The Mainland is the main island of
Shetland,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. The island contains Shetland's only
burgh
A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...
,
Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections.
Geography
It has an area of , making it the third-largest Scottish island and the fifth largest of the
British Isles after
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
,
Lewis and Harris and
Skye. Mainland is the second most populous of the
Scottish islands (surpassed only by
Lewis and Harris), and had 18,765 residents in 2011
compared to 17,550 in 2001.
The mainland can be broadly divided into four sections:
*The long
southern peninsula, south of Lerwick, has a mixture of moorland and farmland and contains many important
archaeological sites.
**
Bigton,
Cunningsburgh,
Sandwick,
, and
Sumburgh
*The
Central Mainland has more farmland and some woodland plantations.
*The
West Mainland
**
Aith,
Walls, and
Sandness
*The
North Mainland – in particular the large
Northmavine peninsula, connected to Mainland by a narrow
isthmus at
Mavis Grind – is wild, with much moorland and coastal
cliffs. The North Mainland contains
Sullom Voe, the location of an oil terminal providing an important source of employment for islanders.
**
Brae,
North Roe, and
Vidlin
See also
*
List of islands of Scotland
*
List of islands of the British Isles
*
Mainland, Orkney
References
External links
Islands of Shetland
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