This is a list of Shetland islands in Scotland. The Shetland archipelago is located 100 km north of mainland Scotland and the capital Lerwick is almost equidistant from Bergen in Norway and Aberdeen in Scotland. The Shetland archipelago comprises about 300 islands and skerries, of which 16 are inhabited. In addition to the Shetland Mainland the larger islands are Unst, Yell and Fetlar. The definition of an island used in this list is that it 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. There are four islands joined to the Shetland Mainland by bridges, East Burra, West Burra, Trondra, and Muckle Roe. There is also a bridge from Housay to Bruray. Nowhere in Shetland is more than three miles (5 km) from the sea. Mavis Grind (Old Norse for "gate of the narrow isthmus") is a narrow neck of land little more than 100 metres (328 feet) wide separating St. Magnus Bay and the Atlantic in the west from Sullom Voe and the North Sea in the east. The geology of Shetland is complex with numerous faults and fold axes. These islands are the northern outpost of the Caledonian orogeny and there are outcrops of Lewisian, Dalradian and Moine metamorphic rocks with similar histories to their equivalents on the Scottish mainland. Similarly, there are also Old Red Sandstone deposits and granite intrusions. The most distinctive feature is the ultrabasic ophiolite, peridotite and gabbro on Unst and Fetlar, which is a remnant of the Iapetus Ocean floor. Much of the island's economy depends on the oil-bearing sediments in the surrounding seas. In the post-glacial epoch, c. 6200 BC, the islands experienced a tsunami up to 20 metres high caused by the Storegga Slides, an immense underwater landslip off the coast of Norway. The islands all fall within the Shetland Islands Council local authority. They have been continuously inhabited since Neolithic times and experienced Norse rule for several centuries, the first written records being the Norse sagas. The excavations at Jarlshof near the southern end of the Mainland have provided archaeological evidence of life in Shetland since Bronze Age times and the annual Up Helly Aa fire festivals are a living reminder of Shetland's Viking past. The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide and there are numerous lighthouses as an aid to navigation. A small wind farm in Shetland recently achieved a world record of 58% capacity over the course of a year. The indigenous Shetland ponies are reputed for their strength and hardiness.

Main list

The Scalloway Islands are a small archipelago at the entrance to Weisdale Voe in the South West. The North Isles is the name given to the group including Yell, Unst and Fetlar. There are also numerous islands in Yell Sound between the Mainland and Yell and in St. Magnus Bay to the west, especially near the strait of Swarbacks Minn, but the number and diverse locations of the Shetland islands makes further classification difficult. Records for the last date of settlement for the smaller uninhabited islands are incomplete, but almost of the islands listed here would have been inhabited at some point during the Neolithic, Pictish, Norse or modern periods. 'Ward' appears regularly as the name of the highest point on the island. The derivation of the name is from those high places being used for the lighting of warning beacons. The total population of the archipelago was 21,988 in 2001 and had grown to 23,167 by the time of the 2011 census.

Smaller islets and skerries

This is a continuing list of uninhabited smaller Shetland islands, tidal islets only separated at higher stages of the tide, and skerries which are only exposed at lower stages of the tide. Many of these islets are called "Holm" from the Old Norse holmr, meaning a "small and rounded islet". "Swarta Skerry" (Old Norse:' svartar sker) – "black skerry" is also a common name, as are "Linga", meaning "heather island", "Taing" (Old Norse: tangi) meaning "tongue" and "Flaesh" (Old Norse: fles) meaning "flat skerry". "Hog" and "calf" are used to indicate a small island, in the latter case usually adjacent to a larger one.

Surrounding the mainland

a. Lunna Holm to The Keen. b. The Keen to Moul of Eswick. c. Moul of Eswick to Easter Rova Head by Lerwick. d. Easter Rova Head to St Ninian's Isle. e. St Ninian's Isle to Usta Ness. f. Usta Ness to Fora Ness. g. Fora Ness to Face of Neeans. h. Face of Neeans to Roe Sound. i. Roe Sound to The Faither. j. The Faither to Point of Fethaland. k. Point of Fethaland to Lunna Holm.

Surrounding other islands

In the vicinity of:

Tidal islands

St Ninian's Isle is connected to Mainland Shetland by the largest active tombolo in the United Kingdom. Although the 'isle' is greater than 40 hectares in size it fails to meet the definition of an island used in this list as it is only surrounded by water during occasional spring tides and storms. Gluss Isle, similarly, is a peninsula connected to the mainland with a tombolo, and as such is not truly an island. Huney also has a tombolo that may connect it to Unst at very low tides.

Marilyns

References and footnotes