| Scottish Gaelic name | Leòdhas 's Na Hearadh |
|---|---|
| Scots name | Lewis an Harris[1] |
| Old Norse name | Ljóðhús ok Hérað |
| Meaning of name | Old Norse: "Poet's House" + Hérað = "a type of administrative district" |
 June 2018 satellite photograph of Lewis and Harris | |
| Location | |
  Lewis and Harris Lewis and Harris shown within the Outer Hebrides | |
| OS grid reference | NB240256 |
| Coordinates | 58°15′00″N 6°40′01″W / 58.25°N 6.667°W |
| Physical geography | |
| Island group | Outer Hebrides |
| Area | 217,898 ha (841 sq mi)[2] |
| Area rank | 1 [3] |
| Highest elevation | Clisham, 799 m (2,621 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Council area | Comhairle nan Eilean Siar |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 21,031[4] |
| Population rank | 1 [3] |
| Population density | 9.65/km2 (25.0/sq mi)[2][4] |
| Largest settlement | Stornoway |
 | |
| References | [5][6][7] |
Lewis and Harris (Scottish Gaelic: Leòdhas agus Na Hearadh, Scots: Lewis an Harris), or Lewis with Harris,[8] is a Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, around 24 miles (39 km) from the Scottish mainland.[9]
With an area of 841 square miles (2,178 km2) (approximately 1% the size of Great Britain) it is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British Isles, after Great Britain and Ireland.
Despite its name, Lewis and Harris is a single island divided by mountains. The northern two-thirds is called [the Isle of] Lewis and the southern third [the Isle of] Harris; each is referred to as if it were a separate island and there are many cultural and linguistic differences between the two.
- ^ "Map of Scotland in Scots – Guide and gazetteer" (PDF).
- ^ a b Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 262
- ^ a b Area and population ranks: there are c. 300 islands over 20 ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
- ^ a b National Records of Scotland (15 August 2013). "Appendix 2: Population and households on Scotland's Inhabited Islands" (PDF). Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census: First Results on Population and Household Estimates for Scotland Release 1C (Part Two) (PDF) (Report). SG/2013/126. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.
- ^ Ordnance Survey
- ^ Jón A. Hjaltalín; Goudie, G.; Anderson, J. (Ed.) (1893). The Orkneyinga saga (1981 ed.). Edinburgh: Mercat Press. ISBN 978-0-901824-25-7.
- ^ Webster's New World Pocket Geographical Dictionary (Prentice Hall, 1994), p. 194
- ^ "A journey through Lewis and Harris, the wild heart of Scotland's Outer Hebrides". National Geographic. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.