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In July 2023, Orkney Council were investigating proposals to change its status, looking at options that included becoming a British Crown Dependency, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Norway or just staying in the United Kingdom. [155] Economy [ edit ] Gill's Bay to St Margaret's Hope car ferry, operated by Pentland Ferries, runs three times every day, and takes an hour. Gill's Bay is on the Scottish mainland on the A836 five miles west of John o'Groats. St Margaret's Hope is a 30-min drive to Kirkwall, bus every hour or so. Burray lies to the east of Scapa Flow and is linked by causeway to South Ronaldsay, which hosts cultural events such as the Festival of the Horse and the Boys' Ploughing Match on the third Saturday in August. [142] It is also the location of the Neolithic Tomb of the Eagles. South Ronaldsay, Burray, Glimps Holm, and Lamb Holm are connected by road to the Mainland by the Churchill Barriers. Archaeologists discover rare stones in a 'disappearing' tomb in Scotland". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021 . Retrieved 12 September 2021.

The islands are mainly low-lying except for some sharply rising sandstone hills on Mainland, Rousay and Hoy (where the tallest point in Orkney, Ward Hill, can be found) and rugged cliffs on some western coasts. Nearly all of the islands have lochs, but the watercourses are merely streams draining the high land. The coastlines are indented, and the islands themselves are divided from each other by straits generally called "sounds" or "firths". [100] [101] [104] GENUKI. "Genuki: Evie and Rendall, Orkney". www.genuki.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021 . Retrieved 30 January 2021. Right next to the Broch of Gurness is Aikerness Beach, one of the longest stretches of sand on Mainland Orkney. Uninhabited South Islands include Calf of Flotta, Cava, Copinsay, Corn Holm, Fara, Glimps Holm, Hunda, Lamb Holm, Rysa Little, Switha and Swona. The Pentland Skerries lie further south, closer to the Scottish mainland.Various other definitions are used in the Scottish context. For example the General Register Office for Scotland defined an island as 'a mass of land surrounded by water, separate from the Scottish mainland' but although they included islands linked by bridges etc. this is not clear from this definition. Haswell-Smith (2004) uses "an Island is a piece of land or group of pieces of land which is entirely surrounded by water at Lowest Astronomical Tide and to which there is no permanent means of dry access". This is widely agreed to be unhelpful as it consciously excludes bridged islands.

This is a list of Orkney islands in Scotland. The Orkney archipelago is located 16 kilometres (9.9mi) north of mainland Scotland and comprises over 70 islands and skerries, of which 20 are permanently inhabited. In addition to the Orkney Mainland there are three groups of islands. The North and South Isles lie respectively north and south of Mainland. The Pentland Skerries are a group of small islands in the Pentland Firth, a dangerous stretch of water between mainland Scotland and the larger islands of Orkney, through which run the strongest tidal streams in Britain. [1] The Island of Stroma is often mistakenly included with the Orkney Islands, but is part of Caithness. Italian chapel: located on Lamb Holm, a small island between Mainland and South Ronaldsay – built by Italians during the Second world war Orkney has one of the highest uptakes of electric vehicles in the UK with more than 2% of the vehicles on the road being electric, as of 2019. [179] Hydrogen manufacturing [ edit ] a b Neither the 2001 nor 2011 censuses list South Walls as an island, but include the population total in Hoy.Orkney is now administered by the Orkney Islands Council, a unitary island council created in the Scottish local government re-organization in 1975. In that year Scotland's civil parishes were replaced by Community Council Areas, which had an advisory, rather than an administrative role. Orkney's parishes were replaced by 20 CCA's covering 34 rural settlements. [131] [132] Ten of these CCA's were formed on Mainland, replacing 13 civil parish and two burgh councils. Only two Q-Celtic words exist in the language of modern Orcadians – iper from eabhar, meaning a midden slurry, and keero from caora – used to describe a small sheep in the North Isles. [205] Grant, Alistair (4 April 2019). "Pioneering Orkney energy project offers glimpse of fossil fuel-free future". HeraldScotland. The Herald (Glasgow). Archived from the original on 4 April 2019 . Retrieved 4 April 2019. The Scandinavian peoples, relatively recent converts to Christianity, had a tendency to confer martyrdom and sainthood on leading figures of the day who met violent deaths. Magnus and Haakon Paulsson had been co-rulers of Orkney, and although he had a reputation for piety, there is no suggestion that Magnus died for his Christian faith. [68] In 2007, of the 1,420 VAT registered enterprises 55% were in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 12% in manufacturing and construction, 12% in wholesale, retail and repairs, and 5% in hotels and restaurants. A further 5% were public service related. [157] 55% of these businesses employ between 5 and 49 people. [159]

Coull (2003) quotes the old saying that an Orcadian is a farmer with a boat, in contrast to a Shetlander, who is a fisherman with a croft. [85] Discover more on the article dedicated to the Bishop and Earl’s Palace Kirkwall. Earl’s Palace #3 – Bishop PalaceRoss, Calum (3 Mar 2010) "Tory candidate pulls out of race for city seat at general election". Press and Journal. Aberdeen. Retrieved 26 Feb 2012.

The soil of Orkney is generally very fertile and most of the land is taken up by farms, agriculture being by far the most important sector of the economy and providing employment for a quarter of the workforce according to a 2008 report. [156] More than 90% of agricultural land is used for grazing for sheep and cattle, with cereal production utilising about 4% (4,200 hectares (10,000 acres)) and woodland occupying only 134 hectares (330 acres). [157] OCTO are a coach-hire company, ☏ +44 1856 871536. They can provide wheelchair-accessible transport and their own guides for tours. Two mysterious stone balls found buried in 5,500-year-old 'disappearing' tomb in Orkney". www.scotsman.com. 2 September 2021. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021 . Retrieved 12 September 2021. However, Sigurd's line barely survived him and it was Torf-Einarr, Rognvald's son by a slave, who founded a dynasty that controlled the islands for centuries after his death. [57] [Notes 5] He was succeeded by his son Thorfinn Skull-splitter and during this time the deposed Norwegian King Eric Bloodaxe often used Orkney as a raiding base before being killed in 954. Thorfinn's death and presumed burial at the broch of Hoxa, on South Ronaldsay, led to a long period of dynastic strife. [59] [60] Artist's conception of King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, who forcibly Christianised Orkney. [61] Painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo.Papa Stronsay had usually resident population of 10 in 2001 [22] but was apparently not permanently inhabited in 2011. [11] Smaller islets and skerries [ edit ] The Old Man of Hoy Saeva Ness Lighthouse, Helliar Holm a b "Regional mapped climate averages" Archived 4 August 2012 at archive.today Met Office. Retrieved 19 September 2009. Kirkwall Airport in Orkney was scheduled "to have its heat and power decarbonised through green hydrogen as part of a new project" starting in 2021. [186] A hydrogen combustion engine system was to be connected to the airport's heating system. The scheme planned to reduce the significant emissions that were created with older technology that heated buildings and water. This was part of the plan formulated by the Scottish government for the Highlands and Islands "to become the world's first net zero aviation region by 2040". [187] Video, Photos and practical information on my article about the Ring of Brodgar. The Ring of Brodgar #14 to #21 – Other West Mainland Orkney attractions