Mainland, Shetland

Mainland, Shetland
Location
OS grid reference	HU414553
Names
Norse name	Megenland
Meaning of name	Old Norse for 'mainland'
Area and summit
Area	96,879 hectares (374 sq mi)[1]
Area rank	3
Highest elevation	Ronas Hill 450 metres (1,476 ft)
Population
Population	17,550[2]
Population rank	2 out of 97
Popn. density	18.15 people/km2[1][2]
Main settlement	Lerwick
Groupings
Island group	Shetland
Local Authority	Shetland Islands
References	[3][4]
If shown, area and population ranks are for all Scottish islands and all inhabited Scottish islands respectively. Population data is from 2001 census.

The Mainland is the main island of Shetland, Scotland. The island contains Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections.

It has an area of 374 square miles (970 km²), making it the third largest Scottish island and the fifth largest of the British Isles after Great Britain, Ireland, Lewis and Harris and Skye.

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
  • Sandwick^[5]
  • Scalloway
  • Sumburgh
• The Central Mainland has more farmland and some woodland plantations.
• The West Mainland
  • Aith
  • Walls
• 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, whose oil terminal is an important source of employment for the islanders.
  • Brae
  • North Roe
  • Vidlin

See also

• List of islands of Scotland
• List of islands of the British Isles

References

The cliffs of Eshaness, North Mainland

1. ^ ^{a b} Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 406
2. ^ ^{a b} General Register Office for Scotland (28 November 2003) Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
3. ^ Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 1841954543. 
4. ^ Ordnance Survey
5. ^ Shorewatch

Coordinates: 60°19′N 1°16′W / 60.317°N 1.267°W / 60.317; -1.267