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The Northern Isles (Old Norse: Noršreyjar; Scots Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic languages branch of Celtic languages. This branch also includes the Irish language and Manx language languages....
 Na h-Eileanan Tuath) are a chain of island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s off the north coast of mainland Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
.

The group includes Shetland, Fair Isle
Fair Isle

Fair Isle Scottish Gaelic Eileann nan Geansaidh is an island off Scotland, lying around halfway between Shetland and the Orkney Islands....
 and Orkney. Sometimes Stroma
Stroma, Scotland

Stroma is an island on the northern coast of the Scotland mainland. It is the southernmost of the two islands situated in the Pentland Firth between the Orkney Islands and Caithness....
 is included, which is part of Caithness
Caithness

Caithness is a registration county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and historic Local government in Scotland of Scotland. The name was used also for the Earl of Caithness and the Caithness of the Parliament of the United Kingdom ....
, and so falls under Highland
Highland (council area)

The Highland Council areas of Scotland area is a local government area in the Scottish Highlands and the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole....
 council area for local government purposes, not Orkney.

Northern Isles are usually separated for political purposes, but they come under the Orkney and Shetland
Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency)

Orkney and Shetland is a United Kingdom constituencies of the United Kingdom House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
 constituency in Westminster.

Due to their history, the islands have a Norse, rather than a Gaelic flavour, and have historic links with the Faroes, Iceland
Iceland

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....
, and Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
.






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The Northern Isles (Old Norse: Noršreyjar; Scots Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic languages branch of Celtic languages. This branch also includes the Irish language and Manx language languages....
 Na h-Eileanan Tuath) are a chain of island
Island

An island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets....
s off the north coast of mainland Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
.

The group includes Shetland, Fair Isle
Fair Isle

Fair Isle Scottish Gaelic Eileann nan Geansaidh is an island off Scotland, lying around halfway between Shetland and the Orkney Islands....
 and Orkney. Sometimes Stroma
Stroma, Scotland

Stroma is an island on the northern coast of the Scotland mainland. It is the southernmost of the two islands situated in the Pentland Firth between the Orkney Islands and Caithness....
 is included, which is part of Caithness
Caithness

Caithness is a registration county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and historic Local government in Scotland of Scotland. The name was used also for the Earl of Caithness and the Caithness of the Parliament of the United Kingdom ....
, and so falls under Highland
Highland (council area)

The Highland Council areas of Scotland area is a local government area in the Scottish Highlands and the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole....
 council area for local government purposes, not Orkney.

Culture and politics

The Northern Isles are usually separated for political purposes, but they come under the Orkney and Shetland
Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency)

Orkney and Shetland is a United Kingdom constituencies of the United Kingdom House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
 constituency in Westminster.

Due to their history, the islands have a Norse, rather than a Gaelic flavour, and have historic links with the Faroes, Iceland
Iceland

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....
, and Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
. However, unlike these other countries, they also have a Pictish heritage, and unlike the Faroes and Iceland, many prehistoric remains such as broch
Broch

A Broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs include some of the most sophisticated examples of drystone architecture ever created, and belong to the classification "complex atlantic roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s....
s and stone circle
Stone circle

A stone circle is an ancient monument. Such a monument is not always precisely circular and often forms an ellipse, or a setting of four stones laid on an arc of a circle....
s can be found there - see Jarlshof
Jarlshof

Jarlshof is the best known prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland. It lies near the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland and has been described as "one of the most remarkable archaeological sites ever excavated in the British Isles"....
 and Maes Howe for details.

See also

  • North Isles
    North Isles

    The North Isles are the northern islands of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The main islands in the group are Yell , Unst and Fetlar. Sometimes the islands in Yell Sound are included in this group....
  • Western Isles
  • Norn language
    Norn language

    Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Caithness. After the islands were pledge to Scotland by Norway in the 15th century, it was gradually replaced by Scots language....
  • Orkney and Shetland Movement
    Orkney and Shetland Movement

    The Orkney and Shetland Movement was an electoral coalition formed for the 1987 UK general election. The pro-devolution Orkney Movement and Shetland Movement agreed on selecting John Goodlad as a joint candidate for the Orkney and Shetland constituency, and the Scottish National Party agreed to stand aside in favour of the coalition....