List of islands of Scotland

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This is a list of the 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 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'.

Scotland has over 790 offshore islands, most of which are to be found in four main groups: Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, sub-divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. There are also clusters of islands in the Firth of Clyde, Firth of Forth, and Solway Firth, and numerous small islands within the many bodies of freshwater in Scotland including Loch Lomond and Loch Maree.

Many of these islands are swept by strong tides, and the Corryvreckan tide race between Scarba and Jura is one of the largest whirlpools in the world. Other strong tides are to be found in the Pentland Firth between mainland Scotland and Orkney, and the Grey Dog between Scarba and Lunga. The geology and geomorphology of the islands is quite varied. Some such as Skye and Mull are mountainous whilst others like Tiree and Sanday are relatively low lying. Many have bedrock made from ancient Archaen Lewisian Gneiss which was originally laid down 3 billion years ago, Shapinsay and other Orkney islands are formed from Old Red Sandstone, which is 400 million years old, and others such as Rùm from more recent Tertiary volcanoes

The largest island is Lewis and Harris which extends to 2,179 square kilometres, and there are a further 200 islands which are greater than 40 hectares in area. Of the remainder, several such as Staffa and the Flannan Isles have achieved considerable notability despite their small size.

Some 97 Scottish islands are populated, of which 92 are offshore islands. Many previously inhabited islands such as Mingulay, Noss and the St Kilda archipelago have been abandoned during the course of the past century and today only 14 islands are populated by over 1,000 people and 45 by over 100. Between 1991 and 2001, the population of the islands fell by 3 per cent overall, although there were 35 islands whose population increased. The total population of all the islands in 2001 was 99,739.

The culture of the islands has been affected by the successive influences of Celtic, Norse and English speaking peoples and this is reflected in names given to the islands. Most of the Hebrides have Scots Gaelic derivations, whilst those of the Northern Isles tend to be derived from the Viking names. A few have Brythonic, Scots and even perhaps pre-Celtic roots. A feature of modern island life is the low crime rate and they are considered to be amongst the safest places to live in the UK.

Rockall, is a small rocky islet in the North Atlantic which was declared part of Scotland by the Island of Rockall Act 1972. However, the legality of the claim is disputed by the Republic of Ireland, Denmark and Iceland and it is probably unenforceable in international law.

Larger islands

This is a list of Scottish islands either with an area greater than 40 hectares (approximately 100 acres) and/or which are inhabited. The 'Groups' which in many cases provide a more useful guide to location than local authority areas are after Haswell-Smith (2004). The main Groups are: Firth of Clyde, Islay, Firth of Lorn, Mull, Small Isles, Skye, Lewis and Harris, Uists and Barra, St Kilda, Orkney, Shetland and Firth of Forth. In a few cases where the island is either part of recognisable smaller group or archipelago, or is located away from the main groups, an archipelago, local authority or other descriptive name is used instead. "F" designates a freshwater island.

Island	Group	Area (ha)	Population	Height (m)
Ailsa Craig	Firth of Clyde	99	0	338
Arran	Firth of Clyde	43201	5045	874
Auskerry	Orkney	85	5	18
Baleshare	Uists and Barra	910	49	12
Balta	Shetland	80	0	44
Barra	Uists and Barra	5875	1078	383
Barra Head	Uists and Barra	204	0	193
Benbecula	Uists and Barra	8203	1219	124
Berneray, North Uist	Uists and Barra	1010	136	93

Bigga Shetland 78 0 34 Boreray St Kilda 77 0 384 Boreray Uists and Barra 204 0 56 Bressay Shetland 2805 384 226 Brother Isle Shetland 40 0 25 Bruray Out Skerries 55 26 53 Burray Orkney 903 357 80 Bute Firth of Clyde 12217 7149 278 Calf of Eday Orkney 243 0 54 Calve Island Mull 72 0 20 Canna Small Isles 1130 6 210 Cara Islay 66 0 56 Càrna Mull 213 0 169 Cava Orkney 107 0 38 Ceallasaigh Mòr Uists and Barra 44 * 0 10 Ceann Ear Monach Islands 203 0 17 Ceann Iar Monach Islands 154 0 19 Coll Mull 7685 164 104 Colonsay Islay 4074 108 143 Copinsay Orkney 73 0 64 Danna Islay 315 * 5 54 Davaar Firth of Clyde 52 * 2 115 Easdale Slate Islands <20 * 58 38 East Burra Shetland 515 66 81 Eday Orkney 2745 121 101 Egilsay Orkney 650 37 35 Eigg Small Isles 3049 67 393 Eileach an Naoimh Garvellachs 56 0 80 Eilean Bàn, Lochalsh Highland <10 * 2 5 Eilean Chaluim Chille Lewis and Harris 85 0 43 Eilean Donan Highland <1 * 1 3 Eilean Dubh Mòr Slate Islands 65 0 53 Eilean Liubhaird Lewis and Harris 125 0 76 Eilean Kearstay Lewis and Harris 77 0 37 Eilean Macaskin Islay 50 0 65 Eilean Mòr Crowlin Islands 170 0 114 Eilean nan Ròn Highland 138 0 76 Eilean Righ Islay 86 0 55 Eilean Ruairidh Mòr (F) Loch Maree 41 * 0 51 Eilean Shona Small Isles 525 9 265 Eilean Sùbhainn (F) Loch Maree 118 * 0 36 Eileanan Iasgaich Uists and Barra 50 0 23 Ensay Uists and Barra 186 0 49 Eorsa Mull 122 0 98 Eriska Loch Linnhe 310 * 0 47 Eriskay Uists and Barra 703 133 185 Erraid Mull 187 8 75 Eynhallow Orkney 75 0 30 Fair Isle Shetland 768 69 217 Fara Orkney 295 0 43 Faray Orkney 180 0 32 Fetlar Shetland 4078 86 158 Fiaray Uists and Barra 41 0 30 Flodaigh Uists and Barra 145 * 11 20 Flodaigh Mòr Uists and Barra 58 0 28 Flodday Uists and Barra 40 0 42 Flotta Orkney 876 81 58 Foula Shetland 1265 31 418 Fuaigh Mòr (Vuia Mòr) Lewis and Harris 84 0 67 Fuday Uists and Barra 232 0 89 Fuiay Uists and Barra 84 0 107 Gairsay Orkney 240 3 102 Garbh Eileach Garvellachs 142 0 110 Garbh Eilean Shiant Islands 143 0 160 Garbh Eilean, Loch Maree (F) Loch Maree 65 * 0 25 Gigha Islay 1395 110 100 Gighay Uists and Barra 96 0 95 Glims Holm Orkney 55 0 32 Gometra Mull 425 5 155 Graemsay Orkney 409 21 62 Great Bernera Lewis and Harris 2122 233 87 Great Cumbrae Firth of Clyde 1168 1434 127 Grimsay Uists and Barra 833 201 22 Grimsay (South) Uists and Barra 117 * 19 20 Gruinard Island Highland 196 0 106 Gunna Mull 69 0 35 Handa Highland 309 0 123 Hascosay Shetland 275 0 30 Hellisay Uists and Barra 142 0 79 Hermetray Uists and Barra 72 0 35 Hildasay Shetland 108 0 32 Hirta St Kilda 670 0 430 Holy Isle Firth of Clyde 253 13 314 Horse Island Summer Isles 53 0 60 Housay Out Skerries 163 50 53 Hoy Orkney 13458 272 479 Hunda Orkney 100 0 41 Iona Mull 877 125 100 Inchcolm Firth of Forth 2 Inchfad (F) Loch Lomond c.40 * 2 24 Inch Kenneth Mull 55 0 49 Inchlonaig (F) Loch Lomond 77 * 0 62 Inchmarnock Firth of Clyde 266 0 60 Inchmurrin (F) Loch Lomond 133 * 13 89 Inchtavannach (F) Loch Lomond 52 * 3 84 Innis Chonain (F) Loch Awe 8 * 1 62 Isay Skye 60 0 28 Islay Islay 61956 3457 491 Isle Martin Summer Isles 157 0 120 Isle of Ewe Highland 309 12 72 Isle of May Firth of Forth 45 0 50 Isle Ristol Summer Isles 225 * 0 71 Jura Islay 36692 188 785 Kerrera Mull 1214 42 189 Killegray Lewis and Harris 176 0 45 Kirkibost Uists and Barra 205 0 7 Lamba Shetland 43 0 35 Lamb Holm Orkney 40 0 20 Lewis and Harris Lewis and Harris 217898 19918 799 Linga near Muckle Roe Shetland 70 0 69 Linga near Yell Shetland 45 0 26 Linga Holm Orkney 57 0 10 Lismore Mull 2351 146 127 Little Bernera Lewis and Harris 138 0 41 Little Colonsay Mull 88 0 61 Little Cumbrae Firth of Clyde 313 0 123 Longa Island Highland 126 0 70 Longay Skye 50 0 67 Luing Slate Islands 1430 212 94 Lunga Slate Islands 254 7 98 Lunga Treshnish Isles 81 0 103 Mainland, Orkney Orkney 52325 15315 271 Mainland, Shetland Shetland 96879 17550 450 Mealista Lewis and Harris 124 0 77 Mingulay Uists and Barra 640 0 273 Moncrieffe Island (F) River Tay 46 * 3 5 Mousa Shetland 180 0 55 Muck Small Isles 559 30 137 Muckle Roe Shetland 1773 104 267 Muldoanich Uists and Barra 78 0 153 Mull Mull 87535 2667 966 North Rona Atlantic Outlier 109 0 108 North Ronaldsay Orkney 690 70 20 North Uist Uists and Barra 30305 1271 347 Noss Shetland 343 0 181 Oldany Island Highland 200 * 0 104 Oronsay Islay 543 5 93 Oronsay Uists and Barra 85 0 25 Oronsay Mull 230 * 0 58 Oxna Shetland 68 0 38 Pabay Skye 122 0 28 Pabay Mòr Lewis and Harris 101 0 68 Pabbay Uists and Barra 250 0 171 Pabbay Lewis and Harris 820 0 196 Papa Shetland 59 0 32 Papa Little Shetland 226 0 82 Papa Stour Shetland 828 23 87 Papa Stronsay Orkney 74 10 13 Papa Westray Orkney 918 65 48 Priest Island Summer Isles 122 0 78 Raasay Skye 6405 192 443 Ronay Uists and Barra 563 0 115 Rousay Orkney 4860 212 250 Rùm Small Isles 10463 22 812 Samphrey Shetland 66 0 29 Sanda Island Firth of Clyde 151 1 123 Sanday Orkney 5043 478 65 Sanday Small Isles 184 6 59 Sandray Uists and Barra 385 0 207 Scalpay Skye 2483 10 392 Scalpay Lewis and Harris 653 322 104 Scarba Islay 1474 0 449 Scarp Lewis and Harris 1045 0 308 Scotasay Lewis and Harris 49 0 57 Seaforth Island Lewis and Harris 273 0 217 Seil Slate Islands 1329 560 146 Shapinsay Orkney 2948 300 64 Shillay Lewis and Harris 47 0 79 Shuna Slate Islands 451 1 90 Shuna Loch Linnhe 155 0 71 Skye Skye 165625 9232 993 Soay Skye 1036 7 141 Soay St Kilda 99 0 378 Soay Mòr Lewis and Harris 45 0 37 South Havra Shetland 59 0 42 South Rona Skye 930 2 125 South Ronaldsay Orkney 4980 854 118 South Uist Uists and Barra 32026 1818 620 South Walls Orkney 850 * 120 (est) 57 St Serf's Inch (F) Loch Leven 41 * 0 110 Stockinish Island Lewis and Harris 49 0 44 Stroma Highland 375 0 53 Stronsay Orkney 3275 343 44 Stuley Uists and Barra 45 0 40 Switha Orkney 41 0 29 Swona Orkney 92 0 41 Tahay Uists and Barra 53 0 65 Tanera Beag Summer Isles 66 0 83 Tanera Mòr Summer Isles 310 5 124 Taransay Lewis and Harris 1475 0 267 Texa Islay 48 0 48 Tiree Mull 7834 770 141 Torsa Slate Islands 113 0 62 Trondra Shetland 275 133 60 Ulva Mull 1990 16 313 Unst Shetland 12068 720 284 Uyea, Northmavine Shetland 45 0 70 Uyea, Unst Shetland 205 0 50 Vaila Shetland 327 2 95 Vacsay Lewis and Harris 41 0 34 Vallay Uists and Barra 260 0 38 Vatersay Uists and Barra 960 94 185 Vementry Shetland 370 0 90 West Burra Shetland 743 753 217 West Linga Shetland 125 0 52 Westray Orkney 4713 563 169 Whalsay Shetland 1970 1034 119 Wiay Skye 148 0 60 Wiay Uists and Barra 375 0 102 Wyre Orkney 311 18 32 Yell Shetland 21211 957 205

Freshwater islands

There are numerous other freshwater islands, of which the more notable include Lochindorb Castle Island, Loch Leven Castle Island, St Serf's Inch, and Inchmahome, each of which have played a highly important part in Scottish history.

Inchmurrin in Loch Lomond is the largest freshwater island in the British Isles,. It is in Loch Lomond, which contains over sixty other islands.

Smaller offshore islands

This is a continuing list of uninhabited Scottish islands smaller than 40 hectares in size.

Small archipelagos

There are various small archipelagos which may be better known than the larger islands they contain. These include:

Highest islands

• See also List of Munros and List of Marilyns on Scottish islands

Scotland's islands include thirteen Munros (mountains with a height over 3000 feet or 914.4 metres), twelve of them found on Skye, and a total of 227 Marilyns (hills with a relative height of at least 150 metres, regardless of absolute height). The following list is of all islands with a highest elevation greater than 300 metres (984 feet).

Rank	Island	Mountain	Height (ft)	Height (m)
1	Skye	Sgurr Alasdair	3,258	993
2	Mull	Ben More	3,169	966
3	Arran	Goat Fell	2,867	874
4	Rùm	Askival	2,664	812
5	Lewis and Harris	Clisham	2,621	799
6	Jura	Beinn an Òir	2,575	785
7	South Uist	Beinn Mhòr	2,034	620
8	Islay	Beinn Bheigier	1,610	491
9	Hoy	Ward Hill	1,571	479
10	Shetland Mainland	Ronas Hill	1,476	450
11	Scarba	Cruach Scarba	1,473	449
12	Raasay	Dùn Caan	1,453	443
13	Hirta	Conachair	1,410	430
14	Foula	The Sneug	1,371	418
15	Eigg	An Sgurr	1,289	393
16	Scalpay, Inner Hebrides	Mullach na Càrn	1,286	392
17	Boreray, St Kilda	Mullach an Eilein	1,259	384
18	Barra	Heaval	1,256	383
19	Soay, St Kilda	Cnoc Glas	1,240	378
20	North Uist	Eavel	1,138	347
21	Ailsa Craig	The Cairn	1,108	338
22	Holy Isle	Mullach Mòr	1,030	314
23	Ulva	Beinn Creagach	1,026	313
24	Scarp	Sròn Romul	1,010	308

Former islands

The following is a list of places which were formerly islands, but by some definitions are no longer so, due to silting up, natural processes and harbour building.

• Inchbroach, also known as Rossie Island, now part of Montrose harbour
• Keith Inch (not to be confused with Inchkeith), is now part of Peterhead Harbour, and hence is the easternmost point of 'mainland' Scotland.
• North Inch, one of the "Inches" in Perth, formerly an island in the River Tay.
• Rosyth Castle also stands on a former island.

Bridged islands

Many of Scotland's islands are connected to the mainland/other islands by bridge or causeway. Although some people consider these to be no longer islands, they are generally treated as such.

Outer Hebrides

Many of the islands of the southern Outer Hebrides have been joined to other islands by causeways and bridges. These include:

• Baleshare
• Benbecula
• Berneray
• Eriskay
• Grimsay
• North Uist
• South Uist
• Vatersay (joined to Barra, but not to the above islands)

To the north, Scalpay and Great Bernera are connected to Lewis and Harris.

Inner Hebrides

• The Isle of Skye is connected to the mainland by the Skye Bridge which now incorporates Eilean Bàn.
• Eilean Shona is connected to mainland Moidart by a bridge.
• Eilean Donan (to mainland)
• Eriska (to mainland)
• Seil (to mainland) via Telford's 1792 'Bridge across The Atlantic'.

Orkney Islands

Similarly, four Orkney islands are joined to the Orkney Mainland by a series of causeways known as the Churchill Barriers. They are:

• South Ronaldsay
• Burray
• Lamb Holm
• Glims Holm

Hunda is in turn connected to Burray via a causeway.

South Walls and Hoy are connected by a causeway called the Ayre. The islands are treated as one entity (Hoy) by the UK census.

There are ideas being discussed to build an undersea tunnel between the archipelago and Caithness, at a length of about 9-10 miles (15-16 km) or (more likely) one connecting Orkney Mainland to Shapinsay, although little has come of it.

Shetland Islands Several Shetland islands are joined to the Shetland Mainland:

• West Burra and East Burra (via Trondra)
• Muckle Roe
• Trondra

There is also a bridge from Housay to Bruray.

Others Various other islands are also connected by bridges or causeways, to the mainland or other islands, including:

• Inchgarvie (part of Forth Bridge), thus joined to both Fife and Lothian on the Mainland.
• Garbh Eilean at the entrance to Loch Glencoul is now joined to the mainland by both the Kylesku Bridge to the south and its associated roadworks to the north.

Tidal islands and tombolos

There are a large number of small tidal islets in Scotland. The more notable ones include:

• Baleshare
• Calve Island
• Castle Island
• Corn Holm
• Cramond Island
• Danna
• Davaar Island
• Eilean Shona
• Eriska
• Erraid
• Helliar Holm
• Kili Holm
• Isle Ristol
• Sanday
• Torsa

Oronsay means 'ebb island' and there are several tidal islands of this name.

The three main islands of the Monach Islands (Heisgeir), Ceann Iar, Ceann Ear and Shivinish are connected at main tide. It is said that it was at one time possible to walk all the way to Baleshare, and on to North Uist, five miles away at low tide. In the 16th century, a large tidal wave was said to have washed this away.

St Ninian's Isle is connected to Mainland Shetland by a tombolo. Although 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.

Dùn in St Kilda is separated from Hirta by a shallow strait about 50 metres wide. This is normally impassable but is reputed to dry out on rare occasions.

Castle Islands

Ther are several small Scottish islands that are dominated by a castle or other fortification. The castle is often better known than the island, and the islands themselves are often tidal or bridged. Due to their picturesque nature some of them are are well-known from postcards and films. Examples include:

• Bass Rock
• Castle Island
• Calvay
• Castle Stalker
• Castle Tioram
• Eilean Aigas (F)
• Eilean Dearg, Loch Riddon
• Eilean Donan
• Inchtalla (F)
• Kilchurn Castle (F)
• Kisimul Castle
• Loch Leven Castle (F)
• Mousa
• Threave Castle (F)
• Wyre

Many of the Islands of the Forth and southern Orkneys have fortifications from the two world wars. Rosyth Castle stands on a former island.

Holy islands

A huge number of the islands of Scotland have some kind of culdee/church connection, and/or are dominated by a church. The more notable include:

• Davaar Island
• Egilsay
• Eynhallow
• Holy Island
• Inchcolm
• Inch Kenneth
• Inchmahome (F)
• Iona
• Isle Maree
• North Rona
• Oronsay
• Papa Stronsay (current Transalpine Redemptorist monastery, but all islands called "Papa-" or "Pabbay" tend to be former saints' islands)
• St Ninian's Isle
• St Serf's Inch (F)
• Tiree ("land of Iona")

Brother Isle's name is not ecclesiastical in origin as sometimes stated.

List of Scottish islands named after people

This is a short list of islands, which are known to be named after someone. In the case of the likes of North Ronaldsay, this may be open to contention (it isn't named after a "Ronald", unlike South Ronaldsay). This list omits names such as Hildasay, where the person in question is mythological, or Ailsa Craig, where the individual in question is not known.

• Eilean Chaluim Chille - Saint Columba
• Eilean Donan - Saint Donan
• Flannan Isles - St Flannan
• Frank Lockwood's Island (south of Mull)
• Inchcolm - Saint Columba
• Inch Kenneth - Saint Kenneth
• Inchmarnock - St Mearnag
• Inchmahome (F) - St Colmag
• Inchmurrin (F) - St Meadhran/Mirren
• Innis Chonain (F) - Saint Conan
• Isle Maree (F) - Maelrubha
• Isle Martin - Saint Martin
• North Rona - Saint Ronan
• Sweyn Holm – Sweyn Asleifsson
• Taransay - Saint Taran

Places called "island" or "isle" etc which are not islands

Some places in Scotland with names including "isle" or "island" are not islands. They include: