The Mainland is the main island of
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. The island contains Shetland's only
burgh,
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
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
after
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
Lewis and Harris
Lewis and Harris ( gd, Leòdhas agus na Hearadh, sco, Lewis an Harris), or Lewis with Harris, is a single Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, divided by mountains. It is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British ...
and
Skye. Mainland is the second most populous of the
Scottish islands
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 ...
(only surpassed by
Lewis and Harris
Lewis and Harris ( gd, Leòdhas agus na Hearadh, sco, Lewis an Harris), or Lewis with Harris, is a single Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, divided by mountains. It is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British ...
), 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
Southern Peninsula ( is, Suðurnes ) is an administrative unit and part of Reykjanesskagi (pronounced ), or Reykjanes Peninsula, a region in southwest Iceland. It was named after Reykjanes, the southwestern tip of Reykjanesskagi.
The region ha ...
, south of Lerwick, has a mixture of moorland and farmland and contains many important
archaeological sites.
**
Bigton
Bigton is a small settlement on South Mainland, Shetland, UK. Bigton is within the civil parish of Dunrossness.
Bigton lies on the Atlantic coast of the island overlooking St Ninian's Isle and within view is the island of Burra, further to t ...
,
Cunningsburgh
Cunningsburgh, formerly also known as Coningsburgh ( non, Konungsborgr meaning "King's castle"), is a hamlet and ancient parish in the south of Mainland, Shetland, Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. The hamlet is on the coast, nine miles south south w ...
,
Sandwick,
Scalloway
Scalloway ( non, Skálavágr, "bay with the large house(s)") is the largest settlement on the west coast of the Mainland, the largest island of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The village had a population of roughly 900, at the 2011 census. N ...
, and
Sumburgh
Sumburgh is a small settlement in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Sumburgh is located at the south end of the Mainland on Sumburgh Head. Sumburgh Airport is just outside the village to the north. Sumburgh has a population of approximately 100. Ja ...
*The
Central Mainland has more farmland and some woodland plantations.
*The
West Mainland
The West Mainland of the Shetland Islands is the part of the Shetland Mainland lying west of Aith (1° 23′ W).
Geography
Points of interest include:
*Aith
* Twatt
*Sandness
* Walls
*Easter Skeld
* Reawick
*Wester Skeld
Wester can refer to: ...
**
Aith
Aith, ( Shetland dialect: Eid, Old Norse: ''Eið'', meaning Isthmus, cf Eday), is a village on the Northern coast of the West Shetland Mainland, Scotland at the southern end of Aith Voe, some west of Lerwick.
Aith lies on the B9071 that runs s ...
,
Walls
Walls may refer to:
*The plural of wall, a structure
*Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname
Places
* Walls, Louisiana, United States
* Walls, Mississippi, United States
* Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...
, and
Sandness
Sandness (the "d" is not pronounced locally) is a headland and district in the west of Shetland Mainland, Scotland. Sandness was a civil parish, which also included the island of Papa Stour some 1600 metres northwest across ''Papa Sound''. ...
*The
North Mainland
The North Mainland of the Shetland Islands, Scotland is the part of the Mainland lying north of Voe (60° 21′N).
Geography
Notable places in North Mainland include:
* Sullom Voe, its oil terminal being an important source of employment ...
– in particular the large
Northmavine
Northmavine or Northmaven ( non, Norðan Mæfeið, meaning ‘the land north of the Mavis Grind’) is a peninsula in northwest Mainland Shetland in Scotland. The peninsula has historically formed the civil parish Northmavine. The modern Northmav ...
peninsula, connected to Mainland by a narrow
isthmus
An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...
at
Mavis Grind
Mavis Grind ( non, Mæfeiðs grind or ', meaning "gate of the narrow isthmus") is a narrow isthmus joining the Northmavine peninsula to the rest of the island of Shetland Mainland in the Shetland Islands, Scotland.
It is said to be the only plac ...
– is wild, with much moorland and coastal
cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...
s. The North Mainland contains
Sullom Voe, the location of an oil terminal providing an important source of employment for islanders.
**
Brae,
North Roe
North Roe is a village, and List of Special Protection Areas in Scotland, protected area at the North Mainland, northern tip in the large Northmavine peninsula of the Mainland, Shetland, Mainland of Shetland, Scotland. It is a small village, wit ...
, and
Vidlin
See also
*
List of islands of Scotland
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 ...
*
List of islands of the British Isles
This article is a list of some of the islands that form the British Isles that have an area of one kilometre squared (247 acres) or larger, listing area and population data. The total area of the islands is 314,965 km2 (121,608 sq. mi.).
*
Mainland, Orkney
The Mainland, also known as Hrossey and Pomona, is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections.
Seventy-five per cent of O ...
References
External links
Islands of Shetland
{{Shetland-geo-stub