic Lordship of the Isles. Many of the Hebrides have names with Scots Gaelic derivations, whilst those of the Northern Isles tend to be derived from the Viking names. A few have Brythonic, Scots and even perhaps pre-Celtic roots.
A feature of modern life in the islands is their low crime rate, and they are considered to be among the safest places to live in Britain. Orkney was rated as the best place to live in Scotland in both 2013 and 2014, according to the Halifax Quality of Life survey.Harrison, Jody (20 December 2014) "Orkney best for quality of life". Glasgow. The Herald. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
Rockall is a small rocky islet in the North Atlantic which was declared part of Scotland by the Island of Rockall Act 1972. However, despite no possession by any other state and other precedents, the legality of the claim is disputed by the Republic of Ireland, Denmark and Iceland, and some say it may be unenforceable in international law.MacDonald (2006) pp. 627–647.
Demographics
The 2022 census records 101 Scottish islands as having a usually resident population, of which 96 are offshore islands. There are however various complications with both the definitions of an "island" and occasional habitation; and the National Records of Scotland have also listed a further 17 islands that were inhabited in 2001 but not in 2011, or are "included in the NRS statistical geography for inhabited islands but had no usual residents at the time of either the 2001 or 2011 censuses".National Records of Scotland (2013) pp. 11-13 There are a small number of other islands that are evidently inhabited but which are not recorded in this list.
in 2011 the local government council areas with the most inhabited islands were Argyll and Bute with 23, Orkney with 20, Shetland with 16 and Highland and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar with 14 each. There were also three in North Ayrshire and one each in Fife, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire. The last three named plus two islands in Argyll and Bute are freshwater rather than offshore.
In the past many smaller islands that are uninhabited today had permanent populations. Losses were severe in many areas during the 19th century when islands such as Pabbay and Fuaigh Mòr were subject to forcible evictions during the Highland Clearances.Haswell-Smith (2007) pp. 269, 306-07 Mass emigration from the Hebridean islands was at its height in the mid-19th century, but it commenced as early as the 1770s in some areas.Symonds (1999) p. 101 The crofting counties held 20% of Scotland's population in 1755, but by 1961 this figure had declined to 5%.Turnock (1969) p. 190 Other examples are Mingulay, Noss and the St Kilda archipelago, which were abandoned during the course of the 20th century. Declines have been particularly significant in the more remote outlying islands, some of which remain vulnerable to ongoing losses.Wenham, Sheena "Modern Times" in Omand (2003) p. 110.
The following table shows population trends for the ten most populous islands as of the 2011 census. The overall trends are typically growth in populations in the early part of the modern period, followed by declines from the mid-19th century onwards. In every case except Orkney the highest population was recorded prior to 1932 and the lowest post-Industrial Revolution figure after 1960. Subsequently, there has been modest growth overall, although some islands are continuing to show a decline. Between 1991 and 2001, the population of the islands as a whole fell by 3% to 99,739, although there were 35 islands whose population increased.General Register Office for Scotland (2003) By contrast, between 2001 and 2011 Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702. The Scottish Community Alliance noted that "the largest rate of increase has been in the Western Isles (6%) where local people now own approximately 60% of the landmass. Where populations have fallen (Bute, Arran and Islay) community ownership is virtually non-existent.""Increase in islands’ population". Scottish Community Alliance. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
Largest Scottish islands by population
RankIslandLocal authorityPopulationc. 1801 1841 1891 1931 1961 1981 2001 2011 2021 1 Lewis and HarrisHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 288 Na h-Eileanan Siar12,16420,04630,72628,04224,10722,47619,91821,03119,680 2 Mainland, ShetlandHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 434 Shetland20,57219,74115,17213,28217,72217,55018,76518,763 3 Mainland, OrkneyHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 354 Orkney16,02216,49813,35213,49514,00015,31517,16217,779 4 SkyeHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 173 Highland14,470 (in 1794)23,08215,7059,9087,4797,276 9,23210,00810,496 5 ButeHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 23 Argyll and Bute4,759 (in 1792)7,14711,73512,1129,7937,306 7,2286,4986,047 6 ArranHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 11 North Ayrshire5,804 (in 1792)6,2414,7304,5063,7003,8455,0454,6294,618 7 IslayHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 41 Argyll and Bute9,500 (in 1792)15,7727,3754,9703,8603,792 3,4573,2283,180 8 MullHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 87 Argyll and Bute8,016 (in 1794)8,3164,6912,9032,1542,1972,6672,8003,063 9 South UistHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 236 Na h-Eileanan Siar5,0933,7082,8102,3762,231 1,8181,7541,650 10 Great CumbraeHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 18 North Ayrshire509 (in 1793)1,4131,7842,1441,6381,300 1,4341,3761,293 Total 123,704116,69395,91981,88482,14583,66487,25186,569 Change −5.7% −7.8% −14.6% +0.3% +1.8% +4.3% −0.8%
The following table compares the populations of the main Scottish archipelagos with that of the Faroe Islands for a similar time frame to the above.
Archipelago 1801 1851 1901 1931 19712011HebridesMurray (1973) p. 21664,69088,61576,78060,39045,48046,632Change 37% 13% 21% 25% 3%Orkney"Orkney" GENUKI quoting census data. Retrieved 8 September 2013.24,44531,31827,76321,93317,00721,349Change 28% 11% 21% 22% 26%ShetlandNicolson (1972) p. 9222,00031,00028,00021,00017,50023,167Change 41% 10% 25% 17% 32%Faroe Islands5,265Bailey (1998) p. 3148,00015,23024,50038,61248,515"Population and elections". Hagstova Føroya. Retrieved 8 September 2013.Change 52% 90% 61% 58% 26%
Legislation In July 2013, the Scottish Government made the Lerwick Declaration, indicating an intention to decentralise power to the three island council areas of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles and later that year made a commitment to do so. In 2017 an Islands bill was introduced to make "island proofing" (including for uninhabited islands) a statutory requirement for public bodies. The Bill completed Stage 1 on 8 February 2018."Islands (Scotland) Bill" Scottish Government. Retrieved 24 February 2018. The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 was then duly passed.
Larger islands This is a list of Scottish islands that either have an area greater than 40 hectares (approximately 100 acres) and/or are inhabited. The main groups, from Haswell-Smith (2004), in many cases provide a more useful guide to location than local authority areas. These groups are: Firth of Clyde, Islay, Firth of Lorn, Mull, Small Isles, Skye, Lewis and Harris, Uists and Barra, St Kilda, Orkney, Shetland and Firth of Forth. In a few cases where the island is part of either a recognisable smaller group or an archipelago, or is located away from the main groups, an archipelago, local authority or other descriptive name is used instead. "F" designates a freshwater island.
Scotland's islands include thirteen Munros (mountains with a height over 3,000 feet or 914.4 metres), twelve of them found on Skye, and a total of 227 Marilyns (hills with a relative height of at least 150 metres, regardless of absolute height).